unable to locate files

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Level 1

19 points

unable to locate files

So... 1st I screwed up big time by accidentally formatting the external drive that I was keeping my music files on. Then I used an app to copy all of my music from ny phone on to a folder on a 2nd external hard disk. Now when I double click on a song that has an exclamation point on it I am able to link the track to the corresponding file. The problem is that every time I do that it fails in the next step to relink the 2k+ other tracks that also have the exclamation point. The message is "iTunes was not able to locate any of 2,804 missing files."

Since I don't want to re-link them all by hand, and I don't want to scrap my iTunes library with all the play counts and eq settings and such....any one have a work-around or solution?

thanks

Sierra 10.12.4

iTunes 12.6.1.25

Posted on May 21, 2017 10:17 PM

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Answer 1

turingtest2

Level 10

278,351 points

May 22, 2017 6:46 PM in response to EastBayAlex

Find one of the tracks that has a broken link, press Cmd+I to Get Info, click no when asked to locate the file, then look at the File tab. What is the location shown? It will begin file://localhost/. Where is that track really? It depends on how your iPhone extraction tool worked, but if the general pattern of the path is correct you may just need to move one or two folders around. Alternatively you may need to add the media into a new library with the media folder set up appropriately, then use Keep organized to set the file and folder structure as it would have been before, then switch back to your current library,

tt2

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Answer 2

EastBayAlex Author

Level 1

19 points

May 22, 2017 6:46 PM in response to turingtest2

That totally worked!!!!... mostly... There's still 900+ files that still have exclamation points that as far as I can tell all have the same old file path associated with them. I've tried a few different configurations of file path and drive name combos and nothing seems to work. iTunes has also stopped asking if I want to reconnect the other disconnected files. Maybe I've got a corrupted library file?

I've screwed with it so much now, I have no idea ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Answer 3

turingtest2

Level 10

278,351 points

May 22, 2017 6:54 PM in response to EastBayAlex

Find one of the tracks that has a broken link, press Cmd+I to Get Info, click no when asked to locate the file, then look at the File tab. What is the location shown? It will begin file://localhost/. Where is that track really?

If you post the details for one of the tracks that is still broken I might be able to suggest a remedy.

tt2

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Answer 4

EastBayAlex Author

Level 1

19 points

Jun 11, 2017 5:05 PM in response to turingtest2

Hey! Sorry for the delay, here's the details...

iTunes is looking for missing files in this exact path:

file://Volumes/Silmarillion/Users/Alex/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/

I'm trying to get it to recognize and re-link them from this exact path:

/Volumes/Silmarillion/Users/Alex/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music

As far as I can tell its just the "file:/" at the beginning if the first one that is different. No idea what that means though

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Answer 5

turingtest2

Level 10

278,351 points

Jun 11, 2017 5:49 PM in response to EastBayAlex

The file:// bit at the beginning indicates an apparently missing file. The Mac version of iTunes has recently dropped the localhost/ part. Ideally I want to see the whole path to a specific track, including the file extension as shown in iTunes, and when checking via Finder. A common issue is that one path includes an additional Music folder below the media folder. iTunes Music is also the old name for the media folder which is now called iTunes Media. What is displayed under iTunes > Preferences > Advanced? On a Mac case sensitivity may also play a role.

tt2

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Answer 6

EastBayAlex Author

Level 1

19 points

Jun 11, 2017 6:03 PM in response to turingtest2

Thanks for the info!

The exact file path from the info panel of a missing file is:

file:///Volumes/Silmarillion/Users/Alex/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/DJ Danger Mouse/The Grey Album/03 Encore.mp3

and the exact file path for a file I have reconnected succesefully while unsuccesefuly reconnecting the other missing files is:

/Volumes/Silmarillion/Users/Alex/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/Bran Van 3000/The Garden/Cowboy Hoot.mp3

Still not sure why its not finding anything as the paths look almost identical to me. i have a sinking feeling I might have a corrupt database file? That would just break my heart 😟

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Answer 7

turingtest2

Level 10

278,351 points

Jun 11, 2017 6:23 PM in response to EastBayAlex

Where is the actual copy of the file 03 Encore.mp3 that should be at:

Volumes/Silmarillion/Users/Alex/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/DJ Danger Mouse/The Grey Album/03 Encore.mp3?

If the file is in fact at that path does your user account have read and write access?

tt2

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Answer 8

EastBayAlex Author

Level 1

19 points

Jun 11, 2017 6:31 PM in response to turingtest2

The file is in fact in that path. I wonder though if it matters that the original drive was the internal OS drive and the new one is an external drive? The drive format, name and file path(s) are exactly the same, so I'm not quite sure how else to replicate the original condition.

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