"cannot find songs online" when trying to play/import from cd.

The "not recognized for on-line use" error is associated with the Gracenote service that iTunes uses to look up and retrieve metadata for CDs. Some users have reported that this error occurs when trying to import from CD, subsequent to upgrading to version 12 (though the number of reports has reduced significantly since 12.1 was released). A number of slightly different solutions have been reported (though all of a similar nature).

Try walking through the following steps - before starting you may have to enable hidden files and folders to be viewed - in Windows 7 / Windows Explorer select Organize > Folder and search options, then on theViewtab make sure thatShow hidden files, folders and drivesis selected. I don't have a Vista system to check whether its different, but you may need to:

• Select Start > Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization
• Click Folder Options
• Select the View tab
• Under Advanced Settings, click Show hidden files and folders, then click OK.

Without this you won't see theAppDatafolder inC:\Users\username\.

1. Exit iTunes
2. In Windows Explorer, go to the folder C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes
3. Delete the following files:
   • CD Info.cidb
   • com.apple.iTunes.Gracenote.plist
4. Restart iTunes
5. Insert a CD and see if details are now correctly retrieved from Gracenote

If this doesn't work:

1. In iTunes, select Edit > Preferences and make a note (or take a screenshot) of your preferences settings in all relevant tabs
2. Exit iTunes
3. In Windows Explorer, go to the folder C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes
4. Delete the following file:

   iTunesPrefs.xml

5. Restart iTunes
6. Insert a CD and see if details are now correctly retrieved from Gracenote

If this second procedure does work, you'll need to restore other iTunes preferences settings to those that you noted in step 1.

If this one didn't work:

1. Exit iTunes
2. Check the following folders:
   • C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Apple Computer\iTunes
   • C:\Users\username\AppData\LocalLow\Apple Computer\iTunes
3. Delete any copies of the following files:
   • CD Info.cidb
   • com.apple.iTunes.Gracenote.plist
   • iTunesPrefs.xml
4. Restart iTunes
5. Insert a CD and see if details are now correctly retrieved from Gracenote

Again, if this procedure does work, you'll need to restore other iTunes preferences settings to those that you noted in step 1 of the second procedure.

If you're still not able to retrieve CD info:

1. Exit iTunes
2. In Windows, select Start > Control Panel > Programs and Features. Find the entry for iTunes, right-click and select Repair.
3. When this process has finished, restart iTunes
4. Insert a CD and see if details are now correctly retrieved from Gracenote

If none of these have worked (and almost everything I've seen suggests you should be OK by this point), you may have an issue with the installation and configuration of iTunes itself. If you have got this far, see turingtest2's notes on Troubleshooting issues with iTunes for Windows updates for advice on how to remove and replace of all components of iTunes.

You're welcome 🙂