My Itunes Library has become (Damaged), there is no previous itunes Library folder to chose a backup from. None of my media is showing in itunes but it is still in the relevant folders within the itunes folder, how do I get it back into iTunes! iMac, Itunes version 11.1
Thanks for the reply, however I have already seen that article and tried it - It did not work for me. After I imported the XML, some of my play lists had appeared, but all of the media was still missing, there were a few in there that were in there before that I think it has linked to my apple ID as it had a little cloud icon in the top right corner- as if to download again from iTunes. It looks like the media is still not linked to the actual media on my hard drive.
Thanks
I am not following this. All of your media are missing? You just have a bunch of empty playlists with no listed content?? Then you say some media are there.
Do you have automatic downloads set?
If the .xml does not provide a complete listing of your media either then it is possible it too is corrupt. Unless you have a backup of your library files on another drive you may have to rebuild your library from scratch by holding down the option/alt key while starting iTunes and later dragging your media folder to Automatically Add To iTunes.
If the underlying media files are missing or have been moved, then the rebuild won't work. In that case, you have to restore the whole iTunes media folder from a backup that predates the issue.
The music, films etc are still on the HDD in the correct folders, but they do not show in iTunes. It has created a new library because the old one is damaged and will not open. When I open this new library there is some music and films showing in iTunes, (about 10% of the old content) but what is in there has a little cloud icon in the top right corner which is basically saying it wants me to download it again. There are also some films showing in there that i never owned in the first place! Not all of my movies and music have been download from the itunes store.
I hope this makes sense?
The underlying media files are still there, it is the link between the files and the iTunes interface that is damaged. It is all stored on an external network drive and the is about 3TB of media on there, I don't fancy dragging it all back into an automatically add to ITunes folder, from experience large amounts of data like this crash. It took several attempts when I consolidated the library the first time, and that was only a few hundred GB
If the files have data entries in the iTunes window but show up as broken links ( ! ) it is one thing and you can try to get iTunes to fix it, but if there are no entries for the files in iTunes at all then there's nothing for iTunes to fix. iTunes does not have the capability to search the media folder for items that have not been added. There's a script you can download that does that but since you're talking major file addition I don't think a script would help. You have to re-add the files either directly as I suggested or by adding a playlist as in the .xml file you tried unsuccessfully to add.
I don't know much about the Cloud things. I don't have anything in the Cloud (my computer won't even support it). I asked about automatic downloads because from what you have said it sounds to me like you have a blank library that is being partially automatically populated by information it is getting about what it thinks are undownloaded iTunes Store purchases.
No it is not broken links, they are not their period. Yeah i think iTunes thinks that i already own those films for some reason and i can download them again because it cant see them in my library.
I think it may be to do with where the ITuned Media folder is directed to in the preferences. I just checked it and it seemed to have changed itself to an Itunes folder on my local HDD, not my network drive.
I tried to change it to the root folder in my network drive, but it still hasn't populated the media into iTunes ...
I'm not sure if the file directory is correct. My root folder on the network drive is named 'iTunes Library' within that folder I have music, books, movies folders etc, but there is also one named 'Itunes Media' with an 'automaticaly add to itunes' folder inside that, but that same 'automatically add to itunes' folder also exist within the root folder...
Its like it thinks all my media should be in that iTunes media folder, but its not, its in the top level folder above that. You would think I should just be able to point ITunes at that folder...?
I have pointed the iTunes media folder in preferences to the 'iTunes library' root folder, but it has made no difference
Does that make sense?
I also had 2 XML files in the root folder:
Itunes Library.xml
Itunes Music Library.xml
I have tried copying both to the desktop and importing them as a playlist, but neither worked
i dont know if it is relevant, but i also have 9 'Temp file.tmp files in my root folder. When I click on them it looks like xml code....
Hosting the iTunes library on a network volume doesn't work reliably. If you don't have room for it on the internal drive, put it on a locally-attached external drive.
No it is not broken links, they are not their period. Yeah i think iTunes thinks that i already own those films for some reason and i can download them again because it cant see them in my library.
If they are not there period then you have to add them yourself as I have said twice already.
iTunes is picking up your computer authorization and AppleID login into the Store and telling you you have content not in your library (the database iTunes uses, not what is actually on your computer as files which iTunes completely fails to see). It is showing you have content to download.
I think it may be to do with where the ITuned Media folder is directed to in the preferences. I just checked it and it seemed to have changed itself to an Itunes folder on my local HDD, not my network drive.
I tried to change it to the root folder in my network drive, but it still hasn't populated the media into iTunes ...
Changing preferences will not get iTunes to inventory the media folder. Changing preferences simply tells iTunes that is where you want ot store any new media added from that point on.
I'm not sure if the file directory is correct. My root folder on the network drive is named 'iTunes Library' within that folder I have music, books, movies folders etc, but there is also one named 'Itunes Media' with an 'automaticaly add to itunes' folder inside that, but that same 'automatically add to itunes' folder also exist within the root folder...
Its like it thinks all my media should be in that iTunes media folder, but its not, its in the top level folder above that. You would think I should just be able to point ITunes at that folder...?
You have residual pre-iTunes 9 media structure as well as the new structure. If everything was working I'd tell you to consolidate/organize to update it all. As it is since you will have to add all media to your new library it should do it anyway.
iTunes 9 [and later]: Understanding iTunes Media Organization - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3847
Image of folder structure and explanation of different iTunes versions (turingtest2 post) - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-7392
I couldnt find a usb drive big enough, I have 3TB worth of movies and it is always growing (Blue-ray to watch on Apple TV). I don't think it is possible to split the media over multiple HDD
You are right, I am going to have to add all the media back into the library manually, just tried copying my music across, it did about 15 albums then crashed, started again, did another 6 and crashed, this is going to be a slllooooooooowwwwwwwwww process.
All the media is there, split into the correct folders already, iTunes should just be able to scan it and reference the info, not make copies of it all again, I don't have enough free space on the drive to duplicate it all at once even if it didn't crash every 5 minutes, what a waste of space and resources making duplicates of every single file for me to have to delete the old ones!
It is fine for a library a few 10's of GB, but who buys DVD's anymore, everything is digital and libraries in general are only going to get bigger!
If not the whole iTunes library then at least make the media drive the one where the media currently reside. The new media folder will contain an Automatically Add To iTunes folder iTunes 9: Understanding the "Automatically Add to iTunes" folder. Drag the media to Automatically Add To iTunes in that iTunes media folder. It will move items to that media folder so it won't require any more room than it does now.
If you're having this level of difficulties with the network drive it is not surprising all this is happening. NAS problems are quite frequent on this forum.
My Itunes Library has become (Damaged)
