Hello,

I have recently migrated to a new linux distribution - from Slackware to Arch Linux, and I am having problems porting my old amarok databse with me.

In preperation for my migration, I backed up my home directory to another parition. This included the directory ~/.kde/share/apps/amarok, inside of which was my collections.db folder. I planned to simply copy this directory from my backup and dump it to my new home folder. However, this is not working at all - It doesn't seem to recognize my collection.

What I am trying to do is restore my previous collection - specifically the song scores: I have over three years of use on those scores, and used them extensively. Is there a correct proceedure for restoring my previous collections db?

Warm Regards,

Vincent

Hi,

This occurs because of how the device id's are stored in Amarok. In order to preserve the uniqueness of the statistics, it is insufficient to just store song name and path.

What we are going to do is update our old collections db with what maybe an entirely different device id.

What you need:

1. Your old collections.db file. Create a backup and use that as a working copy in case you break something.

2. SQLite Database Browser: http://sourceforge.net/projects/sqlitebrowser/

What to do:

1. Generate a new collection file in Amarok.

2. Open Sqlite database browser and open the NEW collection file. Export the 'devices' table into CSV format.

3. Open your OLD collections.db, and note the device IDs associated with the devices on which your songs lie.

4. Edit the CSV file you exported that contains the device id's, and rearrange things so your the mountpoints containing your songs have the same ID's as in the original.

For example, if your songs were on the device associated with id 6 in your old configuration, but this device is number 4 in your your new configuration, change the device id in your new configuration to 6. If necessary add some dummy entries to pad things out.

6. Delete the devices table in your old configuration, and import the CSV file, being sure to name the table 'devices'.

7. Save your collections.db database, and copy it to your ~/.kde/share/apps/amarok folder.

This should result in amarok recognizing your collection, along with any statistics you may have built up.

Warm Regards,

Vincent