ITunes Library file content / format

I am using the iTunes library file to process song titles for a label program, and I have two questions about these files:
1) There are two library files on my disk, Library.xml, and iTunes Music Library.xml. When double-clicked, the latter opens with Firefox, and the former opens in TextEdit. Library.xml is the file I use, which I parse with Perl and generate input for a PostScript label program. The question here, what is the purpose of these two files; i.e., how are they used by iTunes?
2) I need to extract the Total Time and the Size parameters, which are given in (very large!) integer format. I have found that Size is nearly a constant multiple of Time, so apparently Time is redundant. Also, I can't make any sense of these numbers, except to use the resulting ratio for one and then to apply that ratio to all the others. When I do this, I get nearly accurate results, but they are always off by 3 to 5 seconds. As for the Size, I tried to make sense of the large integer in terms of sampling rate and size 44.1/16-bit), but without success. So, if anyone has the secret to these parameters, I would appreciate knowing it! Thanks much in advance for any help on this.
PS: I will post some specifics here if needed. For example, Total Time 182437 shows up in iTunes as 3:02 (182 seconds). The ratio here is 1,002.4010989011, which, when applied to another title with a Total Time of 222477 gives 221.9 seconds, or 3:42; this item shows up correctly in iTunes, but not all do when I use the same ratio.

Oops! I forgot that. My hunch was correct, though. Unix reports exactly the same sizes as the iTunes file. My error was not dividing by 1028. (I thought the finder was the culprit!) Thanks for all the help.
By the way, why are there two .xml files for the library? The Library.xml file is the one I am using, because the structure is pretty obvious in a text editor.
For your information, I belong to the Illini Folk Dance Society at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Illinois. We have some 200 titles on 78 rpm records, already digitized, and approximately 600 or so on 45 rpm, which I am now in the process of recording. After that, there are many LP recordings to do (our total collection consists of approximately 3000 titles), although they can keep for a while. After lots of experimenting, I decided that the quality of the 78s and 45s merited the 44.1/16-bit recording levels, and that is working out nicely, and it keeps the files to a reasonable size. I started out with Garage Band (all the 78s were done that way), but got fed up with that pretty quickly, especially the tight link to iTunes, so when Audacity came along, I started using it, and am very happy with it. We have one 250 gig hard drive, and I plan to add another. Also, I plan to put everything on CDs, which is why the present project. I wrote a PostScript program to print the titles on the labels in circular arcs, and am writing a Perl script to parse out the titles and sizes, grouping things in sets that will fit on one CD. If you are interested in the PostScript program, I will gladly send it to you. The Perl script is fairly trivial.
Well, I just passed my 75th birthday, so I better get cracking! Cheers.
Ed
[email protected]

Similar Messages

  • TS1967 When trying to recover a lost iTunes library file, the programme moved all the normal contents of iTunes folder to the desktop. Now what must I do?

    When trying to recover a lost iTunes library file, the programme moved all the normal contents of iTunes folder to the desktop. Now what must I do? There is no iTunes Library.itl file. On the desktop it is labelled iTunes Library.xml. Several others files have appeared there too including iTunes Music Library.xml
    Before I can use the programme is it necessary to take another step?
    Thanks for advice.

    Don't worry. I'm all for caution. I guess I should have asked a little more about what steps you took while trying to recover your lost library?
    The permissions thing may be a red herring, but if there is a problem with file access rights to the designated media folder iTunes has been known to place files on the desktop instead since it can access this location. The most common cause for such problems is working with a folder on an NTFS drive via a differnt account or on a different computer. In the normal course of events folders created inside user profiles have limited rights for other users.
    Here are the typical layouts for the iTunes folders:
    Normally the iTunes folder will be created at <User's Music>\iTunes with the media folder inside it. The library files should all appear in the same place so your comment about there not being an iTunes Library.itl file is confusing. Is it just the case that the .itl extension is hidden? The two .xml files makes sense from the above and indicates that the active library is not in <User's Music>\iTunes, but you have a recovered file from when it was.
    If, in fact, the situation is that your desktop is acting as the main iTunes folder, and contains the library file, Album Artwork, iTunes Media and (optionally) Previous iTunes Libraries folders, with all other content being inside the iTunes Media folder, then it should be relativly easy to rearrange your into the correct shape and move them to the correct location.
    If things are more complex, with something other than a library folder containing a media folder, then reestablishing the normal order is more complicated. The iTunes consolidate function is used to bring copies of files stored outside of the media folder into the media folder. It may sometimes be needed as part of the process of tidying up, however it leaves behind originals. There are circumstances where there isn't room for two complete sets of the media files on the same drive which is why I suggested the script might be useful as it produces the same results for the library without leaving the originals for manual clear up.
    I think before you do anything however, we should get a clearer picture of exactly what is where. Could you perhaps take a screenshot of the desktop and post it here? Take a look at this post on making a split library portable. The same techniques I outline there can be used to lick your library into shape, it is just a question of working out which to use in which order for the best effect.
    tt2

