transferring playlists to new computer?

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Level 1

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transferring playlists to new computer?

I have tried all of the tutorials for this given here but it is not working. On my windows pc using itunes 11, I saved the two files from the itunes music folder "itunes library.itl" and "itunes music library.xml" on my external HDD, I then copied them unto my Macbook's desktop, I would like to know 3 things please:

1] How to proceed from here, should I go into the itunes folder on the mac and replace the two files in there with the two backed up files?

2] If that method works then in which itunes folder should I place the original mp3's copied over from my pc?

3] How do I relink the playlists to the mp3's?

Thanks.

Posted on Aug 6, 2013 9:20 AM

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Answer 1

matt00

Level 5

4,041 points

Aug 8, 2013 9:20 AM in response to mikehende

Hey mikehende,

Thanks for the question. I understand you are in the process of transferring your iTunes library to a new computer. You've done a great job so far!

The best solution may be to copy the entire iTunes folder from the previous computer (this will include the library files for your playlists, and the iTunes Media folder).

The following article provides various methods of moving your library. Referring to the External drive section, there is a great amount of information regarding the iTunes folder location, and folder hierarchy.

iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527

Thanks,

Matt M.

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Answer 2

mikehende Author

Level 1

30 points

Aug 8, 2013 9:54 AM in response to matt00

Appreciate the info Matt but all the tutorials and videos I have encountered have not helped my situation, basically, I near to solving this problem, just missing one last step, to refresh, I replaced the default 2 library.itl and music library.xml files with the backup from my pc, now all playlists are showing and when I click on any playlist the files are showing in the library but when I click on any song, it's asking for the location of the song file, this where I am at a standstill and cannot go any further, I need to know how to link the playlists back to the songs on my external HDD or I can transfer the songs from the HDD into my mac's HDD but need to know in exactly which folder it should go into and then which option to use to have all files in the playlists play without myself having to navigate to every song's location?

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Answer 3

Chris CA

Level 10

82,513 points

Aug 8, 2013 9:58 AM in response to mikehende

Are you trying to move your iTunes library to a new computer?

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Answer 4

turingtest2

Level 10

278,351 points

Aug 8, 2013 10:08 AM in response to mikehende

See this migrate iTunes library post.

If the library is in a fully portable form, and you've copied over the media already, then copying the iTunes Library.itl will work. If the library isn't in the right shape then iTunes won't be able to locate the tracks. Bad enough going Windows to Windows (I have a tool for repairing links), but Windows to Mac will be much harder to resolve.

The .xml file is irrelevant, iTunes rebuilds this each time, however you should really copy over Album Artwork, iTunes Library Extras, iTunes Library Genius and the hidden file sentinel at the same time as the .itl.

tt2

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Answer 5

mikehende Author

Level 1

30 points

Aug 8, 2013 10:18 AM in response to turingtest2

Yes Chris, I created the playlists on my pc with the songs on my external HDD and I transferred the itl xml files to itunes on my macbook and as mentioned the transferred playlists are now on the mac's itunes but locating the songs is the probblem, I need the proper procedure to make this happen.

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Answer 6

turingtest2

Level 10

278,351 points

Aug 8, 2013 10:25 AM in response to mikehende

See my link above, in particular the link in that to make a split library portable. If you get everything properly established on an external drive you can move it from system to system with relative ease. The Windows to Mac transition (and presumably the reverse) takes a little longer for some reason. PC to PC even with a change of drive or path is not obviously slower than opening a library that hasn't moved.

tt2

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Answer 7

mikehende Author

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30 points

Aug 8, 2013 10:47 AM in response to turingtest2

Sorry turintest2, I am not understanding what to do here from that link, I can see the guy's problem was solved but not understanding how to proceed with my situation since he did not backup and transfer his playlists as I did?

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Answer 8

turingtest2

Level 10

278,351 points

Aug 8, 2013 11:16 AM in response to mikehende

The exact set of steps needed to make a split library portable will depend on the current setup.

