Another case of "missing" iTunes songs, internal drive, iTunes 8 & 9

I have searched the forums for several hours, pouring over post after post on this subject, but have not seen an answer or workable solution to this exact problem.
I have been using iTunes since version 1, and have a little over 14,000 songs in my library, on my boot drive, mostly ones I have ripped from my own CDs. All of a sudden, maybe 3-4 months ago, starting in version 8, now version 9, on certain songs I am repeatedly getting the exclamation point & the message: "The song ____ could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?". I can manually point iTunes to the song, all of which reside on my boot drive in the iTunes Music folder, but often the songs seem to "disappear" from iTunes again later on. This is a tedious process, although usually there are multiple songs on the same album. Right now I have about 100 "missing" songs. I doubt I have moved or changed folder names for more than a few, if any of them.
Many, but not all of the affected songs have a period in the song/group/album names, such as R.E.M., Mr. Tambourine Man, or Charlatans U.K. while others may have a colon (:), a dash , a number (1), or ampersand (&). All these songs were able to be found under earlier versions of iTunes, but something changed in later versions of 8 & now 9, or elsewhere.
Is there a way to permanently fix this issue, without having to reimport all my songs? I have many, many years worth of iTunes playlists, albums, playlist for my iPod, etc. so any "solution" that means I loose all this work is a non-starter.
Thanks!

Another point - after the mass Import, the song names displayed in iTunes are the same as the contents of my new library location excepting there are duplicates and the the tracks are "unlocateable" for playing.

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ITunes keeps storing files on C drive, even when the library/storage is on another internal drive. It should stop that.

Whatever I do to get iTunes to store it's data and settings on another internal drive, it KEEPS some sort of data/settings stored on the C drive.
A mkdir has been set up already to catch nasty "keep doing that" behaviour. Nevertheless, iTunes dumps stuff on the C drive /documents/mymusic.
Without to receive a technical story (read: a SIMPLE solution that does not feel like a hack), what's the solution.
Why does iTunes not simply ask WHERE to store the files rather than "assuming that the user is stupid and we think for him" attitude.
managing a database or DRM isn't THAT difficult.
Whatever files are within the directory is absolutely fine, as long as the user is allowed to choose that directory.

Did you mean mkdir or mklnk?
By default the iTunes library is stored at C:\Users\<User>\Music. If you play with Windows so that your entire profile is stored on a different drive then the library will be stored inside the profile. If you have used the option to change the location of the media folder to point to another path then you've only changed where the content is stored, not the database and supporting files. In addition if you use this option with an external drive or network share and that location isn't ready when iTunes starts then it will reset the path to the media folder to the default location inside the library folder.
Generally the solution when setting out is to move the entire library to the root of a different drive and then shift-start-iTunes to connect to the library in this new location. See HT1589: iTunes: How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one
Since you didn't do that to start with, either start again, or see my post make a split library portable.
There is another chunk of data stored in the %appdata% section of your user profile. If you don't have any iOS devices you can ignore this, but if you have, and have an SSD system drive, then there is merit in relocating the ...\MobileSync\Backup folder to another drive with a mklnk junction/symbolic link as these backup folders can become quite large. Note that junctions/links should not be used to relocate sections of the main library as they will be unraveled if iTunes ever tries to write to the path.
tt2

HT1711 I have over 100 songs I bought back before mid-2009 when Apple dropped this DRM thing. If I want to play those songs on Sonos, the ONLY way to do so is pay Apple another $25/year for iTunes Match and re-download them??

I have a Sonos system in my house and suddenly discovered that many songs I bought off of iTunes years ago are 'grayed out' when I try to play them from my iPhone or do not appear as options at all when I try to play them on Sonos from my overall music library. It's well over 100 songs I bought back before mid-2009 when Apple dropped this DRM thing. From what I think I am reading, if I want to play those songs on Sonos, the ONLY way to do so is pay Apple another $25/year for iTunes Match (which I don't have any interest in) and then re-download them all in iTunes Plus format??

