Consolidated iTunes library to different drive, but some files left behind?

I had been storing my iTunes library on an external HD. Now I have a new laptop and enough memory to move the library back onto the laptop's hard drive. I attempted to do so by reversing how I moved it in the first place -- I consolidated the library (using Preferences->Advanced to set the iTunes Media Folder Location to the standard folder on the internal HD). It took a while and the files were duplicated one by one on the internal HD. Except not all of them. Roughly 100+ songs, scattered throughout the library, are still stored only on the external HD. They show up in the library with an exclamation point, and I can listen to them if the external HD is hooked up, but obviously I can't if it isn't.
Is there an easy fix, and failing that, what's the painstaking manual fix I could go through?

The files that didn't transfer don't have any obvious differences from the files that did (they all have the same extension, as far as I can tell: m4p). Out of an album of songs from a particular artist, say, 11 songs will have transferred and one will have been randomly(?) left behind.
These are the basic instructions I followed re moving the Media folder and then consolidating:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449
Thanks for any ideas!

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ITunes Library on External Drive - NO .xml file

i recently had some serious hard drive corruption on my old computer, and figuring it was time for an upgrade anyway I decided to buy a new MacBook.
i had been storing all of my iTunes music on an external hard drive. i'm trying to figure out how to get my new MacBook to be able to access the music. I've changed the location of my library to the external drive in iTunes preferences, but no luck.
I know that iTunes has an .xml file where it stores things like song titles, data, etc etc -- unfortunately, that .xml file is on my old, ruined hard drive -- all i have is my external drive with my MP3s.
what do i do at this point? how can i access all of these songs using iTunes on my new MacBook without that .xml file?

There are 2 files that give iTunes and other apps the info the need to perform. The files are iTunes Library and iTunes Music Library.xml.
The default location of the 2 files is HD>Users>User Account>Music>iTunes - do not move regardless where your actual tunes are located. If the files are not present in the default location then iTunes will create new files with no info in them until you add the tunes back to the library.
This is from the iTunes Help Menu with a search for "files":
What are the iTunes library files?
The iTunes library is a database iTunes uses to organize your music. Two iTunes library files are created and maintained by iTunes for different purposes. They're both in the iTunes folder.
Mac OS X
/Users/username/Music/iTunes/iTunes Library
/Users/username/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music Library.xml
Microsoft Windows
\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl
\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music Library.xml
The two different iTunes library files serve different purposes.
iTunes Library (iTunes Library.itl in Windows)
This file is a database of the songs in your library and the playlists you've created. Some song-specific data is saved in this file. If you delete the file, iTunes creates a new, empty copy when you open the application, but any playlists, song ratings, comments, or other information you created is lost. The iTunes Library file is only used by iTunes.
Note: The library file name for versions of iTunes prior to 4.9 was "iTunes 4 Music Library" for Mac OS X and "iTunes 4 Music Library.itl" for Windows. After upgrading to iTunes 4.9 or later, the older library files are moved to a "Previous iTunes Libraries" folder.
Tip: 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.
iTunes Music Library.xml
This file contains some (but not all) of the same information stored in the iTunes 4 Music Library file. The purpose of the iTunes Music Library.xml file is to make your music and playlists available to other applications on your computer. In Mac OS X other iLife applications (like iPhoto, iDVD, and iMovie) use this file to make it easier for you to add music from your iTunes library to your projects.
MJ

ITunes Library On External Drive-Still Some Music On Internal (In Library)

How do I move the few songs that are on the internal on to the external drive? It's some of my purchased songs.

Found this Fix: Change ownership and permissions on the file In the "Terminal" application, perform the following steps to figure out what the file is called, and then change the permissions on it accordingly.
1. Type "cd" followed by a single space, and then drag the Time Machine drive to the Terminal window. The command should then look something like this:
cd /Volumes/Backup
2. Press enter to submit that command, and then enter the following command:
ls -la
3. Note the name of the file that begins with a period and has 12 characters in the name, such as ".001b6397c156" mentioned in the quote above.
4. Now enter the following commands, substituting "FILENAME" in the commands with the file name exactly as it's shown both in the error as well as in the output of the command in step 2, including the period before it (ie: ".001b6397c156"):
sudo chown `id -un` FILENAME
sudo chmod 400 FILENAME
After each of these commands are entered, users will need to supply their passwords (which will not be shown) and the Time Machine backups should work again.

Can I have parts of my iTunes library in different places?

