Channels & viewing

[Ollio2]

No.... Now you're back to Roku being the problem. If you're only concerned with the Roku then I'll repeat. *Menu - Default shows the list in the order it's written and A-Z alphabetizes the list. If that doesn't fix it then it's not the problem from Roku.

[drumlin]

CKlemow -

Thank you for the information!

I am a little relieved to hear that this is indeed a real problem and is reproducible by someone else.

Although, I am sorry to now understand that this is indeed a real problem which Roku is not interesting in fixing.

I had given up trying to diagnose this, and I have not looked at it for a while.

I had earlier stated that the problem was not with Roku Media Server, but I was mistaken.

I had tried different configurations, different servers, different options - in short I had spent a lot of time on this to get something working - it was very frustrating.

In the least, I would have expected some sort of input from Roku to fix this basic problem, but there has been nothing.

I had an impression that this community board existed to not only share information between users, but also to have Roku aware of problems to fix.

Apparently, there is no interest from Roku to fix this problem, which is very real.

So I was incorrect when I wrote that the problem went away with Emby media server.

This was partially true - it went away with Emby media server using the Emby Roku channel.

The problem still exists using Emby media server and Roku Media Player.

The other point that I had wanted to make was that I had initially thought that the track list had something to do with sorting, since I had observed the same thing.

Although, I am not sure how deep this sorting went.

It's hard to explain, since I have given up trying to diagnose it, but I name my files <Track Number> <Title>.flac so it was easy to follow.

I initially created a long (40+ song) playlist, and noticed what you noticed - sorting based mostly on track number - but it wasn't 100 % - from what I vaguely recall.

In other words, I had most of the songs that were first in the first group, but some that were first were not - if that makes sense,

It was frustrating trying to figure out, so I gave up, and I my recollection could be wrong.

But, if you look at the examples I posted earlier, the songs and track number are as follows: Minute by Minute (4), Footsteps (10), China Grove (5), Confusion (8), Where Do We Go From Here (1), Strange Magic (18), Listen To The Music (1), Dangerous (15).

So for my three examples from before, it indeed follows your observation.

Again, I gave up trying to diagnose, but I can certainly try again if it would in some way help.

I would also like to know how to get this information to Roku so they fix the problem.

[robotkarateman]

Ollio2 is wrong. Default does not sort according to the playlist. It sorts, as others have pointed out, by track number. June 2021, I can confirm this is still an issue and it is the Roku because I'm having the same problem with a Foobar server. This didn't seem to be the case prior to 2019 or so when they updated the app because I used to use Media Player to stream podcasts to my stereo through my Roku. I tried doing that today and couldn't figure out why my playlist was all out of order. Found this thread, tested, and confirmed. 

Roku, please fix this!

[RokuDanny-R]

@robotkarateman

Thanks for the post.

Can you please provide us the following information:
-Roku device model
-serial number
-device ID
-software OS/version
(these can all be found in Settings > System > About)
-does this issue occur on a specific channel? if so, what channel and what version/build is the channel (this can be found be selecting the channel on the Home screen and pressing the * button)
-steps to reproduce the issue you are seeing

With more information we will be able to assist you further.

Thanks,
Danny

[HMike]

The problem discussed here is with the Roku Media Player App.  The app ignores the order of music specified in M3U playlists.  Instead, it follows the music file metadata, which will not give the correct sequence if the files were drawn from different albums or lack the metadata.  

The problem appears on multiple Roku devices.  I see this problem on both a Roku 3 and a Roku Ultra using music files on USB (I have not tried streaming music from a PC server).

[drumlin]

HMike -

Thanks for the reply.

I had given up on using the ROKU media player app and am using another workaround.

It was just frustrating to try to get something to work that was poorly designed.

RokuDanny-R:

Thank you for replying and asking for information 18 months after the first initial post of the problem!

I appreciate your attentiveness.

I think I detailed the problem and you can get the information from previous posts.

If you have trouble understanding English, I can find a suitable translator for you.

For what it's worth, here is some more information that I got from my Roku Player:

Roku Media Player 3600X.

Software Vesion 10.5.0

Build 4208

Roku Media Player Version 5.5 build 12.

I don't know what relevance this information has since I have not tried to reproduce this problem in a long time, having given up using Roku Media Player for this purpose.

If you indeed work for Roku, then it's your job to investigate software updates, and not mine.

I doubt the problem has been fixed since you seem to be still asking about it.

I tried giving you as much detailed information as I could, but I know longer am interested.

If you indeed are serious about the issue, then I may test it once you have it fixed.

[HMike]

drumlin:

I'm just hoping that if a "critical mass" of customers complain about this, it will finally get fixed.  I haven't found a workaround yet that doesn't have some other drawback.

[usjlop945]

The trouble is indeed with how the Roku Media Player translates the playlist. So far as I can inform, the Roku music types the songs in a playlist primarily based on the TRACK NUMBER in every music record's metadata.

[HMike]

usjlop945:

That is what I suspected.  My work-around is to place a copy of all the files listed in the playlist into a folder with the playlist, then edit the metadata to add or modify the track numbers in each file.  There are a lot of programs that can edit metadata -- VLC is an example that is available on wide array of platforms.  I haven't had a chance to verify if this workaround will work, but I will be surprised and dismayed if it doesn't.   

My other option is to re-create the playlists in an alternative Roku app like My Music.  My Music does not use M3U playlists -- it uses an unknown playlist format that is stored on the Roku device (at least I think that is where it is stored). 

On Gnu/Linux systems, the process of adding the metadata can be automated by using a command-line program like lltag and some scripting with something like Perl -- not a simple solution at all but maybe more efficient for hundreds of playlists.

[Mpg63]

Do it's  December of 2022 and the problem still exists. ROKU, please fix your media player so it works properly.