SLOW IMPORTING OF MUSIC FROM CD'S

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Level 1

29 points

SLOW IMPORTING OF MUSIC FROM CD'S

It sure would be nice if all IMPORTING SLOW problems could be in one thread.
Maybe if I post a message here we can try to get other reports in the same place.
I beleive there is a problem here and have reported it in other threads.
PLEASE. Anyone else have a report of SLOW IMPORTING?

thanks

Jim

(my report follows...)

Posted on Nov 5, 2005 10:43 PM

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Answer 1

Jim Needham Author

Level 1

29 points

Nov 5, 2005 10:55 PM in response to Jim Needham

Hi All,

There is definetely a change in my importing. My speeds are a minimum of 1/3 or less of what they were before the iTunes (and recent OS-X) upgrade.

I import my cd's in groups of several hundred at a time and do this several times a year so I watch carefully to do it as fast as possible and there is no question as to the fact things have changed.

I have looked for clues or other reports of problems to no avail and will call Apple ASAP. In many cases the speed is less than 1/5th of the usual.

All reports (descriptions) below have been observed in an application-free environment, that is to say that iTunes is running alone and the report is not the result of other aspects of the confguration.

Characteristics of the problems that I have observed on a continuing basis:
- slow imports (less than 3x and usually less than 1x compared to the 8x to 13x I have been getting
- the 'current song' is lagging. In importing and in playing the problem exists. I am hearing the song play for seconds before itunes is providing the correct info.
- when switching to other windows or applications there is either/or: a delay during which nothing seems to be happening while the mouse form spins, or, an inability to bring the other app, or itunes to the position of uppermost window, for some time. Both suggest an unresolved computation or a failure to give up or check the processor cue.
- other applications I have used concurrnetly with iTunes now have communication problems (i.e.: no response from iTunes, hanging of app, or failure to return data requested)

Guesses:
- a change in library structure or the conversion of the file when updating may cause the problem (rebuild how?)
- a bad buffer (clear how?)
- a corrupted or (failure to read properly) preferences file (delete what?)
- bad code in iTunes (update when?)

QUESTION: How big is your library? Mine is rather large (40,000 songs I ripped) so perhaps Apple failed to consider or test large libraries....

QUESTION: My music is on an external firewire 800 drive. Where is yours?

ALSO: I observe another related issue. For the first time EVER iTunes is playing songs before updating the display. An dthe same is true for IMPORTING when the im,port continues to the next song while the display remains fixed on the previous title.
PLUS: there is another manifestation. Changing applications now has pecular problems i.e.. a wait or failure to change (spinning...)

I perceive a problem closing files, maybe a permissions problem or library format issue....

HELP

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Answer 2

Nov 6, 2005 12:22 AM in response to Jim Needham

I have imported heaps of CDs and they never used to take very long to import however recently when i have been importing CDs they take for ever! Its importing at between 5 and 7.5 % but no faster. From what i remember, it used to import at around 16% or more.

Ive got a feeling that its when they started bringing out the newer versions of iTunes (E.g. iTunes 5 and 6) but i could be wrong. Ive checked all of my setting but its still no good.

Is anyone else having this problem and can you help me??

I have a 20 gig library with 2629 songs, recently i have been importing at 320 kbs. i have a 40 gig ipod photo and a 80 gig hard drive on my powerbook with a 1.5 GHz processor.

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Answer 3

Nov 6, 2005 3:16 PM in response to mitch norris

I own a Mac mini with 1500 GB to import all the CDs I have (approx. 3000)
I use MacOS X 10.4.3 and iTunes 6.0.1. with 1900 albums and 25,800 songs at the moment. For that Import I use a cheap external PC-FireWire CD-Drive (48x), to keep the internal drive hale.
The thing is that iTunes becomes more and more slow, when importing. Mainly it takes a lot of time to organize all lists, basically the automatic-playlists, which update automatically. That means, importing itself happens fast. But at start of a track and at the end of that track, it takes approx. 30 seconds each and seems to wait for something.
Please check your settings and try it with a small library first to control everything. I'll not be responsible, if all your lists would be lost or anything else like that. I found the following way by trial and (no) error.
The trick I use, is, to move "iTunes Librarey" and "iTunes Music Library.xml" from "/Music/iTunes/" somewhere else. Restarting iTunes will create new ones. The destination remains the same as before. Now importing goes xtremely fast. After some CDs (maybe hundreds) or when you want to hear from your previous import, export the library and quit. Take the new files named as above anywhere else (trash) and copy your originals back. Restart iTunes and import the "Library.xml" or how you did call it. It takes a while to reorganize. Even the cover artwork will be imported. Check your playlists. Some new ones will have been added like jukebox, radio etc. You can delete them now, or remove the corresponding sections in the newly created iTunes library. Playing, searching, everything does fine, except editing tag information. There I have no idea, but maybe anybody else ...

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