Q: iTunes 10.7 won't open some Libraries

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glinty

Level 1 (5 points)

Q: iTunes 10.7 won't open some Libraries

I just noticed that iTunes (10.7) won't open some of my libraries. I have 5 that I use for various purposes. The main one with all my music is now grayed out. Only 2 out of the 5 will load, and they are not the most important ones, so I am kind of stuck.

A few weeks ago I upgraded from Leopard 10.5 to Mountain Lion 10.8, then got an iPhone 5, but iTunes worked for a while after the upgrade and I put some songs on the iPhone.

I just got the fix for iPhoto 4.9 which was causing it's own problems, and now iTunes isn't working. (Actually it wasn't working when iPhoto had problems too.)

So what can I do to fix this? Delete my library files and start over just when I had it all set up for the iPhone? And will it happen again?

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.8), Unibody

Posted on Oct 2, 2012 12:12 PM

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by glinty,

glinty Oct 2, 2012 2:31 PM in response to glinty
Level 1 (5 points)

Oct 2, 2012 2:31 PM in response to glinty

Here is another clue. The libraries that work have .itl files and are opening those, the others only have .xml files. I tried changing these to open with iTunes in info, but didn't help. I don't know why some have .itl files and some don't. Anybody know?
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by Limnos,

Limnos Oct 2, 2012 2:42 PM in response to glinty
Level 9 (54,635 points)

Mac OS X

Oct 2, 2012 2:42 PM in response to glinty

A valid iTunes library has a file called library.itl The .xml file is a copy in a different format put there by iTunes so other programs can read the library, but itunes itself uses the .itl file. So in essence the folders with no .itl have no library. You can create a blank library by holding down the option key while starting iTunes. Now import the .xml file from one of those orphan libraries.

What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660

More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management

What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html
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by glinty,

glinty Oct 3, 2012 10:05 AM in response to Limnos
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Oct 3, 2012 10:05 AM in response to Limnos

I've been reading the apple support pages about the libraries and it's becoming clearer. Still I don't know where the other .itl files went. It seems like I remember my libraries using different types of library files. I tried importing the .xml file which seems like it brought back most of the music, but not my previous settings. Thanks for the tips.
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Q: iTunes 10.7 won't open some Libraries

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by Limnos,

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