I'm thinking about upgrading to the new Retina MacBook Pro and the 256GB of storage isn't enough for me. I'm going to get an external hard drive to put my iTunes media and keep backups on and I was wondering if I can have the movies (at least most of them) of my iTunes library on the hard drive but keep my music on the computer.

This isn't a feature built into iTunes right now. Do you want the free way or the one that costs money?
There's this commercial utility that proclaims to do exactly what you want. I have not used it so I cannot rate it:
TuneSpan: (OS X app) A utility that allows you to distribute the media files in your iTunes Library across multiple drives. - http://tunespan.com/ - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tunespan/id528459889?mt=12
Manual ways to do this are slightly to moderately cumbersome depending upon exactly how you want to do it. My favorite is just to create a separate library for movies. I know for me watching a movie is a deliberate decision and I don't want listen to two CDs, watch a movie, listen to another CD, and watch another movie all in one continuous process.
You can also add an item to iTunes and have the file stay in a different location by holding down the option key while dragging the item to iTunes. Of course if you obtained it from an iTunes download in the first place you have to delete it, move it, then add it again.
Do not be tempted to do this by changing media location in preferences unless you really know what you are doing.

A solution to having media files in your iTunes library on multiple drives

After searching on the web for threads of people with this issue, I found this thread: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1483694
I wanted to reply, but the thread has been archived and locked, so I figured I could make a new post offering my new solution.
The application I have written to allow users to easily move the media files in their iTunes library to multiple drives is called TuneSpan (http://www.tunespan.com).
TuneSpan is user friendly, freeware, native OS X app. It does the whole process of moving files and having iTunes know the new location for you, just as you would expect from a full featured app for OS X. Symbolic links are used to point iTunes to the new file locations, but in some cases, TuneSpan can actually get iTunes to learn a new location for the file, without the need of a symbolic link. Also, TuneSpan never removes any tracks from iTunes (preserving playlists, play counts, etc.) and there is no need to adjust any settings in iTunes such as the "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" setting.
Lots of important information about TuneSpan and how it works can be found on http://www.tunespan.com/help.html
I do not mean to completely self-promote by posting this, but I realize that I am doing so. I am hoping to reach out to users who have had the desire to do this task but have been overwhelmed or hindered by past solutions technicality, inflexibility, etc. I am hoping that making this posting in the location that some may look for a solution will give TuneSpan more exposure, and help more people have their iTunes library the way they want it to be. TuneSpan is freeware, but donation are accepted though not forced nor nagged for. If you choose to donate through my site, I will, of course, be receiving compensation which I would be grateful for, but that is not the intention of this post. If this posting does not meet the guidelines of this forum, I apologize.

Very useful app, thanks! But i've noticed it is still a O.xx beta. Do you intend to go on with it?

ITunes Library on shared drive, option-open itunes

Just ordered my AX. Have Airport Express for AirTunes now.
I have an MBP intel 2.3 17" and a PB G4 12" 1gig. I'll put my iTunes library on a drive shared via AX. I've been reading iTunes sharing threads, but I haven't come across anything about simply option-opening iTunes. Doing so brings up "choose library..." of course.
Can I just share the library by option-opening iTunes each time, from either laptop, with all modifications made via one machine (playlists, purchases, etc.) showing up on the other? I'll never need to run iTunes on both at once.
...If I do try to use iTunes on both machines at the same time, would the second give me some kind of 'library in use' error message?
Thanks.
Cheers,
Otto

It's actually even easier than you describe. In a real way your iTunes "Library" is an index file in your Music folder. If you have 2 computers with iTunes then they each have their own indices in the Music folder of each users account on those computers. You can store the actual audio/video files that make up the music/audiobooks/videos really anywhere. Give the USB drive you attach to the Airport Extreme a name, mount that drive on each of your two computers. Copy the actual audio/video files from wherever you have them to that shared drive (I use a subdirectory called "library" to put them all in. Then go into the iTunes preferences on both computers. In the "Advanced" section change the directory that the library is stored at to the path of the mounted drive and whatever subdirectory you make it. In my house it's /public/library. "public" is the name of the shared USB drive, library is a directory I created on it and all the artists directories and such are under the "library" folder. That's all there is to it. Any other computer you want to use those files just update the preferences. The only other caveat is that since the "library" is really the index file on each computer you will need to authorize each computer separately to play any purchased files. That's about it.
Message was edited by: Compono

Deleting a song from iTunes library and hard drive on Itunes 11.0

how do i delete a song from iTunes library and hard drive on Itunes 11.0 at the same time.

