itunes help

[barnacle]

hello all,
i have an 30gig video for a couple weeks now and have a couple questions.
first, itunes works fine on my laptop, but on the desktop i keep getting the message, " the folder itunes cannot be found or created and needs to be. the default location is in my music"
i create a folder called my music and still no good.

second, in my zest for music, i loaded about 3gig on the ipod before i realized there was a 'sound check' feature. if i download all 6 gig to my external hard drive, then reload it to the ipod, will the sound check feature adjust all the song volumes that i loaded before clicking the sound check to the same levels as the rest?
i will use 'tune tools' for this download,, any advice doing this?
thanks a whole bunch!!!

 

[mkrishnan]

1) If you run the sound check on the songs in the iTunes library and then sync the iPod, the iPod will get the volume corrected versions.

2) The problem seems to have to do with some special characteristics of the My Music folder in Windows. See this thread and read replies 9 and 11. Apparently you are supposed to have a "special" My Music folder (i.e. it shows up with an icon with a musical note on it) and iTunes will only work when this folder exists. Making a My Music yourself isn't enough to fix this issue, but the fix doesn't look thaaaat bad. As for why you didn't have one already... not sure. Might have deleted it before you knew you needed it!

 

[barnacle]

Thanks for the help,, a couple other problems. I notice when I import music now with both sound check buttons clicked, it says it is adjusting the volume. The songs I loaded before I found out about this still play at different levels. Should I re-load all songs?
And just my luck,, I was so close to getting the answer to the error question,, but the link only opens to reply #5 and then says ‘done but with errors’! any way I could get someone to cut and pastes the replys here for me? thanks a lot!!

edit:

thanks,, i live in belize and am hampered by the most primitive internet connection known to modern man!

 

[mkrishnan]

The steps to the solution to the My Music thing are...

Click on Start -> Run
Type in "regedit" and then press enter

In two locations, you are going to modify the string to point to the location of your music folder. The two locations are:


hkey_current_user - software - microsoft - windows - current version - explorer - shell folders -> My Music

windows - current version - explorer - USER shell folders -> My Music

I'm essentially copying this from there...it's been a long time since I did regedit... but hopefully that makes sense to you.

 

[barnacle]

thanks for the tip. the regedit does the trick. i must have deleted 'my music' long ago. oops.
but,, sorry to say, i am still trying to get my beer soaked brain around the sound check issue. i am under the impression that music washes through the sound check feature on the way to the library, adjusting volumes as it goes. then once on the ipod with the feature clicked they plays at the same volume.
my problem seems to be with the music i loaded to the ipod BEFORE i found the sound check feature. am i correct in assuming that music has to be reloaded to the library to be 'balanced' out? and if so,, any tips to make that easier?
other good news is that monday my area was updated to good internet connection. bad news, i will most likely have more questions.
thanks again.

 

[mkrishnan]

Actually I tried to figure that out and I couldn't completely understand it either.

This is how I understand it:

1) The Sound Check feature embeds a note in the ID3 data of the music file that tells the player (iTunes / iPod) how loudly to play the song.

2) When you import a song into the library on the computer with the sound check feature on, it does the analysis and puts the note in.

3) Any song that "changes" in the library gets updated on the iPod -- if you change the title or the artist name or any other ID3 data, or if you delete it and import new copy. So for instance if you grabbed a hundred songs and changed their category grouping, they would all get uploaded to the iPod again the next time you sync.

4) I am not sure what happens when you suddenly turn Sound Check on, in terms of songs already in the library.

This is probably the easiest thing (but maybe not the most efficient) to do: get a view up in iTunes that shows you all the songs that you imported before you turned on Sound Check. You can maybe do this by viewing the "Date Modified" or "Date Added" column in the browse view.

Then make a temp folder somewhere like on your desktop. Drag all the songs from the iTunes window to that folder -- I think this works in Windows -- which will make copies of them there. Then delete them in iTunes and drag them all back from that folder into the iTunes window. Then they should definitely all sound check and get updated the next time you sync your iPod.

If anyone can chime in with something more parsimonious, feel free.

 

[barnacle]

sorry if i am being a pain,,
i did the regedit change you recomended, but it won't 'stick'. as soon as i try to open itunes, i get the same error and then i go look, and the regedit change is gone? i change it again, same thing. i am sure i am doing something wrong. i don't see any 'apply' type button. please help!!!

 

[mkrishnan]

Does your music folder have a music icon on it in Windows Explorer, or does it look like a normal music folder? The former is your cue that you did the regedit thing correctly, I think.

By the way, I checked the sound check because somehow it got turned off on my iMac. iTunes 7 at least seems to check all songs imported without sound check right after you change the preference. Text to that effect came up in the top status window.

 

[barnacle]

yes,, the little folder has the music note on it,, but it won't stay there.
when i do the regedit, i can't make the change stick? as soon as i try itunes,, it won't open and i look and the regedit is gone?
i also copied the folder from the laptop, that works, onto a little zip drive thingy and while it is stuck in the usb on the desktop,, itunes opens? it recognises the folder.
i know this is the problem because if i connect another old hard drive that i didn't delete the folder,, i tunes works,{it's still in the computer just not plugged in}. but thats another story.
it's still not a major problem cuz i got the laptop,, but now it's a quest.

thanks