  • Multiple (old) iTunes Library files found on my external, what to do?

    My external drive (which I once used as the location for my iTunes library to save space on my old iMac but with my new computer hard drive space is not an issue and I have my iTunes folder on my native, internal drive) has *my old* iTunes folder with:
    +(a folder)+ Previous iTunes Libraries
    iTunes 4 Music Library
    iTunes 4 Music Library (Old)
    iTunes Library
    iTunes Library 2006-09-14
    iTunes Library 2007-09-08
    iTunes Library Extras.itdb
    iTunes Library Genius.itdb
    iTunes Library.xml
    iTunes Music Library.xml
    The folder "Previous iTunes Libraries" contains these files:
    iTunes Library 2006-09-14
    iTunes Library 2007-09-08
    iTunes Library 2008-01-16
    iTunes Library 2008-09-30
    iTunes Library 2008-12-26
    iTunes Library 2009-06-16
    With me so far?! What's alarming to me is that I have so many files with the "iTunes Library" name...moreover, it seems as if my CURRENT and ACTIVE iTunes Library database on my hard drive in my music folder that was last updated "today" is only 5.8 MB in size, while the older iTunes Library databases on my external drive that are listed above are sized 5.2, 10.5, 11.8, 14.3, 15.7, and 15.8 MB!
    This implies to me that I've lost some important files or data in transferring my iTunes back from my external to my new local, internal drive.
    What should I do with these multiple (and currently unused) iTunes Libraries found on my peripheral drive? I try to open them and nothing seems to happen. I just don't want to lose any tracks as my library is large and varied.
    Any thoughts?

    "New versions of iTunes sometimes include enhancements to the iTunes library. When you open the new version of iTunes, iTunes upgrades your existing library to the new format and places a copy of the old library in the Previous Libraries folder. If everything goes fine during your upgrade to the latest version of iTunes, you can delete the older iTunes Library files." Read more: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
    If you think you are missing some songs from your current library, this application will list the file paths of the files in your designated "iTunes Media" folder which are not in iTunes' library. Additionally, you can select a different parent folder and its contents will be compared to the iTunes library. Options to Add a selection of found files to iTunes or move them to the Trash. http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=musicfolderfilesnotadded2

  • I have multiple libraries on an external drive. Somehow all the iTunes library files i.e. iTunes Library.itl, xml, itdb, Media folder, etc disappeared! Only the music files remain. Now when I start iTunes w/option it can't find any of the old libraries!

    Help! I 'm using an old G4 powerbook, Mac OSX 10.5.8, iTunes ver 10. I have multiple iTunes libraries on an external drive. Everything was fine for a while, then all of the iTunes library files, i.e. iTunes Library.itl, xml, itdb, artwork folder, Media folder, etc mysteriously disappeared! Only the music files remain (thank god) So now when I start iTunes w/option key to choose a library, I can't choose any of them because iTunes won't recognize them. Because all the library stuff is missing. So can I re-create the library files? (I don't care if I lose my ratings)
    Or should I create a new empty library on the external drive, then manually move all the music files to the Media folder in the new library?
    I tried some stupid ideas like creating a new library just to start iTunes, then going into prefs and advanced, then under iTunes Media folder location, selecting the location of the old library on the external, to see if iTunes would then find all the music which is still there, but no workee.
    I'm out of ideas, and I searched the archives.
    Help! anyone?
    Scott

