When something goes wrong

Upload failures, missing songs after an import, amber padlocks, and what to do about each.

"It won't let me upload"

Four different things in SetForge take a file, and the commonest problem is a file arriving at the wrong one. When that happens the message names the screen you actually want, so read it before retrying:

A backing track won't upload

Backing tracks are a Premium feature (see Free and Premium in Getting started) — on a free-tier account the upload button opens an upgrade prompt instead of a file picker.

Two more limits are enforced by the server rather than the file picker, so a file can be selectable and still be refused:

• 50 MB maximum. A full-length WAV usually exceeds this. Export an MP3 or m4a of the same track and it'll be a tenth the size.
• Audio formats only — MP3, m4a/AAC, WAV, FLAC, Ogg and WebM. A video file with the audio you want isn't accepted; pull the audio out first.

Uploading a track needs a connection. The audio goes to storage before anything is saved, so unlike most of the app this can't be done offline. It's also why a failed upload never leaves a broken track behind.

An import finished but songs are missing

The summary after an import tells you how many files were skipped and why. Two reasons account for most of it:

• Not a recognised ChordPro file. Anything in the zip that isn't a chart — a README, a PDF, cover art — is skipped by design.
• Plain text with no chords or ChordPro directives. A .txt has to look like a chart to be treated as one, otherwise every zip's readme would become a song.

If nothing was recognised you get an error rather than a cheerful "0 songs imported", so a silent success means the files really were charts.

The imported setlist isn't the one I already had

That's intended. An imported setlist is always a new one, named Friday Set (imported) if the name is taken — see Sharing a setlist. Nothing you already had is modified, and songs you already own are matched by title and artist rather than duplicated.

"Log practice" failed

Practice logging is the one write that needs a connection, and it tells you when it fails instead of pretending. Retry when you have signal — see Logging practice. Everything else you do offline queues and syncs later.

A banner says a change was lost

If the server permanently rejects a queued change, SetForge says so and names the part of your library affected rather than dropping it quietly. The change is gone and needs making again — the banner stays until you dismiss it, since it usually happens while you're on another screen.

Songs disappeared, or the padlock is amber

An uninstalled SetForge running in a browser tab can have its stored library cleared by the device when space runs short. Install it to your home screen — that's what the padlock is telling you, and it's covered in Getting started. This is more likely on iPhone or iPad than on Android — see the iOS note in Getting started.

Something in this guide isn't in the app

Check you're on the current version: an installed SetForge can keep running a previous one until it's closed and reopened. See the "Not yet built" section of the PDF edition.