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recovering iTunes library database .itl via time machine

In short, when I go back beyond a week in time machine I cannot find any .itl or even any of the .itdb or .xml files on my mac that I can restore with time machine. The only version that is there is for the current library which is missing 99.9% of the content.


The context:


1. I had itunes folder on my hard drive and an external with all of the content. Over the years the external must have been disconnected or what not as a sizeable media folder had also developed on the hard drive.

2. In order to free up space on the hard drive I consolidated the media and moved the library to a second external that had much more free space.

3. I ended up deleting the iTunes library on the hard disc on or around 6 april 2015. I believe I deleted the whole folder.


no dramas - everything worked for weeks


4. Today I noticed that the iTunes library was pretty much empty but for purchased music. All the podcasts, playlists and basically anything not purchased was gone.


5. I look into the iTunes folder on the hard disc and I noticed that there is a music folder with two songs that my kid likes to play. It leo has all of the usual library xml files and the .itdb / .itl files (which to be honest I have never noticed before, I had only remembered ever seeing the .XML files).


6. The "new" .itl file was created on Sunday 26 april at 5.30 pm. The whole iTunes folder it sat in on my hard drive also did not exist before this time.


7. If I use time machine and scroll back further in time than sunday there is no iTunes folder on my hard drive.


8. I thought I would just need to find the .itl file that predated this new library that was created on Sunday. Trouble is I can't find one. On any disc, hard disc, the first external or the second external. The only iTunes folder I can find with any of the database files needed is the one created on Sunday that is empty.


9. I have all of the media organised on the second hard disc however I don't want to reimport and lose all the metadata that I have built up since 2001 at least.


THE QUESTIONS


A - where should I be looking for the old iTunes database files using time machine if I used the advanced features of iTunes to move the database to the new disc


B - Can I perform some sort of system wide restore that would take me back in time to a point before last Sunday to get my old iTunes database back?


Any ideas?


Thanks in advance

Len

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.5), itunes 12.0.1

Posted on May 3, 2015 5:11 AM

Reply
Question marked as Best reply

Posted on May 3, 2015 7:48 AM

lenman74 wrote:

2. In order to free up space on the hard drive I consolidated the media and moved the library to a second external that had much more free space.

Consolidating the media to a new location is NOT moving the iTunes library.

It only moves the iTunes media folder.

3. I ended up deleting the iTunes library on the hard disc on or around 6 april 2015. I believe I deleted the whole folder.

Oops...😟

A - where should I be looking for the old iTunes database files using time machine if I used the advanced features of iTunes to move the database to the new disc

The “advanced features of iTunes" does NOT move the library. It moves the iTunes media folder.

7. If I use time machine and scroll back further in time than sunday there is no iTunes folder on my hard drive.

From reading your post, you will need to go back to prior to 6 April (#3).


We can help you get everything back and into one location on your external hard drive.

If you have it in your TM, post back before doing anything.

2 replies
Question marked as Best reply

May 3, 2015 7:48 AM in response to lenman74

lenman74 wrote:

2. In order to free up space on the hard drive I consolidated the media and moved the library to a second external that had much more free space.

Consolidating the media to a new location is NOT moving the iTunes library.

It only moves the iTunes media folder.

3. I ended up deleting the iTunes library on the hard disc on or around 6 april 2015. I believe I deleted the whole folder.

Oops...😟

A - where should I be looking for the old iTunes database files using time machine if I used the advanced features of iTunes to move the database to the new disc

The “advanced features of iTunes" does NOT move the library. It moves the iTunes media folder.

7. If I use time machine and scroll back further in time than sunday there is no iTunes folder on my hard drive.

From reading your post, you will need to go back to prior to 6 April (#3).


We can help you get everything back and into one location on your external hard drive.

If you have it in your TM, post back before doing anything.

May 3, 2015 7:56 AM in response to Chris CA

Eeeek!


Thank you for your reply.


I did a bit more digging back through time machine and I found an iTunes library with the required files from as far back as 10 April.


If I did delete the iTunes folder on 10 April - I really wonder how it continued to work for 16 days straight without a hitch (whilst I was rebooting throughout). Very odd.


OK so if I have to use the old one from 10 April the only problem I can think of is that the database will probably be looking for the media on the old location (mainly external no 1 and a bit on the internal hard disc) as opposed to external no 2 where they all sit consolidated.


That might not be a huge problem as the media still sits on external no 1 (too scared to delete it!).


Couple of questions:


1. If I restore the 10 April library and the database was pointing to the old location on External no 1 plus a few pointers to now-non existant files on the hard drive - is there a way of redirecting the library to External no 2 where ALL the files would currently be?


2. If I trashed the iTunes folder on 10 April - might it still be somewhere in the backup?


Cheers


Len

recovering iTunes library database .itl via time machine

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