Using Rekorbox with Cloud Storage for Catalog & Music (for Windows)

If you are a DJ who uses rekordbox to manage your music library, you might want to sync your catalog and music files with cloud storage. This way, you can access your library from any device and have a backup in case something happens to your local storage. In this blog post, I will show you how to configure rekordbox with cloud storage using OneDrive or Google Drive.

Step 1 – Create Folders on Cloud Storage

The first step is to create a folder in your cloud storage where you want to store your rekordbox catalog and music files. For example, you can create a folder called “Rekordbox” and inside it create two subfolders: “Catalog” and “Music”. You can name them whatever you want, but make sure to remember them for later.

Step 2 – Map Drive Letters to the folders

The second step is to use the SUBST command in Windows to create virtual drives that point to these subfolders. The SUBST command allows you to assign a drive letter to any folder on your computer or network. This way, you can trick rekordbox into thinking that your cloud storage is a local drive (this is supported by rekordbox).

To use the SUBST command, open the Command Prompt as an administrator and type the following:

SUBST R: “C:\Users\YourName\Onedrive\Rekordbox\Catalog”
SUBST M: “C:\Users\YourName\Onedrive\Rekordbox\Music”

Replace YourName with your Windows username and Onedrive with Google Drive if you are using that service. Also, replace R: and M: with any available drive letters that you want to use for your catalog and music folders. You can check which drive letters are available by opening File Explorer and looking at the list of drives.

Step 3 – Point to new folders in Rekordbox

The third step is to configure rekordbox to use these virtual drives. Open rekordbox and go to Preferences > Advanced > Database Management. Click on the Change button next to the Database Location field and select the R: drive (or whichever drive letter you used for your catalog folder). Click OK and then Apply.

Next, go to Preferences > Advanced > Library Management. Click on the Change button next to the Library Location field and select the M: drive (or whichever drive letter you used for your music folder). Click OK and then Apply.

Step 4 – Drag and drop your music files to rekordbox

The fourth step is to add your music files to rekordbox. You can either drag and drop them from File Explorer or use the Import function in rekordbox. Make sure that you import them from the M: drive (or whichever drive letter you used for your music folder). This way, rekordbox will store the file paths as M:\Music\Artist\Album\Song.mp3 instead of C:\Users\YourName\Onedrive\Rekordbox\Music\Artist\Album\Song.mp3. This is important because if you use the full path, rekordbox will not be able to find your files if you switch devices or change your cloud storage settings.

If you had previously added local folder music in rekordbox, you can remap them to point to the new drive, as long as the relative paths are unchanged.

Step 5 – Test it

The fifth step is to test your setup. Close rekordbox and reopen it. Check if your catalog and music files are still there and if they play correctly. You can also try accessing your library from another device that has rekordbox installed and has access to your cloud storage. Just repeat steps 2 and 3 on that device and you should be good to go.

Step 6 – Trigger a Drive Mapping on every Windows start

The final step is to make sure that the SUBST command runs automatically every time you start Windows. This way, you don’t have to manually enter it every time you want to use rekordbox. To do this, you need to create a shortcut that executes the SUBST command and place it in the Startup folder.

To create a shortcut, right-click on an empty space on your desktop and select New > Shortcut. In the location field, type cmd /c subst R: “C:\Users\YourName\Onedrive\Rekordbox\Catalog” & subst M: “C:\Users\YourName\Onedrive\Rekordbox\Music”. Replace YourName with your Windows username and Onedrive with Google Drive if you are using that service. Also, replace R: and M: with the drive letters that you used for your catalog and music folders. Click Next and give a name to your shortcut, such as Rekordbox Cloud Sync. Click Finish.

To place the shortcut in the Startup folder, press Windows + R on your keyboard and type shell:startup in the Run dialog box. Click OK and a folder will open. Drag and drop your shortcut into this folder.

That’s it! You have successfully configured rekordbox with cloud storage using Onedrive or Google Drive. Now you can enjoy the benefits of having a synced and backed up library across all your devices.

Versioning preserves prior snapshots of files changed by rekordbox

Multiroom Support for Chromecast and Audio Extraction for Subwoofer

Chromecast Audio, now defunct, enabled users to pair any audio amplifier or receiver in the house, with casted audio from sources like Spotify and YouTube Music. Enabling multiroom on these devices helped with the option to bring music anywhere in the house, without spending hundreds on receivers that offered Zone 2 and Zone 3 outputs.

