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User profile for user: hsteenwijk
hsteenwijk Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

iTunes Zero KB files

Hi all,


On a regular basis (every few weeks or so), I discover some mp3 files that were always fine before, but suddenly have the tag "Stream" in the column "Size" in iTunes. When I go to the actual file in Finder, the size of the file is "Zero KB". Which of course means that these files can't be played by iTunes anymore. Fortunately I regularly make copies, so I always have been able to restore them.


A few weeks ago this happened to 40 or so CD's. You can imagine I wasn't amused. I restored all damaged files and double checked that all files were fine before making an extra backup of all my music (physical copy). The last few weeks, all seemed fine. I checked almost every day with a saved Spotlight search if there were any Zero KB mp3 files, and the issue seemed solved, — there never was any.

Until today. This morning I discovered that again 4 files had "Stream" as size in iTunes, and the files were indeed 0 KB. When I went into my Time Machine backup, travelling 2 weeks back, I discovered... that the same 4 files also were empty there! Although I'm sure everything seemed fine in iTunes at the time of the backup and also in the days that followed. Even yesterday, when adding some CD's to the iTunes library, there weren't any Zero KB files reported.


This really starts to be very, very annoying. I don't trust iTunes anymore. I've got a 100+ GB library of music in iTunes, which obviously can disappear at random at any moment. Because even after looking at all the logs in the Console, I can't figure out what's happening. There simply is no record of this behaviour.

I contacted Apple Support, but they didn't have a clue. Therefore, you are my last resort. What can be going on here?

And is it possible that files, once backupped by Time Machine, get corrupted afterwards when the source file gets screwed up at a later point in time? (I know it shouldn't be the case, but I observed it myself.)


Of course, the iTunes issue is the bigger one, and I really want to get this solved. I don't want to use another media program, and I don't think it should be necessary.


Any insights?


Thanks in advance,



Henk.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.7)

Posted on Apr 22, 2011 3:57 AM

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11 replies
User profile for user: Ralf104
Ralf104
User level: Level 1
4 points

Jul 4, 2017 10:09 AM in response to turingtest2

No network storage - all files on local drive.

iTunes located here:

"C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunes.exe"

and library located here:

D:\Users\Ralf\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media\Music


Original file names are "present" but have their file size set to zero in windows file explorer as well as in iTunes library, so cannot re-import.


Happened to 423 seemingly random songs out of 4399, all with artist name beginning with A B or C.


Ralf

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User profile for user: turingtest2
turingtest2
User level: Level 10
272,881 points

Jul 4, 2017 10:17 AM in response to Ralf104

If you get info on one of the affected files what is shown as the location of the file on the file tab?

Where is that file really located?


Original file names are "present" but have their file size set to zero in windows file explorer as well as in iTunes library, so cannot re-import.


Oh! 😮 I don't think I've come across that before. 😕


tt2

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User profile for user: Ralf104
Ralf104
User level: Level 1
4 points

Jul 5, 2017 6:50 AM in response to turingtest2

Some are backed up, some will need to be re-imported from CD. Some will require finding them again at various sources, and some may be lost forever. I didn't want to do a lot of re-work repairing the library if it was going to happen again - wanted to find the cause first. I don't use Match. In fact, the main reason I have a local library is I am on a slow metered internet connection where I have to pay for data usage (live out in rural area and not a lot of internet choices - certainly no broadband) and streaming is too cost prohibitive.

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User profile for user: hsteenwijk
hsteenwijk Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Apr 23, 2011 2:50 PM in response to hsteenwijk

I can tell this has you all puzzled as well, considering the huge amount of responses...

Let's make things even worse.


A thing I forgot to mention (and which makes it even more mysterious): this only happens to CD's that belong to artists whose names begin with a "B", "C" or "D". But then not necessarily for all CD's of that particular artist; and not all artists whose name begin with "B", "C" or "D" have one or more CD's/songs "emptied".

For instance: I have 9 CD's of Bruce Dickinson in my iTunes Library. 5 of them were gone, the rest was still there.

Yesterday 4 songs of a Black Sabbath CD were gone ("Stream", "Zero KB")... but the other 6 songs of the same album were there!

Some CD's of Celtic Frost were deleted, some CD's of Crimson Glory also... but the CD of Chickenfoot was untouched.


Well, as said: an addition to make things worse. But maybe this triggers someone to a hint in the right direction of this issue.

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iTunes Zero KB files

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