Hello, I just wanted to share my fix for “there is no media in the current folder”.
I usually can make my way through most technical issues with my black belt in Google Fu, but I never really saw this solution on these forums, despite many many threads here that are archived (e.g. this one and the various threads listed at the bottom it ) which I’m unable to reply to – hence making this thread here.
Here’s some background and details on what I did to correct my problem:
- This is for the WD Live device when using Windows 7’s network streaming service through Windows Media player. This is not for troubleshooting “There is no media in the current folder” if you are using locally attached storage.
- Since I had originally bought the device, the WD Live box was able to detect my media server shared through Windows Media Player (WMP). Music, movies, pictures, it was all there.
- For a while, it had even been able to play my music until I started troubleshooting an issue of streaming it from another laptop. I had went through a barrage of troubleshooting tips and eventually got my media to stream through Windows Media Player from desktop to laptop
- A week or so later, I come back to my WD Live box but am unable to see any of my music from my desktop media server. It still sees my pictures, it still sees my videos, but when trying to view my desktop’s music library through the WD Live device, all I get is “There is no media in the current folder”
- Cue the Google fu and troubleshooting:
- I share the root of the hard drive
- I relax permissions on all my music folders (granting EVERYONE full control)
- I remove and re-add my music directory location in Manage Music Library in WMP (right click Music inside WMP and then select Manage Music Library )
- I do the above and then just let the machine idle for a long time to build the library database (despite my music databases residing on a SATA3 SSD)
- I remove all music location directories from Manage Music Library and then point it to just one album’s folder
- None of the above work, but I remember something I’ve done when troubleshooting directly peer-to-peer Windows Media Player streaming…
The Fix
Forcing Windows Media Player media player to write NEW library database files by deleting the current ones.
- First, remove all music folders from the Music Library in Windows Media Player. In WMP, right click Music on the left menu and select Manage Music Library. ** Remove all folders from Library Locations**. When I did this, I noticed some files that were still listed even though they were in locations that no longer exist. This would be a good time to clean up whatever is left in the library by selecting all music items (after all locations have been removed from Music Library locations) and removing (and deleting them if they’re broken) them from the library. Now, close WMP.
- Stop the Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service. Open services. You can do this by the run command (winkey + r) and entering services.msc OR by typing Services in the start menu text box (Services with a little gear icon should appear). Scroll down to Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service. Right click it and select Stop. Minimize this window.
- Browse to your user’s Media Player appdata folder. C:\Users<your_username_here>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Media Player (or run command: %localappdata%\Microsoft\Media Player )
- Select all files that have the file extension .wmdb and move them to a temporary location (or just delete them). These are the database files that WMP creates to index your library. I usually just move them temporarily, but I’ve never had a problem with WMP creating a new database library, so deleting them is safe in my opinion. Windows will recreate these files; that is exactly what we’re trying to do :smiley:
- Launch WMP. Re-add your music directory as a Music Library location. As in step 1, in WMP, right click Music on the left menu and select Manage Music Library. Click Add… to add the folder where your music is located.
- Give WMP a minute or so to build the library. I have 40GB of music, and I only waited about 2 minutes before proceding.
- Open Services back up and find Windows Media Player Network Service as you did in step 2. This time, right click it and select Start.
- If on, turn off your WD Live device. Now, turn it on. The moment of truth is near – try to access your media server. With a new library database being advertised, all should be well :smileyvery-happy:
I hope this helps some poor souls out there who have tried to fix this. Cheers!
. Thanks for sharing.