Matt,
I agree it was not all communicated real well, but in your case it will work out. You missed the program where you could have upgraded 100 tracks for 30 cents each (=$30) but now you can do it via Match (=$25). It works pretty simply, per this document:
Can I upgrade my previously purchased music to iTunes Plus?
Yes. If you subscribe to iTunes Match, you can download your previously purchased music again in the iTunes Plus format. To do so:
You need to delete the original DRM song from your library first. Doing this enables you to download the song again in the iTunes Plus format from iTunes in the Cloud.
Click the Purchased tab in the iTunes Store.
Click Music.
Locate the artist of the song you want to upgrade.
Click the iCloud Download icon next to the song you want to upgrade.
Just don't forget to put the Plus files on your hard drive -- properly backed up of course -- and to cancel the Match subscription before the second year rolls around!

Moving iTunes Media folder to second internal drive fails

The whole story is:
I never really used the iTunes media folder system. All my music is on extrenal drive and I was only importing it into iTunes manually to keep my own folder system, for example once a week Ive created a folder with a date of creating and there I had all the releases from that week (some in their own folder or separately but all in this one folder named by a dat eof creation). So on my ext. drive I have lots of these folders by date. And the names of folder always correspond with the date added to iTunes as well
My ext. drive is full now. so Ive decided to take a next step and put out the dvd-rom and put another internal drive (1TB) into my macbook pro which will be used for music and movie data only (the system stays on the old one).
What I want to do now is somehow move all these music folder to my new internal drive, so they can be accessed from iTunes without reseting all its features.
Ive read that one solution can be creating the new iTunes Media folder on that new drive and Consolidate all music from iTunes to this location. Problem is I cant even try it, because when go to iTunes Preferences to change the location of Media folder a hit Create after selectin the new location (new internal drive) after fee seconds the progress freezes and Activity Monitor says that iTunes are not responding. Ive tried to leave it for about half an hour and no changes, even tho theres not much to copy/move cause the Media folder has no music in it, only playlists etc.
So question number one is - why its freezing?
Question number two - any other way to trasfer all my collection and keep its organiation as it is without loosing the iTunes list and be able to use it after transfer?
Thanks in advance for your help and tips

Not sure about question 1...
What I think you should do is try to copy the existing iTunes library folder from <User's Music>/iTunes to <1Tb Drive>/iTunes then hold down option as you start iTunes. You should be asked to choose or create a library. Click choose and browse to the library file at <1Tb Drive>/iTunes/iTunes Library.itl (BTW if the the .itl extension is missing you should probably add it match the current format, but it will work either way).
The new copy of the library should work just as before, but check a few random things first, you can always revert to the previous library with option-start-iTunes if it doesn't work.
Under iTunes > Library > Orgainze Library if the option is available tick Reorganize files in the folder <Media Folder>. This will make sure the new version of your library is as portable as possible. Next under preferences > Advanced make sure that the media folder is given as <1Tb Drive>/iTunes/iTunes Media. If needed you can change this value. If you change the folder at this point iTunes should offer to copy your existing media into this new location. That ought to work, thought it will take some time. Alternatively you decline the offer and then selectively consolidate the library in batches, e.g. by selecting the tracks of all Artists beginning with A, and consolidating just those tracks, then repeasting with, B, C etc. followed by other types of media. If iTunes didn't prompt, or the folder was already correct, you can decide whether to try in batches or use iTunes > Library > Organize Library > Consolidate files.
tt2

Missing iTunes 9 songs after transfer with SL Migration Assistant

I have a backup drive where I stored 82+ gigs of music, all imported from cd. They were saved using various versions of iTunes as AAC's. I transferred the Music folder from the external drive to a new iMac via OS 10.6.2 Migration Assistant.
I noticed this morning that some music was missing from the iTunes library that were still contained in my iPod... which I didn't sync! Whole artist folders are missing, some songs of other artists are gone. I lost 3+ gigs of music. I checked the new iTunes music folders, these artists and songs are not present.
Unfortunately, I didn't notice the difference in total storage when I opened iTunes after transfer, 8000+ songs, over 6 years of saving. And wiped the external drive and set it up as a clone backup for the new iMac.
The only factor I'm seeing is that every artist I've identified as being gone was a fairly recent save under iTunes 9. I've been doing a lot of saving over the last 3 months.
Anyone else losing MA transferred music with iTunes 9 and/or Snow Leopard?

