iTunes can read library but cannot locate files.

jcyr2016 wrote:

1. Default folder in Preferences:

H:\iTunes\iTunes Media

2. Example of missing file location based on "Song Info":

file://localhost/J:/iTunes Media Main/Music/Far Beyond Frail/A Girl, Almost.._/04 Ever Since You 1.m4a

3. True path of the file above:

H:\iTunes\iTunes Media\Music\Far Beyond Frail\A Girl, Almost.._

Hi there,

Reassign the drive letters so that drive H: becomes drive J:

Move and then rename the folder J:\iTunes\iTunes Media to J:\iTunes Media Main

If you now start iTunes it should be able to locate media on the stored paths. Ideally you would then rearrange things into the more normal ...\iTunes\iTunes Media layout, but lets do one thing at a time. Assuming the advice I've given so far has done the trick the next detail I need would be the location of your active .itl file.

tt2

Well given that things now seem to be in the right location it may be time to try this section of the original post...

...as long as the missing files can be found somewhere, you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes. See this post for an explanation of how it works. It might need some tweaking if your media is in a non-standard layout.

tt2

The "use that file's location" option only finds files in the same folder. For example, if a complete album is missing, once you tell iTunes to use a specific folder for one track on the album, the option to use that file's location does just that: it uses that folder and will find the remaining tracks for that album (assuming that is where they are, which it should be). Therefore, it won't find any files for other songs, that are in other folders.

The Preferences setting tells iTunes where to put files ripped from a CD. It will not solve your current issue.

In the discussion that you looked at, turingtest2's associated tip helps locate the complete library by using the .itl file that iTunes uses to remember where each file is located. So ideally, what you need to do is look for the .itl file for your library. Here's a screenshot, showing the .itl file for my Library, which is on my D\drive:

Note the location: it's probably in the iTunes\Previous iTunes Libraries\... folder. There may be more than one copy, so look at the Date modified (mine is in UK format, so 20/01/2024 is the 20th January 2024) and use the most recent one. Ignore the date shown in the filename (iTunes Library 2011-11-16, look instead for the Date modified).

Hopefully, your backup not only has your most recent additions and changes, but also the .itl file.

Once you know the location of that .itl file, open iTunes while holding down the SHIFT key on you PC. Hold the key down until iTunes shows you a message panel, with an option to Choose Library...:

Take the Choose Library option and navigate to the .itl file that you are going to use.

OK, so weirdly it would seem that iTunes has adjusted the paths for a more standard layout. Move and rename J:\iTunes Media Main so it becomes J:\iTunes\iTunes Media again, then see if that works.

Note that the media folder reverting to <Library Folder>\iTunes Media seems to be an ongoing bug, so is not unexpected.

tt2

You might need to actively select J:\iTunes Media Main as the media folder. Can you please post the three details again?

tt2

You're welcome. 🙂

tt2