Time for imported AAC files is changing to 789:57:13

turingtest2 -- Thank you for the link. I uninstalled the new version (12.9.4.102), then installed an old version (12.9.1.4). When I first opened iTunes, the iTunes Library.itl was updated and worked fine -- I did not have to copy over to an older itl file as shown in the link. In any case, I'm glad to have my music back and can only hope Apple will find a fix for the new version soon.

Thanks also to Steve_DB and others providing helpful links.

I am not saying that the following is definitely the issue but it is a possible cause and I suggest you look in to it further.

I have found that often but not always Windows users are prone to accidentally use the wrong file extension for a file - particularly for video files. If hypothetically an MP3 file was given a .mp4 file extension this does not magically convert the file to MP4 format aka AAC but means the file is wrongly named.

As it happens Windows tools seem more forgiving of this type of mistake and Apple or more accurately Mac tools are more rigorous about checking things match properly. Therefore iTunes may see a file with a .mp4 file extension, then look at its contents and see it is not an MP4 file and reject it or in trying to process it get very, very confused. ;)

Similarly at least for video files, I have seen one of the main video 'containers' e.g. MPEG4, AVI, WMV, etc. which can be regarded as just 'envelopes' contain media using a CODEC not normally used with that particular type of container. If again hypothetically a .MP4 file contains instead audio compressed with say the MP3 codec then this would again confuse iTunes which is rigorously obeying the rules whilst other less careful programs might accept it.

Try using a tool like this https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo to give a report on the file. It should list the 'container' format and the codec used. Do this on a working AAC file and a non-working one to compare.

Hi, Just read these posts/replies as I have the same issue as of iTunes update 12.9.4.

Seems any AAC encoded file that was not created in iTunes or not created with the ALAC Codec format is defaulting to the 789:57:13 time and will not play or is not recognized by this version of iTunes.

For me, any files I encoded using Switch Sound File Converter Plus using the AAC Codec as opposed to Apple Lossless (ALAC) to file output format for m4a (iPhone/iPod/iPad/iTunes. I have done this for years to save hard drive space. I have a very large library of files created this way (and also those from Apple). All the files I had created using the AAC Codec are now impacted and will not play. Apple purchased files and CDs imported are fine. The file converter I am using has the option to choose between the AAC and ALAC codec. If I use the ALAC Codec, the file will play in iTunes. Just that, a particular file that was created using the AAC codec was 8.4 MB compared to 107 MB in the ALAC format. That's a huge difference in file size.

I don't have a solution, but thought I'd share hoping these details may be helpful. This seems an error on Apple's part or an intentional change to the file formats they are supporting in iTunes (without notice!). Hoping they can correct. The only potential solution I see now is rolling back to an earlier version. I am thankful to the others posting here as it confirmed for me that the issue was Apple and update 12.9.4.

Hello

I've been having this problem too on both my W10 machines and my MacOS Mojave ones. I think the issue is to do with tags, not with the actual files. I'm finding that if I upload a batch of files outputted as .m4a files from Audacity, some of them are good and some have the 789:57:13 problem. If I use a Mac app called Tag Stripper to delete all the tags of the dodgy ones, then reimport, then add the tags back in iTunes, they work fine. That's less of a pain than re-encoding. There's no obvious difference in tags between the good and bad ones, so I don't understand why all files are not affected, but hopefully this info will help somebody - maybe even our good friends at Apple - work out what the issue is!

They walked me through how to fix it. As it was explained to me, it is as if your computer or phone hoses up and you have to restart or roboot it. Genius is the same way - supposedly. I had to "reboot it" NOTE: Turning off the computer or closing out iTunes doesn't do it. You have sign out of iTunes, authorize your computer (again), and then check in preferences turning your ICloud music back on. It then goes thru the whole process of reloading your songs back into the cloud which I guess fixes the issue. At least it worked. They would not help me load 12.9.3.3. I really complained about 12.9.4.4 and other issues that I see. I am in iTunes 4 to 6 hrs a day and have a lot of feedback to give. But alas having someone listen is another things. This person was on the ITUNES Support side vs the Tech Support Side.

Reading elsewhere, on the Audacity forums, there is a really simple solution for changing the file extension from `.m4a` to `.mp4`.

This has resolved the issue for all the files that I had with this problem.

I had the same problem. iTunes will no longer play AAC (M4A) files that were created in applications other than iTunes. It's the newest version (12.94?) of iTunes that caused the problem. I had to convert my M4A files to MP3, and now they play fine. The M4A files from tunes purchased in the iTunes Store will play just fine, since they have a working codec built in to the files. I hope this helps.

