"song could not be used because the original file could not be found"

Hi

This is the actual location of the files:

c:/users/lounge/my music/itunes/itunes media/music

This is where iTunes thinks they are

file://localhost/c:/users/lounge/my music/itunes/itunes media/music

I hope this helps?

I did try FindTracks but it did not seem to work for me!

Regards

There doesn't seem to be any difference between the two paths, other than the leading file://localhost/

This bit works best if you give me the specific values relating to a single track copied from Windows Explorer's file properties and the iTunes Get Info window. For example I might find myself with these two values:

E:\iTunes\iTunes Media\1 Giant Leap\1 Giant Leap\01 Dunya Salam [Feat. Baaba Maal].mp3

file://localhost/D:/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/1 Giant Leap/1 Giant Leap/01 Dunya Salam [Feat. Baaba Maal].mp3

From which I can see that there is both a difference in the drive letter and an extra Music folder in the second path. When generalizing it is possible to assume a detail which is actually wrong. Please include the correct capitals and slash directions.

tt2

Message was edited by: turingtest2

That is correct - the only difference is the leading: file://localhost/

Example of actual track:

file://localhost/c:/users/lounge/my music/itunes/itune media/music/blondie/the best of blondie/heart of glass.m4a

actual:

c:/users/lounge/my music/itunes/itune media/music/blondie/the best of blondie/heart of glass.m4a

Hmm, I'm still worried there is a detail missing. Recall that I asked you to "Please include the correct capitals and slash directions" but there are no capitals, the second path has forward slashes instead of backward ones and you've left an s out of iTunes Media in both paths that you said was there in an earlier post. I'd also expect to see a leading track number in the filename.

tt2

Do you need the capitalisation of the path?

Sorry about that. here are the correct paths:

C:\Users\Lounge\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media\Music\Blondie\The Best Of Blondie\1-01 Heart of Glass

file://localhost/C:/Users/Lounge/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Blondie/The Best Of Blondie/Heart of Glass.4ma

Progress... Windows is hiding the .m4a file extension from you but that is a safe bet. Note however that the file name is preceeded by leading disc and track numbers. iTunes on the other hand says that the files should not include leading disc & track numbers. You've also written .4ma instead of .m4a in the second path.

Is this picture correct? iTunes normally includes leading track & disc numbers, but there used to be options to suppress them. It is perhaps possible that a fault or third party tool has caused the files to be renamed to the current format, but then your library has been saved or restored with the old path details.

If you select the tracks of "The Best Of Blondie", run my FindTracks script, and point it at C:\Users\Lounge\Music\iTunes\iTunes Mediait should be able to fix the broken links. Assuming it works repeat with the rest of the broken tracks.

tt2

hiya

i assume you are correct in saying that Windows is hiding the file extension - how can i check?

sorry you are correct - it is .m4a

if I point your progam at C:\Users\Lounge\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media wont it put the files in that folder rather than in C:\Users\Lounge\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media\Music\ ?

i tried running FindTracks but it did not fix the problem

i tried again and it did work 🙂 i assume i now need to select the remaining 6000 tracks and do the same? do i have to answer Yes to every song !! ?

ignore my last point as it seems to work perfectly. fantastic!! thank you very much for your support. do you have any idea why this problem occurred - could it be anything to do with setting up the share with another computer on my network?

once again thank you very very much

jross@eim.ae wrote:

ignore my last point as it seems to work perfectly. fantastic!! thank you very much for your support. do you have any idea why this problem occurred - could it be anything to do with setting up the share with another computer on my network?

once again thank you very very much

You're welcome. 🙂

If you let the second library reorganize the files then yes, that would explain things. iTunes won't cope if another program, or even iTunes via a different library, reorganizes the file & folder names.

tt2

Hi tt2,

I'm really impressed with your .vbs skills!!

I need some of your assistance if possible please, I have migrated my Mother-In Law's iTunes library from Windows 7 to Windows 8, I just copied the entire iTune folder over.

After installing iTune on Windows 8 I fired it up, some of the tracks will play but the vast majority of the 2000+ won't and get the error .. "The song xxxxxxxxx could not be used because the original file couldnot be found. Would you like to locate it?"

Example:

Here is the path iTunes is expecting it in:

file://localhost/C:/Users/GILL/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/Snow Patrol/Late Night Tales/03 Dark Lady [DJ Food Mix].m4a

Here is the path on the Windows machine:

C:\Users\Gillian\Music\iTunes\iTunes Music\Snow Patrol\Late Night Tales\03 Dark Lady [DJ Food Mix].m4a

Right after pressing CTRL+V it's dawned on me that her new user account is Gillian rather than GILL!!

Is that the problem here?

Is there an easy way to fix this or shall I just rename the account, would that fix?

I ran your script and it couldn't automatically fix the selected files, it would fix the files if I pointed to the new location manually.

Thanks in advance.

OT

Yes, using a different username won't have helped, though it should still work if everything was/is in the standard layout. Renaming the folder for a user account is another completely different headache.

Check under Edit > Preferences > Advanced that iTunes is using the media folder C:\Users\Gillian\Music\iTunes\iTunes Music, correct if not and consolidate when prompted. Assuming it was previously using ..\iTunes\iTunes Media you can delete the folder iTunes Media and all it contains. Close iTunes, reopen. Does it now "see" the missing media?

If no luck so far, take a look inside iTunes Music for a hidden file called .iTunes Preferences.plist open it with Notepad and check that the integer value is 0. If it is 1 close iTunes, change the value to 0, save, then reopen iTunes. Any better?

FindTracks ought to work if pointed at C:\Users\Gillian\Music\iTunes\iTunes Music.

tt2

That's sorted it, I went to Preferences > Advanced and it was pointing to \iTunes\iTunes Media.

Changed to \iTunes\iTunes Music\ but I wasn't prompted to consilidate though?

Also, I think iTunes was pointing to some of the files in the iTunes Media folder, will they be moved over in to the correct place? Just thought I'd check before deleting that folder.

Thanks tt2, appreciate your help 🙂

Cheers

OT