iTunes - Page 3

Josieb1 · 12-15-2015, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjcchan

Shouldn't it have left the original in place in any event?

I wish I knew.

Just copied the iTunes folder on hard drive back to the C drive and repointed iTunes and it's the same mess (yes I was forlornly hoping it would find more tracks). Total number of ''missing tracks' is 8500 exactly.

My fatal mistake was not taking a back up of the consolidated iTunes folder before re pointing iTunes to it. I only have three options now.

1) Manually relink 8500 times
2) Hope I can restore my 1st November back up using CuCusoft (no idea if it will work as the software doesn't work properly anymore) then redo all the changes made since 1st November
3) start removing items from iTunes to make it much smaller (and hopefully easier to store and manage) and then relink what's left.

Option 2 is my best hope but no option is really great.

Josieb1 · 12-15-2015, 11:07 AM

Actually does anyone this a Windows system restore back a week might help?

HarryT · 12-15-2015, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjcchan

Shouldn't it have left the original in place in any event?

Good point. Yes, you're right; it should just copy files to the media folder, not move them. The only thing that moves them is a "Consolidate Files" operation.

rjcchan · 12-15-2015, 11:23 AM

Really hard to offer advice when things have gone this far south. If you can find missing folders, iTunes will let you reimport by folder. Of course there is no metadata when you do that.

HarryT · 12-15-2015, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjcchan

Really hard to offer advice when things have gone this far south. If you can find missing folders, iTunes will let you reimport by folder. Of course there is no metadata when you do that.

For music at least, metadata is stored in the ID3 tags of the MP3 file, so it should import along with the file.

Josieb1 · 12-15-2015, 11:35 AM

Right now we are trying option 2 on my husbands PC, he has more free space than me. It's already skipping my audible files (probably because I need to authorise iTunes) but I can live with that as its 170 files over 4 audio accounts, and I have the downloads backs up meticulously anyway. Just trying to salvage what we can at this point.

GlennD · 12-15-2015, 02:59 PM

I don't know if this will help at this point, but....

I handle my iTunes settings the opposite way. I rip my own music and DVDs (and don't listen to audiobooks). I only purchase songs from iTunes when they are bonus tracks or otherwise unobtainable on CD. I also have a Zune, and don't want to maintain multiple libraries of media.

So, I allow iTunes to manage its library, but none of my media goes into it. I uncheck the option to copy files into the media library when they are added. I keep a folder on my hard drive called "Media", with "Music", "Video", "Pictures" etc underneath it. All of my manually ripped media goes into those folders. I then use the "Add folder to library" action to manually sync whenever I add new material.

The end result is that when I transfer to another computer, I just copy that media folder. iTunes does its own thing with Apple music files but everything else is all in a consistent and reliable place. (With the latest versions of iTunes, it is monkeying with the tags I've created, but that's a totally separate issue.)

David Munch · 12-15-2015, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjcchan

Shouldn't it have left the original in place in any event?

Yes. It *always* leaves the original file.

Josieb1 · 12-15-2015, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Munch

Yes. It *always* leaves the original file.

There's so much I can say to that but I won't. It's just a gigantic mess now and which ever way we go it will take a lot of time and effort to fix.

I followed all the instructions on Apple, I took advice from members on here, I'm not stupid I'm a system tester in my day job so i'm careful and meticulous and none of that stopped this from happening.

I have 7 devices that sync to this iTunes, I made a point of syncing them all yesterday. It's going to be weeks if not months before I can sync them again.

I spent a lot of today in tears.

rjcchan · 12-15-2015, 06:24 PM

did plan 2 work? i hope

Josieb1 · 12-16-2015, 03:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjcchan

did plan 2 work? i hope

Cucusofts Nov 1st back up imported into hubbys PC, but none of my audiobooks went in (170 odd files) probably because I couldn't do the new PC authorisation as it found them. I have four audible accounts so need to get my spreadsheet to see what book was bought on what account. Still that's child's play compared to the mess my iTunes is in. I outsorted the CDs we need to read load last night as well, about 10 so again not too bad. Luckily I was she sensibke enough to take screen shots of what had been loaded after the back up date so I could tell from the screen shots. Of course everything now has a recently added date of yesterday

The back up still left iTunes on the external drive the back up was on so overnight I did the consolidation by ticking both the boxes in preferences, then going to File/Organise to let iTunes sort it's moving out. It appears to have worked, AND the two boxes are still ticked in Preferences so BEFORE we do anything else on hubbys PC (which is what we are concentrating on now) I am backing up the NEW consolidated iTunes onto two external hard drives.

Then we can see what we have. Guess my holiday over Christmas will be sorting this out

Josieb1 · 12-16-2015, 03:09 AM

The iTunes folder will be backed up multiple times before we do anything major from now on, which is why I wanted it consolidated in the first place.

