Exclamation marks in my library
I have downloaded some music for my library and created playlists but when I return to play them sometimes an exclamation mark is there, I know what it means but why should it happen, i have done nothing to extract this from my library.
+One time I forgot to connect this hard drive and I started iTunes.+
Before you did anything else, did you quit iTunes, connect the exHD using the *same exact drive letter as before*, and then start itunes again?
Similar Messages
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I had not opened my iTunes in weeks. When I opened it today, most of the songs in my library had exclamation marks beside them and when I clicked on them got the message: "the song could not be used because the original file cannot be found", then asks me if I want to locate it. When I press "locate" tab I am led to iTunes folders and have to hunt around for the song. Some songs I can't find in the folders. Any ideas as to why this is happening and what I can do to fix it?
Help would be much appreciated.
Thanks.
PEThe problem of tracks becoming de-linked between iTunes and the music files in your iTunes music folder happens for different reasons - this seems to come up fairly commonly in this forum.
The solution can be to locate each song in the iTunes library, as you mentioned - or, but wait, before I get to that...
trouble finding the original track in your iTunes music folder? maybe look for it under compilations, or if not using the 'group compilations preference' then look in the folder under the songs artist name, but what song artist name iTunes uses depends on what you have in the metedata tag spot for album artist or song artist. Any varyation in artist name spelling, in the menu item 'get info' metadata for any selected individual track will cause iTunes to create that as a separate artist folder in the library, even names like 'various' or any difference at all (even the word 'the' can change where in your iTunes music folder a track gets placed by iTunes). You can try to use the finder function of find file (finder munu item outside of iTunes) to locate hard to find items.
Back to how to re-link any de-linked tracks .
There may be scripts that can help re-link de-linked music files - or, at least provide you a list of such files, Scripts are easy to install and use...
at Dougs Scripts, there is one called iTunes Track CPR that might work
http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=itunestrackcpr
or, if you just want a list of de-linked tracks, go to
http://dougscripts.com/itunes/
and find the script called List MIA's, this will create a text file listing all de-linked tracks
if you review the thread at
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3633708
also the thread at
https://discussions.apple.com/message/17513078#17513078
you may find more insight into dealing with this kind of issue there, although some of that thread may not apply to your case, aspects of it might help.
Good luck. -
I can see my images in the libarary as thumbnails but when i try to edit/email some of them become Exclamation Marks in a triangle.
What does the exclamation mark mean and how to i retrieve the photoThe exclamation make is an indication that iPhoto has broken the file path to the original photo.
Make a temporary, backup copy (if you don't already have a backup copy) of the library and apply the two fixes below in order as needed:
Fix #1
Launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys held down and rebuild the library.
Select the options identified in the screenshot.
Fix #2
Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
Download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
Click on the Add Library button, navigate to your Home/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.
Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the File ➙ Rebuild Library menu option
In the next window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed.
Click on the Create button.
Note: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments but not books, calendars or slideshows. The original library will be left untouched for further attempts at fixing the problem or in case the rebuilt library is not satisfactory.
OT -
iTunes has recently began corrupting my Music and some of the Podcasts. An exclamation mark appears at a random selection of songs - about a thoussanad of them - and they will not play as iTunes says that it cannot locate the file. This also has happened on a number of Podcasts. Any one else encountered this?
This happens if the file is no longer where iTunes expects to find it. Possible causes are that you or some third party tool has moved, renamed or deleted the file, or that the drive it lives on has had a change of drive letter. It is also possible that iTunes has changed from expecting the files to be in the pre-iTunes 9 layout to post-iTunes 9 layout,or vice-versa, and so is looking in slightly the wrong place.
Select a track with an exclamation mark, use Ctrl-I to get info, then cancel when asked to try to locate the track. Look on the summary tab for the location that iTunes thinks the file should be. Now take a look around your hard drive(s). Hopefully you can locate the track in question. If a section of your library has simply been moved, or a drive letter has changed, it should be possible to reverse the actions.
Alternatively, if you are running Windows (you've posted in iTunes for Windows, but your sig mentions Mac OS X...), and as long as you can find a location holding the missing files, then you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes.
tt2 -
I have updated software on itunes and my iphone4 and at least 100 of my songs in itunes will no longer play or sync on to my iphone. They all have an exclamation mark! to the left of the song title in the library. Please help!
Read the threads over on the right under the heading of More Like This
Allan -
ITunes Library music has exclamation marks and cannot locate music
Hoping someone can offer some help?
My wife plugged our iPad into the macbook to sync it with iTunes. She isnt exactly sure what she did however now everything song in iTunes has an exclamation mark next to it.
I then went to sync the iPad without pluggin it into the mac and now my iTunes library seems to have just 5 songs in it and these do not have the exclamation mark next to them.
I do have an iPod with a recent update of all the music. Would this help to restore the library? and if so how would I do this.
Thanks in advance.If you're sure the media are gone then you can try to recover from your iPod. Purchases you can likely download again from the iTunes Store.
