itunes

[rekras]

I'm not very fond of itunes right now, i just spent the last two weeks categorizing my 1000mp3s by individually setting each song's equalizer, and dividing them into playlists. And now 2 days after i put in a good 10 (maybe more) hours doing all this, for the second time itunes lost all my imported songs and the equalizer settings, and playlists that went along with them. GOD IM PISSED! Can anyone tell me a way to recover my old itunes or help me out in some way, if this happens again im going to shoot myself.

 

[tomgreever]

More information...

You'd need to provide more information about what is happening, what comp you're using, system software, etc... My guess is that iTunes didn't just magically lose everything you've done... the data file may be located on your HD somewhere.

I've never had any trouble with this sort of thing, and I've not heard of anything similar.

 

[rekras]

for christmas i recieved a firewire hd which i moved all of my mp3s to, after that itunes couldnt find any of them, and since itunes can only import one song at a time, i had to throw it away (loosing all my playlists and eq settings) and redownload it so it would import everything at the same time when it starts up. So, then i had a very unorganized vast library of about 1000 songs. So i finally starting getting to it, and going through the daunting task of individually setting the equalizer settings and playlists for each song, which took me about two weeks. Now, today the hd was unplugged by this plumber guy and itunes lost all the imported songs, playlists, and equalizer settings.

 

[kay]

Originally posted by rekras
itunes can only import one song at a time

That's not true... when you go to Add To Library..., select the FireWire harddrive itself. It will add all your mp3s.

In fact, if you hadn't deleted all the "missing" songs from iTunes initially, you could have relocated one song manually and iTunes would automatically find the rest providing they were still in the same folder structure only in a new harddrive.

 

[tomgreever]

iTunes Links

What system are you running?

As you may know, iTunes does not physically move files around within the program. Rather, it creates links from the Playlist to the file and vice versa... sort of like the way a web page links to an image, but doesn't embed the image in the html file.

Anyway, if you created all these playlists and then moved the MP3's to another HD... that's the problem! Most likely, iTunes was looking for "song.mp3" on "YourMainHDocuments:iTunes:Music:Song:song.mp3". Then you moved it to "NewFireWireHD:Anywhere:song.mp3" and iTunes didn't know where to look. I don't think there's a way to "relink" files in iTunes, but I'm not sure. It could likely be done in AppleScript.

Regardless, know the location of these important files and make back-up copies of them "iTunes Music Library", "iTunes Music Library (2)" (if any), "iTunes EQ Presets", and "iTunes Preferences". The latter two are probably in your System Folderreferences:iTunes. The first two should be in your Documents folder (as this is iTunes default). These files provide all the information to iTunes to "remember" your EQ settings and playlists.

That's all the help I can provide for now, until I know more about what's happening. (ie: "So, then I turned on the computer the next day and got a crashing car sound...")

Here's what I always tell my mother:
1) Restart the computer
2) Re-install the software (in which case I have to do it)
3) The computer **usually** only does things that you tell it to do

Who knows? Could be a screwy "no-ones-ever-heard-of- iTunes-doing-this-before" kind of thing. In which case, I can offer no more help.

 

[tomgreever]

Originally posted by kay


That's not true... when you go to Add To Library..., select the FireWire harddrive itself. It will add all your mp3s.

In fact, if you hadn't deleted all the "missing" songs from iTunes initially, you could have relocated one song manually and iTunes would automatically find the rest providing they were still in the same folder structure only in a new harddrive.

Thanks for the info... I knida thought you could "relink" songs within iTunes, but I'd never done it. I guess it works the same way Quark does with mislinked graphics files... once you find one of them, it asks to relink all of them within the same directory structure.

I too wondered why he said "iTunes will only import one song at a time" That's true when you're "Converting" files to MP3's... but you can "import" as many MP3's into iTunes as you want... in fact, you can drag and drop all 1,000 songs...

 

[kay]

Originally posted by tomgreever
I guess it works the same way Quark does with mislinked graphics files

Exactly. Except that in many ways Quark is the most stuborn program ever created...

 

[kansaigaijin]

itunes

so don't dis the software until you read the manual.

 

[rekras]

Re: itunes

Originally posted by kansaigaijin
so don't dis the software until you read the manual.

macs dont exactly come with manuals. And im sorry, i know everyone here worships macs (as do i), and i obviously know they're way more stable than PCs, but im really getting sick of people saying dont diss the software, and my mac NEVER EVER has problems and never crashes... My computer gives me a series of problems about every two months, and it is a pain in the ass. Apple is definately not flawless. If noone ever critiziced or complained about apple they would never improve and make better products. So i say thankyou to the ones who try to help me like tomgreever, and say f*ck off to people who make stupid comments like kansaigaijin.

BTW-tomgreever, i found the itunes library document but when i double click on it, it just opens itunes and doesnt do anything, do u know how i can have itunes import this saved library?

 

[kay]

Re: Re: itunes

Originally posted by rekras
do u know how i can have itunes import this saved library?

