Issues with iTunes and music stored on a WD My Cloud

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Issues with iTunes and music stored on a WD My Cloud

I'm having issues with iTunes and music stored on a WD My Cloud device. iTunes is set as default music player. When I double click on a music file in the browser (or Control-click>Open with>iTunes), the music file plays on iTunes ok, but the file disappears from the WD file location. This does not happen when I select to open the file with other music players I have available. When I search in the WD MC location on my phone, the file is also not there. While in iTunes, if I Control-click the song name in the Library>Song Info, it indicates that the song file is still located in that same file on MC, but looking for it in Finder fails to find it. I'm at a loss as to how to correct this and any help would be greatly appreciated!

MacBook Air

Posted on Nov 19, 2021 9:49 AM

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Answer 1

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turingtest2

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Nov 20, 2021 8:37 AM in response to Stratslinger

A split library is one where the library folder (holding the iTunes Library.itl file) isn't the immediate parent of the media folder (as defined in preferences). Typically with a NAS/network drive rather than a locally attached external drive you want a split library for performance.

Layout controls whether music files go to:

<Media Folder>/<Album Artist>/<Album>/## <Name>.<Ext> or

<Media Folder>/Music/<Album Artist>/<Album>/## <Name>.<Ext>

By default the second pattern has been used since iTunes 9. You can bring an older library up to date using File > Library > Organize Library > Rearrange Files. To go in the other direction and force the older layout you need to edit the file .iTunes Preferences.plist in the media folder, change the layout value from 1 to 0, then turn Keep organized off and on again.

tt2

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Answer 2

turingtest2

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Nov 20, 2021 5:44 AM in response to Stratslinger

So is Public the name of your WD My Cloud drive? iTunes isn't guaranteed to play nicely with third party NAS/cloud devices & services. See Repair security permissions for iTunes for Mac - Apple Community in case this is some kind of permissions issue.

tt2

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Answer 3

turingtest2

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Nov 20, 2021 6:51 AM in response to Stratslinger

Thanks for the clarification. This is a layout issue. See Make a split library portable - Apple Community for some background. The default layout from iTunes 9 adds a subfolder for Music within the media folder. If you really want the artist folders to go one level higher then you need to edit the file .iTunes Preferences.plist and change the layout value from 1 to 0.

tt2

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Answer 4

turingtest2

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Nov 20, 2021 5:07 AM in response to Stratslinger

What is the location of your media folder under iTunes > Preferences > Advanced?

Can you compare the Get Info > File location of a file before and after you play it to see where it is being moved from and to?

tt2

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Answer 5

Stratslinger Author

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Nov 20, 2021 5:35 AM in response to turingtest2

The location is /Volumes/Public/Music Files.

The confusing part, is that when I check the file location within iTunes (after the song had been selected and started to play), the location is /Volumes/Public/Music Files/Music/(song name etc) so the location does not appear to change. And iTunes will subsequently play that song again with no problem. When I browse for the song in Finder (on the mac) or directly in the external hard drive (both on the mac and on my phone), the song title no longer appears within that exact same folder.

It almost seems as though iTunes on the mac hides the file somehow but keeps it in the Library.

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Answer 6

Stratslinger Author

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Nov 20, 2021 5:59 AM in response to turingtest2

Thank you for the advice! I will check that out to see if there is something to the security issue. "Public" is one folder within the WD drive. Was the default name if I remember correctly.

I did find one correction to the file location: iTunes appears to have created a folder titled "Music" within the "Music Files" folder I had created in the drive, and is moving songs played into this folder. I suspect this may have something to do with the Preferences as set up and/or a compatibility/security issue as noted.

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Answer 7

Stratslinger Author

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Nov 20, 2021 7:24 AM in response to turingtest2

Thank you for the quick responses. I'll review the info on that link later today and see if I can figure out how to correct the problem using it. I'm not versed in much of the processes noted but I don't think my library is split but again, I'll go read that article in detail and see if I can follow along with it. Thanks again!

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Answer 8

Stratslinger Author

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Nov 20, 2021 7:56 PM in response to turingtest2

Looks like the issue has been solved! Changing the iTunes Media Folder Location to [/Users/name/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media] preserves the original file location. I'll need to monitor to discover whether the new setting fills up my older MacBook Air's storage or not, but for now it seems that the disappearing file location problem has been solved!

Thank you turingtest2 for the great advice and quick responses!

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Answer 9

turingtest2

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Nov 21, 2021 2:11 AM in response to Stratslinger

You're welcome. 🙂

tt2

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Issues with iTunes and music stored on a WD My Cloud

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