Some of the information below has subsequently appeared in a document by turingtest2: Recovering your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3991
Your i-device was not designed for unique storage of your media. It is not a backup device and media transfer was planned with you maintaining a master copy of your media on a computer which is itself properly backed up against loss. Syncing is one way, computer to device, updating the device content to the content on the computer, not updating or restoring content on a computer. The exception is iTunes Store purchases which can be transferred to a computer.
iTunes Store: Transferring purchases from your iOS device or iPod to a computer - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1848 - only purchases from iTunes Store
For transferring other items from an i-device to a computer you will have to use third party commercial software. Examples (check the web for others; this is not an exhaustive listing, nor do I have any idea if they are any good):
- Expod (free) - http://www.headlightsoft.com/expod/ - Mac, universal for 104.+ (newer machines try de-Tune)
- deTune (free) - http://www.headlightsoft.com/detune/ - Mac, 10.5+
- Senuti - http://www.fadingred.com/senuti/
- Phoneview - http://www.ecamm.com/mac/phoneview/
- MusicRescue - http://www.kennettnet.co.uk/products/musicrescue/
- Sharepod (free) - http://download.cnet.com/SharePod/3000-2141_4-10794489.html?tag=mncol;2 - Windows
- Snowfox/iMedia - http://www.mac-videoconverter.com/imedia-transfer-mac.html - Mac & PC
- iexplorer (free) - http://www.macroplant.com/iexplorer/ - Mac&PC
- Yamipod (free) - http://www.yamipod.com/main/modules/downloads/ - PC, Linux, Mac [Still updated for use on newer devices? No edits to site since 2010.]
- 2010 Post by Zevoneer: iPod media recovery options - https://discussions.apple.com/message/11624224 - this is an older post and many of the links are also for old posts, so bear this in mind when reading them.
Syncing to a "New" Computer or replacing a "crashed" Hard Drive - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3141 - dates from 2008 and some outdated information now.
Copying Content from your iPod to your Computer - The Definitive Guide - http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/copying-music-from-ipod-to-co mputer/ - Information about use in disk mode pertains only to older model iPods.
Get Your Music Off of Your iPod - http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Get_Your_Music_Off_of_Your_iPod - I am not sure but this may only work with some models and not newer Touch, iPhone, or iPad.
Additional information here https://discussions.apple.com/message/18324797 -
How to find all exclamation marks/error photos in library
Hi,
Thanks to the forums, I know how to get rid of the exclamation marks (rebuilding, etc). But first, I want to locate all the dead links. The only way I'll know right now if a thumbnail is dead is if I double click on it and see the exclamation mark. Is there a way to filter them all out? Otherwise, I have over 5,000 pictures, and I definitely don't want to doubleclick through all of them to check.
Basically, I want to identify the error files first before I rebuild the library. Otherwise, I won't know which photos I'm missing in the new library, right?
For example, currently, photo #123 brings up the ugly exclamation mark. I can see #123 thumbnail, so I know which photo it is, but iphoto can't find the original link (I probably deleted it from the root folder a while ago). If I rebuild the library, I'm guessing the new library will know not to include #123, since it can't find the original file. This means if I didn't know #123 was there to begin with, I wouldn't know it was missing from the new library, right? In this case, I know I'm missing #123, and I want to make sure I find it first before rebuilding. So, is there a way to make iphoto just show all the problem files?No.
If you rebuild with iPhoto Library Manager it will list the files it cannot find.
Regards
TD -
I had manually deleted a number of duplicate iTunes that I originally have as mp3s. I want to only have one iTune of each song, but they do need to be working copies. However now, I have a bunch of iTunes that will not play now and they have an exclamation mark beside them. How do I get these working again and still only have one copy of them?
I suspect you might have been suffering from logical duplicates. See this thread for a discussion of the topic. Restore any files that are in your recycle bin, import any disconnected media either by adding the media folder to your library or using a tool such as iTunes Folder Watch. Once the files are back in your libray you can use the methods I outline in that thread or my DeDuper script to tidy up.
tt2 -
Help, my itunes library has exclamation marks and will not play. Do I have to reload my cd's?
What do you mean by what audio/video formats are involved? These are all files from several digital cameras.
As previously stated, AVI is a file container. It is somewhat old and its originator, Microsoft, dropped official support of it over a decade ago. However, it remains popular with PC users since almost any valid audio and/or video compression format can be stuffed to the file which synchronizes the content by interleaving the individual audio and video frames. The compression format is the specific manner in which the audio and video data are encoded as it is placed in the AVI container. You can find the compression format by inspecting the file in the Finder "Info" window, or in the "Inspector" window of the QT player (or other media player) if the file can be opened.
For instance, one popular compression combination would be to place DivX encoded video and MP3 audio in an AVI file container. However, neither DivX nor MP3 is natively supported by the QT player. (Although iTunes will natively support the MP3 audio.) Therefore, people who wish to play such files in the QT 7 Player would normally install either the DivX component or Perian but not both. Either installation will independently play such files in the QT Player, but if both are installed, the file will usually stop working since these two codecs can create a playback conflict.