Hello CleveCo, Inc
And welcome to Apple Discussions!
At some point in time, you may have selected the option to prevent that dialog from appearing again when trying to delete tracks from your library. To reset all of iTunes warning dialogs, click the Edit drop down menu and choose Preferences from the list (on a Mac it is *iTunes -> Preferences* ). When the window pops up, head over to the Advanced tab and click the *Reset Warnings* button. Then quit iTunes and relaunch it. That do the trick for you?
B-rock

I have all my songs in my iTunes library on the computer, but when I press the button to sync it, it doesn't put the songs on my iPhone. I have songs from my iPod on here too. How do I get it to put the songs on my iPhone?

I have all my songs in my iTunes library on the computer, but when I press the button to sync it, it doesn't put the songs on my iPhone. I have songs from my iPod on here too. How do I get it to put the songs on my iPhone?

Have you selected the music to sync?

I purchased a song on my Ipod Touch 4 GEN. and i listened to it not 5 mins before i synced it with Itunes...then i looked in my Ipod music library and itunes library...GONE. but when i go to download, it wanted me to pay even tho i have bot it! HELP!!!

i purchased a song on my Ipod Touch 4 GEN. and i listened to it not 5 mins before i synced it with Itunes...then i looked in my Ipod music library and itunes library...GONE. but when i go to download it, like with Apps when if you have purchased an app and it get's deleted...you can have it back for FREE
and i tryed that with this song...and it says that " you have already purchased this song, would you like to buy it again?" but it wont let me get it again for free even tho i have bought it before...is there a way i can get it back with out having to pay??
HHHHHEEEELLLLPPPP!!!! PPPLLLEEEAAASSSEEE!!!!!!

You buy one and only one download.
As it should have been transferred to your computer when you synced, you can contact itunes support and ask for an exception.
http://www.apple.com/support/itunes

How do I share my iTunes library with my mother, but not on our home network?

How do I share my Itunes library with my mother, but not on our home network?

Another alternative is she can select tracks from your library copy and just add them to her library. Then she does not have to bother with switching between two libraries.

HT1751 I have always shared my apple ID & iTunes library with my daughter but now she is old enough to have her own. Is there a way to split my iTunes library with hers if she now has her own apple ID/library?

I have always shared my apple ID & iTunes library with my daughter but now she is old enough to have her own. Is there a way to split my iTunes library with hers if she now has her own apple ID/library?

settings->store
there you change appleID
multiusing ios devices don't really works very well

How do I restore iTunes library from flash drive backup?

How do I restore iTunes library from flash drive backup?

brigdool wrote:
How do I restore iTunes library from flash drive backup?
HI Brigdool,
It depends how you made the backup.
If you copied your entire iTunes folder onto the flash drive, just copy it back to the appropriate place on the computer.
If you copied individual folders or files, add them back to iTunes by inserting the flash drive in your computer, and then dragging the files into your "Automatically Add to iTunes" folder.
The first method recreates your library as it was, with all playcounts, playlists, etc. The second method builds a new library with the same content.

My iTunes library shows all music but there is an exclamation mark to the left on all entries and there is a message stating "original file could not be found" although all music is on the iPad.

My iTunes library shows all music but there is an exclamation mark to the left on all entries and there is a message stating "original file could not be found" although all music is on the iPad.

The massage means what it says. iTunes can't find the actual music files. All iTunes has is a database of where the files should be and they are not there.
Try:
- iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads
- Redownloading iTunes purchases by:
Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store

I can see the itunes library on apple tv but songs will not play

I can see the itunes library on apple tv but songs will not play, this happens after 2 songs play

Finally achieved my fix by changing channels on my Billlion router to 11, and not letting the ATV sleep. Give it a try, I spent a good four frustrating weeks until I did this.

Why can I sync some iTunes playlists to the iPod but some other ones don't?

Why can I sync some iTunes playlists to the iPod but some other ones don't? This is unusual - I wonder if the iPod is working correctly but some setting is wrong. Thanks

Connect your iPod to your computer and when it appears in the Source list click on it to show the preference tabs in the main pane. Go to the Music tab and check that your settings are "Sync Music - All songs and playlists" and not "Sync Music - Selected playlists"

Consolidated iTunes library to different drive, but some files left behind?

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