topicguy

Q: iTunes can't find my music

i've installed a new hard drive on my (windows) laptop.  using File Explorer, i see my music, and can play songs using other music software, but i can't get iTunes to find my music.

 

i've followed instructions from iTunes help (identify my media folder location, organize library, consolidate library, etc...) and a couple of YouTube videos, to no avail.  no songs, no playlists, nothing.

 

anyone have a bulletproof way to figure out what's going wrong?

Dell Latitude D520, Windows XP Pro

Posted on Sep 22, 2016 1:00 PM

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Q: iTunes can't find my music

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  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Sep 22, 2016 1:17 PM in response to topicguy
    Level 10 (87,156 points)
    Apple TV
    Sep 22, 2016 1:17 PM in response to topicguy

    See Make a split library portable for general background on moving working libraries around.

     

    If you moved the whole library you may be able to shift-start-iTunes to reconnect to it.

     

    If you moved the media folder only and iTunes is full of broken links you might want to shuffle things around so that it is the same as if you had moved the iTunes folder in one step, then shift-start-iTunes to reconnect to it. See also Re: How to populate iTunes from My Music file for more on broken links.

     

    If you're not bothered about ratings, playlists, play counts etc, then you can import the media into a new library. I would recommend that you set this out in the portable layout for best results in future. Rebuilding the library like this tends to have an impact on any synced devices too.

     

    If you tell me which bits of your library are stored where and what you see in iTunes compared to what you expect to see, I might be able to make useful suggestions.

     

    tt2

  • by topicguy,

    topicguy topicguy Sep 22, 2016 2:51 PM in response to turingtest2
    Level 1 (12 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 22, 2016 2:51 PM in response to turingtest2

    thanks for your feedback.

     

    - i moved the whole library - didn't attempt to have any 'broken links'.  everything is on my hard drive, no external drives.

    - i don't know what a shift-start-iTunes procedure is.

    - i am trying to save playlists and ratings - don't want to lose those.

    - what files(?) i see in file explorer are c: users/username/music/iTunes/iTunes Music/ with my music files, in artist/album folders.  also within that same folder string are the files

         iTunes Preferences.plist

         desktop.ini

         iTunes Library extras.itdb

         iTunes Library Genius.itdb

         iTunes Library.itl

         iTunes Music Library.xml

    - what libraries(?) i see in file explorer are libraries/music/iTunes/iTunes Music/ with my music files, in artist/album folders.  within this folder string are the same files listed immediately above.

     

    i hope that's clear.  let me know if you have other questions.  thanks for any help you can provide.

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Sep 22, 2016 3:28 PM in response to topicguy
    Level 10 (87,156 points)
    Apple TV
    Sep 22, 2016 3:28 PM in response to topicguy

    The core data for an iTunes Library is the iTunes Library.itl file. This holds a record of which media files have been added to the library, where to find them, what playlists they are in, and any other metadata that isn't be stored in tags such as ratings and play counts.

     

    This file would normally be in the ..\iTunes folder not ..\iTunes\iTunes Music as you seem to suggest.

     

    See Open a different iTunes Library file or create a new one - Apple Support for the steps to open a library on a different path. Specifically you don't do this by adjusting the setting of the media folder.

     

    See Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash if you've put the library in the correct place, or connected to the right iTunes Library.itl file but it has come up empty.

     

    tt2

  • by topicguy,

    topicguy topicguy Sep 22, 2016 4:19 PM in response to turingtest2
    Level 1 (12 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 22, 2016 4:19 PM in response to turingtest2

    thanks again.  i've tried everything in your response above, with no success.  i've drilled to the point of trying to recover my library from my iPod.  do you have any other suggestion before attempting that?  thanks again...

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Sep 22, 2016 4:30 PM in response to topicguy
    Level 10 (87,156 points)
    Apple TV
    Sep 22, 2016 4:30 PM in response to topicguy

    See Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device, or Recover media from an iPod if it is an older device. However if the media is on the hard drive then there isn't any need to extract it from your iPod.

     

    Can you post a screenshot of what you see in iTunes and iTunes Music? I suspect you need to move the library files up one level into the iTunes folder (there may be another set there already which is what is actually opening). rename iTunes Music as iTunes Media, connect to the relocated .itl file, and then fix broken links.

