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captainknut
Avid Contributor I
September 8, 2018

folder.jpg album art stops showing

  • September 8, 2018
  • 10 replies
  • 1286 views
I have folder.jpg files for album art in every single album folder. It has worked great so far. Now I have bought a new Synology NAS and have moved all my music folders there, including the folder.jpg files. Still works great. BUT...

If I edit any music file in a folder with the NAS utilites, Sonos stops displaying the album art from the folder.jpg file in the folder. Updating the Music Library doesn't help. It doesn't even help if I delete the old folder.jpg file and put a completely new folder.jpg file in the folder. If I once have edited any music file in that folder, Sonos refuses to display the album art in any folder.jpg file from that folder any more.

Why?
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    10 replies

    Stanley_4
    Stanley_4
    Grand Maestro
    September 8, 2018
    Any chance the NAS utilities are messing with the file/folder permissions or visibility?

    Are the files visible from another system also using SMB access to the NAS?

    You did enable SMB v1 on the NAS?
    captainknutAuthor
    Avid Contributor I
    September 8, 2018
    The files are visible everywhere. I didn't touch the folder.jpg file. But just because I edited one of the music files in the folder, Sonos stopped showing the folder.jpg file as album art. If Sonos can play the edited music files in the folder, why can't it pick up the info in the folder.jpg file, which was NOT edited?

    And yes, SMB is enabled.
    Stanley_4
    Stanley_4
    Grand Maestro
    September 8, 2018
    I'm wondering if your NAS file editor messed with the image tag field in the music file?

    What happens if you copy a file, open the copy for an edit, save it and compare the original and copy?
    captainknutAuthor
    Avid Contributor I
    September 10, 2018
    What is the point of the folder.jpg file? Isn't that the one that's supposed to be used for album art?
    Stuart_W
    Stuart_W
    World-Class Superstar
    September 10, 2018
    What is the point of the folder.jpg file? Isn't that the one that's supposed to be used for album art?

    Yes. But Stanley is suggesting that if your NAS editor may be messing a tag in the music file STOPPING Sonos looking for the folder.jpg artwork?

    Got to be worth a try.

    How about trying to edit a file but using a different utility?

    I change my file tags all the time on my NAS, Mac and using Metadatics app. Doesn't mess with the artwork
    Arc + Sub (Gen 1) + 2 x Play 1/ Stereo Play 3s/ Era 100 Stereo in Kitchen, One Stereo in Bedroom, Play 1 stereo pair in Study, Play 1in Bathroom, Sonos Move 2
    sjw
    Local Superstar
    September 10, 2018
    What do you mean by 'editing the music file'?
    What are you doing and in which Synology app?
    Could it be embedding other artwork which then overrides the folder.jpg file?
    captainknutAuthor
    Avid Contributor I
    September 13, 2018
    I admit I don't know how the folder.jpg file works. I thought it was supposed to override any settings in the music files. If I rip a cd in iTunes, no album art is ever displayed in Sonos. So I add folder.jpg files to the album folders, and the respective album art is then displayed in Sonos.

    Are you telling me that the folder.jpg file is only used if there is no album art info in any single one the music files in the entire folder? Even if I play another song from a file that is *not* tampered with? That sounds kind of backward...

    What I did was I changed the "Year" info in one of the music files, nothing else. I did not change any album art info in the file. This had the effect that no album art is displayed anymore in Sonos for that entire album, even though there is a folder.jpg file present in the album folder.
    sjw
    Local Superstar
    September 13, 2018
    I'm not sure to be honest what the priority is (embedded or local file) but if you answer the question and say which application you are making the change in I could try it and see if any artwork or permissions are changed.
    I've never changed the tags on the NAS and use something like mp3tag. If you make the change in that does the same thing happen?
    Stanley_4
    Stanley_4
    Grand Maestro
    September 13, 2018
    I have no embedded art to check with, the Sonos FAQ is no help on this.

    https://support.sonos.com/s/article/543?language=en_US


    I think until you rule out unintended file changes (user, group, permissions or file contents) by whatever editor you are using the rest is just spinning your wheels. Once the problem change is found the solution should be easy to devise.
    Alan_6
    Prodigy II
    September 13, 2018
    I admit I don't know how the folder.jpg file works. I thought it was supposed to override any settings in the music files. If I rip a cd in iTunes, no album art is ever displayed in Sonos. So I add folder.jpg files to the album folders, and the respective album art is then displayed in Sonos.

    Are you telling me that the folder.jpg file is only used if there is no album art info in any single one the music files in the entire folder? Even if I play another song from a file that is *not* tampered with? That sounds kind of backward...

    I couldn't tell you for sure which takes precedence - the embedded art, or the folder.jpg, but both are available as a song's artwork (which is also the album's artwork). Would need to use deliberately different folder.jpg to test.

    A couple of things to note:
    1. There do seem to be limits (resolution or file size) on the artwork, 1000x1000 is fine, 2000x2000 might not show.
    2. Not all ripping software will embed artwork in the song tagging info, or folder.jpg, or both. It's been a while since I used iTunes to rip anything, so it might hide the artwork elsewhere.
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