Can I change the default path for media files

[sdetert]

I have a smaller SSD and I am worried about it getting full fast.  Is there a way to have Launch box the program on the SSD and have all the games and media files on a separate drive?   I search the forms for admittedly only 10 -15 min and was not getting anywhere.

Any help would be appreciated.  That includes telling me just to install launchbox on the non SSD drive to make it easier.

Thanks in advance

[kidshoalin]

you just have to put your games on a HDD or SSD or games and Media on SSD HDD, the choice is yours, launchbox will handle all of it, just direct what you want from directing your roms and media, its pretty easy my friend

 

 

Edited May 11, 2020 by kidshoalin

[Retro808]

7 hours ago, sdetert said:

I have a smaller SSD and I am worried about it getting full fast.  Is there a way to have Launch box the program on the SSD and have all the games and media files on a separate drive?   I search the forms for admittedly only 10 -15 min and was not getting anywhere.

Any help would be appreciated.  That includes telling me just to install launchbox on the non SSD drive to make it easier.

Thanks in advance

To answer your question, yes you can change the default location for media, but it can be a bit of a process depending on how many platforms you imported. There is no simple way to bulk change media locations for imported platforms.

If you right click a platform name and choose edit you will see a folder tab. You can edit locations there. Problem is there are 46 folders and you have to do each one for each platform. You could also edit the platform xml file and do a replace search to replace the old part of the path with the new part. A little faster, but you would need to do it for each individual platform. If you went this route, or even if you did the first one, I recommend making a copy of the original platform xml files just in case something messes up. 

Games are a bit easier. Just move the games to where you want them. Then go into a platform and select all the games. Then go to >Tools>Change Roms Folder for Selected Platform. It will update the new location. You do have to do this for each platform, but at least it is not as intensive as media.

My recommendation is just move you entire LB to a new larger drive. Especially if it is an internal SSD or HDD. 

 

[AquaJew]

Any plans for an update to this functionality? I'd love to be able to make a move like this without a herculean amount of effort to reorganize 30 platforms. (around 1500 edits)

[dragon57]

1 hour ago, AquaJew said:

Any plans for an update to this functionality? I'd love to be able to make a move like this without a herculean amount of effort to reorganize 30 platforms. (around 1500 edits)

If you are willing to use something outside of LaunchBox, you can use something like Notepad++ under the "Find in files" tab to mass edit by replacing all the directory references in the XML files. Make sure LaunchBox is not running if you do this.

[AquaJew]

35 minutes ago, dragon57 said:

If you are willing to use something outside of LaunchBox, you can use something like Notepad++ under the "Find in files" tab to mass edit by replacing all the directory references in the XML files. Make sure LaunchBox is not running if you do this.

Which file (including location) do I need to edit? I'm very familiar with XML files (I prefer Sublime as the editor personally), but the only platform.xml file I found was in /LaunchBox/Metadata/ and it didn't have any information about folders.

Nope, found it, under /LaunchBox/Data/ heh. That being said, I know I've got a ton of assets for many platforms, and all of the tags are empty:

<Folder>D:\Games\Emulation\NES</Folder>
    <Notes>The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987. In most of Asia, including Japan (where it was first launched in 1983), China, Vietnam, Singapore, the Middle East and Hong Kong, it was released as the Family Computer, commonly shortened as either the romanized contraction Famicom, or abbreviated to FC. In South Korea, it was known as the Hyundai Comboy, and was distributed by Hynix which then was known as Hyundai Electronics.</Notes>
    <VideosFolder />
    <FrontImagesFolder />
    <BackImagesFolder />
    <ClearLogoImagesFolder />
    <FanartImagesFolder />
    <ScreenshotImagesFolder />
    <BannerImagesFolder />
    <SteamBannerImagesFolder />
    <ManualsFolder />
    <MusicFolder />
    <ScrapeAs>Nintendo Entertainment System</ScrapeAs>
    <VideoPath>Videos\Platforms\Nintendo Entertainment System.mp4</VideoPath>

The video one I can edit, but the rest, not sure why they're blank.

[C-Beats]

17 minutes ago, AquaJew said:

I prefer Sublime as the editor personally

Not heard THAT name in a while. Us "cool kids" using VS Code now a days 

18 minutes ago, AquaJew said:

but the only platform.xml file I found was in /LaunchBox/Metadata/ and it didn't have any information about folders.

He's referring to \\LaunchBox\Data\Platforms.xml. You want to change the <Folder> value of each <Platform>

[AquaJew]

20 minutes ago, C-Beats said:

Not heard THAT name in a while. Us "cool kids" using VS Code now a days 

He's referring to \\LaunchBox\Data\Platforms.xml. You want to change the <Folder> value of each <Platform>

Sorry, I might not have been clear. The rom location is easy to modify, both in and out of LaunchBox itself. I want to modify the location for all the various assets - images, music, manuals, etc. For every platform.

[Retro808]

19 minutes ago, AquaJew said:

Sorry, I might not have been clear. The rom location is easy to modify, both in and out of LaunchBox itself. I want to modify the location for all the various assets - images, music, manuals, etc. For every platform.

In the file CBeats referenced you need search for or scroll down until you see 

  <PlatformFolder>

Probably around line 2800 or so depending on your build. That area lists all the folders for every platform. 

It is not the folder lines listed in the section with the actual platform's details.

[AquaJew]

AH! I see, it's in the second section. Thank you so much, I found it!