Mp3 files in FINDER doesn't show COVER ART

[diegonet]

Hi to everyone!
This is my first post in MacRumors, but I'm an older follower.
I'm writing from Spain and I get my first MAC one week ago .

I wish to thank to everybody that contributes to this forum and expend time answering question for help other people. I wish I can help soon also.

I had a question about the MAC OSx, that may be looks trivial but it's very intriguing to me.

When I get the MAC, I updated it to the 10.6.3 version.
And when I go to the finder, in a folder with mp3 files, the MAC show
the cover art for the file instead of the normal icon.

Today (after 10.6.4 and iTunes 9.2 update, but I cannot confirm this), I find that the mp3 files only shows the normal audio icon. (Show Icon Preview is marked).

All the other preview icons works ok (pdf, images, etc).
I spend a lot of time googling for any solution, but I can't find any.

To resume, this is what it was:

And now:

Any help is very appreciated!
Thanks.

 

[Mike D.]

Same Problem

I have exactly the same Problem but no solution either. Searching the Internet I found a few contributions suggesting that a new installation of the system might help, but I think that’s too much time an effort for this issue.

By the way, did you use any system optimizing software after the upgrade of your system? I used the optimize function of the snow leopard cache cleaner and a system start in save mode, for other reasons, and I presume this has something to do with the issue. Nevertheless after applying these measures it took a few hours for these display Problems to occur.

 

[diegonet]

>>

Hi Mike and thanks for your reply.
I don't really sure when the problem started, but, yes, I run "CleanMyMac" and deleted "USER CACHE FILES", "iPOD PHOTO CACHE" and "USER LOG FILES".
This is really a bad habit, consequence of be a Windows user for 20 years.

I already try a system reinstall without results. Then I updated to 10.6.4 and again without results.

This is really strange, because a system reinstall should write any needed files to support this feature. I would try a iTunes reinstall to see if any changes (iTunes remain in the 9.2 version after a MacOSx installation).

Tell me if you find some solution!
Thanks

 

[dias2222]

hi. im also an old folower and thats the first i use the forum.
i do also have the same problem and i didn't use any programs after the update... i just used onyx but BEFORE....the update so this has nothing to do with it... it has to do with the update or something else.. :-( i need my artworks back in my finder :-( Also when i use tag editor programs they do find my artwork inside my mp3.

 

[Jolly Jimmy]

Exact same problem

When I view music files from my iTunes library in the finder, the artwork is no longer previewed in the icon and in quickview. The same files preview fine on my roomate's mac that hasn't been updated to 10.6.4 or the itunes 9.2. I tried reparing permissions, reinstalling iTunes, cleaning caches and stuff, to no avail. I'm about to try a clean install on another drive.

 

[diegonet]

So, it's iTunes or 10.6.4

When I view music files from my iTunes library in the finder, the artwork is no longer previewed in the icon and in quickview. The same files preview fine on my roomate's mac that hasn't been updated to 10.6.4 or the itunes 9.2. I tried reparing permissions, reinstalling iTunes, cleaning caches and stuff, to no avail. I'm about to try a clean install on another drive.

Hi Jolly Jimmy.
Let us know the results if you clean install the OSX.
Thanks!

I also try iTunes 9.2 reinstall without luck.

I would appreciate if any user member that have not updated yet to iTunes 9.2 or to 10.6.4 tell us if this feature is working, so we can isolate the cause.
Many thanks!

 

[Jolly Jimmy]

No luck with a fully updated clean install.

EDIT : Some files show artwork in the finder some not. Artwork is still 100% recognized by iTunes though.

 

[diegonet]

>>

No luck with a fully updated clean install.

EDIT : Some files show artwork in the finder some not. Artwork is still 100% recognized by iTunes though.

Jimmy, do you install and then updated? Or you directly install v10.6.4?

Thanks,

 

[Jolly Jimmy]

Jimmy, do you install and then updated? Or you directly install v10.6.4?

