iTunes Library on NAS is damaged

Question

Level 1

12 points

iTunes Library on NAS is damaged

Hello. For several years I've had my iTunes library on a WD MyCloud NAS because I want to play music with my Sonos system without having my Windows 11 computer on. However, recently when I tried to open iTunes, it said that my library was damaged. I have a backup of my iTunes folder on a HDD and when I attach that drive to my computer, open iTunes, and change the iTunes library location to the one on the HDD, it works fine. However, if I copy the iTunes folder from the HDD onto the WD MyCloud NAS and try to open the iTunes library from the WD MyCloud NAS, I get the error message again that the library is damaged. I thought maybe there was an issue with my WD MyCloud so I purchased another NAS and tried copying my backup iTunes folder to that, and I have the same issue. If I open the iTunes library from a NAS, it says it is damaged, but if I open it from the HDD, it works fine. Any help on getting my iTunes to work again on my NAS would be appreciated.

Windows, Windows 10

Posted on Aug 14, 2022 6:41 AM

Reply

Answer 1

turingtest2

Level 10

278,263 points

Aug 15, 2022 11:37 AM in response to jeg3141

See Make a split library portable - Apple Community. I would not recommend keeping the .itl file itself on NAS. This will work better on a local or external drive. If the media all lives on the NAS you can copy over the generated XML file for use by Sonos.

tt2

Reply

Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

278,263 points

Aug 20, 2022 10:48 AM in response to jeg3141

See Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash - Apple Community. There may be .tmp files that represent undamaged copies of your original library. If you have to run the library in a split configuration now you should be able to manually copy over the .xml file whenever you make changes so Sonos can read it from the NAS.

tt2

Reply

Answer 3

Aug 15, 2022 8:58 AM in response to jeg3141

Hello jeg3141,

Thanks for posting in the Apple Support Communities.

Have you checked to make sure the external hard drive is formatted to work with macOS properly? If you're unsure, check out the following resource. The information below is also found here: File system formats available in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support

Disk Utility on Mac supports several file system formats:

• Apple File System (APFS): The file system used by macOS 10.13 or later.

• Mac OS Extended: The file system used by macOS 10.12 or earlier.

• MS-DOS (FAT) and ExFAT: File systems that are compatible with Windows.

If you see this is compatible and should work, reach out to Western Digital Support to see if additional provisions may need to be made.

Have a great day!

Reply

Answer 4

jeg3141 Author

Level 1

12 points

Aug 17, 2022 3:13 PM in response to turingtest2

Thanks. I know how to move the iTunes Media folder to the NAS but it's important to me for my iTunes playlists to be available on the Sonos and I can't figure out how to do that. Does the Sonos app import the XML? Thanks,

Reply

Answer 5

jeg3141 Author

Level 1

12 points

Aug 17, 2022 3:45 PM in response to turingtest2

Actually I think I may have figured it out. I have my main iTunes library on my PC. I initially just moved the iTunes Media folder to the NAS and then directed iTunes/Sonos to it but then I no longer had my iTunes playlists available on the Sonos. So then I copied and pasted the entire iTunes folder to the NAS and directed iTunes to the iTunes Media folder and directed Sonos to the iTunes folder. Now I can use my playlists with the computer off. I think it's the XML file that contains my playlists, and I imagine I can manually replace the XML file on my NAS with the XML file on my PC to update my playlists on Sonos. However, is there any setup such that my playlists would automatically be updated on the Sonos? Thanks again!

Reply

Answer 6

jeg3141 Author

Level 1

12 points

Aug 17, 2022 4:20 PM in response to Brandon_J_321

I don't have a Mac, my desktop is a PC using Windows 11. For years I've had my iTunes folder on my WD MyCloud NAS and it worked fine. However recently when I opened iTunes, it said the library file was damaged and it started a new library with nothing on it. I have a recent backup of my iTunes folder and I replaced my current folder with that one and tried to open iTunes but it again said the library is damaged. Then I bought a new Buffalo NAS and tried putting my good iTunes folder copy on that, and when I open iTunes, it says the library is damaged. So for some reason now, when I try to put a perfectly good copy of my iTunes folder onto a NAS and try to open it, I get the error that the library is damaged. This is apparently some issue with iTunes For Windows. I can put my iTunes Media Folder on the NAS and that works okay, but for some reason if I put the "iTunes Library.itl" file on the NAS, it doesn't work anymore.

Reply

iTunes Library on NAS is damaged

Similar questions