Q: Songs Disappearing from iTunes

macandmercedes wrote:

 

Ok, so what are you planning on doing now?

As given a few posts earlier in the thread...

I'm obviously being too subtle with the links. I use a folder cloning tool called SyncToy as described here: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-2682

 

You can find a similar tool, e.g. CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper!, for Macs.

 

Or you can use 3rd party tools to burn backups to DVDs.

 

In a nutshell you need to copy your entire iTunes folder somewhere else, then if the original dies you can restore the copy. If the copy dies just make a new one. Tools help streamline the process of updating the backup.

tt2

This OSX utility can fix the missing exclamation mark problem, provided the songs still exist in the original locations.

https://github.com/jbaumbach/TuneDoctor

Hope this helps.

JB

lavamantis wrote:

 

This OSX utility can fix the missing exclamation mark problem, provided the songs still exist in the original locations.

Software free solution: Close iTunes, enable/wake-up external/network drive, start iTunes. No more exclamation marks.

tt2

turingtest2 wrote:

 

lavamantis wrote:

 

This OSX utility can fix the missing exclamation mark problem, provided the songs still exist in the original locations.

 

Software free solution: Close iTunes, enable/wake-up external/network drive, start iTunes. No more exclamation marks.

 

tt2

and it really is that simple?

Zounds!

Many thanks to tt2...you've been a great help on these issues. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

The frustrating thing is all the hoops that have to be jumped through to get basic functionality from such a popular software product and the expertise needed to figure out problems and workarounds.

I've now got a Zune but haven't done anything with it. I've read mixed reviews of the Zune music management software. Has anyone used a management product called MusicBee? That seems to get the best reviews for overall simplicity and functionality. Right now, my plan is to try to salvage my music collection, move it to MusicBee, and use my new Zune player.

I mentioned before that all of my music library appears to be almost intact with three problems....

First, all my ripped music had vanished but I was able to restore how it's listed in the library with tt2's help. Thanks again.

Second, all of my iTunes Store purchases have been downloaded twice. I have no idea how that happened but I assume I'll have to manually delete about 3,000 songs.

Third, I had a fair number of video clips. Some were music videos along with a couple of SNL bits I downloaded from the iTunes Store. Except for the two SNL episodes, all of the purchased and ripped videos are gone. The SNL episodes show up in the "TV Shows" listing in the iTunes library but there is nothing in the "Movies" category where most of the videos used to be. They are gone from the library listing and from my hard drive.

Chris CA wrote:

 

and it really is that simple?

Zounds!

If nothing has moved, yes. Once iTunes has noticed that a drive isn't accessible it seems to treat all the files as AWOL until given reason to check again. Double-clicking a song may make it check and then play that track, but it will skip others that it has "decided" are missing. Close iTunes and restart and it assumes everything is where it should be until circumstances reveal otherwise. Granted most of my desructive testing takes place on Windows but I'm fairly sure iTunes for Mac behaves the same in this respect.

Of course if the files have been moved, that's a whole different ball game. Usually moving files back where they came from, closing and opening iTunes will work, otherwise for Windows users I have a script for remapping the broken links to the new paths.

tt2

QuoteNotes wrote:

 

Many thanks to tt2...you've been a great help on these issues. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

 

The frustrating thing is all the hoops that have to be jumped through to get basic functionality from such a popular software product and the expertise needed to figure out problems and workarounds.

 

I've now got a Zune but haven't done anything with it. I've read mixed reviews of the Zune music management software. Has anyone used a management product called MusicBee? That seems to get the best reviews for overall simplicity and functionality. Right now, my plan is to try to salvage my music collection, move it to MusicBee, and use my new Zune player.

 

I mentioned before that all of my music library appears to be almost intact with three problems....

 

First, all my ripped music had vanished but I was able to restore how it's listed in the library with tt2's help. Thanks again.

You're welcome.

Second, all of my iTunes Store purchases have been downloaded twice. I have no idea how that happened but I assume I'll have to manually delete about 3,000 songs.

See this thread for background on why iTunes can end up with duplicates and how they can be systematically removed. The script there is for Windows users and the "show duplicates" menus have moved around in iTunes 11,  but the advice on clearing recently made duplicates should still hold.

Third, I had a fair number of video clips. Some were music videos along with a couple of SNL bits I downloaded from the iTunes Store. Except for the two SNL episodes, all of the purchased and ripped videos are gone. The SNL episodes show up in the "TV Shows" listing in the iTunes library but there is nothing in the "Movies" category where most of the videos used to be. They are gone from the library listing and from my hard drive.

Hard to say why that might be the case. Did you perhaps move the movies to another drive at some point to free up space? Depending upon exactly when the purchases were made, and if that content is still available in the store, you should be able to download those again.

tt2

I'll check out the duplicates thread. Thanks.

No, I didn't move anything. The files appear to have just vanished. I had dozens of 2-3 minute video clips I had accumulated that are all gone. I'm not too concerned about them. I think I'll stick with just music files and move to the Zune.

No worries. Just in case it helps to avoid problems later I suggest a read of my post on Getting iTunes & Windows Media Player to play nicely.

If you reimported the media folder at some point the missing clips could be in the Home Videos section of the iTunes Library.

tt2

I am now trying to move my itunes music ot a new computer and its a headache to say the least.  It will move the folders but not what is in the folder.  What I hate is the song could be missing and I won't know until I actually click on the title.  The song is on the old computer in the folder.   WHY won't the folder with said contents MOVE to the new computer?

Normally all you need to do is copy the entire iTunes folder from one computer to the other. See make a split library portable for how to fix things if the media isn't in the usual place. There are tools or techniques to confirm every track that is referenced by the library can be found, and you can import the media folder to make sure that every file in the media folder is connected to the library.

tt2

Can anyone think of another consumer software product with this large of a customer base that experiences the same extent and degree of problems as iTunes? You would think functionality would be much simpler and reliable.

It only made things more complicated and got me to say Huh?  But I am interested in the tools and techniques to speak of.

For Mac:

MusicFolder Files Not Added and Super Remove Dead Tracks

Backup the library with Carbon Copy Cloner or something similar.

For Windows:

iTunes Folder Watch with the option to check for dead tracks on start-up enabled.

Backup the library with SyncToy.

tt2

Just recently  updated itunes from 10 to 11 and found all my old playlists and all my my non purchased music has disappeared from my library.  I went through irip for hep and  using my ipod all my music showed up again. The problem is now it's in a file that itunes says is not for my ipod to access so can't get my music back into my library.  I feel angry that  all myCDs,  many of which are no longer available have just disappeared or unaccessible...this seems illegal...a form of careless theft. 

Any suggestions  how to open the file  and  back into my library for  playlistswithout downloading everything back onto my ipod?

PS.

I went through irip on the suggestion of a 'genius' at the Apple store... It initially worked but as mentioned before, the next days all my music was in a file 'not for my ipod'... What the....?