Error Code -36 When Copying iTunes Music folder to an External Drive

_*"The finder cannot complete the operation because some data in "NAME.mp3" could not be read or written. (Error code -36)_"*
This is the error message I get when trying to copy my iTunes music folder to an external drive. I am following Apple's knowledge base article, so yes, I have consolidated my library, have closed iTunes and there is plenty of room on the external drive. For what it's worth, I am also getting this error when trying to do the same thing with my iPhoto library.
Would be grateful for some insight,
With oodles of appreciation in advance,
Joe

I was getting the same "-36" error while trying to backup to a Lacie firewire external drive.
I had a lot of people telling me to re-format, erase, reinstall, run utility programs ... yada, yada, yada.
First off, test to see if it is the connection type (firewire). I reconnected the offending external drive via USB, restarted the drive and ... BINGO! ... all transfers went perfectly.
Once i knew it was the firewire connection and not the drive itself i simply unplugged my iSight camera (the only other firewire device connected to my machine), reconnected my external drive via firewire and the problem is now corrected.
Firewire buses seem to be very finicky things ... i would suggest eliminating all firewire devices from the machine (except, of course, the external drive you're trying to transfer to) and see if the problem goes away.
Like i said, i simply unplugged my iSight camera and the transfer to my external drive went perfect and my transfer rates went from an average of 4MB/sec to over 19MB/sec.
P.S. BTW - prior to the error and after i corrected the error by unplugging the iSight camera, my internal and external drives all checked out 100% on Disk Utility, Disk Warrior and TechTool Pro.

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Error message when moving iTunes music folder to External Hard Drive

I have followed the instructions in Apple support to move my iTunes music folder to an external hard drive. During the consolidate library step, only half of my music is transferred before I get the error message "Copying music failed. The disk could not be read from or written to."
Has anyone gotten the same message, and what was your experience correcting the issue?
15" Powerbook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

In Windows, you go through File >> Library >> Organize Library. here you can choose to consolidate your library. this should do the job.. alternatively you could take a look at this blog..
http://www.tuaw.com/2006/09/19/how-to-keep-your-itunes-library-on-an-external-ha rd-drive/
Even though its step by step on mac you should be able to figure it out from there.
Message was edited by: MuldVarp3N

TA38529 i am getting an error code 2330 when installing itunes, can u help??

i am getting an error code 2330 when installing itunes, can u help??

iPad: Basic troubleshooting
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3274
iTunes: Specific update-and-restore error messages and advanced troubleshooting
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3694
 Cheers, Tom

ITunes Music Folder Missing on external hard drive after changing iTunes Media Folder Location from MacBook Hard Drive. Not deleted...just missing?

I store my iTunes media folder on my external hard drive and can no longer find it there. It seemed to becomd lost after I re-designated the default iTunes media location. I had downloaded some things from iTunes without my external hard drive plugged in and when they downloaded they downloaded to the default location on my Macbook Pro. In recognizing that, I wanted to move those files from the hard drive on my MacBook Pro to the external hard drive. When I re-selected the location as the external hard drive a copy process began. I cancelled the copy process fearing the small number of files from my Macbook Pro would over-write all of the files on my external hard drive so I quit the copy process. Now I do not see my "iTunes Music" folder on my external hard drive. I fear that I have somehow lost the path but I believe the content is still on my external hard drive although I no longer see the "iTunes Music" folder on my external hard drive. I know I didn't delete it, but it isn't there. Is there a way to make it re-appear? I would really appreciate any guideance anyone has.
Thank you.
Best,
Matt

When you change the location in preferences it tells iTunes to start, from this point on, storing new media files in the new location. It then presents you with the option to move any old files in their current locations to the new location. It doesn't move the library files which are not media files. Read the links below to understand how iTunes works because you are the one with the computer in front of you and are in the better position to understand how it stands as regards to iTunes files.
What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management
What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html
Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391
Now, did you keep the whole library on the external drive, or did you keep just media? From your description of the situation it sounds as if you kept the whole library there and when the external was not attached it returned to default location on the internal drive. What you should have done then was plug in the external drive, hold down the option key, and guide iTunes to the library file on the external. At this stage you could have dealt with the mislocated new files on an individual basis.
I guess the key question is, did your trying to move the couple of new media files to the external drive overwrite the iTunes folder there, which because you then canceled may have also just resulted in it being deleted. I am not going to test the theory on my system.
How big was your library on the external? If it was 40GB do you now suddenly have 40 GB free?
Look for any iTunes folders on the external drive. In view options turn on "calculate all folders sizes" and see if there are any big ones.