HarryT · 12-16-2015, 03:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Josieb1

The iTunes folder will be backed up multiple times before we do anything major from now on, which is why I wanted it consolidated in the first place.

Yes, that's the main benefit of a consolidated library - it's easy to back up. "SyncToy" works well for this.

Josieb1 · 12-16-2015, 08:28 AM

After chatting with a senior Apple Support rep today we think we know what went wrong, it's only a guess but the most logical one.

My iTunes 'path' stopped at iTunes, I.e it was

C\Users\Jenny\itunes

And not

C\Users\Jenny\iTunes\iTunes Media

so when I clicked the Keep ITunes Media folder organised iTunes moved everything out of the iTunes Media folder into the main Itunes folder.

She also had an idea that might work to rectify the damage but will report back if we decide to try it.

HarryT · 12-16-2015, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Josieb1

After chatting with a senior Apple Support rep today we think we know what went wrong, it's only a guess but the most logical one.

My iTunes 'path' stopped at iTunes, I.e it was

C\Users\Jenny\itunes

And not

C\Users\Jenny\iTunes\iTunes Media

so when I clicked the Keep ITunes Media folder organised iTunes moved everything out of the iTunes Media folder into the main Itunes folder.

She also had an idea that might work to rectify the damage but will report back if we decide to try it.

That would certainly explain it. You can call your media folder anything you want (eg mine is called "iTunes Library") so you have to tell iTunes the full path to the folder.

Good to hear you've solved the mystery, at least. Is your missing content in your main iTunes folder?

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12-15-2015, 11:07 AM	#32
Josieb1 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,013 Karma: 18018738 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: UK Device: Kobo Forma, Libra2, Clara 2e, Kindle PW SE & Kindle 2022	Actually does anyone this a Windows system restore back a week might help?

12-15-2015, 11:23 AM	#34
rjcchan Zealot Posts: 118 Karma: 176306 Join Date: Oct 2013 Device: none	Really hard to offer advice when things have gone this far south. If you can find missing folders, iTunes will let you reimport by folder. Of course there is no metadata when you do that.

12-15-2015, 11:35 AM	#36
Josieb1 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,013 Karma: 18018738 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: UK Device: Kobo Forma, Libra2, Clara 2e, Kindle PW SE & Kindle 2022	Right now we are trying option 2 on my husbands PC, he has more free space than me. It's already skipping my audible files (probably because I need to authorise iTunes) but I can live with that as its 170 files over 4 audio accounts, and I have the downloads backs up meticulously anyway. Just trying to salvage what we can at this point.

12-15-2015, 02:59 PM	#37
GlennD Wizard Posts: 2,101 Karma: 17249026 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: The Pacific NW Device: sony PRS350, iPhone, iPad	I don't know if this will help at this point, but.... I handle my iTunes settings the opposite way. I rip my own music and DVDs (and don't listen to audiobooks). I only purchase songs from iTunes when they are bonus tracks or otherwise unobtainable on CD. I also have a Zune, and don't want to maintain multiple libraries of media. So, I allow iTunes to manage its library, but none of my media goes into it. I uncheck the option to copy files into the media library when they are added. I keep a folder on my hard drive called "Media", with "Music", "Video", "Pictures" etc underneath it. All of my manually ripped media goes into those folders. I then use the "Add folder to library" action to manually sync whenever I add new material. The end result is that when I transfer to another computer, I just copy that media folder. iTunes does its own thing with Apple music files but everything else is all in a consistent and reliable place. (With the latest versions of iTunes, it is monkeying with the tags I've created, but that's a totally separate issue.)

12-15-2015, 06:24 PM	#40
rjcchan Zealot Posts: 118 Karma: 176306 Join Date: Oct 2013 Device: none	did plan 2 work? i hope

12-16-2015, 03:09 AM	#42
Josieb1 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,013 Karma: 18018738 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: UK Device: Kobo Forma, Libra2, Clara 2e, Kindle PW SE & Kindle 2022	The iTunes folder will be backed up multiple times before we do anything major from now on, which is why I wanted it consolidated in the first place.

12-16-2015, 08:28 AM	#44
Josieb1 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,013 Karma: 18018738 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: UK Device: Kobo Forma, Libra2, Clara 2e, Kindle PW SE & Kindle 2022	After chatting with a senior Apple Support rep today we think we know what went wrong, it's only a guess but the most logical one. My iTunes 'path' stopped at iTunes, I.e it was C\Users\Jenny\itunes And not C\Users\Jenny\iTunes\iTunes Media so when I clicked the Keep ITunes Media folder organised iTunes moved everything out of the iTunes Media folder into the main Itunes folder. She also had an idea that might work to rectify the damage but will report back if we decide to try it.

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