Merged M3U8 Playlists are skipping entries

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#1

Created playlists for two folders, creating separate M3U8 files for each. Merged those two files into a combined M3U8 file. This combined filed was in folder sequence, so that all entries for folder one were first in the file. Loading that combined playlist receives and error that a file could not be accessed. The file that could not be accessed was the first file in the second folder.

This scenario was a test created to prove a theory. The problem originated when I created 62 separate playlist files, each containing contents of a single folder, and combined them in a single file. In that case the first file in folders 2-62 could not be accessed.

I'm using V3.01 in Windows 10.

For fun I set the "Write Extended Info" option for Playlists. This forced creation of # entries in the Playlist file. Combining these files into a single file and loading it was successful.

#2

I tried it with an without the creation of extended information and I do not get a blocked file.
Could it be that another program accesses the file? Or that there is a syntax error in the playlist. you do not describe how you merge the playlist.

#3

It happens first entry in each file (62 in one case) so they can't all be in use. As I mentioned adding the #EXTM3U flag as the first line fixes it. I was using the TYPE command in DOS. As a hunch I used the TYPE command in Power Shell and was successful. I did solve my immediate problem, but curious what is causing the issue.

#4

Please check the playlists and see if there are strange lines or characters like e.g. the command prompt or so.
THis could lead to a line with text that does not comply with filename conventions but gets interpreted as one.
BTW: the best way to merge all the playlists into one with MP3tag would be to drag&drop them from the explorer and add them to the files list. Once all the playlists have been loaded, you can create a new playlist. Like that you also get a check whether the referenced files still exist.

#5

If you're using UTF-8 encoded playlists (i.e., *.m3u8) each of those files has an UTF-8 BOM at the beginning of the file.

If you combine these files without taking this into account, you'll end up with multiple UTF-8 BOMs inside those files, affecting each of the first entries from those files.