Hello there ronadrew,
It sounds like you 2 libraries of content you want to move over to your new computer. As far as your iTunes library is concerned, you can certainly use File Sharing as an option if you like but you have to modify folder permissions and access to do that. This article should help you do that, named:
OS X Yosemite: Share your files with other Mac users
If these computers are both connected to the network via Wi-Fi, it may be faster to copy the iTunes library to an external drive, then copy the library over to another computer using this article:
How to move your iTunes library to a new computer
As far as your Calibre library you may be able to use one of the above methods to copy your library over, but I would check with the support and/or documentation available from the developer for the best way to go about that.
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
Regards,
Sterling

How do I move ITunes Library to External with only 5GB of space on Internal Drive without getting Space issue message when Consolidate library option is executed?

Details:
250 GB Internal Hard Drive
50 GB iTunes Library
1 TB External Drive w/ 153 GB of Open Space that is Partioned
Steps followed:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449
I get Stuck on Step 11 Consolidate Files to new external drive location with Error message: Not enough space to move files.
This makes no sense Apple. The purpose in doing this is to free up space on my internal drive?
Any help would be much appreciated as I'm stuck and can't seem to resolve or find any suggestions to resolve...

Don't use that method. It does move the whole library, it just moves the media. The whole library is best left intact.
iTunes: How to move [or copy] your music to a new computer [or another drive] - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
Quick answer if you use iTunes' default preferences settings: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its subfolders and files) intact to the other drive. Open iTunes and immediately hold down the Option (alt) key (shift on Windows), then guide it to the new location of the library.

Assigning iTunes to a new internal drive

I installed a new 750gb internal drive in my sony vaio. I made a new itunes folder and copied all of my music to that folder in the new drive.
I assigned iTunes to recognize that path as my default, but now when I start iTunes I get an error saying that the song can not be found.
I also am noticing that there are double entries of songs in my itunes. If I bring up an album I see that there are doubles of each song in the album.
I am looking for a step by step way to set iTunes to recognize my internal hard drive and solve this issue of double music please.
I am running a Windows XP Home Edition OS.
Thank you!!!

Resetting the location of the iTunes Music folder in the iTunes preferences, by itself, only sets where future purchases and imports go. In and of itself it won't reset where iTunes looks for tracks already in the iTunes library. Normally what you want to do is reset the location of the iTunes Music folder in the iTunes preferences, then do the Consolidate Library command so that iTunes copies the existing tracks to the new location itself. Then it will reset all the locations so that iTunes can correctly find everything.
As it is now, the easiest thing will probably to delete everything from the iTunes library listing (not the tracks from the external, just the listings in iTunes), then use the Add To Library command and select the folder on the second drive containing your music. You'll have to recreate any playlists and you'll lose all your ratings, etc., but you should get back all your content.

Another tip for working around iDVD encoding errors: Use internal drive

I've had several projects that produced the encoding error while rendering the menus, I've also seen a number of tips in this discussion area, e.g., have 20 GB of free space, delete iDVD preferences, delete encoded assets, and make sure your chapter markers are not near a transition or end of a clip (good luck with that using iDVD to set your chapters). Neither of these tips alone allowed me to burn a disk image to disk, but I'm confident they contribute to a more stable iDVD performance overall.
In my case, the only way I've managed to make the projects to work is to copy the iMovie project over to my internal drive, create the iDVD project on the internal drive and to save the disk image to the internal drive.
If you're low on internal disk space, as I am, easy to move assets is another advantage of using iMovie 6 over iMovie 8, i.e., you can create the iMovie project on the external drive and then drag a temporary copy over to the internal drive, then you can launch iDVD from within iMovie 6 without the annoying step of exporting to the Media Browser. When you're done, delete the temporary movie to free up space for your next project. The iDVD projects can also be moved to a backup drive or deleted.

