iTunes 8.0.1 upgrade can't locate files...AGAIN!!

i had (8.0.0) and have (8.0.1) the same issue with the same songs. 'get info' points to the file, but doesn't show the format of the file. i'm quickly losing patience with this. i may give up on itunes and switch back to realplayer (which still works on all files). just a temporary suggestion until (if?) apple comes up with something that works properly.

Same thing has happened here at my house! Please provide insight how to locate files and playlists

I also lost my library after downloading the 8.0 i-tunes upgrade. I can't find about 500 songs.

It would be such a shame that Apple might have took upon itself to eliminate from its i-tune subscriber's library any song it didn't sell to them. But, that's what it looks like to me. I can still fetch these songs, but to do so makes for me an irritatingly redundant task. And, for the third time- Aggh. Older users might recall the trip from OS9 to X. That glorious I-tune library just disappeared at that change.
Somehow, I think I'm fortunate for not purchasing 10.5!

rcnkc 5 Oct, 2008

Hi, Fans, yes, I have nearly the same problem. I installed the automatic up-date including iTunes 8.0
After that hundreds of mp3-files where lost in space from my external hard-disk. And we talk about my holy CD-collection, I converted and sold before I moved from Germany to Norway. I can´t believe that. I asked some guys in the macuser.de Community but all they can say is: try to recover from back-up. Great. I have tried that but now I have the chaos – thousands of doubles, which I can seperate manually. The only chance I see ist to try to buy data rescue or something equal. I´m so bugged!!! Don´t know what to do.

"...Apple might have took upon itself to eliminate from its i-tune subscriber's library any song it didn't sell to them..."

I guess, you´re right!

Rgds. Frank

Message was edited by: Frank Müller, Norway

Wow - you and Oliver Stone would get along just fine, the way you jump to your conspiracy theory so fast 🙂. iTunes 8.01 updated the library file as did iTunes 8. If you look inside your iTunes folder you should see a folder labeled *Previous iTunes LIbraries* and when a new version of iTunes brings changes to the library structure a backup of the old library is made before iTunes does the update. The reason Apple puts those old libraries there is because things can go wrong.

Possible fix 1) Under the File menu there's an Add to Library option. Select this and iTunes will add the missing songs to your iTunes library. The downside is that these will be treated like new songs so you'll lose ratings, play count, etc.

Possible fix 2) Quit iTunes. Open the *Previous iTunes LIbraries* and choose the original iTunes 7 library (you'll have to do it by the date in the file name). Copy it to the desktop and delete the date (and extra space) and then copy it to the iTunes folder. If you don't get the message that a newer file with the same name exists you didn't get the extra space at the end. Now start up iTunes and it will update the old iTunes 7 library again. Maybe this time it won't kill off songs. (Or maybe it will.)

ITUNES TECH SUPPORT CALL Case # 107479088
Sept. 30, 2008
I couldn’t get the Itunes to find the folder.
The message stated that Itunes cannot be found or created and is required. The default location for this folder is in the My Music folder.

I held the “SHIFT” key down as I clicked on the Itunes shortcut and it gave me a choice of finding the folder or creating a new one.
We tried some things, but to re-install one has to remove not only itunes, but also “Apple Mobile Device Support, the Apple Software update and Quick Time”,
Re-installing Itunes 8 will re-insert these.
Go to itunes website and download or use the execution file in the downloads folder.
Reboot the computer after install.
I had Quick time pro and there was a number there that I didn’t get. When we re-installed quick time I think It took out the Pro. Everything worked fine except:
Message received after installing recommended update Itunes 8.0.1.11 on Oct. 5, 2008
I had a screen shot, but it didn's come out. It says:#### #### was not copied to the ipod Joe Reynolds's Ipod because it could not be found.
Will this cause me trouble?

I went back to Itunes and got the message that Ipod sync was complete. Does that mean it found the the information?

Sorry - got sidetracked by the arrival of the insurance adjuster. Ike damage may get fixed before the first snow! I left out the last possible options besides a total rebuild and loss of metadata. Depending on how many files aren't being found, it might be worth exporting the database as an XML file and editing the LOCATION field of the missing files. If it is a few albums that are affected, a copy and replace using a text editor can fix the problem.

The second option is probably only worth trying if you are using TimeMachine or have a bootable backup with the old iTunes 7 still installed. Otherwise you'd have to revert to iTunes 7 which may not be easy manually. Sometimes reverting to an older version of iTunes is quite unpleasant. Anyway, revert to iTunes 7 and export your entire library and each playlist as an XML file. Return to iTunes 8.01 and start it with no library in the iTunes folder so it starts up blank. Now import the music library and see if your 'missing' music is found. If so, go ahead and import your playlists too.

The more interesting question is why the fouled import? I'd feedback Apple (apple.com/feedback) with an offer to send your library for troubleshooting. Since it doesn't seem to be a widespread problem either your library file picked up something bad along the way or you are using some character or combination of characters in a volume, directory or filename that is causing the trouble.

So did exporting/importing your playlists preserve your play count etc? I know it does for the entire library but I've never tried importing a playlist over empty metadata.

Believe it or not, my Ike damage came only in the form of 70-85 mile winds - - in Ohio! No rain, I just thought I'd see Toto, Dorothy, and the Wizard at any moment 🙂. Peeled the top layer of shingles off the house leaving the original layer virtually intact. I'm glad I decided to have the roofer leave the original shingles on the house when we put the new roof on five years ago.

Me TOO!!!
ITunes couldn't see any of my music after upgrade.
I keep my music lib (~10,000 tracks) on a mirrored firewire set. After 8.0.1. I had to "Add To Library" .. after setting "Don't Copy To Library when Adding" ... what a crock.
Open source MP3 players are looking better and better ...

It didn't preserve the play counts, but the play count wasn't important to me. The star ratings were however, are important to me. So before I erased the library, I created playlists "1Star", "2Star" etc and put the songs into the playlist. For some reason, iTunes wouldn't let me drag the songs which I highlighted to each playlist (I guess because it didn't know where they were) but I could ctrl click on the highlighted songs and add them to the playlist that way. Once I had the songs in playlists according to there star rating, I deleted the songs in the library, and followed the directions above. I could then import the star playlists, go into each playlist, highlight all the songs in each playlist and give them back the correct star rating.

I have lost my library and can not restore any of the previous songs except what I downloaded right after the upgrade to 8. Is there an actual real live person any one knows of that I can talk to. I have mucho $$ invested in these libararys and this is getting very frustrating.

I have been trying to fix this for hours...

Thanks

#2 worked for me.

After the Itunes 8.0.1 (11) update, I didn't realize I had no library until I imported an mp3--when it became the only song in my library. SCARY. I never had this issue before now.

I looked in the default library path and the library there was only 72KB (way too small!). In the previous Itunes Libraries, path the most recent--and largest--file had no date in the title. Copying and pasting that in the default library path did nothing. So, I found the next oldest (only about 1 month ago), and copied that in the default path and it worked.

Editing to add: this put everything (my playlists, ratings, counts etc) back as it was...as of a month ago I presume, but not much changed for me since then...

Message was edited by: misskingsley