downloaded music not copying to music folder

A general tip. iTunes will sometime mark a link as dead (and vice versa) because that is how it remembers it. The link may in fact be active. There aren't really easy ways to do this but use the up and down arrow keys to scroll down the track listing. See if any change as you do this. Briefly activating a track makes iTunes have a quick look for the file.

Are the duplicates active links or is it pairs of a dead link and an active one? If it is all pairs, we can get rid of the dead links easily. Additionally, check the actual location of the files in Get Info > Summary for the active links. In which main folder are the files? Are they in the Media Folder or are they in the original Music folder?

The first couple of steps in the instructions are more of just a safety check and in fact you would ideally expect none of the tracks to be added. If you have a lot of active link pairs (both play music). I am wondering if an earlier attempt at consolidating was successful and you already had a populated media folder. Adding the tracks from music just started adding them again.

I am puzzled by this full drive issue. Maybe you've mentioned this before but about how many GB of music do you have? What format? 400 on my computer would only occupy 2-3 GB. Your external is reporting 400 free and iTunes is freezing at consolidating. It either means iTunes is NOT using the external drive and the drive it is using (your internal?) is filled, or something is being misreported with your drives and there's a hardware issue.

There have been so many unusual things happening with this I am wondering if that drive is somehow at fault. Some of the issues you report I have never seen anybody else encounter with all the (relatively simple and quick) library consolidations that have been conducted on this forum. You mentioned having a second drive. Perhaps copy the original iTunes folder to that and we can see if the consolidation can be done more simply there.

I was just thinking today this could likely have all been done in 10 minutes by a person sitting at the computer who know how iTunes works. Is there a Mac user group in your area?

After all that consolidating and it isn't in that folder?! I have to admit I have never used iTunes 9 but I can't believe it would behave radically differently from the old and newer versions.

The thing is, does your repair person know iTunes? What you need is somebody to fix your iTunes collection, not your computer.

I really have to admit this is getting away from me. It may be some simple thing I am missing. I remember a topic where there were 5 advanced helpers trying to resolve why a USB drive was no longer appearing in the computer. 25 posts later the original poster said he had discovered the problem - it wasn't fully plugged in at the back of the computer. Not the kind of thing we can see from here. Since then if anybody comes up with a problem like, "My computer won't start," I immediately ask, "Is the computer plugged in?" 🙂

I asked one of the other helpers, turingtest2, to pop by. He is really good at this kind of thing and can maybe help you. He's in the UK, on a different time zone, so be patient.

Hi there,

Things seem to be a bit confused at the moment. I'm going to throw a lot of information into the ring, hopefully some of it may shed light on which assumptions in the past have caused problems. I'm also going to ask you to give me some details of where things stand since it is difficult to get a clear picture from scanning the thread. Don't worry if it doesn't all make sense, ask and I will attempt to elaborate, or simply provide the answers to the questions and I'll make suggestions as to what to do next.

1. Any iTunes library is based around a core database file normally called iTunes Library.itl or perhaps just iTunes Library if it started life on an older Mac version of iTunes. The normal location of this file is in <User>/Music/iTunes though it can be changed by holding down option as you start iTunes. Could you please give me the full path to the active iTunes Library file? Please note that unlike most applications double-clicking a library file opens the application with the last library file that iTunes successfully opened. This may, or may not, be the file that you actually clicked. To be certain check the last modified date of the file you think it is immediately after closing the library. If it hasn't got a recent timestamp you've picked the wrong file. It will be convenient to refer to the folder containing the database as the Library folder.
   Item 1: Full pathname of active library file
   
2. Your iTunes media can be stored anywhere across the drives connected to your computer, local, external or network, but in general things run more smoothly if every media file that is connected to iTunes is stored in its media folder. This folder will normally be <User>/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media or <User>/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music for libraries created with an older build of iTunes. All files that iTunes is directly responsible for downloading (purchases & podcasts), ripping or consolidating will be copied into this folder. Changing the location doesn't in itself move any files (though iTunes may offer to copy them) nor does it tell iTunes where to look for existing content that you have relocated by hand. You can find the current location of the media folder by visiting iTunes > Preferences > Advanced. Please note that if the media folder and the library folder are on different drives and the library is opened when the drive holding the media folder is not ready then iTunes will silently reset the media folder to a subfolder of the library folder called iTunes Media. This change is not automatically reversed.
   Item 2: Location of media folder
   
3. Every track entry in the iTunes database records the full path to the file in question. Moving files around by hand, except in certain very limited circumstances, gets iTunes confused. Once iTunes is aware that a file is no longer where it is expected to be it lists that file with an exclamation mark. It will assume the file is still missing until you actively try to play it or Get Info., in which case it will have another attempt to access the file at the stored location, or until you close and restart iTunes. If media is stored on an external drive which isn't ready when iTunes starts it will rapidly conclude that all media on the drive is missing in action. Even if the drive is reconnected iTunes won't automatically connect to the tracks. If iTunes was started before the drive was connected please close iTunes, connect the drive if necessary then open iTunes. Please give me some idea of how many working and broken links you have in your library. I've skimmed through some of the preceding post and have the impression that your library has both working and broken links for each track that should be in your library. Is this correct?
   Item 3: Estimated count of working and broken links
   
4. Each track entry has data associated with it such as date added, rating, play count, playlist membership etc. that is only stored in the iTunes database and not the tags. If it is important to you to try retain this data then it is worth exploring ways to fix the broken links, otherwise it will be much easier to run a script to simply eliminate them.
   Item 4: Is there iTunes-only data attached to track entries that you wish preserved?
   
