itunes media folder keeps resetting back to default

edfromcalgary wrote:

Anyone have anything to help with why iTunes preferences keeps going back to the default local "MEDIA" location?

There are two possible causes for this.

First is when the designated media folder is on an external or network drive that isn't available when iTunes is launched. If this happens iTunes will reset the media folder to the default path, a folder called iTunes Media inside the same folder as the active .itl library file. When this happens iTunes will assume all links to media are dead even if the drive is subsequently connected. Relaunch iTunes and all existing links should work again, but new media will be added to the newly designated media folder. iTunes has worked this way for as long as I can recall, well over 10 years. Perhaps at this point it is worth noting that the media folder is where new and consolidated content will go, it doesn't change where iTunes will look for content previously added to the library, nor will changing it make iTunes discover content in the new location.

The other possibility, as far as I was aware until now, affects recent builds of iTunes for Windows only, which apparently reset the media folder on each launch. I've yet to test the latest builds on either Windows or Mac platforms but will do so shortly. I would have noticed this bug earlier but for the fact that if the library is in the portable layout of library folder containing media folder, which all mine are, then it has no impact. It is possible that this behaviour isn't affecting everyone, and if that is the case then the underlying cause may be a permissions issue in the iTunes preference files which it might be possible to tackle in some other fashion, but the easiest workaround in most cases will be to move the library files and Album Artwork folder into the parent folder of your media folder. access the library on that new path, close iTunes and then rename the media folder as iTunes Media if it isn't already called that, and relaunch iTunes.

tt2

No disrespect but you all don't seem to understand what the problem is. The "hold down shift" thing is only going to help choose which library you're connecting to, not which media folder. I'm having this same issue currently. I'm connecting to the proper library file, but then I go into Preferences, change the Media Folder, exit out of iTunes and go back in, and it reverts back to the way it was. I just want to change where my media is being stored, not the library itself. This is clearly some kind of bug. I have the drive I want to use mapped, it's always available. There should be no issue with iTunes accessing it.

This solution doesn't work, at least not with the latest version of iTunes. When you hold the shift key, it does give you the Choose Library option, but you are then required to locate and open the .itl file, which only exists on the default C drive location.

Leave it to Apple to mess up a good thing with every new release... never had a problem changing my default library until they decided to integrate their software with Windows and OSX. Time to find a new player me thinks.

This solution doesn't work, at least not with the latest version of iTunes. When you hold the shift key, it does give you the Choose Library option, but you are then required to locate and open the .itl file, which only exists on the default C drive location.

Leave it to Apple to mess up a good thing with every new release... never had a problem changing my default library until they decided to integrate their software with Windows and OSX. Time to find a new player me thinks.

This solution doesn't work, at least not with the latest version of iTunes. When you hold the shift key, it does give you the Choose Library option, but you are then required to locate and open the .itl file, which only exists on the default C drive location.

Leave it to Apple to mess up a good thing with every new release... never had a problem changing my default library until they decided to integrate their software with Windows and OSX. Time to find a new player me thinks.

You're not reading the link, which will explain how to copy the .itl file to the external drive and put it in the correct relationship to the media folder such that this bug no longer causes you a problem. Essentially you want the .itl file in the same folder as your media folder. Other steps may be required to get the library into the standard shape of an iTunes folder that contains iTunes Media. This has been an issue for the last few builds.

tt2

The reason it resets back to the default location is because the ”iTunes Library.itl” file is located in the “iTunes Media” folder usually located in a “Music” folder on your computer’s hard drive. Copy and paste the .itl file in the folder where your new music folders are located on the external drive. Remove the .itl file from your default music folder. Then open itunes holding down shift and select the external drive/folder you want to use.

This is not the problem, and furthermore you can have your music (media) folder on a separate drive from your library files. I did it for years on a Mac successfully, and I've also done it on a Windows PC prior to the most recent versions of iTunes. This is a software bug. The location in the Preferences area resets after you close iTunes and open it back up again.