You'll always get better results on the startup volume / internal HD (as opposed to an ext. HD) provided you also have at least 20GB's of available HD space remaining. Anything less is often problematic at best.
My suggestion in this situation is to find a way to clear more HD space. You can clear video files already burned to DVD-R media, burn your iPhoto Library to DVD to clear more space , or even consider clearing languages you won't need on your system with an app like Monolingual. No problems will be created by removing unneeded language files (however it's highly recommend you avoid removing architectures on any intel mac).
http://monolingual.sourceforge.net/
The following may interest you as well:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1102377&tstart=0

What will happen to the organization of library if I removed the songs from windows explorer? Will iTunes automatically updated without all the deleted songs, or it will indicate 'missing location'? Any fast ways to clear this 'missing location' songs?

What will happen to the organization of library if I removed the songs from windows explorer?
Background: I found it easier to identify duplicated songs in windows explorer as the songs will be renamed .... 1.mp3, thus enabling me to remove the duplicated songs; unlike in iTunes where I know the trick of showing duplicate songs, but you don't know which one is the one with 1 at the end of the file name.
Will iTunes automatically update the library without all the deleted songs, or will it indicate 'missing location' songs? Any fast ways to clear this 'missing location' songs by highlighting them all and delete all at one go?
Thanks.

One way is to use iTunes Folder Watch with its option to check for dead tracks on start up.
Another option is with a set of Lost & Found playlists.
Lost & Found
Create a playlist called Found, select everything in Music and drag it into the Found playlist. Create a smart playlist called Lost matching All the rules Playlist is Music and Playlist is not Found. Your lost tracks will be in this playlist. You can delete them all with a Ctrl-A to select them and Shift-Delete to remove them.
You can then delete the Lost & Found playlists.
tt2

Currently my internal drive is full due to Aperture. I want to work with Aperture from a external drive verses my internal drive. In addition, I want to back-up my work to another external drive. Is this easily done? Does this make sense? Pros / Cons...

Currently my internal drive is out of space due to my Aperture files. I want to place Aperture on a external drive to work from verses in intnal drive. In addition, I want to back-up all my work to another external for safe keeping. Once I move aperture to the external, I want to delete it off my internal drive. Does this make sense to do? Pros / Cons....

It is common for people to move their Aperture, iPhoto, iTunes etc. files to an external drive when those files become too large to conveniently keep on the internal drive.
The best approach is probably to keep the applications (iPhoto, Aperture etc.) where they are now, but move the files (photos, music, videos etc.) to the external drive.
You should set up a process to regularly backup all the files from both the internal drive as well as the external drive you'll be using. Here are two approaches:
(1) Use Time Machine. You can configure Time Machine so that it backs up both the internal drive as well as the external drive, all to a third separate backup drive. This is done via the Options button in the Time Machine preference pane.
(2) You can use a "cloning" program, such as SuperDuper, Carbon Copy Cloner, to make complete copies of files on your internal drive and that external drive. One way to do this is to use a very large disk for the backups, and to partition it into two backup drives, making one dedicated to the internal, the other dedicated to the external.
Two separate types of backups are recommended. I use both (1) and (2) above, and I disconnect and shut down the clone type backups when not being used. That way a power failure or surge that might destroy the original disk(s) plus the Time Machine backup(s) would still not damage the backups made under (2).
Don't delete your original Aperture files until you have verified that they are working properly from the external drive AND you have made a backup of them.

