iTunes cannot locate my music from my external hard drive

Question

iTunes cannot locate my music from my external hard drive

I am using the most uptodate software for mac book and itunes. Having followed all other discussions and located the media folder using preferences itunes still cannot locate my music, this is really frustating! All of my music is the the itunes media folder within the itunes folder on my external harddrive and it still wont find the music. Futher to this my library should have about 50,000 songs in it but itunes library is only showing 354 songs that all have the ! sign beside them.

Please can someone help me as this is annoying!

PS. this method worked fine on my windows until itunes had updated, since the recent update and my move to macbook pro my media cannot be found

MacBook Pro, iOS 5.1.1

Posted on Jul 26, 2012 12:02 PM

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Answer 1

turingtest2

Level 10

272,761 points

Jul 26, 2012 12:08 PM in response to misstoffeepenny

Ideally we'd have discussed how to make a split library portable before you tried to move your library between operating systems.

Please use command-i to get info on a single broken track and look at the summary tab. Where does iTunes think it should find the file? Where is it really? Where is your iTunes Library.itl file located?

tt2

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Answer 2

Jul 26, 2012 12:17 PM in response to turingtest2

i have always run my music from my external harddrive so have never had to move the files to a computer/mac so this is why i wish to keep them there, also because it is over 500gb.

selecting a track and getting info itunes says it is in the file i would expect it to be in.

my itunes library.itl file is located in the itunes file on the external hard drive, same file as the itunes media file

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Answer 3

turingtest2

Level 10

272,761 points

Jul 26, 2012 12:22 PM in response to misstoffeepenny

That looks as it should then... Has the volume name changed? Have you inspected the folder and made sure the file is indeed on that path?

tt2

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Answer 4

Jul 26, 2012 12:21 PM in response to turingtest2

turningtest2:

I have seen earlier posts where you reference the scripts FindTracks and DeDupe. Are these scripts up to date and downloadable? If so, please direct me to location.

Thanks!

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Answer 5

turingtest2

Level 10

272,761 points

Jul 26, 2012 12:24 PM in response to bradley-t

They are Windows only scripts. You'll find them on my page at http://samsoft.org.uk/iTunes/scripts.asp or though the links in the posts where I mention them.

tt2

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Answer 6

Jul 26, 2012 12:25 PM in response to turingtest2

yes all the files are as they should be and the volume name has not changed as it is the only volume I have used in the past 2 weeks in the same usb port.

also I have read other posts by yourself and tried every method mentioned previously

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Answer 7

turingtest2

Level 10

272,761 points

Jul 26, 2012 12:32 PM in response to misstoffeepenny

Oops, excuse me I think I misread the initial problem. 😕

This solution might be more on track, though I don't understand why the 354 songs your library does list are broken...

Empty/corrupt library after upgrade/crash

Hopefully it's not been too long since you last upgraded iTunes, in fact if you get an empty/incomplete library immediately after upgrading then with the following steps you shouldn't lose a thing or need to do any further housekeeping. In the Previous iTunes Libraries folder should be a number of dated iTunes Library files. Take the most recent of these and copy it into the iTunes folder. Rename iTunes Library.itl as iTunes Library (Corrupt).itl and then rename the restored file as iTunes Library.itl. Start iTunes. Should all be good, bar any recent additions to or deletions from your library.

See MusicFolder Files Not Added and Super Remove Dead Tracks for tools to catch up with any changes since the backup file was created.

tt2

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Answer 8

Jul 26, 2012 1:15 PM in response to turingtest2

This would have helped if I had a previous library to install from, however I am trying to load files by adding to library via itunes again for 7th time, it seems to be working so far thanks for the help

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Answer 9

Jul 26, 2012 2:20 PM in response to turingtest2

turingtest2

would you be willing to contact me off-discussion at btlstuff-junk (at) yahoo (dot) com ? I have off-topic question regarding your scripts.

~B

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Answer 10

turingtest2

Level 10

272,761 points

Jul 26, 2012 2:17 PM in response to bradley-t

Hi, I've sent you a message, or you can start a thread in a suitable forum and link to it from here. I've asked the hosts to remove your email address to stop it being harvested.

tt2

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Answer 11

Jul 26, 2012 2:47 PM in response to turingtest2

tt2 - Thanks for asking hosts to edit my post. Very thoughtful of you! Your message did not reach my inbox...I fear my antivirus software is causing concern for me...See my post: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4142328

~B

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