ITunes Music Folder Missing on external hard drive after changing iTunes Media Folder Location from MacBook Hard Drive

The store my iTunes media folder on my external hard drive and can no longer find it there. It seemed to becomd lost after I re-designated the default iTunes media location. I had downloaded some things from iTunes without my external hard drive plugged in and when they downloaded they downloaded to the default location on my Macbook Pro. In recognizing that, I wanted to move those files from the hard drive on my MacBook Pro to the external hard drive. When I re-selected the location as the external hard drive a copy process began. I cancelled the copy process fearing the small number of files from my Macbook Pro would over-write all of the files on my external hard drive so I quit the copy process. Now I do not see my "iTunes Music" folder on my external hard drive. I fear that I have somehow lost the path but I believe the content is still on my external hard drive although I no longer see the "iTunes Music" folder on my external hard drive. I know I didn't delete it, but it isn't there. Is there a way to make it re-appear? I would really appreciate any guideance anyone has.
Thank you.
Best,
Matt

Any ideas? Anyone?

Itunes cannot see the itunes music folder on my external hard drive

I recently put all of my music on an external hard drive to free up space on my computer,
However, when I am in itunes and trying to point the library to the music folder, itunes still cannot see it. Instead all it can see is the E drive WD Passport, and folders named autorun, WD Sync Data Wd Windows Tools.
Can anyone tell me how I can see my itunes music folder on my external hard drive while I am in preferences, advanced, library location, change??

I don't know enough about iTunes for Windows to help you with this. But if you post your question in the Using iTunes for Windows forum you will get help from people who know more about this.
(This is the forum for Apple's Mac OS X web browser, Safari.)

I have moved my Itunes media folder to an external drive and Itunes does not find the items in the folder

Running Win7. I moved my entire Itunes library to an external drive to free up space on my laptop. Itunes recognized the change and all was well. That worked fine and I have synced several times from the laptop with the library on the external drive. Now the laptop is in the shop (sigh, not Itunes related a dead network card). I connected the external drive to my desktop, made sure my software was up to date. opened ITunes went to edit/preferences/advanced. Went to change Itunes media folder location and navigated to the proper folder on my external drive and clicked OK. None of the music, videos, etc, that are in that folder show up in iTunes on the desktop. Restarted ITunes, no help, reboot computer, no help. Have I done something wrong or left out a step. I could copy all the media onto the desktop individually and build new playlists but that seems like something that should not be needed? One of the reasons I moved my Itunes media folder to the external drive was so I could use the laptop for iTunes while travel and the desktop for iTunes while at home. Do I have to copy the entire folder to my desktop and take up space there? That would be counterproductive to using the external drive. I searched and saw a hint to hold down shift while starting ITunes but that did not change anything. Any help would be most appreciated!
Jim in WV

Thank you for your prompt response - I did as you said and did a drag and drop into the iTunes window - it imported and got my album art from the net. When I started Itunes with the shift key down I was prompted to choose a library but since I copied over the media folder and not the library folder I was unable to select that so I guess I will have to create a new library and add in all the music, videos, etc. unless I wait for my laptop and export the library or at least that seems to be the case? In short, all my data (iTunes media folder) is on my external drive and can be added to the blank iTunes screen but I can not choose a library folder. Is there anyway around completely making all those playlists again? I am not sure my laptop will survive the shop with data intact and really hate to start over on those.
In an unrelated question - I collect old TV shows from the 1950's. Can I make playlists within the home video folder somehow? In other words like one for Quiz shows, one for comedies, one for police and detective shows, etc. while I am remaking all my playlists for my music if I end up having to go that route?
Once again thank you for helping me out. I am not too Itunes savvy and really appreciate you taking the time to answer.

Error code 50 when copying cd to itunes

When downloading music from CD to itunes I keep getting error code 50. My download .tmp folder is empty. Does anyone have a solution?

