Q: podcasts gone after iTunes 11.1 update

The proper way to restore your podcasts is in this support piece:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2562

I'm fairly sure the reason for this is a due to a mismatch between options to Keep all episodes in iTunes and Keep all unplayed or some similar option on your device when the new option to Sync podcast subscriptions, settings and stations has been enabled. I lost all played episodes of all podcast series that I synced to my devices.

Series that weren't synced were left untouched. iTunes still records both my default option and series specific options to Keep all episodes. iTunes doesn't manage my media folders. The deleted episodes were not sent to the recycle bin.

I'll file a bug report later, but in the meantime here is the recovery process, assuming you have a backup of the deleted files...

1. Restore copies of all the deleted podcasts to the Podcasts folders from your backup.

2. Restore a copy of the pre-upgrade library from the Previous iTunes Libraries folder.

3. Rename the current .itl file with the suffix (BAD), then move it into the Previous iTunes Libraries folder.

4. Remove the trailing date from the library file restored in step 2.

5. Start iTunes, go to the Podcasts section.

6. Uncheck the option to Sync podcast subscriptions, settings and stations then click Continue. This should prevent a repeat of the deletions.

7. On your devices you may also want to change the Episodes to keep to All in Settings > Podcasts and then again with the settings for each subscription in the app.

8. If, like me, you updated a whole bunch of apps before realizing there was a problem, you may find the restored library has multiple broken links to any apps that you updated. Use File > Add Folder to Library and select your Mobile Applications folder. Accept the offer to replace older versions with the files you are adding. iTunes may prompt that certain files cannot be updated because it can't find the file to add. Keep a note of these as it looks like this happens when both the old & new versions would be given the same file name and iTunes unhelpfully erases the file that it is supposed to add. You can delete any remaining broken entries, close iTunes, then reopen and download from iTunes Store > Purchased > Apps > Not on this computer.

If you don't have the episodes to restore then at least visit iTunes > Preferences > Store and Uncheck the option to Sync podcast subscriptions, settings and stations before attempting to redownload any older episodes.

tt2

I have just updatded to iTunes 11.1 and it has removed all of my playlists!!

Does anybody know how to restore them?

See Empty/corrupt library after upgrade/crash.

tt2

Great it worked!!! thank you :-)

You're welcome.

tt2

Thank you turingtest2. Your post allowed me to get my podcasts up and running again within a matter of minutes.

tt2

Turingtest2, I noticed you've been helping people in more than one discussion thread about this problem.

For what it's worth, here's another puzzle piece for us all.

I've experienced this problem lost podcasts issue and I do not have an iOS device involved in the the sync.

My iPhone is not linked to my home Mac's AppleID account.  I listen to podcasts on an old pre-iOS iPod which I sync via usb to my MacBook.

That suggests to me that the problem may rest soley within the iTunes 11.1 update (for both Mac & Windows, apparently).

I've lost a lot of old podcasts I'd saved -- incuding from podcasts that no longer exists and are no longer available from iTunes' servers to restore.

I assume you've checked that the physical files on the drive are missing, and that you don't have a backup.

tt2

They're not on my MacBook's hard drive under

  MyUserName>Music>iTunes>iTunes Music>Podcasts .

I do have a Time Machine/Time Capsule backup, so I'll  use for a search and restore, when I have time. (My reliable old iPod Nano did not contain the older podcasts I was saving.)  Then we'll have see what iTunes does when I try to bring the restored podcasts back in.

  Funny thing -- what I've lost includes the "The Official LOST podcast" about the old TV series.

Message was edited by: Bob Mayo

Bob Mayo wrote:

 

  Funny thing -- what I've lost includes the "The Official LOST podcast" about the old TV series.

Good luck with the recovery.

tt2

I too woke up to iTunes 11.1 with all my podcasts not showing.  The files are there.

I did find that if I go to the 'My podcasts' view and right click each podcast, select 'Show Old Episodes' that I could see all my missing podcasts. But I can't play them.

Apple too often forgets about the average user.  Most IT people do.  Even in testing it is easy to forget how the average user sees the application and what they want of it.  I feel Apple in their march to perfect they choose to leave behind the average user.  This is pure hubris on their part and as long as they are number one, they get away with it.  But every empire rises and falls.  Apple is in decline and this is just another indicator of their disconnect with those currently supporting thier company.

They should have defaulted the upgrade to show old episodes, especially when they are unplayed.  And they had to have noticed it in testing.