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How do I wipe the music database of Rhythmbox? I have imported lots of music into Rhythmbox. Now I want Rhythmbox to forget everything that I've imported.

colan
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N.N.
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1 Answers1

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Close Rhythmbox and delete the Rhythmbox database in ~/.local/share/rhythmbox/rhythmdb.xml.

If you also want Rhythmbox to forget your library paths (the directories where it automatically looks for music), then you need to delete them from dconf:

gsettings set org.gnome.rhythmbox.rhythmdb locations "['file:///dev/null']"

You can then set new paths in the Rhythmbox GUI, under Edit -> Preferences -> Music.

(Note that

gsettings reset org.gnome.rhythmbox.rhythmdb locations

does not work correctly, since then Rhythmbox tries to be "smart" and uses your home directory as a default value. Using /dev/null above prevents this; alternatively you could directly set the library paths using gsettings set).

ntc2
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RolandiXor
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  • What is the name of the database file? – N.N. Aug 08 '11 at 20:41
  • @N.N.: I am not 100% sure (I use banshee). I will try to find it and update my answer. – RolandiXor Aug 08 '11 at 20:49
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    I would appreciate that. Note that it was not me that downvoted your answer. Your answer needs more details to be a good one but does not deserve a downvote. – N.N. Aug 08 '11 at 20:53
  • @N.N.: I updated my answer and sorry for the hilarious spelling mistake there haha! – RolandiXor Aug 08 '11 at 21:25
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    Hi, if Roland Taylor's answer is correct, and it is, then the Rhythmbox database file's name is rhythmdb.xml. Yes? – grahammechanical Aug 10 '11 at 01:05
  • @grahammechanical: yes. – RolandiXor Aug 10 '11 at 04:22
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    @RolandTaylor Your answer is correct for my system except for one tiny detail. The path should be .local/share/rhythmbox/rhythmdb.xml (the directory is called "rhythmbox" and not "Rhythmbox"). – N.N. Aug 15 '11 at 17:34
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    Warning: Deleting this file will also delete your radio station data! If you really want to do this, back it up elsewhere first, and then re-add the radio station entries. As I believe these should be separated, I've filed a but about this. Please mark this bug as affecting you (if it bothers you as much as it does me): https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/rhythmbox/+bug/951977 – colan Mar 11 '12 at 03:02
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    This only half worked for me: I deleted the file multiple times but on each restart Rhythmbox remembered my library paths. Then I purged and reinstalled Rhythmbox. After that it still magically remembered the last path I had added, but had forgotten the ones I wanted to erase. Not sure how it's keeping the paths when I erase the .xml file??? – ntc2 Jul 04 '13 at 18:37
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    @ntc2 it's probably stored in in dconf. – RolandiXor Jul 04 '13 at 20:09
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    @RolandiXor Yes, I think that's it! I'll add the details to your answer. – ntc2 Jul 31 '13 at 05:53