Error codes are really hard to figure out.. but i think it will be due to permissions.
See http://pondini.org/TM/C10.html
It is an error from TM but I think it comes from underlying OS..
Can you copy files to this disk from a source other than the TC.. try copying a file from the TC to the Mac and then from Mac to the external disk.. but make sure it is plugged directly into the mac.. if you have issues look carefully at permission. And format/partition type.. do use GUID partition not MBR Or the older Apple systems.
Re: Error Code-50 when trying to copy or delete files on external hard drive

Error code 50 when copying from TC to external HDD

Hi all, I bought a 3tb TC and backed up about 1.3tb worth of data onto it from an external HDD, I then formatted the external HDD to FAT 32 as I found out that TC does not like to work with FAT 32, no matter, the hard drive ois fixed now. However, when I go to copy all the data back onto the external HDD. i get "an unnexcpected error occured error code -50" or something like that, but the error code is definetly 50. I got this error when trying to copy the movies through, they are MKV files, I checked all the names and I dont think there are any problems with them.
the setup so far is as follows. Externall HDD --USB--> Time capsule. All operations are being executed through an imac.
HELP ASAP will be greatly appreciated.
Cheers

Error codes are really hard to figure out.. but i think it will be due to permissions.
See http://pondini.org/TM/C10.html
It is an error from TM but I think it comes from underlying OS..
Can you copy files to this disk from a source other than the TC.. try copying a file from the TC to the Mac and then from Mac to the external disk.. but make sure it is plugged directly into the mac.. if you have issues look carefully at permission. And format/partition type.. do use GUID partition not MBR Or the older Apple systems.
Re: Error Code-50 when trying to copy or delete files on external hard drive

Error code 0 when copying a large file to a Mac OS Extended formatted drive

I always back up my photos manually by dragging a folder containing many folders containing many photos into an external drive that I immediately formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) the day I bought it 2 years ago. I now run into a Error Code 0 when I do this. The "mother" folder is 240 GB in size. As I stated, this drive has been formatted for the Mac, so I don't understand why it's (apparently) running into a problem peculiar to FAT32-formatted drives. My iMac has 16 GB of RAM, of which 10 GB was free, the last time I tried to do this.

Well, you did mention...
so I don't understand why it's (apparently) running into a problem peculiar to FAT32-formatted drives
I kind of had to assume at that point the source drive was the one you formatted as Mac OS Extended two years ago, and the target drive was FAT32. If not, then I'm not sure why you mentioned FAT32 at all.
In that same thinking, error code 0 is directly related to FAT formatted drives.

Can I copy music iTunes Music Folder from my external Hard drive to new PC?

not sure if this is possible but I copied my folders (documents/music/itunes/itunes music folder) from my local hard drive from laptop to my external (for backing up purposes) and now i have a new computer. can i just simply copy/paste this folder to my new computer and open itunes and it will be there. i know it's probably too easy but was hoping someone could help me out???? thanks.

You can by dragging them from itunes to your external drive this will copy them to it. Then do the opposite for from you drive to the new computer. Just make sure if you don't intend to keep the drive connected to your new computer. That you put copies of the songs in a folder on it before putting them on itunes or you have problems playing your songs.

Copying iTunes music folder but keepin' MY music organized MY way!!

The questions been asked a hundred times: how do I move my iTunes library to an external hard drive?
Yeah, I have the same question, but with a few differences. Basically, I keep my music folder organized as I like it. Consolidating the Library screws it all up. If "James Brown" is on the soundtrack to "Rocky IV," I want to have a "Rocky IV" folder with James Brown in there-- not a "James Brown" folder with another folder called "Rocky IV!" Why should I have to search the entire hard drive for all the separate tracks that make up "Rocky IV?!"
All I'd like to be able to do is copy my current music folder (and its hierarchy) to my new drive and link the library to it without screwing up playlists, etc.. Again, the key for me is keeping my music folder organized the way I've organized it.
C'mon, there's gotta be a simple way to do this!

I think you can do it this way: drag and drop the "iTunes" folder (under the 'Macintosh HD'/'Users'/-username-/'Music' folder) onto the external harddrive.
That works if the music is in the iTunes folder.
If it's not, it will still work but all the music will still be in the original location.
Are you saying that holding down the Option/Alt key will then automatically ask for the location of the new music folder?
No, it won't. It will ask you Create a new library or Choose existing library. it is asking for a iTunes library file, not a music folder.
If an artist appears on a soundtrack, I want to keep that file in the soundtrack's folder, not the artists' folder.
Set the album as a compilation. It will be stored in iTunes music folder -> Compilations -> {Album name}.
All I'd like to be able to do is copy my current music folder (and its hierarchy) to my new drive and link the library to it without screwing up playlists, etc..
Since you are managing the music yourself, not any easy way to do it.
You could export your playlists, delete the music from iTunes, move the music folder, re-add the music and import the playlists.
Just curious. Why do you care what folders iTunes uses? Just use iTunes to do everything instead of going into the Finder.

