iTunes 10 Keeps Creating Temp File.tmp Files

Its just possible I may have resolved the issue but it took some tinkering and is not for the faint hearted.

I tried to delete the iTunes Music Library.xml file in order to try and recreate it and I got a -8072 error. I looked at the info for the file and noticed that the rights to the file could not be determined.

I checked my rights to the Temp file.tmp file and I had the correct read/write ones. So I wondered if permissions were an issue hence iTunes recreating the file everytime.

Having given my admin account the necessary access I used terminal to delete the original iTune Music Library.xml file and then renamed the .tmp file to be the correct iTunes Music Library.xml one. They were the same size.

I then logged back in with my normal non admin account and checked the rights I had to the file were still correct and they were.

Now when I doing anything in iTunes the tmp files are created and then disappear as expected and I am left with the correct iTunes Music Library.xml file with the correct rights.

I hope this has resolved my issue and will continue to monitor and report back if necessary.

I also hope that this 'fix' may work for others and stay fixed!

Alot will depend on whether or not you have only one account on your machine e.g an admin account. If you do I haven't run any of the following by using just the one account. I have 2. A general user account and an admin one which I have used to correct the problem for the general user. I'll do my best to help, though I can't be held responsible for any issues arising from this. It worked for me but may not work for you.

Firstly make sure you have a backup of you machine in case anything goes wrong. At a minimum you should have a backup of all the files in the iTunes folder (not folders).

Make sure iTunes is shut down and then delete all but the latest tmp file from the iTunes folder. This should leave you with one tmp file of roughly the same size as the iTunes Music Library.xml file. You can skip this step if worried and tidy up later but be sure to make a note of the name of the latest tmp file. You'll need it later.

Be sure whichever account you are using has write access to the iTunes folder. You can do this in finder by using 'Get Info' on the folder and adding the administrator user as necessary in the access list at the bottom of the screen. Again be sure its got write access.

Now launch terminal.

Within terminal issue the following commands :-

Where xxxxx is user ID of account with issue

i) cd /Users/xxxxx/Music/iTunes

ii) rm "iTunes Music Library.xml"

You'll get a message re overriding the file right - type y to override

Where Temp File.tmp is the name of the latest tmp file

iii) mv Temp File.tmp iTunes Music Library.xml

iv) exit

Now close terminal

The above commands will remove the problem file and rename the tmp file to be correct. If you check the iTunes folder hopefully you'll see the tmp file has disappeared and a brand new iTunes Music Library.xml is there.

You can run a repair disk permissions using Disk Utility at this stage if you wish. Never harms to do this regularly anyway.

You can now check the rights of the iTunes Music Library.xml in the iTunes folder using 'Get Info' this should now show that the account holder of the iTunes library had write access.

Launch iTunes if all is OK and then monitor the iTunes folder. You should see tmp files come and go normally whilst using iTunes but the tmp file issue should have disappeared. If it ever reoccurs then just follow the steps again,

Good Luck.

Hi,

I assume you are using finder under the admin account in which case there should be no difference.

I find terminal easier in that I can do everything at once in one place.

You don't mention if you have only one account or a standard and admin one. I have only ever exerienced issues on a standard account as this has different system rights to an admin one. I think this can lead to problems. For me at least.

Sadly I have no idea why your files are still being recreated.

If have the same underlying issue as me and have followed the instrucions then I can't see why it wouldn't work.

Have you checked the permissions to the 'new' iTune Music Library.xml file after you have copied the temp file to be that name? The rights should show up and be correct for the account using iTunes. The rights should be read and write. I assume you have also got rid of all the other tmp files so you are left with a tidy iTune directory?

Sorry I couldn't get it working for you.

Your issue is therefore identical to mine, ignoring the single account.

You need to check the lastest .tmp file in the same way and ensure that the permissions are OK on that one, then complete the steps I did.

The issue is because iTunes cannot write to the iTunes Music Library.xml due to the permissions issue.

If you ensure the latest .tmp file has the correct rights, you can then delete the iTunes Music Library.xml and all other .tmp files and then rename as above. That should resolve the issue.

I was able to recreate the problem by querying the permissions of the iTunes Music Library.xml when it was OK and this seemed to break things. Not sure why.

Anyway I think you have found your issue and its the same as mine.

Can be corrected with my steps but it may be worth trying to monitor the usage of the iTunes Music Library.xml to see if something is corrupting the permissions. For instance do you have a virus scanner that is checking the file everytime it changes?. This could cause an issue I guess.

I wish you luck. Whilst unlikely its worth checking out.

Once fixed mine has stayed OK so I think if you can get yours sorted and track down what is corrupting the XML file permissions it should stay fixed for you as well.

I'm begining to wonder if this is a library issue.

I have a 100% fresh install of Mountain Lion 10.8.1 and iTunes 10.7 and this problem has now happened again today. The permissions on the XML changed. I copied the library over from my previous Lion 10.7.4 and iTunes 10.6.3 config so the problem is following the library but why this should be I have no idea.

Strangely it has 'fixed' itself and the tmp files have stopped. Permissions are back to normal on the xml.

Really really cheesed off. Perhaps the new iTunes 11 in October will finally out this to rest(!)

For what its worth this article may be of interest :-

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1451?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

The XML file can simply be deleted and it gets recreated from the itl file automagically.

That said the XML is effectively locked because of permissions issues so deleting ALL the .tmp files is OK and then using terminal to remove the iTunes Music Library.xml file is probably still required.

The XML is then recreated by iTunes at next launch and then hopefully keeps the permissions properly(?)