Continue reading

Options to extract Audio from Chromecast, now that Chromecast Audio has been Discontinued

It is sad to learn that Google has discontinued their Chromecast Audio. One of their best inexpensive devices that could be plugged to any receiver or speaker via RCA/line-out or mini-toslink (digital) connectors. I have been using them for almost 4 years, 3 of them enabled as Multi-Room, allowing me to stream music around the house.

I believed so much on this concept, that I gave one to my parents, one to my brother-in-law, and another one to a very good friend. Showed them how to use it with Spotify, YouTube Music and Google Play Music.

Google shall continue carrying their standard Chromecast, which starting on Gen. 2, allow for Multi-Room Audio.

There might be folks still interested on extracting just the audio portion of the stream, to feed to a receiver or any other device, using the standard Chromecast.

There are options out there. Below a few:

HDMI to HDMI + Optical Toslink SPDIF + 3.5mm AUX Stereo Audio Out:

Offering more than just audio, this could be an option for anyone trying to extract the audio portion before connecting to another HDMI cable.
Outputs: Toslink, mini-RCA (3.5 mm), HDMI (pass-through).

Amazon Link.

HDMI to RCA Audio Video AV CVBS Adapter Converter:

Pretty basic connector that converts the signal to composite audio and video. With any RCA cable anyone should be able to feed the audio portion to a receiver.
Outputs: RCA video and Stereo Audio

Amazon Link.

HDMI to VGA Converter Female to Female & 3.5mm Audio:

Fairly simple Connector that has an analog audio out (mini-RCA), and also a VGA input on the other side.
Outputs: Stereo mini-RCA (3.5 mm), VGA

Amazon Link.

Do you have any other recommendations? Let me know in the comments below.

Multi-Room Audio on Chromecast devices offer no Video

I got excited when I learned that Chromecast devices (Generation 2 and above of video) will offer multi-room audio support. I already owned Chromecast Audio devices for a few years now, and enabled multi-room audio on those already. However, I have a Gen.  2 Chromecast on my patio which I wanted to pair with the Chromecast Audio device that connects to a receiver that feeds audio output to speakers already in that area. I thought it was going to be a fantastic option to stream from YouTube Music into My TV that is then simulcasted to my Chromecast Audio.

I tried yesterday, and found out that there is no video streaming available on my Gen. 2 Chromecast. Just Audio. Bummer!

So, at least for now, Multi-Room Audio will be for just that, just audio. Would have been great to see Video also streamed in simultaneous with Chromecast Audio.

Save Gmail Attachments Into Google Drive and Delete: CCTV Amcrest DVR Images

Updated: 12/17/2018.

Recently I learned about the change of terms for Flickr, where I save all my CCTV snapshot images coming from my Amcrest 960H HVR. They are triggered when there is movement detected. Granted, not that effective by default, but at least provides me with indications or patterns of something abnormal happening, which can then allow me to search the video recordings (I shall run them against media analytics services at some point).

Point is that I needed to find out an alternative for hosting my images, and no better option than Google Drive. The system already sends out images via email, and I had to figure out how to land them into Google Drive. Luckily I found out this post from Andreas Gohr, where he provides a script that takes Gmail attachments and saves them into Google Drive.

On a high level, the solution relies on two processes:

  1. Rule within Gmail that treats the incoming email
  2. Script that runs asynchronously, finds emails and copies the attachment to Google Drive.

The processes are well documented in Gohr’s post.

I took the original code, and modified to suite my needs:

  1. Extract the DVR snapshot attachment image.
  2. Make a copy into a Google Drive sub-folder, using a sub-string. Used the camera number as folder name.
  3. Create subfolder names based on year, month and date provided by the filename (sample: 03_20181202010558.jpg). The folder name will be re-used if it already exists.
  4. Delete the email (as I no longer needed once copied).

My Gmail rule differs a bit from the original poster:

  1. Mute the Conversation (it does not appear in the inbox)
  2. Mark as read (this might be optional)

The script for my code is located here.

Feel free to create your own copy and modify to suite your needs. Just make sure to follow the instructions including the authorization step. This is important as the scripts requires access to Gmail. Google will be sending out an email with “possible risk” to the account, but you can instruct through console that you are OK with the script.