Jump to content

Music track listing out of order


SmplyUnprdctble

Recommended Posts

SmplyUnprdctble

Navigation:  Roku App > Music > <pick an album>

 

I noticed this a bit back (e.g. on the previous release app), and hadn't dug deeper until recently because I thought it may have been something odd in my tags.  But, I finally looked and I'm not certain what's going on.

 

The track order of tracks on an album in the Roku app (both release and beta) is out of order.

 

I have validated the following:

  • My MP3s are in the folder structure and named <Artist>/<Album>/<track#> - track title.mp3
  • My MP3s have tags for track, among the other metadata
  • Emby Web produces the track listing in the correct order

If I take a random album (Newsies), Roku is displaying the tracks in this order:  7, 13, 14, 8, 5, 10, 15 <etc>.

Another random album (Clay Walker / Rumor Has It), Roku is displaying tracks in this order: 6, 2, 8, 5, 1, 3, 10, 7, 4, 9.

It IS enumerating the tracks in the Roku display (just not correct track number next to the title).

 

The sort order in Roku doesn't appear to be track order (with or without leading 0s), title, length, or any other metadata available that I can ascertain.

 

Emby Server:  3.5.3.0 (Linux)

Roku App Beta: 3.0.118

Roku App Release: 3.0.111

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah I saw this last night and my internet was out most of yesterday. Might be switching ISP to the more reliable Comcast soon. AT&T is just a joke lately and I am not laughing. They are making it hard for me to contribute in a timely fashion and this is not acceptable.

 

Anyways, glad it was fixed. I noticed with using the PLAY button it always chose random. If you use OK instead to open the album it was original ordering.

 

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

SmplyUnprdctble

I updated to 3.0.120.

 

The listing is showing the correct order, but pressing the 'play all' button adds to the playlist the same perceived "random" order mentioned above.  The fact I put the numbers in my post above allowed me to verify it.

 

'Shuffle Play' does a genuine shuffle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I updated to 3.0.120.

 

The listing is showing the correct order, but pressing the 'play all' button adds to the playlist the same perceived "random" order mentioned above.  The fact I put the numbers in my post above allowed me to verify it.

 

'Shuffle Play' does a genuine shuffle.

 

Agree. I see why this was done. Some things can have over 200 items in them for music. Music has a top limit of 200 at the moment. So to fit into that limit random was done. I can see why.

 

But like you said, random should only be done where it seems appropriate. For Music Artist and Music Genre having it be random makes sense. This would usually be a random list these two. Most users would want these shuffled.

 

Users would not like MusicAlbums, Playlists, Audio Collections, Podcasts, etc.. to be randomly shuffled prior to their viewing the list. So if these have more than 200, so be it, show me the 200 that come first. This is what you get if you don't use random, the natural order. This is acceptable to me.

 

Maybe playlists should also always use random? This is where you can give us your opinion if you have any preference. Thanks. ;)

 

NOTE: I did submit a fix to address this, but it doesn't add playlists to the automatic shuffle when playing. Only MusicAlbums and MusicGenre. Should Playlists automatically shuffle when played too? Obviously everything shouldn't and that is what was happening before.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

SmplyUnprdctble

I'm specifically talking viewing a specific Album.  If an Album has 200 tracks, I'd be concerned.  But, you're probably utilizing the same code for Albums as Playlists.

 

I can't speak to playlists because I don't have any currently.  It's probably not a feature I'd use Emby for (my primary music player is Subsonic, but their Roku app is "not the best" - and, I like the feature of being able to have something play as I'm pondering what I want to watch).  But, I get how a Playlist could have hundreds of songs.  And, with my playlists, some I would want to always play in order, some I would like randomized (feature Subsonic has - it adds everything to the queue, and then there's a button to shuffle everything).

 

When I pull up an album, there's two buttons on my TV [ok, more than two, but these specifically] - "Play All", and "Shuffle Play".  I'd expect "Play All" to throw the tracks in the proper order in the queue (erm, the "add to queue or replace queue" prompt).  I'd expect "Shuffle Play" to throw them in a random order in the queue (erm, aforementioned prompt).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lets say there are two ways to queue anything and bring up that list of songs. One is pressing OK on the item and entering it. The other is pressing PLAY on the item and expecting a certain behavior.

 

Now using OK on the item can be different methods of doing things. You can get more context. You can give play all, shuffle all, etc buttons and get an idea of what a user wants to do.

 

But when pressing PLAY directly certain assumptions must/have-to be made. Some of these are difficult and a direct result of limitations (read as top limit of songs loaded = 200) and in an attempt to work around these some things must be random.

 

Now what you mean is you enter say, an album using an OK button press then you use the play all button and expect it to play the same order as the list it presented. It builds the queue starts the player and its not the same order at all. Yeah. This is what I mean. Using "Play All" is akin to using "PLAY" on your remote directly on the item without even entering it. This is what "Play All" is a dead ringer for.

 

Now as I was saying playlists should be random then.. yes? I can add that. The only ones that should be random are MusicArtist, MusicGenre and Playlists. The rest should be in default/natural order? Correct. Because this seems most logical. This is what I will do. Add playlists being random to the fix. Seems logical.

Edited by speechles
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think he's using the button on the UI and it simply needs the same conditional fix I put in for the display...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

SmplyUnprdctble

Yes.  I'm discussing the UI.  The "Play All" screen button, not the button on my remote.

 

I do realize there's shortcuts in place at higher levels (for instance, if I'm highlighting a CD in the UI from the "All Albums" screen, clicking Play on my remote has an option).

 

So, I'm seeing these options:

  1. Navigate Emby App > Music > Albums > highlight album, press PLAY on remote - in 3.0.120, this appears to randomize the tracks - I'm mixed as to whether I feel it should be random or track order.  Navigate similarly in TV, it pulls Next Up, hinting track order should be the default, but TV is a completely different beast than music when it comes to consumption.  In my opinion, for me, this isn't important for the way I consume music via Emby.  [but, if I had influence, I would say this should be track order since it's the equivalent of throwing a CD in a player and it's the default option.  I think it's how most music players go by default as well? -- Maybe it's an option in Settings to toggle if there's mixed feelings on this?]
  2. Navigate Emby App > Music > Albums > <specific album> > highlight "Play All" icon on screen, press OK on remote - in 3.0.120, this appears to randomize the tracks (I swear earlier it was doing the pseudo-random order as mentioned earlier -- maybe I was getting confused with the possibility of different versions on my two Roku devices?).  This navigation I definitely feel should be "Put tracks 1-n in the queue in order".
  3. Navigate Emby App > Music > Albums > <specific album> > highlight "Shuffle Play" icon on screen, press OK on remote - in 3.0.120, this appears to randomize the tracks.  This is the expected result.

So, my complaint is "Play All" and "Shuffle Play" are producing the same results, when they should be different (otherwise, why have two on-screen buttons?).

 

To expand, using the Emby web interface, #1 does "play in track order", #2 does "play in track order", and #3 does "play in random order".  Emby Android app does the same.  So, I'd put that in part of the consistency department.

 

 

And, while I'm looking at the screen, is there much control over fonts?  looking at the track times not lining up feels weird (the fact a 1 and 0 take up different widths in the Roku font).  Whatever is used in the web interface lines up nicely, but I can imagine Roku limits fonts.  [This one is a combination of my slight OCD and the fact I have worked with financial reports the past 10 years of my life and finance & accounting peeps have a fit if their numbers don't line up]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...