5. Please select a typical working track from your library, Get Info, and note down the file path as given on the summary tab.
   Item 5: Working file path
   
6. Please select a typical broken track, Get Info., cancel when asked to locate the file, and note down the path which should begin file://
   Item 6: Broken file path
   
7. I'm somewhat confused by how much storage is being taken up by your library and exactly where it is. Can you check the free space on each of your volumes and list it please? (Apologies, but as a non Mac-owner I don't actually know where you find this)
   Item 7: Free space estimates
   
8. Your iTunes library is divided into sections for Music, Movies, TV Shows etc. listed at the top of the left hand column of the iTunes window. When you select any of these sections the bottom of the iTunes window should list the number of items, total duration, and size. The number of items and size would be useful indicators of how large your library appears to be, which might explain why it would not consolidate. A rough estimate of the total no. of items and cumulative size across all sources would be helpful.
   Item 8: Library size
   

The last two are probably not really necessary but would give an impression of how much data is involved and how little free space there is to work with. Note the iTunes consolidate function only copies files that it can actually locate, it won't fix any broken links and it creates copies of any original files that are found outside of the media folder. Two or three attempts at consolidating a library to the wrong location can rapidly eat up space which may well be part of the problem here.

There is a hidden file placed in the library folder called sentinel. I don't know the precise mechanism but it seems the file is updated before and after each change to the library. If iTunes crashes, or you move files about without taking this file into account, iTunes will run an integrity check on the library next time it starts. Again this process won't automatically repair any broken links in the library.

Going back to Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library. This tells iTunes what to do with new files that are added to the library from a location outside of the media folder. It has no effect on files alerady connected to the library.

As Limnos says I'm on UK time (eek 4:30 am now!) so please don't worry if you don't get an instant response to your reply. I'll probably be having a lie in. 🙂

tt2

Great, things are getting clearer. 🙂

Please do the following steps in order. Stop if something isn't clear or the library stops working properly and I can explain further or tell you how to roll back to the preceding working version.

1. Let's start with the dead links. Super Remove Dead Tracks should do the trick. Download the script and follow the instructions. Not having a Mac I haven't used it myself, but it should do exactly what it says on the tin.
   
2. Under iTunes > Preferences > Advanced make sure the options Keep iTunes Media folder organized and Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library are both ticked. Then change the media location to /Volumes/FreeAgent GoFlex Drive/iTunes/iTunes Music and click OK. Click No or Cancel if iTunes asks if it should move/copy files to the new location. These steps redirect the media folder to the folder where your media really is, and makes sure that it will keep things organized in subsequent steps.
   
3. Locate and select the two songs that are in the iTunes Media folder either together, or one at a time, right-click (or equivalent) and select Consolidate Files... from the context menu. This will bring copies of those files into the correct folder.
   
4. Delete the iTunes Media folder. Those copies of the two files are no longer required.
   
5. Use the menu command File > Library > Organize Library... > Upgrade to iTunes Media Organization (or Rearrange files in the folder "iTunes Music"). The exact wording may depend on the iTunes build but you should be able to find the command I mean. This puts your media folder in the "newer" layout.
   
6. Close iTunes. Rename the folder iTunes Music as iTunes Media and the file iTunes Library as iTunes Library.itl. Start iTunes. It will complain that the library is missing and prompt you to create or choose a library. Click choose and browse to the renamed file iTunes Library.itl.
   
7. Check under iTunes > Preferences > Advanced that the media folder path has been automatically updated to /Volumes/FreeAgent GoFlex Drive/iTunes/iTunes Media. If not edit the preference, then close and reopen iTunes.
   
8. Check that your media plays. If all has gone well your iTunes library is now in the modern layout and "portable", by which I mean that a backup copy of this iTunes folder on a different path/drive/computer will be a fully functioning version of the library.

Note that you can open a library created by an older build of iTunes in subsequent versions and the database will be automatically updated. The converse is not true. You may want to bear this in mind if and when you get to the point where you are migrating to a new machine.

tt2

It looks like the whole Dougscripts web site is down at the moment. I get the same errors.

I have the installer for SuperRemove.. but have not installed it. The ReadMe doesn't mention system requirements.

Also look for Remove Dead Tracks which I do have installed and works with 7.5

Don't try to download Tracksift. When the site is back up and running you may need to go directly to http://dougscripts.com. If the site throws up Tracksift or one of the other AppsStore apps you may need to scroll down to the bottom of the page to find a link to Doug's Scripts for iTunes. He's dones something that redirects external links into his website, which is fair enough - he wants you to but something - but it make it harder for me to direct you to the right tool. Once in seach for Super Remove Dead Tracks. It should be a free download.

tt2

go directly to http://dougscripts.com.

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/dougscript/domains/dougscripts.com/public_html/incs/funcs.inc:916) in /home/dougscript/domains/dougscripts.com/public_html/itunes/wpfol/wp-includes/fu nctions.php on line 2808

Error establishing a database connection

When the site is back up and running...

😉

tt2