"File could not be found because volume offline"

Just downloaded the latest update. Also recently upgraded to lion. Now, when I click "show in finder", I receive error: " The file [name of filed] could not be found because the volume on which it resides is currently offline." These files are stored on my mac hard drive. Looking for any solutions or causes of this problem, as I suspect this is either a Lion bug or bug with the Aperture update. Thanks.
I should add that these are referrenced files.
Message was edited by: TheD0ctor

Now, when I click "show in finder", I receive error: " The file [name of filed] could not be found because the volume on which it resides is currently offline."
Do you mean, when you click an image in the browser in Aperture and select "Show in Finder"? Are your master files referenced?
How did you upgrade to Lion? Did you make a clean install and restored your Aperture Library from a backup? Then that may have caused the references to you your master tobe broken.
You need to reconnect the master image files by selecting the versions in the browser and then selecting from the Aperture File menu: File -> Locate Referenced File.
Regards
Léonie

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"The song "_____" could not be used, because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?"
So I click on "Locate". No help. I get a menu with folders that say "catroot" and other folders which names I cannot remember, but I scroll PAST the file folders, & it's just a bunch of ".DLL" files.....I don't understand what any of the names of the folders mean...it's frustr8ing-coz this is my 2nd iTouch, my 1st one got stolen & I can't afford2buy my music back at this time & i NEVER before had a single problem with losing song file locations.
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                                                                         [email protected] or [email protected] or [email protected] .
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I was not complete clear.
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Moved iTunes library to an ext hard drive to make space on my int drive... Followed steps from apple. Now I cannot access my music... It says: "File could not be used because the original file cannot be found. Would you like to locate it?"

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See Make a split library portable. Move all of the bits of the library together in the the correct shape and it should work. Or undo exactly what you did and then start over.
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tt2

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Because the location for each song in your library is on your hard drive. If the hard drive isn't there, how can iTunes play it?
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Error message when trying to play music on computer states The song ... could not be used because the original file could not be found. However, my library shows how many items and the GBs used. How do I locate the files?

When I try to play my iTunes music on my computer, an error message comes up and state "The song (title of song) could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?
When I click on Locate It, I cannot find where the music file may be located. Does anyone have any suggestions?
This all occurred when I attempted to do a backup to an external hard drive. Unbeknownest to me, the files did not copy over and do not appear on the external hard drive.
When I open my iTunes library, at the bottom of my music list it shows how many songs and the GBs, so it appears that the files are still there; however, cannot be located.
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Hi angela dfromtx,
When tracks in iTunes display a it means the file cannot be located; it may have been moved or deleted. You'll have to locate the file manually if it is still available. For more information refer to the following article:
iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1408
Alternatively, if your media was downloaded from the iTunes Store, you may be able to download it again free of charge:
Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2519
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"The song could not be used because the original file could not be found"

Hello,
I purchased the new iPhone 3G 16gb White on friday afternoon at the local AT&T store(they were all sold out,of course),so i went ahead and ordered it for gauranteed delivery within 7 to 10 days.It says to be sure and sync you're old iPhone once more before coming back to AT&T to have the iPhone 3G set up to be installed and turned on.
So i figured i would upgrade my iTunes to 7.7 and upgrade the software to 2.0 before i get my new phone,that way i will be ready when it comes in.
I was just doing what the apple website said to do and went ahead and tried to upgrade to iTunes 7.7,which worked out good,EXCEPT that now all the music has an exclamation point next to it and nothing will play because the original file could not be found.I know i'm not the first here to have this problem,but i cant find a post that explains what procedure i need to do to fix it so i can play my music on iTunes again.
I have my iTunes music folder located on an external hard drive (Drive i ). It used to be Drive H,but i plugged in an SD Memory card into the front panel of my computer tower and now my external hard drive is recognized as being on Drive i. How could that have changed?
I have it on a 500 gb external drive,because my C & D drives are both almost filled up and i wouldn't have enough room to put all my cd's into iTunes if they were on those drives.
I have an iPod Classic 160gb that i want to fill once i get all my cd's into itunes.
Anyways,when it asked me what drive to put iTunes under when i was installing it,i chose the "i" drive.That is where my iTunes music folder is located with almost 10 gigs of music in it.
But now when i go to play anything it wont play as it can't locate the music.
Sorry for rambling on so much.Just trying to explain,in detail,what my setup is so someone with knowledge can instruct me as to what to do to fix it.
Thank's for the help ahead of time,
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I am getting this same message. I recently bought a new Macbook Pro and the geeks transferred my files from my mini-mac. Perhaps they did not transfer something critical? I follow the "locate" option when it asks to find my files and I get a file folder that has a red circle with a white bar in the middle.
I have the same issues with my downloaded movies but my apps all seem to be fine.
Even more confusing - it seems to allow random songs to play and download on my Macbook and other devices. But most of my music - whether downloaded from iTunes or my CD collection comes up with that message about the original file.
Should I get new geeks to locate these files on my old mini-mac?