Calm down, junior. It's a forum discussion. I'm not here to argue (My opinion vs. Your opinion). Neither my personal experience or yours is the end all be all. It's great that you didn't ever have any issues, but some people still need answers regardless of your experience. I've had the same experience as you, but with this recent version after install, things changed.

turingtest2 wrote:

"You're not reading the link, which will explain how to copy the .itl file to the external drive and put it in the correct relationship to the media folder such that this bug no longer causes you a problem. Essentially you want the .itl file in the same folder as your media folder. Other steps may be required to get the library into the standard shape of an iTunes folder that contains iTunes Media. This has been an issue for the last few builds."

So, in relation to your dismissive reply, I'm absolutely correct and so are you.

Bye bye now...

Everything works? Nope. Keeps resetting back to C drive. Music I had has gone. hundreds of manually added cd`s . No longer have them due to moving home and stuff went missing. Who can I bill for this? Approx £500 worth of music deleted by this crappy software. Hundreds of hours spent trying to reload stuff from a drive i store my music on

Artwork gone. Songs randomly shoved anywhere in my music folder. Albums added, wrong song titles by the software.

I have never seen software this bad. Freezing, crashing, and then deleting stuff I have paid for.

Honestly cannot remember a version of this crap that worked properly. And by that a minimum amount of errors that were easy to manage. does not recognise the ipod i have, had the same for a while. Every time I plug it in to change a playlist it wipes the ipod. This software is crap.

I am having pretty much the same issue. Just bought a NAS and am looking to store all my media there (mapped to drive letter 'M' for Music). My iTunes media files are on a network drive (Z:) and the library file is in the default C:\Users\Username\Music folder on the PC. When I change the preferences to point to M:\iTunes\iTunes Media, iTunes provides the usual prompt about moving files and starts the process of organizing files. It does not however consolidate the library. When I go back into preferences, the Z:\iTunes Music Library folder is still selected as the iTunes Media folder location.

This is definitely still a serious issue in version 12.10.2.3 (under Windows 10), iTunes keeps resetting back to a default media folder and ignores the actual media folder.

Both the iTunes library and the media folder are on the same drive, but iTunes resets the media path to "L:\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media" even thought that is NOT the media folder (which is "L:\Music\ALAC"). This is extremely annoying, since now every time I start iTunes, I have to reset the media folder location, and since there are thousands of files, it takes a few minutes for iTunes to switch the folder. Changing the media folder to whatever iTunes wants is not an option. This used to work fine, what happened? And more importantly: what can be done and how can it be fixed?

Thanks, TT2,

I might just use the Feedback form and I'm currently looking into how far I can replace iTunes with, say, Music Bee. Consolidating the media to the iTunes default location is currently not an option for me.

Nick

This doesn't work. When I am asked to choose a library I should be able to select the folder in the drive where my music files are stored (say D drive). But when I select the folder in the D drive, it still asks for a file name. There is no file name for me to select, they are all individual songs. I want to select the entire music folder in D drive. I had this set up and it was working for the last year until a recent iTunes update messed up everything. I used to be able to select the iTunes Media Folder location by going to Edit/Preferences/Advanced and no matter how many times I select the folder I want and it works, every time I exit iTunes and open again, my drive is back to iTunes media folder in C: drive. It's really frustrating a company like Apple cannot fix such a simple bug.

Yes, Led-Zeppelin,

that is unfortunately a problem in the current iTunes version, and it is a definite bug on part of the software.

Unfortunately, there is currently no solution to this: at least under Windows (10), iTunes will NOT remember the media folder setting, not matter what, and always revert to its default after each start of the program. As TT2 suggested, I used the feedback form to escalate it to Apple. Maybe you should do likewise, perhaps if just enough people complain, they will eventually get to it. The only way to get around is would be to revert to an earlier version; I'm not sure which version was the last one without the bug though.

Regards

Nick