I seem to have multiple iTunes libraries and cannot access all my music at any one time to sync to my iPod. I also have 2 different iPods with different music on each. It's very confusing not being able to have all my music in one main library. Is there anyway to merge them together ?
iPod touch, iOS 4.2
This link may help:
<<Back up your iTunes library by copying it to an external drive - Apple Support>>
See the section on Consolidating your iTunes Library.
Thank you for the suggestion, but I have done that... I still have numerous iTunes libraries (previous versions). I opened one and it showed all music as not being able to find original files, even though I have much of that music in my current iTunes. So confusing & frustrating. I've been looking for alternatives to iTunes to sync my iPod too..and even alternatives to my beloved iPod Touch. I haven't found anything adequate to replace either.
Each Previous iTunes Libraries folder should contain backups of the library in its parent folder made during some updates to iTunes. These can be useful for recovering the library if something goes wrong.
See this post for advice on fixing broken links.
See Make a split library portable for a background to proper library organization.
Fix up your primary library, then import the media content that is in the others, or import the XML files from each if you want to import ratings, play counts and playlists. Use my DeDuper script to deduplicate. See this thread for background, this post for detailed instructions, and please take note of the warning to backup your library before deduping.
tt2
Thank you so much for the excellent information. I am quite sure my problem stems from the "split libraries"... after moving my iTunes library to an ex. hard drive for back up when I got a new computer AND again, when the new computer had to have a new hard drive installed. I'm not up to the challenge of working on it this evening, but I hope your info will solve my issues.
I am thoroughly daunted upon carefully reading this. Seems it would be simpler to blow up my entire music collection and start over. If I were to contact Apple Support, would they be able to guide me through this ?? I can't imagine it would take nothing less than multiple hours to complete this process.
I doubt Apple Support would be able to invest the time necessary to rebuild the library for you. You might prefer to start fresh library and gradually import and organize your content into that rather than trying to resolve the problems with the existing library, however that means losing all of the ratings, play counts, playlists, etc.
tt2
Again, thank you for your reply. I'll have to research that option. I don't mind losing ratings, play counts, etc.. wouldn't choose to lose my playlists, but I can redo them if need be. Any articles you could suggest that would be helpful ?
I think I've posted links to most of the articles on repairing and organizing the library. One I haven't mentioned so far is Grouping tracks into albums. There is also a useful tool called iTunes Folder Watch which can scan your media folder for any files that aren't connected to the library, or entries in the library that are no longer connected to a file.
tt2
I seem to have multiple iTunes libraries..is there anyway to merge them all together ?
