Complicated Playlist question

Recently, I got a new desktop. I was just going to move the old hard drive into the new computer as a secondary, but we couldn't remove the drive. So we copied the information over. Now, I was worried about playlists and edits I had made to track information, but that appears to have mostly carried over. However, I was missing at least one playlist (I had a hard copy and replaced it), and I've lost about half of another playlist. I was hoping that there was a file that stored Playlist contents in a readable fashion, like iTunes Music Library.XML but with playlists.
I'd be happy just to be able to lay the two versions--the old pre-migration and the current--of my playlists side by side and then manually edit them to match more. Is this an option?
CJ

Have you tried to play one of the songs in iTunes? It should then ask you to authorize them.

Similar Messages

Complicated Authorization Question

Complicated Authorization Question
I had my itunes software on my laptop with the songs on a portable hard drive. The laptop was stolen, the portable hard drive was not. I installed itunes on the new laptop and pointed to the music on the portable hard drive and it is telling me I am not authorized to play certain songs although I have authorized the computer. Also when I try to snyc my iphone it is saying it is going to erase all the songs on the iphone and replace them. I have purchased songs on the phone that are not in my itunes.
How do I resolve this?

Have you tried to play one of the songs in iTunes? It should then ask you to authorize them.

ITunes Podcasts & Smart Playlists Question

Hi everyone,
Thanks for taking the time to read my question.
I have a 60gb Colour iPod and have nearly filled it, so do not want to sync any of the podcasts to it. I've disabled Podcast syncing in the options tab after connecting the iPod, but Podcasts are still syncing because I have a large range of Smart Playlists which are set to show me what I added by date. This means they are treating Podcast content as being "Added On" a certain date and hence appearing in the Smart Playlist and being synced.
It is my understanding that to disable this I have to add a clause to the Smart Playlist which says "Kind, Is Not, Podcast" - is this the case? To go through every playlist I have would take ages and can anyone advise if it's possible to apply the same criteria to all playlists? I tried to select more than one by holding down Control or Shift but it didn't work.
Any thoughts would be very gratefully received!
Cheers,
Edd

This question has been answered in the general iTunes for Windows Forum.

Live updating smart playlist question

I made a smart play list for my songs that have no rating.
but once I rate them the music stops because of the live updating. I turn this feature off but my question is, when will the smart play list update with the live updating off? Daily?
Thanks

Ya I see your problem. The playlist is for stuff you haven't rated yet. If you rate it, it then comes out of that playlist. The problem being, if you rate the song while it is playing, it gets booted out of the playlist and since that is where you are currently playing music from, the song abruptly stops playing. Right?
As Beavis pointed out, if the live update is turned off, it will NEVER update because the playlist is frozen at the time you either create it with live updating turned off or when you turn off the live update feature.
So the solution is, leave the live update off. Then at your own schedule, when you remember, edit the smart playlist, click Live Updating, click ok to exit. The playlist will be updated with rated songs being removed and new stuff you added to the library being put into that playlist. Now edit it again and uncheck the box to turn off live updating and you can continue to play out of the playlist and rate as you go. Then repeat next time you are ready to update your playlist.
Patrick

Complicated upgrade question

ok, here's the deal. i have an iphone 4, not eligible for a fully subsidized 4s. my dad is eligible for an upgrade for his 3gs. he gave me his blessings to use his upgrade to get a 4s for myself. we're on separate at&t accounts, and he does not live in the same state as me. how do i go about utilizing his upgrade while maintaining his service on his 3gs?
an apple store employee told me he has to be there in person to purchase the phone. since he's out of state, what if i order it online for him and have it sent to me. could i then put my sim card in it, and just start using it? his 3gs sim card won't be shut down, will it? the apple store employee told me his sim card would be deactivated if he bought it in-store. do i just have to make sure NOT to activate it with the new sim card in it?
if i'm over-complicating this, any suggestions on how to go about this given my circumstances? thanks in advance for your input.

