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Rebuild iTunes library file from iPhone / iT Match?

Foolishly, i excluded my ~/music folder from my Time Machine backup, and when i restored following a recent system drive meltdown, i lost all of my iTunes library files - the .itl, the Previous iTunes Libraries, the .xml, everything. However, my media was on a different drive, which is still spinning. Additionally, i had my library synched to my iPhone, and i had Matched what iTunes could Match to the cloud.


So i have all of my media locally, i have most of my media in the cloud and or on my phone, and i have most of my playlists in the cloud or on the phone. What is the best way for me to put my data back into iTunes and return to normalcy? In that i have an empty library right now, i have turned synching off on my phone.


What i most want to get back is playlists. What i secondly want to get back are playcounts and ratings. Any ideas?

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.3), Early 2008

Posted on Jun 16, 2012 2:34 PM

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3 replies

Jun 16, 2012 2:53 PM in response to Hat_And_Suitcase

There's third party software out there that will transfer non iTunes purchases from a device to a computer. I do not, however, know if it transfers the playlist to which they belong or other metadata such as playcount and ratings. All those are typically not stored as part of the media file tags but in a separate library on iTunes. You would have to find somebody who is familiar with the details of the applications to tell you if it just transfers the bare media file or if it somehow interfaces with iTunes (very, very tricky) to regenerate that data in the itunes library. I kind of doubt it though because only iTunes itself can work with the library.itl file.


Examples (check the web for others; this is not an exhaustive listing, nor do I have any idea if they are any good):


- Senuti - http://www.fadingred.com/senuti/
- Phoneview - http://www.ecamm.com/mac/phoneview/
- MusicRescue - http://www.kennettnet.co.uk/products/musicrescue/ - Mac & Windows
- Sharepod (free) - http://download.cnet.com/SharePod/3000-2141_4-10794489.html?tag=mncol;2 - Windows
- Snowfox/iMedia - http://www.mac-videoconverter.com/imedia-transfer-mac.html - Mac & PC
- Yamipod (free) - http://www.yamipod.com/main/modules/downloads/ - PC, Linux, Mac [Still updated for use on newer devices? No edits to site since 2010.]
- 2010 Post by Zevoneer: iPod media recovery options - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2452022?answerId=11624224022#11624224022 - this is an older post and many of the links are also for old posts, so bear this in mind when reading them.

Jun 16, 2012 3:01 PM in response to Limnos

The Zevoneer post is indeed helpful - thanks for that.


I also found this post:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2577582?answerId=12257908022#12257908022&messageID=12257908#12257908?messa geID=12257908


that details how to save playlists from a device, and then import them into iTunes. This uses the existing files, but doesn't get me playcounts or ratings. Hopefully, it doesn't mess up the playlists on Match.

Rebuild iTunes library file from iPhone / iT Match?

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