This is a new notification coming up with iTunes, why and how do I fix it? The song "Penny Lane" could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?

This is a new notification coming up with iTunes, why and how do I fix it?
The song “Penny Lane” could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?
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Hey xxCreepyFiaxx,
First, I would try the following suggested steps for when you don't see content in iTunes after updating:
Quit iTunes.
Download and install the latest version of iTunes.
Use the Finder (Mac) or Windows Explorer (Windows) to go to the iTunes folder that contains the iTunes library files:
Mac OS X
/Users/username/Music/iTunes/
Microsoft Windows Windows XP and Windows 2000
\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\
Microsoft Windows Windows Vista and Windows 7
\Users\username\Music\iTunes\
Drag the iTunes Library file from the above location to the Desktop.
Open the Previous iTunes Libraries folder in the iTunes folder.
Locate the file named iTunes Library YYYY-MM-DD where YYYY-MM-DD is the date you upgraded iTunes (Year-Month-Day).
Drag this file to the iTunes folder (the enclosing folder).
Rename this file to iTunes Library.
Open iTunes.
You should now see your missing content in iTunes.
via: No content shows up in iTunes after updating
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1967
If that doesn't resolve the issue, then I'd go through the steps in here:
iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1408
Have a good one,
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The TV show could not be used because the original file could not be found

"The TV show “Blah-blah ep.23” could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?"
I know this problem is listed (and unanswered) from quite a few users in the forums for song files, but I haven’t found any that mention TV shows. To add to the heap, and help emphasize to iTunes that this is a major bug in need of fixing, here is my version of this problem.
I have a variety of season passes to TV shows that normally download on almost a daily basis (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, for example). About once every four or five downloads iTunes decides to silently delete a file. No warning given, no chance to stop it, just gone. ITunes downloads the file (clearly seen in the process in the Downloads part of the Store menu) and then lists the file under its correct menu in the TV Shows Library section (with the correct amount of MB listed for the file). I usually watch the episode right after I download it (with no problems), but of course I have left episodes unwatched when I shut iTunes down.
On the next startup of iTunes, I go in to watch an old episode again or click on an unwatched episode, but it isn’t there anymore and the old “would you like to locate it?” message pops up. After being through this at least a dozen times in the last year, I know there is no point in looking for the file because it’s gone. The only choice is to go into iTunes support and ask them to reset the download, which they’ve always done without question, and then I have to download the file all over again. This is a huge hassle and all the more frustrating because it happens so irregularly.
I’ve tried to find answers in these discussion forums, but have been unable to see any reasonable solution and wish to add to the voices of annoyed paying customers in the hope something will be done. If anyone is interested, the bizarre and time consuming workaround I’ve had to employ is:
1. As soon as any of my TV shows are downloaded, I stop whatever I’m doing to go grab the file out of iTunes’ folder and move it to a location where iTunes can’t get its grubby little silent deleting hands on it.
2. On the next shutdown-startup cycle, I can then go back and move the file back into its correct location in the iTunes TV Shows subfolders and I’ll never have a problem again with THAT particular file being deleted.
Of course, the problem with this solution is that it’s painfully annoying to have to do it every time. I get lazy, iTunes seems to get its evil deleting ways under control and downloads all seem to work again. That is, until they don’t and the issue mysteriously returns with files being picked off anew and I have to return to these forums in the hope of finally finding out why this is happening. After more than a year and two or three iTunes version updates, it’s the problem that just won’t die.
Anyone?

Yes, only TV shows. I've never had a random silent delete of a song file. I also considered that Windows might be blocking the file to save space, but with no limitations set in the control panel that isn't the problem either. In fact, I've only had this problem with season pass downloads. It's never happened with a single download of a video or TV episode.
Tonight, when I downloaded my Daily Show episode, I really kept tabs on what the heck iTunes is up to during the process. As many know, iTunes creates a folder called Downloads during the download process. Inside that folder, a video file gets downloaded as “download.m4v” along with another Qtime info file. When the download is complete, iTunes is supposed to use the info file to identify and tag the download.m4v file and then move it over into its correct artist subfolder with the correct file name.
The problem, I discovered tonight in watching this process, is that iTunes (for mysterious reasons) does not do the relabel/move step with some of the downloads and leaves the files in situ as download.m4v in the download file. Additionally, in the iTunes software you can click on the file (correctly labeled and appearing, as I said in the first post, under the correct TV show banner) and watch it one time. However, after shutting down and restarting (and this is where the evil happens) iTunes will delete all files in the Download subfolder as part of a cleanup process. I suppose because it assumes that those files were correctly relabeled and copied into the corresponding TV show folders. So, there is the reason for the loss of downloaded video files (in my case).
There appears to be no way of knowing, from within iTunes, when the file has been correctly copied over to its corresponding folder and when it hasn’t and remains in the Bermuda Download Folder of Death. Again, I have to go into that folder each time (before shutting iTunes down) to make sure the move took place. If it didn’t, then I have to make a copy of the download file and place it outside that folder.
Finally, since this only happens occasionally, I’m wondering if it doesn’t have something to do with the way the info file is being tagged and labeled prior to being made available to download. However, if that were the case then the problem would be happening to lots of users and I would have expected a lot more complaints in the forums.
By the way, I’m not big on fidgeting with any of iTunes folders or settings. It hasn’t been the case where the downloads were fine, I made some goofy change to the folder structure and then it doesn’t work. I haven’t fiddled with the settings for months, but all of the sudden this issue starts to appear and can just as easily disappear in the following week’s downloads.
Still seeking answers or advice.
Cheers.

