Renaming Recovered FLAC Files In A Large Batch From Hard Disk Crash On Mac OS

[diw]

A (bash) script is perhaps the most appropriate solution.

I do not use Mac (Linux only) but bash syntax is the same.

In this case only renames flac files, not to directories. It can be modified to do so.

I recommend you try it in a directory created for this purpose (with a copy of some flac files in multiple directories) to see if it does what you expect.

The format is: track n° - title

 

You only need to install flac and metaflac if you did not. You can check this by opening a terminal and typing metaflac --help.

If the program is recognized skip to 2-

 

1- If the program is not recognized, you must install:

- with Homebrew

brew install flac

-Or downloading binary (eg Rarewares, not the latest version but anyway) and copying it to your PATH -as root or with sudo- eg:

mv flac metaflac /usr/local/bin
cd /usr/local/bin
chmod a+x metaflac flac

 

2- If you already have them installed, copy the following into an empty file:

#!/bin/bash

for i in *.flac
do

TITLE=`metaflac "$i" --show-tag=TITLE | sed s/.*=//g`
TRACKNUMBER=`metaflac "$i" --show-tag=TRACKNUMBER | sed s/.*=//g`
#ARTIST=`metaflac "$i" --show-tag=ARTIST | sed s/.*=//g`
#ALBUM=`metaflac "$i" --show-tag=ALBUM | sed s/.*=//g`

mv "$i" "$TRACKNUMBER - $TITLE.flac"
done

save it, name it as you like (for example renameflac), and move it to your PATH -as root o with sudo- (or you can create a symbolic link, especially if you want to change it later) eg:

mv renameflac /usr/local/bin
cd /usr/local/bin
chmod a+x renameflac

Close the Terminal.

Thus it became a "pseudo-program"

 

3- You have everything ready. Now navigate with the terminal to the directory where you have all the flac:

cd "path/to/directory with flac files/"

in your case I think

cd "/unix/Volumes/Old Files Recovered/"

*It may be more comfortable be placed in the directory with Finder and "Open a Terminal Here"

I think Mac does not have the "Open Terminal Here" function but can be added with ShellHere

In this terminal type:

 find -name "*.flac" -execdir renameflac {} \;

Remember that only renames files, not directories. This can be changed (I am not an expert of bash scripting, but I can try to help)

 

Sorry for my english.

 

 

I have a similar problem as the OP but with a different cause...I used dB Poweramp to convert my library of AIFF files to FLAC so that I could play them in a Kenwood car head unit...the conversion went fine ( but took several days for 2000 CDs ) but all the files ended up as individual FLAC files not in folders so the Kenwood wont recognise them and its impossible to find anything. I tried MP3tag and it finds the metadata for each file in a small batch I started as a test but its unclear how to organise them into album folders ( and the Help isnt available on my browser, it says ) Was there any resolution to the previous entries on this thread as to the best way to do this? So far I have only invested waiting time rather than anything else, and I still have the data intact in the original library, but it does seem tantalisingly possible to turn this hard drives worth of music into a properly indexed library ?

 

Ironically the Kenwood doesnt recognise FLAC files converted from AIFF for some reason and is a bit iffy with directly downloaded FLAC files....a pity because the one file that it does recognise sounds really good at both 16 and 24 bits. I sometimes feel very wistful about the days of physical media when searching meant getting on your knees in front of the shelf unit and dropping it meant having to scrape the dust bunnies from its surface.....any advice gleefully welcomed

[diw]

I have a similar problem as the OP but with a different cause...I used dB Poweramp to convert my library of AIFF files to FLAC so that I could play them in a Kenwood car head unit...the conversion went fine ( but took several days for 2000 CDs ) but all the files ended up as individual FLAC files not in folders so the Kenwood wont recognise them and its impossible to find anything. I tried MP3tag and it finds the metadata for each file in a small batch I started as a test but its unclear how to organise them into album folders ( and the Help isnt available on my browser, it says ) Was there any resolution to the previous entries on this thread as to the best way to do this? So far I have only invested waiting time rather than anything else, and I still have the data intact in the original library, but it does seem tantalisingly possible to turn this hard drives worth of music into a properly indexed library ?

 

Ironically the Kenwood doesnt recognise FLAC files converted from AIFF for some reason and is a bit iffy with directly downloaded FLAC files....a pity because the one file that it does recognise sounds really good at both 16 and 24 bits. I sometimes feel very wistful about the days of physical media when searching meant getting on your knees in front of the shelf unit and dropping it meant having to scrape the dust bunnies from its surface.....any advice gleefully welcomed

 

MP3Tag has now done its magic o the files and named them properly, and they play in the Kenwood...only problem is that all the files are in one large folder play as a kind of comic shuffle. As all the files now have artist and album names, it should be easy to group them in artist folders and album sub-folders right? On a Mac so cant use iTunes with FLAC files....anyone know a way to do this?