However, the AVI container could just as easily contain DV along with DV audio. In this case, the file should play correctly in QT since this compression format is natively supported by the basic component configuration that comes in every current OS installation. Therefore, if such files suddenly stopped playing, this could be an indication that a component has been moved or deleted or that your system or QT embedded structure has become corrupted. -
I have just downloaded itunes 10.6 and in the process my "podcast" option under library has disappeared! THe files are still on my laptop. I can also see some of my recorded music in the itunes library but can't play them - there is an exclamation mark next to each track. Basically I can't use itunes - is the only option remove and replace? Thanks in advance
Visibility of the Podcasts section is controlled from within the Edit > Preferences dialog.
Empty/corrupt library after upgrade/crash
Hopefully it's not been too long since you last upgraded iTunes, in fact if you get an empty/incomplete library immediately after upgrading then with the following steps you shouldn't lose a thing or need to do any further housekeeping. In the Previous iTunes Libraries folder should be a number of dated iTunes Library files. Take the most recent of these and copy it into the iTunes folder. Rename iTunes Library.itl as iTunes Library (Corrupt).itl and then rename the restored file as iTunes Library.itl. Start iTunes. Should all be good, bar any recent additions to or deletions from your library.
See iTunes Folder Watch for a tool to catch up with any changes since the backup file was created.
Missing tracks
Typically this can happen because a file or folder is accidentally shunted to the wrong location. iTunes can also get confused if it expects to be talking to an external drive which isn't there. If will often reset the default media folder location and may have trouble finding files in the old folders.
Select one of your tracks that is missing in action. Press CTRL-I to Get Info. Cancel when asked to try to locate the file, then look at the location given on the summary tab. This where iTunes thinks the file ought to be? Now find out where it actually is. Post back the two locations for comparison. I should be able to give you some steps to reconnect everything once I can determine which of the things that might have gone wrong is most likely in your case.
When you get it all working make a backup!
tt2 -
Hi, All my music files have an exclamation mark on the left and when I tunes asks me to locate a window opens with I Tunes folders but I still cant see my music library . What can i do? Thanks
The red exclamation mark indicates that itunes cannot find your files.
Are the music files still on your harddrive. Look n Finder
Username/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media
If the files are there then keep the option key pressed and open iTunes. A dialog box will open asking you to choose your library. Select Choose and then navigate to the Music/iTunes Folder and click OK -
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 -
Update to 11.4.0.18 causes majority of music library to show exclamation mark
Good Morning!
I updated my itunes to version 11.4.0.18 in preparation for my new iphone. I took a backup of my old iphone and used that backup to setup my new phone.
However, the majority of my songs now display an exclamation mark. I see all of my music but the only songs that don't have an exclamation mark are the ones I have purchased from my iphone/itunes which is only about 100 out of 1000 songs.
I would really appreciate any help anyone could offer. I'm curious to know if anyone else have had this happen.
Thanks!The "missing file" thing happens if the file is no longer where iTunes expects to find it. Possible causes are that you or some third party tool has moved, renamed or deleted the file, or that the drive it lives on has had a change of drive letter. It is also possible that iTunes has changed from expecting the files to be in the pre-iTunes 9 layout to post-iTunes 9 layout, or vice-versa, and so is looking in slightly the wrong place.
Select a track with an exclamation mark, use Ctrl-I to get info, then say no when asked to locate the track. Look on the summary tab for the location that iTunes thinks the file should be. Now take a look around your hard drive(s). Hopefully you can locate the track in question. If a section of your library has simply been moved, or a drive letter has changed, it should be possible to reverse the actions. I can provide a step by step guide if you give me the two paths.
In some cases iTunes may be able to repair itself if you go through the same steps and locate the lost track. It may then offer to attempt to automatically fix other broken links. Alternatively, as long as you can find a location holding the missing files, then you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes.
tt2 -
My music library is over control i have an exclamation mark before the song. What i have to do ?
I can't read a song because there is an exclamation mark before and iTunes request me to find the song somwhere i don't know where on my Mac ...
try this script:
iTunes Track CPR v1.3
This script attempts to locate the files of so-called "dead tracks"--iTunes tracks designated with (!)--that you assume are not actually missing but are still located in the iTunes Music folder in their "iTunes File Order" (Music -> Artist -> Album -> file.xxx)." -
I know how I messed it all up.
I opened up Finder from the bottom dock and saw all my files including pics. Trying to free up as much space as possible on my pc I selected all and then deleted it. I thought because it is all in iphoto ,deleting it from Finder will not take it off everywhere. Later on I emptied the trash. When I finally realised that I had messed up I just went back on Time Machine and restored.
Now I can see what looks like all the files again it is there in Finder but when I try and open the pics in iphoto it simply shows a grey triangle with an exclamation mark in it?
I tried dragging them all into my iphoto from Finder but it said I do not have enough space.
Please help I am new to Apple.1 - NEVER make any changes of any sort tot he content or structure of the iPhoto library using the finder - there are no user servicable parts in it
2 - what did you restore from Time Machine? and how did you restore?
3 - how much free space do you have on your hard drive?
LN
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