Where is your active iTunes Library.itl file?

Where is your media folder? (see Edit > Preferences Advanced)

Is the library consolidated? (All media inside the media folder)

Is the media folder in the old layout, or new? (New puts all music inside a "Music" folder inside the "Media" folder)

I can give tailored steps with the information above.

tt2

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Answer 9

mikehende Author

Level 1

30 points

Aug 8, 2013 11:50 AM in response to turingtest2

Ok I think it may be best to settle the issue of my pc's itunes backup situation first which is a simliar issue with my macbook, this time listing my steps:

1] On My desktop pc, in itunes 11, I created a number of playlists with names like 1946-1969, 12 inch 80s, reggaeton e.t.c e.t.c with the actual mp3's located on my connected external HDD in a top level folder titled "collection", inside this folder are the categorized mp3 folders with names like 1946-1969, 12 inch 80s, reggaeton e.t.c e.t.c, so you get the picture, I created the playlists to correspond to the actual mp3 folder's names.

2] I then copied the .itl and .xml files from the itunes folder on my pc located in C: Users/living room/music/itunes [as shown in screenshot] and pasted unto a flash drive for backup purposes.

3] I then uninstalled and reinstalled itunes 11 on my pc then replaced the new itunes .itl and .xml files with the backup files I had copied, now all playlists are showing and when I click on any playlist the files are showing in the library but when I click on any song, it's asking for the location of the song file, this where I am at a standstill and cannot go any further, I need to know how to link the playlists back to the songs still located on on my external HDD?

If I can solve this issue above then I think I should be able to soklve the transferring to my macbook issue?

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Answer 10

turingtest2

Level 10

278,351 points

Aug 8, 2013 12:04 PM in response to mikehende

Ah, a completely non-standard layout then! 👿

Select a single broken track. Press CTRL+I to Get Info. When iTunes says the file is missing and prompts you to find it say no. Look on the summary tab for the location. It will begin file://localhost - please post back the exact path as shown. Where is the file really? Again exact path please.

With luck we're looking at fixing a drive letter issue to start with which will get the library functional again. Then we can discuss how to make it possible to move it.

tt2

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Answer 11

mikehende Author

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30 points

Aug 8, 2013 12:17 PM in response to turingtest2

Thanks, please see screenshot

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Answer 12

turingtest2

Level 10

278,351 points

Aug 8, 2013 12:29 PM in response to mikehende

OK, that's where iTunes is looking. Why isn't the file there? Where is it really?

Have you moved "redone mp's"?

Is there more than one external drive, i.e. is "redone mp3's" somewhere other than "G:\redone mp3's"?

If everything is where it is supposed to be then the olny other issue that springs to mind would be a permissions problem, but uninstallng and reinstalling iTunes wouldn't have caused problems there. 😕

tt2

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Answer 13

mikehende Author

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Aug 8, 2013 12:51 PM in response to mikehende

Oh, one thing, the path shows the top level folder as "redone mp3's", this was the top level folder's name when I had originally created the playlists but since then it's changed to "collection" on my external but that's not an issue, I can change the name back to original if needed.

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Answer 14

turingtest2

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Aug 8, 2013 12:57 PM in response to mikehende

... posting to reveal new post...

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Answer 15

turingtest2

Level 10

278,351 points

Aug 8, 2013 1:00 PM in response to mikehende

mikehende wrote:

Oh, one thing, the path shows the top level folder as "redone mp3's", this was the top level folder's name when I had originally created the playlists but since then it's changed to "collection" on my external but that's not an issue, I can change the name back to original if needed.

Indeed, that is what is needed at this stage. iTunes expects all the folder names on the paths to the media to remain unchanged each time it starts up. Your edit is what has broken things. Close iTunes, rename the folder exactly as before, then start iTunes. Check that it can now play stuff.

tt2

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