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

I need some help to reinstall 12.9.3.3. I reinstalled a much earlier version and would like to install the 12.9.3.3. I just got an error saying "Genius won't update and you are not authorized - Turn off Genius to fix or something like that. As a result I lost all my songs in Virtual DJ (which I need for tomorrow night to do my DJ job). I shut everything down, and I think I am back OK for now. However, this happened to me once last September and it took numerous calls to tech support (to no avail) and it took months to recover the damage it caused when I "turned off Genius". It was a mess. Saying that, I would like to install 12.9.3.3. which I have the link.. However, I am not sure about the order of uninstall - IS IT ITUNES, Bonjour, Apple Software Update, Apple Mobile Device Support, Apple Applic Support 32 bit (not sure why I have this) and Apple Applic 64 bit ? Last time I had tech support help me, they totally got messed up and iTunes would not open at all. I am not sure what I did to get back up and running - I think on a whim I reinstalled the Appllic Support. One Tech support person advised that you no longer have to delete all the extra files, you just have to delete the ITUNES App and then install the new ITUNES that you want. Is that correct?

OK I was wrong I am continuing to get the Genius error - it says Genius cannot be updated because the iTunes Store does not recognize your iTunes library. Turn off Genius and turn back on. I don't want to do that as it causes a disaster in my database. Any ideas - have you ever come across this? I really like the functionality of iTunes, but I can't do this anymore. I just wish I was more techy and knew what I was doing or had someone local that could help me.

Hi MD, Not sure I can help. I thought you were running iTunes OK as of almost 3 weeks ago. What changed to cause these errors to start? I don't use Virtual DJ unfortunately. Are you saying that Virtual DJ is now not finding your music files?

Perhaps changes you made either by uninstalling and/or reinstalling iTunes has changed the folder location that Virtual DJ has on record so that now it doesn't see your current iTunes? This link walks you thru addressing such an issue. It sounds like you just need to point Virtual DJ to the correct or new folder location.

See: https://www.virtualdj.com/wiki/iTunes%20not%20showing.html

If you still plan on installing new versions of iTunes, you'll want to take the steps for Virtual DJ after.

Additionally, I used "Uninstall A Program" within the Control Panel in Windows on my PC and did not manually delete any files or folders. You shouldn't have to delete anything manually.

Thanks Steve DB and TT2. I did get Virtual Back - not sure why everything disappeared for a awhile. . Saying that, I saw the fix for the "Genius" and all I can say is Heaven Help Me. I will give Tech Support a call in the morning. I do have iTunes Match.

The standard fix for Genius problems is to turn it off and then on again, however if you use iCloud Music Library that has to be turned off first before you can turn off Genius. If it is broken you could potentially try deleting the iTunes Library Genius.itdb file when iTunes is closed to see if iTunes will simply regenerate it on the next launch.

tt2

After 3 agents and 2 hrs, I got the Genius fixed. It was a simplier fix. I also suggested to them that the warning should not just include to turn on and off Genius, but a warning not to do that if you have Itunes match - we will see where that goes. I also discussed in length about the 789 problem that it really needs to get escalated. After 3 agents, I was on the iTunes side vs the Technical support side. Don't know the difference.

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.

I also suggested that when the genious results error comes up that the solution should not say just say turn off Genius and turn it back on. That is not true for those of us that have Match. Last year, that mistake cost me about 3-4 months of work of which I still have not totally recovered from.

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

I've been having the same problem recently and it has happened when I send the audio from iTunes Mac to my homepod. I recently linked my iTune to my recently purchased home pod which forced my iTunes songs to go to iCloud. I believe it may have something to do with the iCloud. I've had iTunes for years and never had this problem before.

I just encountered this same problem earlier this week with files that were edited and saved with Audacity. I may have found a potential workaround:

I also use an app called Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate. This app can convert formats for video as well as audio. The current version 10 does not allow me to import any file formatted with AAC (.m4a) into iTunes. I don't know why but suspect that perhaps iTunes thinks I acquired a song illegally. Anyhow, I still have an older version of Wondershare, version 5, which does import .m4a files into iTunes. It also allowed me to take one of the affected files that reads 789 hours and convert it to another .m4a file and it imported/played just fine.

The user interface of Wondershare allows you to select multiple audio/video files and to convert them all at once. So if you have multiple files that are affected, this should reduce the amount of time for file conversion. And you retain a better format than .mp3. I know, we shouldn't have to do this at all, but at least this might be a good workaround for the time being.

.m4a music files created using Vinyl Studio on macOS (10.14.4) have the same issue; the files appear to get imported into my iTunes library (including lots of correct "info"), but the length of each cut is listed as 397:40:56 and all cuts are unplayable in iTunes. They are playable when I access the cuts in the itunes folder with QuickTime Player.

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.

That's interesting. Doing this on a Mac should be an easy fix but on Windows it would break the link to the file which would then need to be repaired. I could write a script for that. Did you reimport your tracks or do something else? Are you on Windows or Mac?

tt2