I'm pretty sure if you move the old Library file into the location of the new one (delete the new one) it should work. But I've never tried this before, so a good idea would be to back everything up before you try this...

 

[tomgreever]

Yes, Macs aren't perfect, but back to iTunes

My Mac crashes on me too sometimes... but not as much as my PC. Regardless, let's get on topic:

I just moved my iTunes "Music Library" files to see what would happen. When I re-launched iTunes, I had a blank screen. Which is probably what you're seeing!

Anyway, where is the "Library" file that you found? Is it in the iTunes folder in Documents? Or is it on your FW HD? iTunes will create a new "Library" file if one doesn't exist, so this could be a hoax. Don't double-click the file, that won't help. There's not a way to import the file (that I know of) but you can make a copy of the file and put it in the right place. iTunes by default will look for this file in "YourHardDriveocuments:iTunes" Make sense?

 

[tomgreever]

In other words...

In other words, try putting the "Music Library" File that you found in the "iTunes" folder in the "Documents" folder on your hard drive. It might ask you "Are you sure you want to replace it?" I'd click yes, or back-up the new file first.

Also, do a search on all your HD's (FW included) and see if there are multiple "itunes Music Library" files. If there are, one of them will likely be the right file... copy all of them and try them individually...

 

[kansaigaijin]

rtm

How do I add songs to my music library?

is a category in iTunes help.

Go ahead and dis the software if you have done all you can to figure out why it doesn't work for you. If it is no good I want to hear about it, and so does everyone else.
My point being that there isn't anything wrong with the software, you just didn't use the resources available, as in working thru the menus and help, etc, before you ranted about iTunes,

is that fair? did I use the f word? No.

Try looking on Apples site they have a vast package of Applescripts that work in iTunes, and do many of the things you want to do.

 

[kansaigaijin]

manuals

yes complain about Mac deficiencies, otherwise they wont improve.
thats the way the world works.

When I bought OSX I also bought a big \7,598 OSX manual, and read most of it, 700 pages. It was amazing what you find out. I know there is much packed into the software, that is not apparent. You have to do a little work to get the most out of it.

"which i moved all of my mp3s to"

 

[tomgreever]

To kansaigaijin

kansaigaijin,
Yes, the original poster probably should not have "ranted and raved" about iTunes so easily... especially if the issue at hand was a result of moving the files in the first place. However, there are plenty of people who just want to use a computer (whether they understand the technical side of it or not). I'm not saying that he doesn't understand his computer, but it's common for people to accidentally move files or misplace preferences.

kansaigaijin, I didn't really understand your questions about adding to your music library. You should be able to just drag and drop...

 

[kansaigaijin]

Tomgreever

yes Tom (if I may call you that) I must admit I learn an awful lot just reading the forums, probubly as much as from manuals. It is hard to keep track of where it all (trivial knowledge) comes from. Infinitly patient people like you are a godsend. After i posted the last note I wondered what it was that I said got anybody so upset. I guess when I see somebody post "I am so p****d right now" I will just stay away.

When SJ was talking about OSX about 1.5 yrs ago he said something about unix imposing some disciple. unfortunetly we cant mess about with the location of files anymore like the old days. so a lot of people are getting a shock when something doesnt work. The question about adding songs to iTunes, sorry I guess it was kind of cryptic response. It is the iTunes FAQ on how to fix that problem. You can relink the files to itunes, does it relink to the library that has all those settings, it put mine back into the right folders, but I dont have eq settings, so I dont know if they would be lost and recoverable.

 

[tomgreever]

kansaigaijin and other

I'm glad to help, although I wouldn't say that I'm "infinitely patient"... I know for sure that my wife wouldn't say that. I guess I just want to help people with Mac issues because I believe in the Mac OS. So, wipe all your Mac-happy tears aside...

Not sure about your (kansaigaijin) question for importing files. It's true, OSX has changed the way most people are used to dealing with files. Many advanced users are easier to change... but basic users (like my mom) don't know the difference.

Believe me, I'm always hesitant to tell my mom about OS or program changes because I'm afraid she'll talk bad (not bad, just different) about Macs! (even though she has NO clue!) My mom could say, "Well, my computer does this..." and a hundred people would tell her it's because she has a Mac and that Mac's aren't as "good as the rest of the world".

The point is, if I can deal with my mom's questions about Macs ("Now what is that smiley-face for?) then I can deal with anyone. (rekras, I am not at all suggessting that you are comparable to my mom when it comes to computing... I would never wish that upon anyone!)...

 

[rekras]

hey guys, problem solved, thanks for the help. This is what happened, my music library was saved in my documents folder on my firewire HD, and i had moved my documents folder onto my desktop for more convience. So itunes figured that the library was deleted when i opened it, and created a new blank library on my regular HD. So i took the library from the from the firewire drive and replaced the new blank one on my HD, opened itunes and everything was there . pain in the ass but i still gots my music!!! thanks for all the help guys.