CartersFARM wrote:
I purchased 3 Palm Pre Plus phones on a family plan over a year ago on one year contracts. Then in Feb of last year I added another one to the family plan but as a 2 year contract. My first three phones all show that they are eligible for an upgrade now, and the one purchased in Feb. says "full price upgrade". My plan says it's expiration date is 1/26/11. This doesn't make sense. If you signed a 2 year contract in February 2010, your contract should end in February 2012. Are you perhaps looking at the end date for this billing cycle?
So, I'm waiting for the Palm announce on 2/9/11 and I'm planing on upgrading all 4 phones to the new Palm phones and adding a line at the same time w/ another one. After reading all of the posts about the early upgrades, N2Y upgrade (on 2 year contracts), and changes to the upgrades (for new customers - grandfathering any existing contract terms), my question is this:
1. I think I can use my 3 "upgrade now" upgrades just fine and pick a 1 year contract again. Yes.
2. Then, sometime (or when I call in?) I should be able to do an Annual renewal on the add a line w/ the 2 year contract - like in Feb after the 10 months have past. Only primary lines, and lines on individual plans with a calliing package value of $49.99 or higher qualify for an annual upgrade. If this line is a secondary line, it will not be able to upgrade until 20 months of the contract have been fulfilled.
3. Does the plan expiration date of 1/26/11 indicate that I will lose the annual upgrade on the 2 year plan add a phone since the phone plan expires 1/26/11 after the 1/16/11 date?? The changes coming on 1/16 only impact NEW customers and NEW contracts signed on or after that date. So nothing will change until you sign a new contract. I'm not sure where this 1/26 date is coming from, but it doesn't make sense as a renewal date for that line.
Any help will be greatly appreciated! Ed

Duplicate blank playlist question?

I subscribed to Match last week and had an issue with Match creating 1000s of duplicate playlist or blank playlist within my iTunes library. I tried everything possible to get the playlist deleted. I don't really want to go into it all, search the forums and I tried everything mentioned on all the various post.
After contacting Apple for help which they basically had me do the same thing I already tried from reading these very forums to no avail. Apple ended up refunding my money for Match. So my question is now that I haven't had Match for a few days would the playlist cache that was on Apple's server that was connected to my account be wiped now? If I repurchase Match will it function as intended and not populate my iTunes library with these playlist? I tried asking the rep this question and he gave me no answer on that question. I know everyone here is a user like me but I was hoping maybe someone had the same issue or something similar and maybe repurchased with better luck?
Thanks in advance,
Christopher

Unfortunately, since Apple refunded your money it will not be possible to resubscribe to iTunes Match at this time. Unless Apple has changed the policy, when they give a refund, the person has had to wait a year to resubscribe. If you still want to resubscribe you should contact support again and work with them.

Shuffled Playlist Question

Instead of having to navigate back and fourth between the Settings menu and the Music menus, is it possible to create a Playlist (or SPL) that contains the majority of my collection but shuffles the music? I've tried a variety of set ups that look like they will work when viewed through iTunes, but when played through the iPod they play everything in order (ie not shuffled).

Well I hear what you are saying, but as you pointed out, these things seem to be beyond the current capability of the iPod. On that same note, this 5th Gen video iPod I have is my very first iPod and while I do love it, I am actually rather shocked at the limited features it has or what I feel are obvious things it should be able to do but doesn't.
Ya, as each new generation of iPod has come along Apple made big steps forward in the big things it could do, like black and white to a color screen then to showing photos then doing video. But the little features (that are just programming) that should have been added to the user interface, seem to have been forgotten.
Here is an example of one that to me would have been an obvious user interface features: Being able to delete a song from the iPod and then (maybe optionally) have that same song removed from the iTunes library when you sync. How many times have you been out and about with your iPod, a song comes one, maybe one of the last tracks of a new album you recently imported and you think to yourself, "well this song is a dud"? I want to delete it from my iPod and my library. So I either have to remember what song it is or make a note somewhere (by the way, I often end up with a post it note on the back of my iPod at work just for that purpose). It would be easier to have a built in delete function on the iPod or at the very least, a "delete me" flag you can turn on so when you get back to your computer, iTunes can show you the ones you tagged to be removed.
Another feature I would like to see for the color iPods is the ability to change screen and font color. Since there is no way to actually dim the LCD screen (another missing feature) at night, in a dark car, etc. that screen can be really overly bright. So how about being able to change the screen color from white to a less bright color like dark blue. Or how about a night mode where the screen is black and the font is white? Or how about a night vision mode with a red screen so you don't ruin your night vision? Obviously if the iPod can show video, having screen and font colors changeable should be super easy.
Then there are the weird things. For example, I play a few songs on the iPod. I then go and look in the Recently Played list. The songs are there but it seems to be a sort of random order. The songs I just played are not at the top like in iTunes, but are towards the bottom, and not in the order I played them. I haven't bothered to figure out the order they are in but it is probably something that makes little sense like sort by date, then by artist name, but the list only shows song titles, so it looks jumbled. Weird.
So that is my long winded way to say, your idea of a changing play list with a dynamic shuffle sounds great, but considering I can not even remove a song from the iPod without a computer, must be blinded by the light if I touch the controls of my iPod while in a dark car, and my choices of screen and font colors are about the same as Henry Ford offered on his cars, don't hold your breath!
Patrick