    I don't know if this is me adding files to iTunes when the external wasn't connected
    it is.
    is it OK to just keep deleting that library on the Air?
    i wouldn't - at least not until i
    mount the external
    point iTunes media folder location back to the external via preferences > advanced
    consolidate my library via file > library > organize library
    The ntfs hasn't seem to be causing any problems, but I've always wanted to know.
    in order for your Mac to write to NTFS drives, it needs some help by installing e.g. the NTFS 3G driver. apparently that or something similar is installed on your Mac already. preferably, it would be formatted for Mac but then windows machines would need to have e.g. MacDrive installed to recognize the drive.

  • Syncing iPhone to new iTunes w/o iTunes library file

    My MBP's hard drive died and I got it replaced, so it's good as new - everything was clean, iTunes was empty, etc. I'm filling up the computer again, and I realised that I backed up all my music (the mp3 files/iTunes media folder), but I stupidly forgot to back up the iTunes library file.
    So I have my iTunes filled with songs but no play count, playlists etc. All the playlists and information, however, still exist in my iPhone 4, which I haven't synced to my new laptop yet.
    I'm preeetty sure because of my ****-up with not saving the library file, there's no way, but I still have to ask: is there any way to sync the song data and playlists from the iPhone back into iTunes? It's not the end of the world if I can't, but I built up all the playcounts, playlists, mixtapes over the past few years and I'm a little sad to lose them.

    " This iphone already has content on it but I want to add songs from my old computer."
    You cannot do this.  You can have content from one and only one computer at a time on the iphone.
    Have you tried restoring the iphone?

  • ITunes doesn't create an "iTunes Library" file

    I'm desperate - since a couple of days every time I restart my computer iTunes library is empty, I have to move all the content to the library again. And subscribe to all the 39 podcasts again!!!
    Next day... everything starts from the beginning!
    I've read the support pages for iTunes and found out that my iTunes doesn't save an "iTunes Library" file in the Music/iTunes folder. Instead, it creates hundreds of temporary files (iT 1.tmp, iT 2.tmp, iT 3.tmp, and so on).
    It happened before upgrading to iTunes 10 - I upgraded thinking that it could help, but nothing changed.
    Anyone had a similar problem? Please help me!

    Yes, I moved the iTunes folder to the shared folder
    Made an alias and moved it to my Users/myhome/music and removed the alias symbol.
    If you moved the entire iTunes folder and created aliases, that would be the reason that iPhoto and iMovie can't find the proper file. You should only have moved the 'iTunes Music' folder
    Many applications don't perform well when files are to be opened and stored using an alias.
    I'm pretty sure iTunes creates an updated .xml file every time you make changes, but it's at the wrong location for iPhoto and iMovie to find it.
    I tried what you did, by moving my (test) iTunes folder to the Shared folder, create an alias, renamed it to 'iTunes' and put it at ./Users/Username/Music.
    Neither iPhoto and iMovie were able to find my (test) music files.
    Those apps. will only look at ./Users/Username/Music/iTunes for the .xml file and obviously cannot find it using the alias.
    I tried the same procedure using a symbolic link (a 'better' alias) and that worked out alright. You can create a symbolic link by using the Terminal (take a look at this brief tutorial), but it's more convenient to use SymbolicLinker. After installing it, you can then easily create a symlink of a file or folder by control-clicking on it and choosing 'Make Symbolic Link' from the contextual menu.
    If you want to know more about symlinks in general, take a look at this Wiki or Google for "Symbolic Link Macintosh" (without the quotes) to find more articles.
    While symlinks do work in this case (at least on my system), I will give you the link to the article which describes the 'Apple preferred way' to share your music (in case symlinks don't work on your system).
    iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer tells you two methods. You can use either of them.
    M
    17' iMac 800 MHz, 768 MB RAM, 200 GB HD, DL burner   Mac OS X (10.4.8)   iTunes 7.0.2