     

    tt2

  • by topicguy,

    topicguy topicguy Sep 22, 2016 5:40 PM in response to turingtest2
    Level 1 (12 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 22, 2016 5:40 PM in response to turingtest2

    thanks.  before moving library files, here are snapshots of my iTunes music and iTunes folders, and iTunes.  does this reveal something?Screenshot 2016-09-22 18.30.45.pngScreenshot 2016-09-22 18.32.59.pngScreenshot 2016-09-22 18.35.10.png

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Sep 23, 2016 2:56 AM in response to topicguy
    Level 10 (87,156 points)
    Apple TV
    Sep 23, 2016 2:56 AM in response to topicguy

    As I suspected you have two sets of library files. The iTunes Library (Corrupt).itl file also hints at previous problems. What are the respective sizes and last modified dates of the iTunes Library.itl files in iTunes and iTunes Music? It is also possible that the most representative version of your library could be in iTunes\Previous iTunes Libraries or iTunes Music\Previous iTunes Libraries (if that exists). Typically the largest .itl file will be the active library.

     

    Once you know which file has the information I suspect the best plan will be to move things around to match the standard layout as show in the right-hand image in Make a split library portable. Active library files and album artwork folder in iTunes, media inside iTunes\iTunes Media with artist folders down inside iTunes\iTunes Media\Music. Once in this layout and connected to the right library file so that all of your tracks and playlists are shown we can then move on to fixing the broken links (exclamation marks) that are likely to arise.

     

    tt2

  • by topicguy,

    topicguy topicguy Sep 23, 2016 7:39 AM in response to turingtest2
    Level 1 (12 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 23, 2016 7:39 AM in response to turingtest2

    progress!! my songs are showing up in iTunes but with your anticipated exclamation points and without playlists, etc.  thanks for getting me to this point.

     

    ready for the next recipe to hopefully get to the finish line.  thanks again.

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Sep 23, 2016 7:48 AM in response to topicguy
    Level 10 (87,156 points)
    Apple TV
    Sep 23, 2016 7:48 AM in response to topicguy

    Sounds promising. Now take a look at Re: How to populate iTunes from My Music file.

     

    tt2

  • by topicguy,

    topicguy topicguy Sep 28, 2016 3:05 PM in response to topicguy
    Level 1 (12 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 28, 2016 3:05 PM in response to topicguy

    greetings again.  i'm attempting to resume where we left off in this challenging process.

     

    i've copied my music files from my iPod to my 'automatically add to iTunes' folder.  i still don't have playlists, so i was going to follow the instructions to deal with that.  instructions state I should make a copy of my library file - but i cannot find in our communication string which folder is the one holding my correct library file.  can you help me with that one again?

     

    thanks so much...

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Sep 28, 2016 3:35 PM in response to topicguy
    Level 10 (87,156 points)
    Apple TV
    Sep 28, 2016 3:35 PM in response to topicguy

    The script iTunesITLPath can reveal the path, assuming that iTunes is creating the XML file. See About iTunes library files - Apple Support for more. If you shift-start iTunes and use the choose option it should also reveal the folder currently being used.

     

    tt2

  • by topicguy,

    topicguy topicguy Sep 29, 2016 3:21 PM in response to turingtest2
    Level 1 (12 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 29, 2016 3:21 PM in response to turingtest2

    thanks.  i've found the library and backed it up, and am now attempting to use the script ImportDevicePlaylists.

     

    i've saved that script and have selected some songs within iTunes, but when i attempt to run the script, i get a message back, "please select your device's music playlist, or a regular playlist or folder within it before running this script!"  I thought that's what I'd done - selected some songs - but the script won't run.

     

    any counsel?

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Sep 30, 2016 2:16 AM in response to topicguy
    Level 10 (87,156 points)
    Apple TV
    Sep 30, 2016 2:16 AM in response to topicguy

    You need to enable the sidebar, then expand the device, and select either the Music playlist to import all lists, or a playlist folder or regular list if you only want a selection or a specific list. In this example the Classic Creedence list would be imported.

     

    ImportPlaylist.png

     

    tt2

  • by topicguy,

    topicguy topicguy Sep 30, 2016 2:54 PM in response to topicguy
    Level 1 (12 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 30, 2016 2:54 PM in response to topicguy

    oh happy day!  thanks again for this - didn't realize that I was to select a playlist from the iPod, not iTunes.  i've done it and managed to import playlists and the ratings.  i can't thank you enough for all the back-and-forth.  (to give you some sense of scale, all of this was to sort out 200 GB of music, so it was important to me.)

     

    2 last questions:

    - all this was the result of my IT guy messing up my hard drive.  regardless, for the day when i have to get a new machine or whatever, is there a doc i can access with instructions on procedures to avoid going through this again?

    - is there a way to give you some props for your help?  i don't know how this community works, or how you accumulate all the 'points' you seem to have - if there's a way i can thank you publicly for your help, i'd be happy to do so.

     

    thanks again for everything...

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