Internal drive B missing after install of 10.4.4

I am building a test server with the latest dev seed of 10.4.4. The machine has drives in the two internal slots.
The 10.4.4 installation terminated normally without problems. Machine boots, is recognized on the network. Prior to this the machine was running OS 10.3.9 client, and the internal drive B was installed and configured under the client OS. DriveB has lots of stuff nicely organized. I prefer not to restore from the backups if possible.
After installation of the 10.4.4 Server, the internal drive B is not recognized by the Finder. Disk Utility sees the device but the volume icon is "document" not "disk". From the terminal df lists a mount point for the drive. Disk Warrior can find the device, build an alternate directory but cannot display the results.
The ownership and permissions for the mount point in Volumes looks odd to me.
ls -al Volumes
drwxrwxr-t root admin ..
lrwxr-xr-x root admin driveA
drwxr------ 503 503 driveB
I expected to find "drwxrwxr-t" and "root:admin" for driveB, as it is with another server running 10.3.9 Server.
I am tempted to change ownership and permissions, but thought it wise to see what others thought before I leap into it.
All replies greatly appreciated.
TIA,
- Mophilly
Dual G5 2ghz Mac OS X (10.4.4)
Dual G5 Mac OS X (10.3.9)
Dual G5 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Just in case someone reads this thread with a similar question, I have learned a few things I can share:
503 is a user id from the previous OS installation. Since the user does not exist on the new system, the files are not available to the users so far defined.
I was able to "cd" to the drive directories and move the data off the drive, when logged on as root. So the decision became 1) add users until one has a UID of 503, or 2) change the owner and group assignments on the files. I chose the latter, and all seems well.
Since I had a backup of the data, I did have a third choice of simply reformatting the drive and restoring from backup. However, the learning experience was worth the effort.

Added new internal drive, move music to this drive need itunes to find the music

Has anyone added an internal drive so that your music lib can expand.
I am unable to get itune to find the files on new drive.

I have the exact same problem only I haven't even moved my files iTunes just can't locate any of my songs and I've went through every single song and located them and it still asks for the song to located. It seems like maybe mac has just as many problems as microsoft

HT1660 move iTunes library from external drive to internal drive

I had to move my iTunes library from my internal hard disk to an external one so that they could replace the recalled hard drive on my iMac. Is moving the library back to the internal drive as easy as dragging it into the Music/iTunes folder?

iTunes: How to move [or copy] your music [library] to a new computer [or another drive] - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527 - a somewhat bewildering and not always easily understandable set of options.
Quick answer if you use iTunes' default preferences settings: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its subfolders and files) intact to the other drive. Open iTunes and immediately hold down the Option (alt) key (shift on Windows), then guide it to the new location of the library.itl file in the moved iTunes folder.

In ITunes when I'm using home sharing if I play the songs on another computer it cuts the songs off maybe 10 seconds plus from the end why is it doing this?

So I have ITunes Home Sharing on my desktop computer on. When I go to another computer and play the songs from the Home Share computer the songs get cut off maybe 10 seconds + at the end of the song. In other words it will not play the last 10 seconds of the song sometimes it's last 5 seconds sometimes its the last 15 seconds it seems to vary. I can't really find a pattern on the timing but I just don't understand why this is happening please help!

Delete and redownload them if doing so is free in your country.
(98014)

How to switch my Itunes library from External Drive to Internal drive

I recently formated my hard drive and backed up all my tunes to an external drive. When the computer was back and running I imported my tunes from the external drive to my Itunes. However itunes still reads music from the external even though the music is also in a Itunes folder in my Music folder in documents. I tried deleting Itunes and reinstalling but it still looks at the external first. When I look at the advanced tab in itunes it says the music plays from my C drive but if I disconnnect my external drive the music won't play because it's still looking there. I would like the music to play from my internal drive and only use my external drive for backing up. What should I do? Thanks!

Choose Home from the Finder's Go menu, double-click the Music item, and drag it there.
(123001)

Another case of "missing" iTunes songs, internal drive, iTunes 8 & 9

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