Troubleshooting

TrackRate reconnects data using an audio fingerprint. Renaming, moving, or editing ordinary metadata normally keeps that identity, but changing the audio bytes creates a different fingerprint. Re-encoding, trimming, normalization that rewrites audio, and scanning an incomplete download can therefore make a file appear new.

Finish downloads and audio editing before scanning. If moving to another computer, restore TrackRate data, add the library at its new path, and rescan unchanged audio. Keep the old data backup until the reconnection has been verified.

First correct artist, album, and title metadata. Online lyrics and artwork come from independent providers, and TrackRate cannot guarantee availability or accuracy. Fetch a small batch with delays; repeated library-wide requests can be throttled.

If the lyrics cache itself appears damaged, close TrackRate and rename lyrics.wal as a backup so a fresh cache can be created. Enter lyrics manually or place manual artwork in the album-art folder when providers have no correct result.

They are separate stores. With Write to Audio Files off, edits remain only in TrackRate. With it on, supported edits are also written to embedded tags. External tag editors can change the file side without automatically making the same TrackRate edit.

Use Premium Metadata Sync to compare both sides and choose the direction deliberately. Test on one album before synchronizing a large collection, especially when the comment field contains hashtags used by other software.

For local playback, verify the file, enabled folder, output device, and supported sample rate. Disable exclusive output and optional processing temporarily. Very long files may be skipped during analysis to avoid Electron memory exhaustion while remaining playable.

For radio, test another direct stream because providers can fail or change URLs. For a slow visualizer, select a simpler style or disable visualization; EQ audio processing can remain active. If EQ settings reset, check whether cleanup software removed TrackRate’s local data.

Inspect the candidate pool first. Shuffle repeats when only a few tracks are eligible or a strong rating bias favors a small group. Mixer stops in Stop mode when an ingredient drains. Arrangers change behavior depending on selection versus reorder mode, active preset, metric availability, and interacting shaper weights.

Clear unrelated filters, test a smaller pool, and change one control at a time. New libraries should use Pure Random with Max Unrated at 100%; metric-based Arrangers should be used only after analysis completes.

Switch the Tags panel from Tagging Mode to Filtering Mode; Tagging Mode changes assignments. For text filters, press Enter after the expression so it becomes a chip.

If the result is still wrong, clear all parts of the filter chain: text chips, Tags-panel selections, rating filters, and Metric Lens. They work together but do not all use the same visual indicator.

For both, enable Settings → Remote API and allow TrackRate through the private-network firewall. Remote phones must use the desktop IP and port 19840 on the same LAN; localhost is wrong on a phone. Guest Wi-Fi isolation can also block access.

For MCP, enable the separate MCP toggle and copy the complete endpoint from its gear panel. The MCP client must run on the same machine. Confirm TrackRate remains open and that no port or path segment was changed.