Jerry Dammers
Level 1 (31 points)
Mac OS X

Q: Restoring 132GB iTunes from Time Capsule to my Mac

My playlists in iTunes have become corrupt (don't know why).

 

I need to restore an old copy of iTunes from Time Machine on my Time Capsule.

 

iTunes is 132GB - is it possible (and is it advisable) to restore using a cable from my Mac to the Time Capsule, rather than wirelessly?

 

Thank you

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5), + iPhone 6 Plus & iPad Air 2

Posted on Aug 18, 2016 12:46 AM

by Jerry Dammers,Solvedanswer
Jerry Dammers Jerry Dammers
Level 1 (31 points)
Mac OS X
A:

Apple Support managed to resolve this issue - it didn't need a full restore as the music was still in the iTunes library.

 

All that was required was to restore the "itl" file from a previous Time Machine backup. The file is only about 6MB but has all the information about iTunes (e.g. playlists) but not the physical music. Once an old itl file was restored, the iTunes library has all the correct playlist info.

 

As an aside, I actually discussed the issue about "large" libraries with Apple. I think many people have larger libraries than this but Apple doesn't encourage the use of other solutions (e.g. portable hard drives) so the Mac should be able to handle it. However, I agree with you that this doesn't always seem to be case (both for iTunes and Photo).

Posted on Aug 24, 2016 7:42 AM

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Jerry Dammers

Q: Restoring 132GB iTunes from Time Capsule to my Mac

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  • Helpful answers

  • by LaPastenague,

    LaPastenague LaPastenague Aug 18, 2016 1:45 AM in response to Jerry Dammers
    Level 9 (53,001 points)
    Wireless
    Aug 18, 2016 1:45 AM in response to Jerry Dammers

    If you have AC laptop and the TC is AC version it should be fast enough.. but ethernet is always better.. and if you have older slower equipment then ethernet will make it fly.

  • by Jerry Dammers,

    Jerry Dammers Jerry Dammers Aug 18, 2016 11:31 PM in response to LaPastenague
    Level 1 (31 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 18, 2016 11:31 PM in response to LaPastenague

    What is an "AC" laptop? I have a MacBook Pro from 2014 and a Time Capsule from 2011.

     

    How do I ensure the restore is via the Ethernet cable rather than wifi? Will the Ethernet cable automatically override the wifi?

     

    Thank you

  • by LaPastenague,Helpful

    LaPastenague LaPastenague Aug 19, 2016 1:40 AM in response to Jerry Dammers
    Level 9 (53,001 points)
    Wireless
    Aug 19, 2016 1:40 AM in response to Jerry Dammers

    AC is wireless standard that is capable of Gigabit so called. (real world speeds are less than half of the link speed).

     

    Here is AC wireless. On my computer to AC wireless TC.

     

    Screen Shot 2016-08-19 at 4.37.25 PM.png

     

    Your problem is the TC is old model so the max wireless speed is 450Mbps which means real world about half that.

     

     

    How do I ensure the restore is via the Ethernet cable rather than wifi? Will the Ethernet cable automatically override the wifi?

     

    Simple.. in the computer turn off wireless.

     

    But you can simply arrange ethernet to take precedence over wireless when it is connected.

     

    Open your Network preferences.

     

    Screen Shot 2016-08-19 at 4.43.03 PM.png

     

    When I plug in ethernet it should go to the top of list. It doesn't so change the order. Click the gear down the bottom of the list. Click set service order.

     

    Screen Shot 2016-08-19 at 4.44.26 PM.png

     

    Drag Ethernet to the top. Yours will be thunderbolt to ethernet adapter of some sort I am guessing..

     

    Screen Shot 2016-08-19 at 4.45.25 PM.png

     

    Click OK and it will reorder to ethernet on top when connected.

     

    Screen Shot 2016-08-19 at 4.45.39 PM.png

     

    Heck of a lot easier to click turn off wireless though. Just click the wireless fan in the top menu area.. click Turn off wifi. Turn it back on when you disconnect your ethernet.

     

    Screen Shot 2016-08-19 at 4.47.32 PM.png

     

    In my experience set order works about 80% of the time.. in other words.. having both wireless and ethernet turned on still affects the connection to make ethernet slower even with the order correct.

    Turn off wireless on the other hand is 100% effective at forcing connection via ethernet alone.