Thanks,

10.6.0 on a blank drive < 10.6.4 combo update < all other updates

Later this evening I'll have the opportunity to see if it's 10.6.4 or iTunes 9.2 that introduced the problem on a friends mac who hasn't updated either yet.

 

[diegonet]

>>

Later this evening I'll have the opportunity to see if it's 10.6.4 or iTunes 9.2 that introduced the problem on a friends mac who hasn't updated either yet.

Great, but don't let him to know!

 

[Jolly Jimmy]

Oh it seems everything is OK now I've transfered my library back to the internal drive. Fingers crossed

 

[Jolly Jimmy]

No idea what's going on here. The artwork now previews fine in my itunes folder, but if I copy a file to the desktop, I get a blank icon.


EDIT : This stupid bug is getting weirder all the time. In one of my libraries the artwork shows ok in the finder, but the other not

 

[diegonet]

>>

No idea what's going on here. The artwork now previews fine in my itunes folder, but if I copy a file to the desktop, I get a blank icon.


EDIT : This stupid bug is getting weirder all the time. In one of my libraries the artwork shows ok in the finder, but the other not

Hi Jimmy, do you have luck with yours roommate mac?

 

[Jolly Jimmy]

iTunes 9.2 is definitely the culprit. Everything is OK on 10.6.4 with iTunes 9.1.1.

 

[clientsiman]

I have the same problem. I can't see the artwork for some mp3 in finder but inside itunes it's ok. Also if I open the mp3 with Max or Tagr the artwork is there...

 

[GGJstudios]

It works perfectly for me on 10.5.8 and iTunes 9.2. Not only do all icons display in Finder, they do so faster than they used to. Not sure why.

 

[Jolly Jimmy]

It works perfectly for me on 10.5.8 and iTunes 9.2. Not only do all icons display in Finder, they do so faster than they used to. Not sure why.

It's nice hear you are not suffering from the problem, but we really need the people who are to chime in. I have witnessed 4 different macs that have the problem so far, 2 of which I had the chance to see the before/after 9.2 update status.

 

[GGJstudios]

It's nice hear you are not suffering from the problem, but we really need the people who are to chime in. I have witnessed 4 different macs that have the problem so far, 2 of which I had the chance to see the before/after 9.2 update status.

It's helpful for anyone to "chime in", whether they're experiencing the problem or not. Otherwise, people who read this thread would get the mistaken impression that every Mac using iTunes 9.2 has this problem. 4 Macs -- even all the Macs reporting this problem -- hardly represent a majority of users. It's helpful to have a balance of opinions and experiences.

 

[Consultant]

Submit it to: bugreport.apple.com/
or Apple.com/feedback

 

[gor]

I have the same problem!

 

[aeldron]

workaround

I was looking for a solution for the same problem. I thought maybe iTunes 9.2 is no longer embedding the artwork into the mp3 files.

The artwork would not show if you just added it using iTunes 'get Album Artwork' feature, but that is normal.
You need to embed the artwork into the actual ID3 tag within the file that is read. You you can do that as follows:

1. right click from the 'current album' artwork on the artwork viewer and select 'copy'
2. Select all the files of your album and click Option+i
3. Click on to the artwork field on the info window and paste (Option+V).

Anyway, I have done that and the artwork still doesn't show on Finder. I think it's some weird cache problem, the icons are just not refreshing correctly after you add the artwork. I noticed they will appear if you move them onto your desktop for example. I am just doing that for now, dragging them onto another folder and then back onto their original location. It's a look of work however, if you have lots of files. If anyone know another way of fixing that please let me know.

 

[Zoddino]

i have the same problem too,very annoying!

 

[austinpowers]

I'm no expert, but my guess is a bug in the recent OS X upgrade. I do not keep my music library in iTunes, but manage it on my hard drive. I use Jaikoz to tag mp3's and add cover art to the files. Once this is accomplished, the files will show that cover art as the icon in the finder window when I look through my music folders (which are categorized by Artist-Album). I use iTunes simply as a means to transfer music to my iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Because I don't maintain my library in iTunes, I don't see how the update would affect this kind of behavior.