After installing iTunes 10.5 update i get the following message when trying to play any song in my Library "The song could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" how do i fix this??

I have an iPod Classic and work on Windows 7.
i recently installed iTunes 10.5 update and since then i cannot play any of the songs in the Library - i get the following message
"The song could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?"
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Try my script FindTracks. Select a few of the missing files to start with then run the script. Choose No at the first prompt so that you can check how it works track by track, then confirm or edit the location of the media folder where your files are. Once you are happy with how it behaves let it process larger numbers of tracks automatically.
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On itunes everytime I try and play a track the warning 'the song could not be played because the original files could not be found' please can anyone help me? Thanks

Hi. I have been having problems with my PC and recently removed a lot of rubbish to clear it somewhat. I dont know if that is relavant however on top of that I have just received my replacement iPad2 which i had a proble with and thought I would just tidy up my tunes before sycing. The problem is that everytime I click to play a track in iTunes on my PC, whilst the track is showing on my itunes, it comes up with a warning 'the song cannot be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to find it'. I have tried clicking 'locate', but all that appears is 'music Library' 4 different dates. Help i am very confused, can any shed any light on this
Thank you

Sounds like you have somehow moved your itunes music library to a different location to where iTunes thinks they should be. Your music should be in a folder called "iTunes Media>Music". If they are located there, try going into iTunes, right clicking on one of the songs and then "get info". When the box pops up, on the first screen it should give a location line where it thinks the music is located. If it is differen't to where you music is stored, try and match it up to the location line that was in the "get info" box.

I tried to play my iTunes and suddenly get an error message that says "The song (name) could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it now?" It happens on all my tunes and each one I select ends up with a "?"

I tried to play my iTunes and suddenly get an error message that says "The song (name) could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it now?" It happens on each tune I select and a "?" appears beside the song. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

I was not complete clear.
Since you never changed the settings in the advanced section of iTunes preferecnes, you have to chech that your music is really in the location setted in the folders reported in the advanced section. If not you have 2 ways: reset the position of this folders or in the actual disk organisation or in the pointing on the preferences.
If you press the reset button you just give to itunes its default setting as for the position of the music files: probably this will be a good choice if you have never changed any default preference.
But before I would check the folders and see if the songs are really there
In my iTune I have this, and I believe it is the default.
Users/YOURHOMEFOLDERNAME/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music

ITunes tells me "Could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" I can locate it and all my other music, but can only open one song at a time. How do I set it to open all my music whenever I want it?

iTunes tells me my song selection: "Could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" I can locate it and all my other music, but can only open one song at a time. How do I set it to open all my music whenever I want?
Message was edited by: Woildbill

I just spent several hours dealing with this when switching to a new PC. It was extremely frustrating as I knew my files were on my external HD but no matter how many times I copied my old iTunes folder over the files were still missing...because dummy me had forgotten to "unhide folders" on my new PC and my old files were actually stored in a hidden folder created long long ago.
This is how I did it on Windows 7 with iTunes 10
1. Look in iTunes Advanced Preferences to see where iTunes is saving files. (Edit, Preferences, Advanced)
Example: C:/Users/Woildbill/My Music/iTunes/Music
2. Ensure you are able to see hidden files - Control Panel, Folder Option, View, Show Hidden Files
3. Use Your Computer's Search Function to Locate the Missing File (Start, Search, type name of song - I started my search in "My Music" folder but be sure to expand to entire Computer if not found right away)
4. In Search Results, right-click found folder and select properties. This will tell you where the file is actually stored.
5. Use Windows Explorer (right-click start) to navigate to the location of the file. It is likley your other missing files are in the same location.
6. In Windows Explorer, copy the newly located files to the iTumes location from Step 1 and everything should work again.
Hope this helps!

"File could not be found because volume offline"

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