  • Error message - "The iTunes Library file is full could not be saved" - Help

    Hi folks.
    I looked for current / recent chatter on this iss before creating this topic. Didn't see anything that addressed this issued recently. If I missed it, sorry, if not, here you go!
    I got an error message last night while using iTunes. It just popped up during use, not while using. The error message read "The iTunes Library File could not be saved." Now my hard drive is DEFINITELY not full. I have hundreds of gigs of unused space. This appears to be an issue strictly related to my library.xml file. Stupidly, I clicked the don't show me this again and closed the message. My concern now is that I'll rip new content that won't end up in my iTunes library even though it's on my hard drive, thus that content will not be findable by iTunes.
    I don't want to just rebuild the library from scratch as I have fixed tons of errors in how iTunes classifies my music over the years and all that work would be lost.
    Any ideas on how to get past this glitch?
    I noticed this problem also cropped up circa the original iPhone launch. I had that phone and did not experience this prob, and I just upgraded to the 3G four days ago. It makes no sense to me that the phone is causing this, but perhaps the upgrade to the iTunes version 7.7 (necessary to use the iPhone with my Windows computer) is the cause of the prob.
    I did erase a bunch of videos and unsubscribed to several video casts. That was one recommended solution way back when.
    My concern though is that since I chose the don't show me this error message again option, I won't know whether the problem persists or not.
    Oh the humanity...

    I have seen this a few times, usually when other 3rd-party applications are using itunes. Such as, lastfm & the Tivo remote music player.
    And, I've also seen it when I was copying a bunch of digital photos to the exHD in the background while playing music and the song changed. iTunes saves the playcount in the ITL file when the song ends.
    You might check this Microsoft article about "Enable write caching on the disk". I haven't seen that iTunes error since I turned mine back on for the exHD. The Tivo "delayed write failed" errors are back, but that's a different problem...
    http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;330174
    Anyway, long story short, it gets saved OK later and I make frequent backups of that ITL file.

  • ITunes Library File Locked

    Hi,
    Have been using iTunes 10.5 on my WinXP machine - no problems.  During a movie download tonight, iTunes crashed.  Tried to reopen and got the infamous error "iTunes Library file locked or on a locked disk..."  Tried several remedies listed. 
    Verified that MyMusic folder and contents are not READ ONLY.  I am unable to rename, edit, or move the file...she's locked up tight.
    Tried repairing the Windows Registry assignment using the Tweak UI utility discussed in another thread.  No joy.
    Tried starting iTunes from another account on the PC - iTunes boots fine.
    Pulling my hair out (what little is left)...Any ideas out there ???
    HELP !

    Fixed.  For those using WinXP...Here's what I had to do:
    It was a file properties thing as mentioned in other posts, but to change the file properties...
    1.  Boot Windows in SAFE MODE by holding F8 down during bootup
    2.  Log on as Administrator
    3.  Navigate to the iTunes Libary.itl file (My Music/iTunes)
    4.  Right Click and pull up the file properties
    5.  Under Security, re-add the user account to the file permissions
    6.  Then change file permissions to FULL (Read/Write/Edit...)
    7.  Reboot & Viola !
    Once you unlock the write protected status (which got defaulted to the Adminstrator account), iTunes opens just fine. 

  • The iTunes Library file cannot be saved. The disk could not be read from...

    Screenshot of error message: http://i49.tinypic.com/2ecp3sw.jpg
    I tried deleting my library file and starting over with a new library, reimporting my music. Then, once again, I get this message:
    "The iTunes Library file cannot be saved. The disk could not be read from or written to." with a checkbox that asks if I would like not to be warned of this again.
    Information that might be relevant:
    My iTunes files (everything but the application file) is located on my external HD (formatted for mac and has only been used on macs) and is connected via USB.
    The external HD makes noises whenever it tries to save the library file, so it's obviously trying to write to the HD.
    The iTunes folder creates a temporary file every single time this happens, but it is gone once the error comes up.
    None of this happened (after reimporting my music to the new library) until I turned Genius on. Turning Genius off and deleting the Genius file hasn't stopped it, either.

    ok--same scenario but
    Running Disk Utility says:  Error: Disk Utility can’t repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.
    Trying to drag-drop the iTunes library folder from the ext HD to the internal MacBookPro HD gets: "The Finder can’t complete the operation can’t be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code -50)."
    DiskWarrior was able to access the drive and created a preview drive, but said: 
    DiskWarrior has successfully built a new directory for the disk named "My Book." The new directory cannot replace the original directory because of a disk malfunction.!   It is highly recommended that you backup all of your data from the preview disk.!   But when I try to transfer (off either the MyBook HD or the DW preview version of MyBook I get:  The operation can’t be completed because the item “xyz” is in use.