Error code 2329 when installing itunes

I am getting error code 2329 when installing itunes

That one's consistent with disk/file damage. The first thing I'd try with that is running a disk check (chkdsk) over your C drive.
XP instructions in the following document: How to perform disk error checking in Windows XP
Vista instructions in the following document: Check your hard disk for errors
Windows 7 instructions in the following document: How to use CHKDSK (Check Disk)
Select both Automatically fix file system errors and Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors, or use chkdsk /r (depending on which way you decide to go about doing this). You'll almost certainly have to schedule the chkdsk to run on startup. The scan should take quite a while ... if it quits after a few minutes or seconds, something's interfering with the scan.
Does the chkdsk find/repair any damage? If so, can you get an install to go through properly afterwards?

Moving iTunes music folder/library to external HD

Hi all, and happy new year: Yeah, I know I should know how to do this, but ... I want to move all my music to an external HD and delete it from my MBP HD. I would like someone to steer me to the best resource for a primer on how to do this. Thanks in advance!

Just drag the entire iTunes folder (the entire folder, not just the iTunes Music folder) to your desired location. Then hold down the Option key while launching iTunes. You'll be given a dialog box where you can select the iTunes library you want to use. Navigate to and select the iTunes folder in it's new location.
Once you've confirmed that it's working, then you can delete the tracks from the internal drive.

ITunes Media Folder Renameable on External Drive (mac)

I have a 1TB collection of music in a folder on an external drive within a folder that is NOT called iTunes Media, but which until now had behaved as if it were.
I just switched to a clone of my old 1TB drive on a 1.5TB drive. After 11 hours of locating my 157000 tracks, I was able to find and use every track. However, when I added a new track, apparently I lost the ability to add new music tracks within the Music folder. Instead, a new iTunes Media folder was created within the folder which SHOULD have been called iTunes Media.
In the (new) iTunes Media folder there are a few folders containing the music I added after the switch. In the Music folder (below, but higher hierarchy) there is 1TB of music, which means it cannot be copied into the (new) iTunes Media file on the 1.5TB drive (not enough space).
Even though it would entail 100+ hours of new clone-backup time, the most logical solution would be to discard the embedded iTunes Media folder, rename the top-level folder iTunes Media, then let iTunes relocate the tracks again (over another 11 hours) and reload the few tracks loaded since the switch.
However I do not know if iTunes will allow this to work, and if so, what needs to be done in order to make it work.
Can the top-level folder be renamed? Do I need to untick and tick the Keep iTunes Media Folder Organized button?
Thanks
Mac OSX 10.6.8, iTunes 11.4

I am getting a bit lost on what was done and exactly why you did it that way. It looks to me like you use iTunes with standard preferences settings and you didn't so much move your media folder to the external drive as your whole iTunes library (everything in the top level folder including all the media files). This should have been done simply by copying the iTunes folder from the old drive to the new one, renaming the AllMyiTunesMusic folder if you so desire, then starting iTunes while holding down the option/alt key and selecting that folder as the iTunes library to now start using. Apart from the copy time when you could go away and drink a pot of coffee the actual labor time would be about 2 minutes. I think you must have done something different which has kind of messed up your library and resulted in duplication of files. Some of those folders such as Movies and the neighboring Music folder should be in the media folder, but don't move things about in Finder or iTunes may lose track of them and things will get worse. If you can go back and do things properly then I recommend you do so, otherwise we can see what we can work with here.
What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management
What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html
Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391
iTunes 9 [and later]: Understanding iTunes Media Organization - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3847 - plus supplemental information about organizing to new structure https://discussions.apple.com/message/26404702#26404702
Image of folder structure and explanation of different iTunes versions (turingtest2 post) - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-7392 and making an iTunes library portable.

Error Code -36 When Copying iTunes Music folder to an External Drive

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