iTunes Music Gone!

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Level 1

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iTunes Music Gone!

All of my music has vanished fro iTune after updating to macOS 10.14. I've just copied hundreds of CDs into my iMac Library to preserve the songs. When I open iTunes, I only see 12 songs and no playlists. I have hundreds on my iPhone, and now am afraid to connect my iPhone to my iMac in case all those songs disappear, too.

The offered solution from Apple Support is useless; there is not "Previous Library" in my iTunes folder.

What the !@#$% has happened? And how do I get __MY__ music back onto this iMac?

macOS Mojave (10.14)

Posted on Nov 3, 2018 10:33 PM

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Answer 1

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turingtest2

Level 10

272,871 points

Nov 7, 2018 9:47 AM in response to rwzpv

See Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash. Perhaps you've looked at the Previous iTunes Libraries folder in the default location but your library was stored elsewhere. Have you searched the entire computer for media? Did you format a drive as part of upgrading? Is there a backup? See Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device if required.

tt2

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Answer 2

rwzpv Author

Level 1

40 points

Nov 7, 2018 3:52 PM in response to turingtest2

Thanks for all your help so far.

When I drill down to ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/, I see no Music Folder. Instead I see 59 folders, and an ".iTunes Preferences file". Each folder contains one song that is playable.

The itunes library on my MacBook is in the same state as my desktop, with only recent iTunes purchases showing.

My iPhone iTunes library seems to be intact, so I may have to spend $ for one of the apps you recommend in Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device. Note that some of those apps are no longer available, or functioning.

I am recovering an online backup of ~Music from the day before I did the update. But after the earlier failure in replacing the music folder, I am not sure how to use it .

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Answer 3

rwzpv Author

Level 1

40 points

Nov 7, 2018 9:54 AM in response to turingtest2

I "Found" the Previous iTunes Libraries;" but the latest saved version is from March 2018. I have added hundreds of tracks since then capturing all the music off of many, many CDs and DVDs.

Also, the "Show path bar" View option is grayed out in the search result window, so I don't where even those files actually are!

I'm afraid to connect my iPhone to iTunes to try your second suggestion, since that just might wipe out the songs on my phone!

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Answer 4

turingtest2

Level 10

272,871 points

Nov 7, 2018 10:00 AM in response to rwzpv

Did you have Time Machine enabled and backing up the library folder?

Have you checked the main iTunes folder for hidden .tmp files that might represent your lost library?

You can import the media folder to add in anything the current library isn't already aware of. You'll have lost ratings, play counts, and playlist membership, but not the end of the world.

Also, the "Show path bar" View option is grayed out in the search result window, so I don't where even those files actually are!

Not sure quite what you mean by this.

tt2

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Answer 5

rwzpv Author

Level 1

40 points

Nov 7, 2018 1:18 PM in response to turingtest2

I have a backup, in a Carbon Copy Cloner _CCC Safetynet from the days before I installed Mohave. I copied what looked like a good backup iTunes folder into ~Music and replaced the corrupted iTunes folder. But when I launched iTunes and tried to play a song, I got this message: "The song “xxxxxxx” could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" I can't find the song because the Safetynet folder isn't complete, so I'd have to go back to when each song was safety netted for 13,000 items. It seems only the index was recovered, not the media.

So next I have to try to recover the songs from my iPhone or other MacBook.

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Answer 6

turingtest2

Level 10

272,871 points

Nov 7, 2018 2:17 PM in response to rwzpv

Restoring a folder on top of another folder can delete what is already inside it, which might not have been what you wanted to do. Ideally you would have pulled out the iTunes Library.itl file and nothing else, assuming all the contents of iTunes Media was unchanged, which it should have been. What do you see if you drill down into ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music?

tt2

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