My iTunes mysteriously emptied. I filled it again from the music library on my laptop. I have now lost all my playlists but have them on my iPod. Now iTunes doesn't recognised my iPod and wants to sync and erase iPod. How can I aviod this and transfer my playlists from iPod to iTunes?
I am hoping this is possible. Thanks for reading. Sj
Asus
The best answer is to figure out why it "mysteriously" disappeared. If you get it back then you won't have to spend money on buying third party software to transfer items from your iPod. In order to solve the puzzle we need to know more about what you have been doing with your library. Do you keep it on an external drive? Did you rename files or folders connected with the iTunes folder?
I did nothing that I am aware of to cause this to happen. I don't keep my music on an external drive and I didn't rename any files. I just went into my iTunes as usual and there was no content at all.
I then selected import library I believe and all my music and any audio I have on laptop appear in iTunes.
And as I said, iPod was then not recogised. I get in the message when my iPod is connected to laptop that it's synced with another iTunes which it isn't...
It isn't synched to another iTunes, it is synched to another library - the missing one.
I am not as familiar with Windows computers. On a Mac you can lose a library by deleting, moving, or renaming files or folders used in the iTunes library structure. Or you can lose them by your whole hard drive becoming incredibly corrupt (very, very rare).
See if your iTunes folder looks complete using the documentation at:
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
iTunes 9 [and later]: Understanding iTunes Media Organization - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3847
Ok thanks for that. I check those out and see what I can find out. May I ask, what the 3rd party software is you mentioned?
Some of the information below has subsequently appeared in a document by turingtest2: Recovering your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3991
Your i-device was not designed for unique storage of your media. It is not a backup device and media transfer was planned with you maintaining a master copy of your media on a computer which is itself properly backed up against loss. Syncing is one way, computer to device, updating the device content to the content on the computer, not updating or restoring content on a computer. The exception is iTunes Store purchased content.
iTunes Store: Transferring purchases from your iOS device or iPod to a computer - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1848 - only purchases from iTunes Store
For transferring other items from an i-device to a computer you will have to use third party commercial software. 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/
- 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
- iexplorer (free) - http://www.macroplant.com/iexplorer/ - 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.
Syncing to a "New" Computer or replacing a "crashed" Hard Drive - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3141 - dates from 2008 and some outdated information now.
Copying Content from your iPod to your Computer - The Definitive Guide - http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/copying-music-from-ipod-to-co mputer/ - Information about use in disk mode pertains only to older model iPods.
Get Your Music Off of Your iPod - http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Get_Your_Music_Off_of_Your_iPod - I am not sure but this may only work with some models and not newer Touch, iPhone, or iPad.
Additional information here https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3933661?answerId=18324797022#18324797022
wow, thanks so much, you are very knowledgeable. It's a nano I bought in 2008. I'll to get a macbook one day, much nicer to work with..
Thanks again for your help
I have been wondering for a while how to transfer playlists from my iPod to iTunes, and today I figured it out. First, click on the playlist you want to transfer. Then, under the "File" menu, scroll over "Library", and select "Export Playlist". You can save it wherever you want on your computer - I prefer to save it to my desktop. Next, you go back into the "Library" menu and this time select "Import Playlist." It will open finder, and you will have to locate your playlist and hit "Open". Your playlist will then be added to your library. Hope this helps 🙂
Playlist from iPod to iTunes
