My iTunes 11 TV Shows just scrambled like a bad omelette.

Question

Level 1

9 points

My iTunes 11 TV Shows just scrambled like a bad omelette.

The Show Artwork and show episodes just mixed up like a blender. It's all kinds of messed up. Not only do shows repeat in segments, but the wrong art is on the wrong show, and I've even got MUSIC art comong up as though it belonged to shows.

"Insert Image" appears broken on Chrome so I uploaded screenshots on my server:

http://glenbradley.net/images/share/screenshots/brokeitunes1.png

http://glenbradley.net/images/share/screenshots/brokeitunes2.png

Anybody know what causes this and how to fix it?

Mac Pro (Mid 2010), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3), iTunes 11.0.3

Posted on Jul 19, 2013 1:11 AM

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Answer 1

GlenBradley Author

Level 1

9 points

Jul 21, 2013 2:24 AM in response to GlenBradley

Gratified to know that I'm not the only one, problem still in place.

Tried updating iTunes from 11.0.3 to 11.0.4 no joy.

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Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

272,943 points

Jul 21, 2013 3:16 AM in response to GlenBradley

Since those images show lots of cloud symbols it may help to go to iTunes > Preferences > Store and untick Show iTunes in the Cloud purchases. If artwork remains FUBAR'd you can delete the Album Artwork cache folder inside your main iTunes folder to force iTunes to rebuild it.

Assuming you've still got multiple seaons etc. the following may help...

In principle TV Shows are grouped on the Show field and within a show sub-grouped on Season No. In practice recent builds of iTunes and/or Apple TV firmware seem to be taking account of Album, Artist & Album Artist in certain views. For consistency I therefore suggest the following approach:

Show = Album = <Show Name>
e.g. "Heroes"
Artist = Album Artist = <Show Name> or <Show Name> Cast (or something like that)
e.g. "Heroes Cast"
Season No. = <Season No.> or <Blank> (Separate seasons or all listed together)
e.g. 1-2
Episode ID = s##e## (This field, sorted alphabetically, controls order)
e.g. s01e01 - s02e34 (use s##e### when >99 episodes)
Episode No. = Track No. = <Absolute Episode No.>
(Can also be per season, but abs. is better) e.g. 1 - 34
Disc No. = <Season No.> (Can be set even if merging seasons)
e.g. 1-2

Taking this approach you can always merge or split into individual seasons simply by clearing or setting the Season No. field.

or

For general tips on organizing media in iTunes see Grouping tracks into albums. Note that sort fields should not be used to link things with different main values.

BTW, make sure Chrome is scaled to 100% when you want to use the insert image or insert link tools. I recently noticed the same problem.

tt2

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Answer 3

GlenBradley Author

Level 1

9 points

Jul 21, 2013 7:47 AM in response to turingtest2

OK, removing the display of iCloud had little effect -- it was still just as scrambled, only there were fewer items.

I deleted the album artwork cache folder, and while it's a little bit less scrambled, it's still quite plainly borked.

uploader is still nonfunctional from Chrome, so I uploaded a screenshot after doing both to my server. I also massively reduced the filesize.

http://glenbradley.net/images/share/screenshots/brokeitunes3.png

This is AFTER unchecking display cloud in the store, and AFTER deleting the artwork cache in the library (I shut down iTunes to delete it then re-opened iTunes.)

As you can see, maybe one or two more shows match the artwork now, but it is still terribly scrambled.

ETA also -- whole shows that are IN my library and downloaded are just missing from the iTunes display. IE Eureka, I have seasons 1, 4, and 5 on my HD in my iTunes folder, but it's only showing up when I tell it to show stuff ont he cloud. And it's not the only show doing that.

No, Eureka was there, the wrong artwork messed me up. :-p

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Answer 4

turingtest2

Level 10

272,943 points

Jul 21, 2013 8:03 AM in response to GlenBradley

OK, my PC, not currently signed in for Cloud purchases, and actually has my media, all looks OK. My new Mac on the other hand, which is only connected to the Cloud, has 5 incorrect artworks out of 25. Not a good strike rate. The incorrect images seem to be from music purchases although I'm having trouble placing one of them. Check under View > View Options that you have Sort by: Title then: Title. Other options could potentially trigger repeat season covers.

tt2

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Answer 5

mllemon

Level 1

0 points

Jul 21, 2013 2:12 PM in response to GlenBradley

I am having the exact same issues as GlenBradley on an identical setup. (2010 Mac, Mountain Lion, 11.0.4 itunes.)

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Answer 6

GlenBradley Author

Level 1

9 points

Jul 21, 2013 11:50 PM in response to turingtest2

The view options are already set to view by Title then Title. :-/

I'm starting to figure this is a genuine bug bug.

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Answer 7

GlenBradley Author

Level 1

9 points

Jul 23, 2013 2:38 AM in response to GlenBradley

I promise I had no such problem under iTunes 10. I am guessing this problem is unfixable at this time? There is no com.apple.prefs file to delete, or something in in App Support or the Library?

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Answer 8

Jul 23, 2013 10:17 AM in response to GlenBradley

I thought this was just me. Having the same issues, same setup. For just one example, I have a Bing Crosby album artwork showing as the movie artwork for The A-Team. Plus all my Itunes Extras and Movies are seperated again. This is ridiculous.

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Answer 9

Jul 24, 2013 10:55 PM in response to GlenBradley

Same here.. just noticed it a few days ago... I am not sure how long it has been all messed up.. I noticed that some shows are listed under others but as soon as I info them they go back.. blah blah blah All the same as you all have said.. what is the deal???

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Answer 10

mllemon

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Jul 29, 2013 7:45 AM in response to GlenBradley

Has anyone had any luck in sorting out this problem? Very frustrating.

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Answer 11

GlenBradley Author

Level 1

9 points

Jul 30, 2013 6:34 AM in response to mllemon

Nope, mine is still broken.

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Answer 12

GlenBradley Author

Level 1

9 points

Jul 30, 2013 6:49 AM in response to GlenBradley

I have located the com.apple.itunes.plist in my users/me/library/preferences folder, but looking at it's contents Iam reluctant to delete it considering that it has all my home sharing settings and tokens in it, mobile device ID's, Apple ID information, mobile device synch data, licensing and DRM stuff, and more, and I am concerned that deleting my com.apple.itunes.plist and letting it rebuild will demolish my library far worse than what is already messed up in my TV Shows.

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Answer 13

GlenBradley Author

Level 1

9 points

Jul 30, 2013 6:51 AM in response to mllemon

and yes, it IS very frustrating. As it stands the only use I have out of my TV shows is to DL them from the iTunes notice of availability email, and then play the shows from the download list. The TV Show library itself is utterly useless.

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Answer 14

turingtest2

Level 10

272,943 points

Jul 30, 2013 1:48 PM in response to GlenBradley

I suspect the only solution will be to roll back to an older version of your iTunes database as described in Empty/corrupt library after upgrade/crash.

tt2

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Answer 15

manncr

Level 1

0 points

Jul 30, 2013 7:21 PM in response to GlenBradley

Having the same issue. It is only happening with TV shows that I have purchased from the iTunes Store. All TV shows that I have added to my iTunes library show up correctly.

I have tried reverting my iTunes settings files (preference and iTunes folder) to last Saturdays time machine files and relaunching iTunes (note that all my content is not stored in the music/itunes directory it is stored on an external drive so its easy enough to restore just the iTunes settings files). When I started iTunes all TV shows where correctly taged. However, shortly after itunes had done its cloud stuff - the TV library became scrambled again.

Movies are showing up correctly. Its only TV shows. Hopefully a solution happens soon.

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