Long time Engine DJ user here. First time posting about this issue (and the THIRD time this has happened).
Just added multiple tracks to my library for a gig starting a few hours from now. Closed out Engine DJ and then used Soundswitch to auto script several tracks in my library. Opened up Engine DJ to sync the auto scripts and got a message of a CORRUPT database!
This is infuriating and unacceptable. I have a back up library but unfortunately it’s a month behind my current one. I’ve also been a long time Serato user and NEVER had this happen.
This totally lowers my confidence in this platform and causes me to question it’s reliability as a professional tool.
Please excuse the rant, but I am besides myself with this issue. Looking at the history in the forum, users have complained about this in the past with no resolution from the Engine Team.
As for now, I’m moving back to Serato until I see that this issue is taken seriously and resolved.
Same here, been a VDJ user since 2007 and still on the same DB with no issues whatsoever.
I know you shouldn’t have to but every single time I change anything in Engine I take a manual backup. I’ve read so many horror stories of this happening so whether I change something on Engine on the PC or on the player itself it’s backed up. I must have about a hundred of them now.
I know we shouldn’t have to do this but I have literally no confidence in Engine not to mess up at some point.
There’s nothing to suggest that it isn’t - every firmware release has the “various stability issues resolved”
sure, there’s always bits to fix (look at both Apple and Microsoft… still releasing bug fixes even after several years of release)
and… being brutally honest, users are getting stroppy when a couple of months go by without their entire wishlist of free add-on features don’t get added… and firmware/software changes are very much a see-saw between Change or Stability. Every time new features are added, there’s a chance of something which used to work, getting knocked off-balance - in fact… I feel a forum poll coming on
I had that exact thing happen once, only it wasn’t on Engine, I was using the ‘industry standard’… luckily I was aware of their less than 100% reliability so I had a spare USB stick.
I assumed it was a hardware issue with the flash drive but lo and behold when I got home and formatted it, it worked again. So I put some yellow electrical tape around it to differentiate it from my other drive and I’ve been using it since.
I disagree : unless someone’s just doing unpaid gigs, streaming, mates bedrooms etc
A DJ commanding a fee for their services should have a Plan B , a back up of every essential part of what enables them to offer what they’re charging for.
An up to date second drive should be the very beginning of that list ; a backup deck / mixer console , music playback device, speakers, lighting etc should be on the list also
I’ve been djing for nearly 40 years (25 professionally). I’ve used many platforms and manufacturers. In fact I’ve been a part of several developmental projects for Denon, starting with the MCX-8000. I’m a big fan of their equipment and have invested heavily in their products.
I have a Prime 4 that has been a workhorse week in and out for over five years. I also have two SC’s and an X1850. The SC’s are solid. The X1850 which I use lightly and sparingly, quit for no apparent reason.
For drives, I use only ScanDisk and Crucial products. The corrupt database has nothing to do with the drives (music is still there), but with the Engine DJ desktop software.
I play several gigs a week and expect my equipment and the supporting software, etc. to be stable. If there’s a known stability issue of this magnitude, please fix it.
This is not a “wish list” issue. When it comes to professional level equipment, stability and reliability trumps all other wants and needs.
I love the way the Engine Team innovates and I cheer them on, but if I loose access to my library, what good are all the bells and whistles to me?
No forum poll is needed. Let’s get some stability.
It happened to me too, and since then I’ve been backing up multiple times, even for a few playlist updates. I’ve never complained, but I think that as long as developers continue to think about rekordbox, it will continue to take time and resources away from engine dj stability.
Congrats - in your own description of “brutal” you’ve missed the point of said poll entirely lol
If you want to be, Bobby-no-backup or think that DJing x nights a week for Y number of years has somehow earnt you some kinda “right” to “I don’t need no backup ever man” then you’re in a fairly unique mindset there buddy
And you missed in my initial post that I DO backup. This issue isn’t with the backing up or “earnt” right (surprised your spell check didn’t catch that). It’s with stability. It would be great if you read everything before you send an unqualified comment.
And what are we going to poll regarding this? You send a valid point and I will endorse fully.
Honestly, as @Mixlive has said, database stability and robustness is the least we can expect from Engine DJ. All this noise about backups and process is distracting from the key complaint. I’ve also had DB problems. No one would accept DB corruption in a car navigation system - which is also an embedded SW system, for what it’s worth. This needs to be drastically improved.
Do car navigation systems have user sourced file imports from unknown sources? It’s actually really easy to corrupt that software if you try and upgrade it yourself, you can find this out pretty easily by visiting the many sites that offer retrofit navigation upgrades for say, Audi or VW cars.
As far as it goes in DJ world, anyone who claims that DB corruption is exclusive to Engine and not fairly common across the board is being dishonest. A corrupt DB is normally caused by a file or action that is not compatible with the DB. So to solve it a user should start looking at their files and where they source them from, or if they did anything to cause that corruption.
How was the DB formed initially (was it an import from other software for example), has the soundswitch software played a part in this? Does the soundswitch software link in with Serato? (the app they havent had an issue with). How was Engine closed down?
Lots of questions and lots of reasons why a corruption may occur.