In Finder, I do not see cover art any longer...only the music note icon. This is consistent behavior whether the files were tagged months/years ago, or more recently. Also, when I try to preview the tracks, there is no cover art displayed, which is also new behavior.

That said, the cover art is still attached to the mp3's and is visible when these files are loaded onto my iPhone. They just don't display in Finder or Preview. This is particularly annoying because I am currently going through my library to find missing artwork. That job just became more difficult since everything "looks" as if there is no cover art associated with the files.

I can't find much discussion of this elsewhere so I don't know if this is an isolated problem. I'm reluctant to try re-installing iTunes or Snow Leopard until I hear this is a definite fix. Just wanted to report I'm having the same problems with my system.

Just a quick followup note. I finally contacted AppleCare today to inquire about the recent change in MP3/Cover art behavior.

Everyone was very helpful. The first tech wasn't aware of any such problem, but bumped it up to the next level of supervision. The second tech was initially reluctant to believe there was any problem with the OS, feeling this was something probably related to my use of Jaikoz to tag my mp3's. He tried to duplicate my problem on one of his machines, and wasn't able to do so. He had me try several things, but the outcome on my end was always the same. Apparently he moved to a couple of other machines and was able to reproduce the problem. He seemed surprised but was anxious to move this up the line to be looked at. So he created a case number and this is officially going to the next level of evaluation. He seemed to think this was more likely a problem with the OS vs iTunes but who knows. Whatever it is, it wasn't something they had heard of before.

I'll update this thread when I hear something more.

AP

 

[Jolly Jimmy]

I can't find much discussion of this elsewhere so I don't know if this is an isolated problem. I'm reluctant to try re-installing iTunes or Snow Leopard until I hear this is a definite fix. Just wanted to report I'm having the same problems with my system.

Reinstalling iTunes or Snow Leopard does not help. I have tried clean installs of both Leopard and Snow Leopard starting with iTunes 9.1.1 and then moving to 9.2. On both systems the problems appeared after updating iTunes and rebooting. Here are the before/after screenshots I did for 10.5.8, but I had the exact same results with 10.6.4, so the problem is definitely with iTunes.

 

[TheIntruder]

I've done a fair bit of experimentation with this and have narrowed down the issue.

The problem rests with iTunes 9.2 not properly writing the cache that the Finder uses to display the artwork thumbnails in Finder windows and in the QuickLook previews. The changes that Apple made to speed up the previews in 9.2 also broke them in the Finder.

The Finder does not read the metadata like iTunes does to draw and display artwork, it relies on the shared cache inside the ~/Music/iTunes/Album Artwork directory. Depending on the size of one's collection, it can be quite large. My 60-70GB of music results in a cache that's larger than 500MB.

That is why everything looks proper, and the artwork is intact when viewing inside iTunes, but either incomplete, or missing when viewing the files with the Finder. iTunes reads it properly, but the Finder doesn't.

Quitting iTunes and then deleting this cache, even with the earlier versions that are unaffected, will result in no previews of any kind while in the Finder.

The next time iTunes is lauched, it will rebuild this cache ("Processing Album Artwork..."). If one is using 9.2, chances are, the previews will be missing or incomplete in the Finder. Using the earlier bug-free versions will result in no problems.

The upside to this is that it doesn't involve faults in any of the files. The metadata in each file is intact (provided they haven't been altered since), so there won't be a need to go through the hassle of fixing the library.

What Apple needs to do to correct this is have iTunes 9.21 or whatever properly write the cache again, so that the Finder can display all the artwork properly again.

It is merely a cosmetic issue, so if one is happy with iTunes 9.2 or requires it to work with iOS 4, there is no reason to downgrade iTunes, or reinstall OS X.

Addendum:

I wrote this from the viewpoint of someone who manually embeds the artwork in each file, either with iTunes or another tagger. I do not use the "Get Album Artwork" feature which IIRC, only adds the artwork to the cache and doesn't embed it inside each file, which was a change Apple made with iTunes 7.

For the users who do use that feature, it will probably be necessary to reimport the artwork again if one has deleted the cache.