BUG: Removable HDD Issues

Steps to Reproduce Bug:

1) Plug in external HDD to Windows computer
2) Start Traktor
3) Configure Traktor Root directory to point to a folder on the external HDD
4) Allow for restart of Traktor and use program normally with new root folder and settings.
5) Close Traktor
6) Disconnect external HDD from computer
7) Start Traktor

Upon following these steps I receive the following two messages via alert popup windows every time:

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/5765/alert1.jpg
http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/7295/alert2.jpg

And then Traktor closes.

The only way I have found to open Traktor at all once this happens is to reconnect the HDD and ensure it is assigned the same drive letter once again. When it first happened I went even so far as to reinstall Traktor, and continued to receive the same error.

I have verified that the file referenced, "Traktor.log" is not write protected. I have even tried deleting it and making a new one, and always receive the same error. It just seems like Traktor refuses to move on once it realizes the previous root folder is inaccessible. This is a little ridiculous since it means if I forget my external HDD at home, or if it were to die while I were out, there is no remedy short of completely uninstalling Traktor, cleaning the registry, and reinstalling.

P.S. Whoever programmed this poor section of code apparently spells equally as poor since the word "probably" is spelled wrong "propably" in the alert window.

 

Never tried it (and can't for now) but what happen if you just rename the Collection.nml file to something else? I guess you'll need to rebuild the collection 'course, but once you have the HDD back, it's just a matter of renaming the "now old" Collection.nml file.

 

You can assign a fixed driveletter for your external HDD which should fix the problem.

- Open "diskmgmt.msc"
- Right-Click on the external HDD
- Click on Change
- Choose the drive-letter you want
- Click on OK

 

I just tried the following (on Win7):
1) Close Traktor
2) Rename C:\Users\<User_Name>\Documents\Native Instruments\collection.nml to collection.nml.old
3) Renamed directory C:\Users\<User_Name>\Documents\Native Instruments\Backup folder to Backup.old
4) Restart Traktor

I receive the same error when following these steps. Do you have any other suggestions on files I can change or rename?

Yes you are correct that this can help if the drive has not been assigned the proper letter upon being attached. I had to use this strategy to fix it the first time after I reattached the drive and it was still displaying this error. However, this is only helpful if I have that HDD with me with the folder in its proper place. If I do not have the drive with me or if it has broken this method leaves me with the same problem...broken software that doesn't work.

There clearly was someone who was thoughtful enough at an earlier point to write a method for resetting the Root directory to the default value if the previous location is unavailable upon startup. It just seems that in one of the latest revisions this function became broken and is now completely blocking access to the program instead of simply resetting that value. This is a serious bug which should be fixed.

 

yeah this worries me... I just tried to start Traktor without my main drive connected (i have a duplicate in my itunes) and I can't... is there no way to start this then if the drive's knackered? or you forget the psu or something dippy?

 

I have not found any workaround for this outside of using another drive. If you have only your laptop and only one system partition so that you are unable to change drive letters I think you are basically S.O.L. I even tried uninstalling and re-installing Traktor.

If you have a secondary partition or can use another drive (even someone else's temporarily) the workaround is to use the Disk Management utility as described by Ali to change another drive to the same letter Traktor is looking for. Then once Traktor loads change the root dir back to the default and play from your computer.

NI Support please look into this! It is a very serious bug that that should be able to be fixed with relatively little code correction. Please consider incorporating this fix in 1.2.5.

 

Does Trackor only look for the drive letter then or the whole folder/subfolder hirachy do you know?

An yes NI this is a serious issue that needs addressing ASAP! Something as simple as a blown FW port could bring a gig to a standstill! This is of huge concern and makes having duplicated material on the internal drive also a moot practice!

 

From what I tried, but plausible that I missed something, If the "Root directory" is located on your external hard drive, then yes, it may cause you some problem, unless life is almost good. Just Delete/rename the Collection.nml file and rebuild the collection. It really works...

Good idea for NI to come up with a solution with this, say "Ok dude, I don't find your collection right now for some odd reason, so do you want to log in Traktor anyway using the default setting so you could build a brand new collection OR just quit and check your hardware?"

 

Traktor only seems to get hung when the Drive letter it is looking for the root directory in is unavailable. To test this theory I just renamed my Traktor directory on my external HDD to Traktor.old and started Traktor. It started fine, imported the default settings, and started the wizard when I did this.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have tried deleting the collection.nml file when this happens and it does NOT correct the issue.

UPDATE:::: I just found my own workaround....

Traktor stores the root directory value in the registry as I suspected (which is why reinstalling didn't correct the issue).

If this happens in the future the following will correct the issue:

1) Open windows registry editor
2) Navigate to the following folder: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Native Instruments\Traktor Pro
3) Change the value for the key RootDirectory to a location with a valid drive letter.
4) Start Traktor

It would still be really nice for NI to correct this very annoying and likely very easy to fix bug. But at least there is hope if your HDD dies on the road now!