Thanks tt2 for all the updates and most recently regarding the updated iTunes version for Windows. I can confirm that I have walked through updating my iTunes today and it appears the issue with 12.9.4 is resolved. I was prompted by iTunes to update to Version 12.9.5.7 for Windows and followed the usual steps.

My experience so far is good. No problem with m4a files that were previously impacted. I'm speaking from the perspective of Windows 7 and using iTunes itself to play existing music files that were already resident in my iTunes music folder.

Just discovered this on the AlpineSoft (who make VinylStudio) support forum:

"It has come to our attention that iTunes 12.9.4 (as supplied with Mojave 10.14.4 and on Windows) cannot read AAC files created by VinylStudio. We know why this is and will update our software as soon as possible but as it affects tracks already in your iTunes music library that may not be sufficient.

We therefore plan to:

• provide a utility to fix tracks saved by VinylStudio that are already in your music library
• log a bug report with Apple (there's nothing actually wrong with the files)

In the short term, please save your tracks in Apple Lossless format and convert them to AAC in iTunes. Sorry for any inconvenience."

So presumably a similar thing has happened with Audacity?

Yep, exactly the same symptoms. My machine is fine on 10.4.3 and itunes 12.9.2.5. Wife's machine is no good on 10.4.4 and itunes 12.9.4.94.

Same m4a files added to itunes, with different results. Mine is 100%. Wife's itunes shows the song length as 789.57.13 and won't play.

Converting the same songs to MP3 and adding to itunes works fine. Clearly a bug in something to do with AAC decryption or whatever in the latest itunes ??

Please Apple fix this - wife is a gym instructor using her music to make her income. Bit awkward.

Hi. I am on Windows 7. However, I'd say no, don't use 12.4.3 as it may be too old. Use from first link:

• iTunes 12.9.1.4 for Windows (32-bit) - iTunesSetup.exe (2018-10-24) Current
• iTunes 12.9.1.4 for Windows (64-bit) - iTunes64Setup.exe (2018-10-24)

Depending upon whether you are 32 or 64 bit - Follow steps to uninstall a program to remove the current iTunes. When completed, you can then re-install one of the above. From start menu, right click on Computer and view properties. You will see System type.

If not certain about these steps, you can use Google to find steps for uninstalling a program in Windows 10 and/or determining your system type. Uninstall a program in Windows 10 Determine system type Windows 10

Hope this helps. I've killed a lot of time today myself trying to untangle this unfortunate issue with iTunes and installing an older version will bring some relief but is not really a long term solution. Eventually we will need to update to a new version. Hoping that Apple addresses some of the previous requests from the group here and or subsequent versions of iTunes do not have this issue.

Regards, - Steve

Steve - Thank You! I had about a dozen AAC files from various sources that had duration corrupted when I updated their tags in iTunes. I uninstalled iTunes (Win 10), rebooted, then installed 12.9.1.4 64 bit. The affected files were "fixed" with the proper duration when I selected them and started to play them individually. Holding my breath to see Apple's next move...

I know you are using iTunes on Windows, but if you have access to ffmpeg I have a solution.

> ffmpeg -i <song title>.m4a -t <song duration hh:mm:ss> -c:v copy -c:a copy -c:s copy <song title>-out.m4a

Song duration is in hh:mm:ss format. So a song two minutes and four seconds long would be - '2:04'.

This seems to fix the faulty duration field and allows a song to play.

Here is my generic post for uninstalling and reinstalling iTunes. You should uninstall all Apple components related to iTunes before attempting the new install.

For general advice see Troubleshooting issues with iTunes for Windows updates.

The steps in the second box are a guide to removing everything related to iTunes and then rebuilding it which is often a good starting point unless the symptoms indicate a more specific approach. When reinstalling right click on the downloaded setup file and use run as administrator. It may also help to temporarily disable any non-Microsoft anti-virus.

Review the other boxes and the list of support documents further down the page in case one of them applies.

The further information area has direct links to the current and recent builds in case you have problems downloading, or want to revert to an older version if the current one won't work properly for you at the moment. Links to the most recent builds are now at the bottom of the page.

Your library and device backups should be unaffected by these steps but there are links to backup and recovery advice should it be needed.

tt2

Thanks. I guess it is good to know that this error really does seem to require signing out of iCloud Music Library and your Apple ID, then letting things rebuild when you sign back in again. Shame there is no shortcut to avoid that issue.

tt2