  • by Jerry Dammers,

    Jerry Dammers Jerry Dammers Aug 19, 2016 1:44 AM in response to LaPastenague
    Level 1 (31 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 19, 2016 1:44 AM in response to LaPastenague

    That's very helpful - thanks

     

    You have identified one issue though which is I mistakenly thought I could connect via ethernet but my Mac doesn't have ethernet - only HDMI, Thunderbolt and USB. I only have ethernet and USB cables.

     

    Can I do it via USB or not?

     

    If not, I guess I might have to do it overnight via wireless after all.

     

    I am actually quite reluctant to restore as I often have problems with iTunes and Time Machine but I can't find any other way to retrieve my corrupt playlists.

  • by LaPastenague,

    LaPastenague LaPastenague Aug 19, 2016 2:07 PM in response to Jerry Dammers
    Level 9 (53,001 points)
    Wireless
    Aug 19, 2016 2:07 PM in response to Jerry Dammers

    Buy the thunderbolt to ethernet adapter which is cheap (cf any other gadget with thunderbolt in the name including a plain patch cable).

     

    You cannot use USB direct.. You can use USB to ethernet adapter that will be slower than wireless unless it is true USB3 to ethernet which AFAIK the Apple one is not.

     

    Using wireless as long as you put the Mac next to the TC will work ok.

     

    Restore to a different location. You probably don't have space for two iTunes libraries on the MBP disk so simply plug in a USB drive and restore to that. Then you can open the library on the USB drive from iTunes.. once you tested it and found that it works you can then replace the iTunes library on the boot disk.

     

    I would turn off Time Machine for as long as you are playing around to ensure you don't corrupt the good version of the Library. Once you have everything running you can reload it. This might not go as well as you think it will.

  • by Jerry Dammers,

    Jerry Dammers Jerry Dammers Aug 21, 2016 3:24 AM in response to LaPastenague
    Level 1 (31 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 21, 2016 3:24 AM in response to LaPastenague

    LaPastenague wrote:

     

     

    Restore to a different location. You probably don't have space for two iTunes libraries on the MBP disk so simply plug in a USB drive and restore to that. Then you can open the library on the USB drive from iTunes.. once you tested it and found that it works you can then replace the iTunes library on the boot disk.

     

     

    I only have about 30GB on my Mac so, yes, I wouldn't be able to fit two 132GB libraries (if that's how the restore process works - I had presumed it would replace the current version rather than use extra memory).

     

    Does this mean I can't restore, other than via a USB drive first and then back to the Mac?

     

    LaPastenague wrote:

     

    This might not go as well as you think it will.

     

    I'm actually very reluctant to do it!

     

    I've had endless problems with my Apple hardware and software in recent years - particularly corrupt iTunes and Photo libraries - so have little faith the restore will work. I tried to restore my iPad from iCloud (as most of the playlists were also on my iPad previously) but I got a message saying a full restore could not be completed (everything except the music was restored).

     

    Problem is that my playlists are very detailed, personalised, and cover my musical tastes over many years - hence, they are of value to me so I want them restored but it doesn't seem easy.

  • by LaPastenague,

    LaPastenague LaPastenague Aug 21, 2016 1:03 PM in response to Jerry Dammers
    Level 9 (53,001 points)
    Wireless
    Aug 21, 2016 1:03 PM in response to Jerry Dammers

    You can try restoring over the top of the existing library. But IMHO that is a mistake and could well make it worse.

     

    Doing a restore to a USB drive ensures your not going to make things worse. Once completed you can delete the library on the Mac and manually copy the files to it from the USB drive. USB drives are cheap.. don't skimp as they provide a far superior method of backup than Time Machine.

     

    I use Carbon Copy Cloner to create a bootable clone of your working disk. There are several other software that can do this, but CCC and Chronosync are well regarded. It doesn't help you now but can help you once you restore your computer to functional state that you want preserved.

  • by Jerry Dammers,

    Jerry Dammers Jerry Dammers Aug 22, 2016 1:02 PM in response to LaPastenague
    Level 1 (31 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 22, 2016 1:02 PM in response to LaPastenague

    I've given this some more thought and am still sceptical it will successfully restore but there might be another route.

     

    I actually have two Mac's: the first Mac has the 132 GB iTunes library (let's call it "Mac 1") and a second, older Mac has a different iTunes library for my kids which is 10 GB (let's call it "Mac 2").

     

    Mac 1 is the most important iTunes library which I am trying to recover missing playlist information.

     

    Mac 2's iTunes library isn't as important and I could delete it but, ideally, I would like to keep it.

     

    Both Mac's are 500GB and are set up to wireless back up via Time Machine (TM) to the same 2011 Time Capsule.