  • Receiving "The Itunes Library file cannot be saved. A duplicate file name was specified".

    Itunes Version 10.5.3.3
    Using Iphone 4 on Windows 7 Proffesional PC.
    Keep getting "The Itunes Library file cannot be saved. A duplicate file name was specified" when trying to sync Itunes with Iphone.
    Have tried the following steps;
    first you have to locate your last library file, you can do this by clicking Edit-preferences-advanced. it will show you the itunes media folder location. then close Itunes
    open your folder and locate the last library (libraries are saved with date names, find the most recent one or the one that was last modified).
    change the name of the library to today´s date following the format it already has. you will have to change the name for libraries: .itl, .xml, genius and extras.
    once you have changed the name to today´s date on the 4 libraries you will have to delete all other libraries existing on the same folder or on a folder named "previous itunes libraries". it is also recommended to delete the itunes "preferences file" .dat (usually 1kb) and the "sentinel" file.
    so, you will have on your itunes media folder only 4 libraries: .itl .xml genius and extras.
    the next step is to click the itunes icon holding the "shift" key . itunes will ask you to either "quit, choose library or create library" click on choose library. then locate the library you just renamed with today´s date and extension .itl
    done, itunes will open with the last saved version of your library. keep in mind that some changes or songs will not be present if you added any while getting the error "itunes cannot save the library file. a duplicate name has been specified" just locate the songs and add them again, if you have the option "copy files to itunes media folder when adding to library" checked. then go to file-add folder or file-and locate the songs missing on the itunes media folder.itunes saves the files on the hard drive but does not save the changes on the library.
    No luck.
    Any help would be greatly appriciated.

    I found the solution:
    first you have to locate your last library file, you can do this by clicking Edit-preferences-advanced. it will show you the itunes media folder location. then close Itunes
    open your folder and locate the last library (libraries are saved with date names, find the most recent one or the one that was last modified).
    change the name of the library to today´s date following the format it already has. you will have to change the name for libraries: .itl, .xml, genius and extras.
    once you have changed the name to today´s date on the 4 libraries you will have to delete all other libraries existing on the same folder or on a folder named "previous itunes libraries". it is also recommended to delete the itunes "preferences file" .dat (usually 1kb) and the "sentinel" file.
    so, you will have on your itunes media folder only 4 libraries: .itl .xml genius and extras.
    the next step is to click the itunes icon holding the "shift" key . itunes will ask you to either "quit, choose library or create library" click on choose library. then locate the library you just renamed with today´s date and extension .itl
    done, itunes will open with the last saved version of your library. keep in mind that some changes or songs will not be present if you added any while getting the error "itunes cannot save the library file. a duplicate name has been specified" just locate the songs and add them again, if you have the option "copy files to itunes media folder when adding to library" checked. then go to file-add folder or file-and locate the songs missing on the itunes media folder.itunes saves the files on the hard drive but does not save the changes on the library.
    hope this is clear enough.

  • MBP: The itunes library file cannot be saved. A folder was specified instead of a file

