I tried to run a backup and it told me to check the media files. I ran a media file check and it flagged many files as missing. Many of the files it has flagged exist and are in the correct directory. Some of them have names that might conceivably cause problems, such as “15(73).mp3” but others have straightforward names such as “rec1504251503.mp3”. These files are in the correct directory and can be played in a media player.
Is there any way to force it to perform the backup without first fixing the missing files? It has flagged hundreds of files, it will take me forever to fix them manually. I perform backups at the operating system level, but I would like to be able to use anki’s built-in functionality.
Check Backups - Anki Manual. Automatic backups in Anki don’t include media files. And manual .colpkg backups can be made even if some of the file references point to missing files. What error are you getting?
When I ran the backup, it displayed a message along the lines of
‘check media files’. It didn’t create the backup.
I add most media files by dragging them from Windows Explorer. I have noticed that sometimes it seems a bit flakey. It copies the filename into the card and the file into the media directory, but it when the card is displayed, it doesn’t play the file.
Backing up without media is not really too helpful for me as I have thousands of media files. I do have filesystem backups which I can use if needed.
It would be helpful to have an option to tell the backup to ignore the ‘missing’ media files.
If you export your collection as a .colpkg it should serve as a backup. The backups created using File > Create Backup wouldn’t include any media file.
Do you sync your collection with an AnkiWeb account? That should come in handy if you ever lose local data.
Sorry, yes that’s what I was referring to. I was attempting to export a .colpkg with the include media box checked. That’s when it threw the error.
I do sync with AnkiWeb so I’m fairly well covered. It would have been nice to be able to use the .colpkg functionality but I guess I can live without it.
I just tried on my phone and it works with missing files. Are you trying with the latest version on your computer? Try a Check database. If that still doesn’t work, show the error message.
After updating to the latest Anki and using check media again, do you still get the same error when syncing? If so, does logging out and then syncing again make it go away?