Complicated iTunes questions

A month ago I had some serious virus issues that effected iTunes. I had a computer repair tech come in and clean the computer. He was able to reinstall iTunes and restore most of the music files. Two problems were encountered during this process.
1) Many duplicates appeared in the main music folder of iTunes. I found out that duplicates were in the backup iTunes folder (on my pc) that stored the music. I am in the process of correcting that folder. But I still have to go into iTunes and delete the duplicates there too. Any quick ways to do this?
2) Some files (several hundred) can not be located. I was able to find some buried under strange folders and I am also cleaning this up. Once I am finished cleaning up the music folder on the pc is there an easy way to point iTunes to the corrected folder. I am hopeful to regain access to the 300+ songs that iTunes still can't find.

itunes has a database file named
iTunes Library.itl
The easiest way to start with a new library is to delete that file.
Before you do that, realize that all your ratings, play counts, playlists and other metadata such as Date Added will be lost.
If you want to continue with your existing itunes database...it will be more work.
You can try and run a script to find duplicates. Just google "script find duplicates itunes". I haven't used one, so can't recommend any of them.
This is Apple's solution:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2905

Video Playlists Question

When I make a video playlist of favorite videos, the videos only play one at a time, and at the end of each, kicks me back to that playlist's window.
Is there no way for the videos to play one right after the other non-stop, just like my music playlists?

I think by default, videos (and podcasts) are set to "Skip when shuffling". If your iPod is in shuffle mode you can start one item but your iPod will stop if all the other items in the playlist are programmed to skip. Either turn shuffle off, or go into the tags of the videos and un-check the skip feature.

IPod Touch Playlist Question

I know that the Touch (2g) can create Genius playlists, but I was curious if I could make my own playlists (I'm really new to the whole mp3/mp4/etc. player world) on it. Since I am a runner, I'd like to be able choose a handful of songs, put them on a playlist, and then let them repeat while I run. Can I do this on a Touch?
Also, for running, I was considering getting an iPod sensor. Which should I get if I buy the 2g Touch?
Thank you very much.

Hi Farhan,
While playing a track in the playlist touch the artwork to summon the "scrub bar", to the left of this is a small oval symbol with tiny arrows, touch this to turn it on (goes blue) to repeat current album or playlist, touch twice to repeat track, third time it goes white and is off.
The symbol on the right "X" is shuffle, but you knew that already.
Have fun,
Dud.
Message was edited by: Duddo
Message was edited by: Duddo

Smart Playlists Question

Who knows a lot about Smart Playlists? I want to create a playlist that has all of my songs sorted first by "Play Count", then by song title. Does anyone know how to do this? I could write a MySQL query to do this in 2 minutes, but I don't know enough about iTunes to do it. Is it possible?
Thanks!!!

Smart playlist are for selecting specific songs, not sorting.
If you are sorting everything you don't need a playlist.
Select Library /Music and sort on *Play Count*.
Can't select a secondary sort column though (with either a playlist or the library).

Smart Playlist Question

I started to notice something the other day. I'm not sure if the problem is new or if I am just using Smart Playlists more.
This is what's going on. I create a Smartplay list in iTunes. All is good it syncs to my iPod.
What I am having problems is the play lists becomes static. After the initial creation, I have a few playlists that are Random songs; like a random 1 hour, 2 hour, and 10 hour. I'd like these to be updated at every sync if not every time iTunes is opened.
Am I miss understanding Smartplay lists? Is there a way to do what I am looking for?

Do you have live updating checked on your SPL criteria?