    I've started getting this error on my MBP from iTunes:
    I am running a MacBookPro with Snow Leopard 10.6.7 and iTunes 10.
    Other than this warning, I can't detect any operational problems with iTunes, but rather than mask it, I'd prefer to fix it.
    The my root iTunes directory and its contents all appear to have proper ownership:
    mystic:~/Music/iTunes jrh$ ls -l
    total 69088
    drwxr-xr-x    5 jrh  jrh       170 Sep  9  2008 Album Artwork
    drwxr-xr-x  106 jrh  jrh      3604 May  5 00:04 Mobile Applications
    drwxr-xr-x   16 jrh  jrh       544 Apr 28 00:30 Previous iTunes Libraries
    -rw-r--r--@   1 jrh  jrh   2430114 May 22 07:32 iTunes Library
    -rw-r--r--    1 jrh  jrh    528384 May 21 17:02 iTunes Library Extras.itdb
    -rw-r--r--    1 jrh  jrh  21348352 May 21 17:06 iTunes Library Genius.itdb
    drwxr-xr-x  705 jrh  jrh     23970 May 21 17:01 iTunes Music
    -rw-r--r--@   1 jrh  jrh  11058893 May 22 07:32 iTunes Music Library.xml
    -rw-r--r--    1 jrh  jrh         8 May 19 08:04 sentinel
    I am not sure what the sentinel file is. It contains 8 nulls:
    mystic:~/Music/iTunes jrh$ od -c sentinel
    0000000   \0  \0  \0  \0  \0  \0  \0  \0                               
    0000010
    Any help would be appreciated

    I've made some progress. In iTunes preferences/advanced you can re-set warnings. Repairing Disk Permissions on your boot drive will help when iTunes won't start. In addition to the saving issue, I've suffered through the problem of iTunes creating multiple .tmp files. With iTunes closed you can delete these files.
    I also found these two threads helpful and have turned off local snapshots for Time Machine.
    https://discussions.apple.com/message/17692965#17692965
    Re: iTunes 10.5: Permission issue with the iTunes Library file...http://Pondini.org/TM/30.html
    I have restored Lion once and it was easy. No disc required as Lion creates a recovery file on your computer, Instructions are here http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.7/en/mchlp1599.html
    Hope this helps.
    Steve

  • Itunes library file?

    hello, i just recently upgraded my computer to windows 7 from vista. i backed up my music folder, then transferred it over again. when i installed itunes however it had all my musics data, but it didnt have my playlists/playcount/ratings. it was bizzare becasue i thought it kept all that data in the same place with the tags. either way, is there a way i can get this info back? playlist arent a big deal, but i like my play count and ratings. i have the original files still backed up btw. im assuming it has to do with the itunes library files and the xml file. thansk in advance

    Only certain data is stored in the actual song files. Metadata such as play count, rating, play lists, etc is stored in a special itunes database file named
    iTunes Library.itl
    Did you just back up the itunes music/media folder, or the folder up one level from it, the entire itunes folder? The ITL fie is in the main itunes folder. If you backed that up, you should be good to go Just replace the entire itunes folder, not just the content subfolders.
    If you have the XML file, the ITL will be in the same folder. There is a lot of confusion on the internet about using the XML file - my advice is to use the ITL file. iTunes uses the ITL file. The XML file is just there for other porgrams (itunes plug-ins) to use.

  • ITunes error: "The file iTunes Library.itl does not appear to be a valid iTunes library file."

    Every couple of weeks I get this iTunes error after connecting iPod Nano 6th generation. Then it deletes my whole iPod content. I am running Windows 7 x64 Enterprise with latest patches, iTunes 10.2.2.14 and McAfee antivirus.
    I tried to reinstall QuickTime + iTunes, clean the system and then reinstall. But this does not work. I also tried to create a brand new library. But no success...
    Error: "The file iTunes Library.itl does not appear to be a valid iTunes library file. iTunes has attempted to recover your iTunes library and renamed this file to iTunes Library (Damaged) 3.itl."
    Any idea?

    No I haven't. I tried almost everything possible but without any remarkable shift. I am about to sell my brand new iPod:(

  • 2 itunes library files

    Hello all!...
    My wife and I both have macs; she has a macbook and I a MBP. I store all our music on a lacie NAS and use an automator script on both MB's to connect to the libraries. You can read up on my setup here: http://busyashell.com/blog/articles/2007/02/06/how-i-share-our-itunes-library-wi th-multiple-macs-and-my-nas
    The one problem I have is when I purchase music or download podcasts, my wife's library is not reflecting the new files and same if she purchases, I don't see them. I have to manually add them to my library. This is a major flaw in my setup described above.
    How can I sync these two library files to reflect both of our changes, or is there a way for me to set up both macs to use one library file? I had thought about symlinking both macs to use a file stored on the NAS, or chronosync. Chronosync doesn't seem to be able to diff two files and append the diffs. Correct me if I'm wrong, and if I am, please point me to documentation.
    The other issue I have is that this NAS is painfully slow. For some reason my wife's MB has a slightly faster pipe to the NAS than my MBP. I cannot figure out why.
    Any input and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to make this setup rock solid.
    MPB, MB   Mac OS X (10.4.10)  

