CAN'T UPGRADE RESTORE MY iTUNES from macOS 10.11 to 10.12 why?

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Level 4

3,238 points

CAN'T UPGRADE RESTORE MY iTUNES from macOS 10.11 to 10.12 why?

Been moving my highly-organized User iTunes folder (30k songs, no Apple music) to Mac desktops, laptops, and higher OSes since before System 9

never been a problem until now - the moves have always updated and restored everything, including playlists and artwork for all 30K songs and albums just like it loaded on previous machines

THE PROBLEM:

I copied my 170GB iTunes folder from working 10.11x MacBook Pro (2011) over to 10.12 Mac Pro (2010) machine and opened iTunes - no joy - OSX 10.12 (iTunes 12.8.2.3) doesn't see or load the Library like it has always done in the past

what has changed

what might I be missing

or better how do I get 10.12 to load up and restore my hundreds of hours work in building my iTunes???

Mac Pro

Posted on Sep 6, 2019 2:53 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

turingtest2

Level 10

272,943 points

Sep 8, 2019 5:05 AM in response to -g

See Move your iTunes library to a new computer - Apple Community and in particular the link to Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash - Apple Community if you think you've moved the library in a way that should have worked but find your content isn't listed.

tt2

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Answer 2

chris_g1

Community Specialist

Sep 7, 2019 2:17 PM in response to -g

Hi -g,

Thank you for visiting Apple Support Communities. It sounds like you're having trouble restoring your iTunes library. I'd love to provide information to help.

This article offers the steps for restoring your iTunes library from a backup: Back up and restore your iTunes Library. Make sure you've followed the steps listed there.

If those steps don't help, reply with the steps you've taken to copy your library and move it.

Take care!

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Answer 3

-g Author

Level 4

3,238 points

Sep 7, 2019 3:34 PM in response to chris_g1

I'll give that review

the first issue with the process is CONSOLIDATE FILES (not sure how that will alter my iTunes folder, ie move songs around) and it's a huge 170gb folder to experiment with

second and third

Keep iTunes media folder organized (I recall that will drastically reorganize my folders; my folders are already organized the way I want them; I don't want to change anything)

Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library (I don't import my new songs that way because I like to control the process)

there is a chance my 170gb iTunes folder corrupted in coping it over to the new 10,12 install

I will try it again

meanwhile, I am wondering if something in iTunes has changed to break my long-trusted backup and restore process from a maxOS OS-X10.11 to 10.12 (2011-2010 Mac Pros)

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Answer 4

-g Author

Level 4

3,238 points

Sep 8, 2019 8:27 AM in response to turingtest2

>>In most cases you simply need to copy the entire iTunes folder from your old computer into the user's music folder of the new computer

thanks for the link - that's exactly what I'm doing and it has worked without issues for me dozens of times in the past

however, I've never restored it to macOS 10.12 or higher so I am wondering if 'progress' is a factor where that method is no longer reliable

still have solid backups of my iTunes folder to try again...

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Answer 5

-g Author

Level 4

3,238 points

Sep 18, 2019 11:29 AM in response to -g

WANT TO ADD recopying my backup 170 GB iTunes folder into my User>Music worked as soon as I opened iTunes with no extra steps (like it has always been there).

All 30,000 songs, playlists, artwork accounted for.

WHEW!

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Answer 6

turingtest2

Level 10

272,943 points

Sep 8, 2019 10:19 AM in response to -g

Try the second link. If the new computer is running a newer version of iTunes that the older one then the library will need updating, which sometimes goes wrong.

tt2

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Answer 7

-g Author

Level 4

3,238 points

Sep 8, 2019 1:50 PM in response to turingtest2

Thanks U give me hope it should work with 10.12 (and not an Apple OS or iTunes 'improvement')...

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CAN'T UPGRADE RESTORE MY iTUNES from macOS 10.11 to 10.12 why?

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