Ripped movie files missing from TV app after clean install

Question

Ripped movie files missing from TV app after clean install

Hi there. Back in the day I imported a whole bunch of movies to iTunes that I had ripped from my DVDs. Eventually upgraded to Catalina, then Big Sur, all seemed fine, but then I recently had to do a reformat and clean install.

Had a Time Machine backup and selected the option to use Migration Assistant to restore movies, etc. Once back up and running when I open the TV app, the thumbnails for my movies appear, but when I click them I get the message, "The movie [title] could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?"

I clicked 'Locate' but the files don't appear anywhere in Finder, and if I go into my Time Machine backup I can't locate them there either. I assume this is because they're now embedded in the TV Library file in ~User > Movies > TV. I right-clicked on the Library and selected Show Package Contents, hoping this might reveal the movie files, but no.

When I choose Get Info on the movie file its path is shown as ~User > Music > iTunes > iTunes Media > Movies, but it's not there.

Does anyone know a way to access the files stored in TV Library in Finder? Or any way to locate movie files in a Time Machine backup?

Thanks in advance.

Posted on May 12, 2021 5:01 PM

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Answer 1

Urquhart1244

Level 10

146,758 points

May 16, 2021 12:15 PM in response to Apostropher Royal

Try using Spotlight Search or a Finder Search to search your Mac disk(s) for (unique) keywords of those movie files.

Also search your Time Machine backup.

Use Find Any File if the former doesn’t give you results.

If you do a Get Info for a missing movie in the TV app, and then navigate the the File tab, then you’ll see the last known location path. That may help you locate the original. E.g. ~User > Music > iTunes > iTunes Media > Movies was the location, back when it was last linked correctly, some time before the reformat. Try navigating that path on your backup drive.

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Answer 2

May 17, 2021 5:45 PM in response to Urquhart1244

Thanks for the reply. Spotlight and Finder searches don't turn anything up when I search for one of the movie titles. Just tried Find Any File and it doesn't find anything either.

When I choose Get Info on the movie file in the TV App, the file's path is shown as ~User > Music > iTunes > iTunes Media > Movies, but when I navigate there in Finder or on the Time Machine backup, that folder does not exist.

I just imported a new file into the TV App, chose Get Info and changed its Media Kind from 'Home Video' to 'Movie' and bang, suddenly that 'Movies' folder that's meant to be in iTunes Media appeared in Finder, with just this one movie.

So I'm guessing this is a negative consequence of breaking up iTunes. When I went to Catalina, the files have somehow got lost with whatever the system did with that iTunes Media > Movies folder. And of course the Time Machine backup just reflects the system. Sigh. Oh well, at least my Home Videos are safe. They're the ones that are irreplaceable, and at least I still have all my physical DVDs.

Thanks again for your time.

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Ripped movie files missing from TV app after clean install

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