    No. You cannot merge .itl files. What you can do is move a library in a portable shape from one computer to another. See Make a split library portable for details. You can run two independent libraries on the same computer using either multiple profiles or by using the method shown in How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one.
    Once both libraries and both sets of media are on the one computer there it would be possible to export the playlists from one library (start with the one that only has one device synced to it), then import them into the other (which will become the main library) along with all of the content of the first, then consolidate and deduplicate. The advanced preferences to Keep... & Copy... should be turned off while attempting this.
    Finally the device that has synced with the discarded library needs to be backed up and then restored using the main library to avoid data loss. See Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device for more details.
    tt2

  • One iTunes libary (i.e. music files, etc.) with several iTunes library files.

    I have a single iTunes library accessed by two separate iTunes library files (two separate accounts on my iMac, each with its own .itl pointing to the same files). The problem is that iTunes does not provide any way to keep the content of the actual library in sync. In other words, I may add new music using one account, but that music will not be accessible using the other account. Most of the music I add is ripped from CD, and I have a large library, so iCloud wouldn't do the job for me. I need to maintain separate metadata and .itl files.
    Does anyone have a suggestion of how to go about this, either wonkily with iTunes, or using additional applications?
    Thanks.

    I recently experienced a similar situation. I was moving my iTunes Library to an external HD in order to free up space on my Mac's HD. I originally used finder and clicked dragged files from one location to another. Unfortunately it created a big mess and I was freaking out thinking I had lost a big portion of iTunes Library.. about 1/3 and I have approximately 18 days of continuous music in Library. I put
    Library back to original location and then imported as Thick stated. However, not all files were transfered to location and when attempted to play I received message stating unable to play because file is not in it's original location would you like to locate file. For those files I used search to locate and all missing music was in same file so I went into music file and highlighted every song in an album that iTunes could not locate then double clicked and music files were sent to location of music folder specified in iTunes Preferences. For single songs and Videos I clicked yes when prompted by iTunes asking if I wanted to locate file, then double clicked file and it was sent to Library location specified in ITunes Preferences. There might have been an easier way to accomplish the task but all I was concerned with was moving library and not losing... although if you are using Time Machine to backup library you can always restore.... In all I lost one album... and my MAC's HD now has an
    200 GB of memory available, my music and pics are on a External 1TB HD and Time Machine
    is backing my Music and Pictures files up..... I also deleted backups from Time Machine to free up
    space.... Good Luck and hope you get what you want accomplished.....

Maybe you are looking for

  • Export and Import Integration Profile - Demantra

    Hi All, I am working on demantra workflow in export and import integration profiles through workflow. I want to avoid a customization to integrate the export profile data created from series A and import the data into other import profile created fro

  • How can i update ios 7 to my iphone 4s???

    How can i update ios 7 to my iphone 4s???

  • MyJava.java uses unchecked or unsafe operations

    I get the following warning message when I use ant from within Eclipse: compile: [javac] Compiling 2 source files to C:\eclipse\workspace\StoreInfo\build [javac] Note: C:\eclipse\workspace\StoreInfo\src\StoreInfo.java uses unchecked or unsafe operati

  • Missing RX neighbours in WCS

    I've recently upgrade the wireless infrastructure to the latest versions of code. but since doing that when, i go into the monitor page for an access point in the wcs at the bottom it should show all the other access point it can see and their signal

  • BB Link issue

    I always get this error message when trying to sync via cable and BB Link: "CPreferencesManager: Configuration Value for /Preferences/Account_22_1441794/DevicePin not set in TransConfig.xml for translator RimBB" What is it? Solved! Go to Solution.