     

    I also have lots of USB drives and, in fact, have a second (older) back up of Mac 1 iTunes library already on a USB drive.

     

    So I think my options are:

     

    1) Fix the playlist corruption in Mac 1

    Can I actually restore the corrupt the playlists via Finder on Mac 1?

    It's difficult to tell but I don't think I've actually lost any music in iTunes, just that the playlists are missing tracks.

    Finder states iTunes is 184GB but in iTunes it states I have 132GB of music.

    How does Finder manage my playlists - is there a master database somewhere?

     

    2) Restore Mac 1 iTunes backup via Mac 2

    Back up Mac 2 to TM. Restore an old backup of Mac 1 iTunes to Mac 2, replacing Mac 2's iTunes.

    Check if the old back up restores correctly and includes the missing playlist information. If it does, then restore to Mac 1 and reinstall Mac 2's original iTunes library from TM.

    As Mac 2 has an ethernet connection, this restore could be more straight forward than via wireless.

    However how would I get Mac 2 to read the TM backup of Mac 1 when, on the same TM, it is set up to backup Mac 2?

     

    3) Restore Mac 1 iTunes via USB

    As per your suggestion

     

    If 1) isn't possible, would 2) be the easiest route?

     

    Also, in future, how I can copy/backup my playlist info to avoid this problem. I don't mind manually correcting playlists - much rather that than have to restore backups (which doesn't seem foolproof).

     

    Thanks for your help

  • by LaPastenague,

    LaPastenague LaPastenague Aug 22, 2016 5:29 PM in response to Jerry Dammers
    Level 9 (53,001 points)
    Wireless
    Aug 22, 2016 5:29 PM in response to Jerry Dammers

    Sorry but the itunes intricate details are out of my experience.

     

    I think you are better posting in the iTunes area for particular help with 1.

     

    You could try 2. but again not what I would recommend. iTunes has a load of protection in it and moving libraries willy nilly is going to cause issues.

     

    I would also note that if the iTunes is corrupt.. then it will corrupt on the TM backup as well.. you don't want to mess about with the restore.

     

    I would go as far as doing a complete OS restore to USB drive.. ie boot the computer and go into the boot recovery and do it from scratch but using the USB as the target. Go back to well before the iTunes error came up. Then boot from the USB drive and see if you can get the itunes to work properly.. if so you can safely copy the library back to the computer.. manually .. although I would get iTunes gurus to help you.

     

    The problems happen once you get these massive libraries.. I think it is a mistake to attempt using libraries this big.

    I am speaking not from experience note.. but general computer support which I did for 20years.

     

    The fix I suggested is a bootable clone of your computer on USB drive. It is far more reliable way to ensure you can return easily to a fully functional machine.. albeit you might not do incremental backups that often on the clone to ensure it is viable.

  • by Jerry Dammers,Solvedanswer

    Jerry Dammers Jerry Dammers Aug 24, 2016 7:42 AM in response to LaPastenague
    Level 1 (31 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 24, 2016 7:42 AM in response to LaPastenague

    Apple Support managed to resolve this issue - it didn't need a full restore as the music was still in the iTunes library.

     

    All that was required was to restore the "itl" file from a previous Time Machine backup. The file is only about 6MB but has all the information about iTunes (e.g. playlists) but not the physical music. Once an old itl file was restored, the iTunes library has all the correct playlist info.

     

    As an aside, I actually discussed the issue about "large" libraries with Apple. I think many people have larger libraries than this but Apple doesn't encourage the use of other solutions (e.g. portable hard drives) so the Mac should be able to handle it. However, I agree with you that this doesn't always seem to be case (both for iTunes and Photo).

  • by LaPastenague,

    LaPastenague LaPastenague Aug 24, 2016 2:21 PM in response to Jerry Dammers
    Level 9 (53,001 points)
    Wireless
    Aug 24, 2016 2:21 PM in response to Jerry Dammers

    Mark your reply as the answer. It is good to know these files exist and what needs to be restored.

     

    It is part of the issue with library structures that the index files can get lost.

     

    Apple doesn't encourage the use of other solutions (e.g. portable hard drives)

    Yeah.. everything is supposed to be Cloud now. Which for 90% of the world is literally pie in the sky. When you have upload speeds of the average internet connection still 1Mbps nominal and lucky to actually achieve 0.8Mbps getting access to your 126GB file is a joke.

    It is also pretty cheeky of Apple to sell low end Macs with internal drives of 128GB. And then discourage portable drives.