Suddenly, all my music is gone from my iphone 4s. Wow thats a drag.
I had all my music added manually.
Is there a way to look into past backups or something of the like to get the list of songs I had on the phone before they disappeared into the ether?
thanks
Unless you backed up your phone on iTunes at some point, then no.
yes of course I've backed it up on itunes.
itunes backups don't store your music (because the music is stored in the itunes backup)
the music will disappear if you sync to a computer you've never synced to that doesn't have music on it
just sync the phone to your computer that has your music on it, and make sure 'sync music' is checked in itunes
that was mis-worded... i meant that itunes music isn't stored in the itunes backup because it's stored in the itunes program.
it would be redundant since it's already safely on the computer
I dont need the music itself (as it is still on my computer) I was wondering if the iphone backups stored the list of songs that was on the phone and how to retrieve that.
I'm not sure exactly when in the last 24 hrs the music disappeared but I have not plugged the phone into any computer other than the one it always syncs to.
that's what i said. the itunes backups do not store your itunes music. you can only sync it over from the itunes program.
Are you saying they dont even contain a list of what is on the phone? The list would have to exist somewhere I'd imagine. Otherwise every time you restored, you'd lose your music.
And just to make sure you are understanding me properly, this is manually added music. My library on my home computer is far too large to put on a mobile device. All music was added manually.
No. There isn't a list of the music on your phone in your backup. The music exists in the itunes program, technically on the computer in the itunes media folder.
You can 'manually' add some of the music from your itunes library to your phone. it's not an all or nothing thing
I really do apreciate your hep but I am getting the feeling you may be speaking beyond your expertise.
I really dont think you are understanding me and/or are grossly underestimatng my familiarity with the programs.
There has to be a file with a list of the music that you've manually added to your phone somewhere. Otherwise it would not be possible for itunes to restore your music when you upgrade to a new device.
If you dont know anything about this file, just say so. If you are 100 percent certain it doesnt exist either in itunes or on the iphone backup (which is really impossible) then please explain how when restoring or upgrading a device, that info is carried over.
I believe that you might be grossly underestimating my expertise. I know exactly what I am talking about. I do believe that you are the one here looking for help, and I am giving you the correct answers.
If you are so familiar with the program, you would be aware of the fact that the backup created in itunes does not store music files. they are stored in the itunes media folder
The reason that it is possible for the phone to get the music back after doing an update and restore is because the information is a. not erased from the device during the update, b. restored from the music files in the itunes media folder, or c. stored in iTunes in the Cloud, all of which are not in a backup
I am 100% certain this file does not exist in your backup
I have no desire to get personal here and again I appreciate your help but you keep stating basic things that do not relate specifically to what I am asking.
When you upgrade to a new device, you restore from a backup and then upon plugging your phone in again, in my experience, the audio files you previously had on your phone (which in my case were always manually added and not part of a particular list) are automatically transferred to the new device.
With absolute certainty, there is a directory somewhere that allows this to happen. It may not be easily accessible but clearly it must exist.
Do you agree or disagree with that? Am I missing something or not being clear enough?
And just to try to be extra clear, I never asked where the music files were. I know where they are and yes, if you allow iTunes to organize them in your folder, that is where they reside.
How does iTunes know which songs to transfer to a new device?
In my case it is a number of manually added songs and not synced with any particular playlist.
( I will not be using that method going forward )
Thanks
The information which is supposed to be on your iPhone is stored inside the better. If you would drag and drop music manually to your iPhone, you have to ensure to create a backup manually as well, otherwise this information won't be Backed up automatically. This worked very well for me.
b. restored from the music files in the itunes media folder,
I am 100% certain this file does not exist in your backup
How would itunes know which files to restore?
I got the same issue today. Suddenly, all the music on the iPhone disappeared. The funny thing is that I was listening to it, and in the middle of a song, it became silent and the cover art disappeared.
I guess there was a bug related to the automatic wifi sync with iTunes. (my device was pretty full so it could be because of a file system full issue?)
By the way, when your music is manually selected, when you restore a backup the music is not restored.
The thing I do with iTunes as a workaround: create a playlist on the iPhone with all the music on it. Then export it (as XML). Then you can import it to create the same list on the computer.
all music disappeared from iphone
