drewjon

Q: Original file could not be found

So, I tried to open songs I recently obtained and most of them have that message all the time. I didn't obtain my songs from the iTunes store , but I do have 2 iTunes, only one of them has this kind of problem.


What should be done? Should I restore this user? Btw, this happens only from like 2 months ago, and never got this kind of problem before.

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)

Posted on Jan 27, 2015 3:40 PM

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Q: Original file could not be found

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  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Jan 27, 2015 8:04 PM in response to drewjon
    Level 9 (53,936 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 27, 2015 8:04 PM in response to drewjon

    I don't know what you mean when you say 2 iTunes.

     

    iTunes knows which file to play by looking it up in a database updated when you add a file.  If that file is later moved or the path to it is changed iTunes doesn't know which file to play.  I can't exactly tell what going on from your description but that's the underlying issue.

  • by drewjon,

    drewjon drewjon Jan 27, 2015 8:24 PM in response to Limnos
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Audio
    Jan 27, 2015 8:24 PM in response to Limnos

    Alright, I have to make it clear.

     

    What I mean by 2 iTunes is that I have 2 users on my mac, both of them have iTunes themselves, and the other one doesn't have this kind of problem.

     

    I can't really explain more since I had no idea what happens now, it just started to happen recently and I had no idea how to fix it. I don't get it, can you explain more about the part where the file is moved and the iTunes doesn't know which to play? And how do I solve this?

  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Jan 27, 2015 8:43 PM in response to drewjon
    Level 9 (53,936 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 27, 2015 8:43 PM in response to drewjon

    For more about what makes iTunes run read:

     

    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

     

    Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391

     

    iTunes 9 [and later]: Understanding iTunes Media Organization - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3847 - plus supplemental information about organizing to new structure https://discussions.apple.com/message/26404702#26404702

     

    Image of folder structure and explanation of different iTunes versions (turingtest2 post) - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-7392 and making an iTunes library portable.

     

    Basically when you add a file to iTunes it puts it in a folder structure according to the labels on the file, then it makes a note in its catalog file where the file is located.  It displays the track information in iTunes and when you click on the track to play it looks up where the file is located and goes to that place.  iTunes does not actively inventory the media folder, it relies purely on its own record as to where files are located.  So if anything moves a file and iTunes does not know about it then it does not know where the file has gone.  iTunes itself may move a file to respond to changes made inside iTunes such as renaming a track, or if you use iTunes to relocate media from one place to another.

     

    Are these two users sharing the same media files but have two different library files?  If they are and one user edits the track information this may cause the file to be relocated by the one iTunes library.  The second library will not know this has happened and cannot find the files where it expects them to be.