Jimmy Buffett World Discussion Board

Jokelben 2.0 (mirror site hosted on Mega.nz)


I have posted an online backup of Jokelben. It is hosted on Mega.nz, which is the same site we have used to post the Marg TV videos. As part of this backup, I have done the following updates to the Jokelben content:

• Updated missing or inaccurate ID3 tag information in all the files. This is the title and album info that displays in software and most hardware mp3 players.
• Fixed missing track numbers in ID3 tags. The track number can help play the files in order on some players.
• Deleted over 4,300 duplicate files. This removed 35GB of content that was just taking up space on the server. Many of the dupes were from recent backup recoveries and were labeled as "copy 2", "copy 3", etc.

There are several advantages (and a few disadvantages) to using Mega for hosting the JB content:

Pros

• One Click Downloads - Even though this is not a site that uses FTP, you can download an entire show folder with a single click. Simply right click the folder, then select Download > Standard Download. (okay, so maybe it's actually 2 clicks...)
• Read-Only Access - The read-only nature of this site protects shows from being deleted or files from being moved to an incorrect location.
• Mobile App Download - You can easily setup the Mega app for downloading to your phone or tablet. Be advised that the shows can be 100MB and larger, so be sure to monitor your storage space and data usage.
• No Shutdown Threats - It is less likely that this backup will get shutdown due to "content issues" that have often plagued Jokelben.

Cons

• No Anonymous Uploads - If you have a rare show or song that is not on Jokelben, you cannot upload it here. Simply bounce a PM to me and we can arrange the upload.
• No FTP Transfers - As I mentioned above, FTP is not available, but you can still download an entire show folder in just a couple clicks.
• Partially Searchable - You can search for specific file names, but you will not be able to tell which show the file is for. For example, searching for "Come Monday" will produce all occurrences of the song, but it will not identify the folder of each file. The exception to this are shows that I have captured and posted that have the city and date within the filename.
• May Be Blocked By Work Proxies - This is a file share site, which may be blocked by a proxy at work, especially with larger corporate proxy settings.

FAQs

• Is it safe to download from Mega? Downloading from any site has its risks. You just need to know what you are downloading and who posted the content. This is the same great collection of JB content you have been browsing for years on Jokelben and is perfectly safe.
• Do I need an account to download from Mega? You do not need an account to download, either by the website or with the app.
• What browser do you recommend for downloading? I recommend using either Google Chrome or Firefox.
• Do I need to install Megasync to my computer to download shows? You do not need to install this app for downloading. You can simply download with your browser or with the mobile app.
• When downloading any shows, should I select "Standard Download" or "Download as ZIP"? The Standard Download option will download the folder with all the songs as separate files within the folder to your hard drive. The Download as ZIP option will download the complete folder as a single ZIP archive, which you would have to unZIP before accessing the files. Since the audio files by design are already compressed, ZIPping the files will not save very much hard drive space or download bandwidth. You can use either option, but I would recommend selecting the Standard Download option.
• Why not just post all the shows on your (SunLover) FTP site? I am in the process of cleaning up my site and posting more shows there. The full Jokelben content (without dupes) is 127GB, which can draw unfavorable attention from web hosting companies. For now, the full mirror site will be on Mega. An alternate consideration is to split the content on the two FTP servers, so each site does not have the full load of shows.
• Are there some shows missing from the Mega site? At this time, the content is still uploading to Mega. I am uploading the shows in order, so please be patient. As part of the dupe cleanup, some folders were renamed. Empty folders that resulted after the scans were deleted.
• How were the duplicate files deleted? Did any shows get deleted by mistake? I have a complete backup of the Jokelben FTP. I scanned the entire contents, which consisted of more than 21,000 files in 150GB. Exact duplicate files were identified with the scanning program. The dupes were carefully selected, usually by the folder name (copy 2, copy 3, etc) and deleted. Remaining duplicate files that were not detected by matching size were checked to determine if they were complete. In some cases, the duplicate named files were incomplete or corrupted, most likely from an earlier backup that did not run completely. In cases when a show was available in multiple formats (for example: mp3 and wma) and the sound quality was identical, the wma files were deleted in favor of mp3. If the sound quality of one format was better than the other, the better sounding files were retained, even if it is a proprietary format such as wma. For shows that had an upgraded capture available, the original files were deleted. These show folders are identified with "(upgrade)" in the name.
• Can I link to any of the show folders? Yes, you may link to any of the show folders. Simply right click the folder, then select "Get Link". In the next dialog box, be sure to select "Link with key" to get the full link, then click the Copy button.
• What is the "0000_test" folder? That folder is a temporary holding bay for active uploads during the initial setup. Do not download content from this folder since it may not be complete. Wait until the folders are moved to the "Jokelben 2.0" root folder. When the initial uploads are complete, this folder will be removed.
• Will you continue to maintain the Jokelben FTP site? Absolutely! The Jokelben FTP site is the best resource for JB content. When it becomes available again, I will do the same maintenance regarding duplicate files, file and folder names, ID3 tags, etc.

For now, this will be a good central location for the Jokelben content. Of course, when the original Jokelben FTP is available, we will continue to maintain the content there as well. As always, if you have any questions, please let me know.