Complicated Scripting Question

Here is a little background before my question-
I have been making DVDs that basically consist of a main menu and a chapter menu. I have only one track in my project for the video. When the viewer selects "play video" from the main menu the entire video track plays then returns to the main menu. When they select a chapter from the chapter menu the same video track plays from whichever chapter marker they selected.
I wrote a short script so if a viewer watches the video from the main menu and presses the menu button they will be brought to the main menu, and if they are watching the video via selecting a chapter they will be returned to the chapter menu when the menu button is pressed.
I did this by having a prescript for each menu (mov GPRM 0, Current Item)
and assigning a script to the menu button (Jump Indirect GPRM 0).
But..now I have to make a DVD which is just like this except it must have double the menus (one set in english, one set in portuguese). They will both share the single (bilingual) video track.
So I need to make a first menu which lets the viewer select their language, once they select that they need to be brought to their language's main menu.
My first question is can I write a script so that once they are brought to a main menu based on what language they chose, whenever they press the title button they will be returned to this main menu and not the language selection menu or the wrong language's main menu.
My second question is how would I write a script so when a viewer presses menu while watching the video they will be returned to the last menu the came from (main menu or chapter menu) keeping in mind that there are 2 sets of each menu.
I'm still new to scripting and I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around all the different menus. If any one has the time to throw out any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.
Powermac G4 Dual 1.42 Mac OS X (10.4.4)
Powermac G4 Dual 450 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

You know, there's times when stories are just dandy for sorting the problem, and there's times for scripts... this seems like a time for scripting to me! Drew - your solution will work, but it seems so long...
What I would do is this.
From the very first menu make each button to select the language go to a script - and then on to the correct 'main' menu:
mov GPRM0, SPRM8
div GPRM0, 1024
Jump EnglishMenu If (GPRM0 = 1)
Jump FrenchMenu If (GPRM0 = 2)
Jump SpanishMenu If(GPRM0 = 3)
(I am assuming three buttons, and these three languages... you could have 36 different buttons and languages, of course.)
The next question is do you need to set up a particular audio stream? if so, I'd add it to the script above as a line before each jump statement.
Now that you have a value in a GPRM to identify the user choice, you can use it over and over. When you press the 'title' button, point it to a script which does this:
Jump EnglishMainMenu If (GPRM0 = 1)
Jump FrenchMainMenu If (GPRM0 = 2)
Jump SpanishMainMenu IF (GPRM0 = 3)
Of course the name of your menus will be different, just select the correct one when writing the script.
Now for the menu call - this is assuming that you have a series of sub menus within each language choice. All I would do is set another GPRM each time I go to a different menu. So, assuming we are on the main menu for English and want to go to a chapter selection menu in English, I would go via another script:
mov GPRM1, 1
Jump EnglishSubMenu
For each other menu I would go via a similar script but set a different value each time. That way we know the language (value in GPRM0) and the correct menu (in GPRM1)
The menu call goes to this script:
goto 4 If(GPRM0 = 1)
goto 7 If(GPRM0 = 2)
goto 10 If(GPRM0 = 3)
Jump EnglishSubmenu If(GPRM1 = 1)
Jump SecondEnglishmenu If(GPRM1 = 2)
Jump AnotherEnglishMenu If(GPRM1 = 3)
Jump FrenchSubMenu If(GPRM1 = 4)
Jump SecondFrenchMenu IF(GPRM1 = 5)
Jump ThirdFrenchMenu If(GPRM1 = 6)
Jump SpanishSubMenu If(GPRM1 = 7)
Jump SecondSpanishMenu If(GPRM1 = 8)
Jump ThirdSpanishMenu If(GPRM1 = 9)
The goto commands are looking to see which language you are in and the jump commands take you to the correct menu as long as you set these values up when you moved between the menus. This entire script could be simplified further, but as it is it serves to illustrate the process you need to go through.
There we have it, two main scripts and a bunch of stand-alone scripts to set values... you will be able to easily stay within a branching menu system for a single language with this.

Importing playlist question

How can I move a playlist from my Ipod to Itunes? Long story on how the playlist is no longer on Itunes.
Thanks

There are a number of third party utilities that you can use to retrieve the music files and playlists from your iPod. I believe these three will all clone data such as playlists, playcounts etc.
iRepo Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod Access Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
TouchCopy Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)

IWeb and iTunes Playlist Question:

Hi,
I would like to add an iTunes-Playlist to my Website. When I select the Playlist in the Media-Browser, iWeb creates a List with arrows pointing to the right. They are the same as they are in the iTMS. Where do they point??
Dirk

I got it... I published the site to a folder, that works also for that. The arrows point to the iTMS...
Dirk

Complicated Playlist question

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