ITunes library file won't load
*iTunes won't open my library file.*
The library is about five years old. I started it on a WinXP computer then moved it to my Mac, and it now lives on a USB/FireWire external drive formatted as FAT32.
I've been accessing the drive over the network via AFP, with the drive physically connected to my home server via USB.
Last week I connected it to my Mac via FireWire last week for faster access. iTunes reported most but not all of the songs as on a missing network share with the same drive name. All the MP3s are there.
*Now, iTunes won't open the library at all -- it's greyed out when I try to select it.*
Opening the default iTunes library on my Mac works fine, and I'm still using iTunes 7 so it's not a compatibility issue.
*Rebuilding the library from the XML file won't work* either, because only about 3K of my 20K+ songs show up if I do that.
Now what? I need the iTunes library for a DJ gig coming up. Please help.
This issue persists whether the drive is accessed via AFP network or FireWire.
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ITunes library files won't move to iPhone
I downloaded language lessons to my iTunes library. I cannot get the files onto my iPhone (with or without iTunes Match turned on). The files are only 80 kbps so will not go to the iCloud. I can drag the files just fine to my iPod Nano. Any suggesitons?
Run Repair Disk.
First check the S.M.A.R.T. status on your HD: Applications>Utilities>DiskUtility>in the panel at left, select the first item in the list/your HDmechanism>look at the bottom of the main window next to S.M.A.R.T. statusand see if it says “Verified” or something more ominous like “Failing.”
If S.M.A.R.T. status is "Verified," run Repair Disk:Boot from install disc (insert disc>restart>immediately hold down c keyand keep holding it until you see “Preparing Installation”)>at first screenselect the language and click Continue> click on the Utilities Menu in themenu bar>open Disk Utility>select your HD in the panel on the leftside>click Repair Disk at bottom of main window. Run this at least twice,and keep running it until it says “appears ok” twice in a row. If that doesn’thappen, you may need a stronger utility such as DiskWarrior orif the directory is damaged beyond repair, you may need to reinstall the OS, oryou may have a damaged HD (repair utilities can only repair the directorystructure, not the HD itself). When this is finished, quit Disk Utility, quitthe installer, and restart. Once booted normally, go toApplications>Utilities>Disk Utility and run Repair Permissions. -
When I select "Choose Library" the itunes library file is subdued. I copied the library file off of Time Machine and put it back in itunes, but it remains subdued. I'm running OS X 10.6.8 and iTunes 10.4.1. Help?
I too had this problem and have solved it. After upgrading to iTunes 10.4.1 (Running OS X 10.6.8) I could no longer select library files. Previously, I would launch iTunes with the option key down to trigger the "Choose Library" dialog box. I have three libraries, each of them stored in separate iTunes folder within my user:music folder. I would then double-click on a given folder to open it and then double-click on the library file. After the 10.4.1 upgrade the library files were grayed out (not selectable). The problem was resolved by changing what and how I selected. When the three iTunes folders were displayed I clicked once on a folder to select it (instead of double-clicking to open it) and then clicked the "open" button in the dialog box. This resulted was iTunes launched with the library file contained in that folder.
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I have mp4 movie files that i am trying to transfer to my ipad and it will no longer work. They will not copy to my iTunes library. I used to be able to transfer/drag and drop converted movies to my iTunes are the mp4 files maybe too big Although I have plenty of space
Howdy Anastasia,
I was thinking about why the songs arent importing and I feel that its either, A) the format of the files has changed since you last imported them, or B) you may need to rebuild the iTunes library.
Here is an article about doing just that:
iTunes: How to re-create your iTunes library and playlists
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1451
Re-creating the iTunes Library file
Note: After re-creating your library, any devices that you sync with iTunes (Apple TV, iPod, iPhone, iPad) will see your iTunes library as a new library and will completely resync. The next sync with such a device will take longer and may reset some options since your rebuilt library isn't familiar to the device.
1. Quit iTunes.
2. Locate your iTunes folder (this is the folder that contains the iTunes Library and iTunes Library.xml files).
Operating System
Default location of iTunes Folder
Mac OS X
/Users/[your username]/Music
Microsoft Windows XP
\Documents and Settings\[your username]\My Documents\My Music\
Microsoft Windows Vista
\Users\[your username]\Music\
Microsoft Windows 7
\Users\[your username]\My Music\
3. Open your iTunes folder.
4. Drag the "iTunes Library.xml" or "iTunes Music Library.xml" file to the Desktop. If neither is available, learn how to add files back to the Library (because the XML file is not available, playlists and other information will not be available).
5. Drag the following file from your iTunes folder to the Trash:
Mac OS X
"iTunes Library" or "iTunes Library.itl"
Microsoft Windows
"iTunes Library.itl"
6. Open iTunes.
Important: Do not add any content into iTunes at this point (such as by purchasing something from the iTunes Store).
7. Choose File > Library > Import Playlist.
8. Navigate to the "iTunes Library.xml" file on the Desktop.
Mac users: Click Choose.
Windows users: Click Open.
If your Podcasts list in iTunes is empty after following these steps, learn how to add them back into iTunes.
Regards,
Sterling -
Help! I 'm using an old G4 powerbook, Mac OSX 10.5.8, iTunes ver 10. I have multiple iTunes libraries on an external drive. Everything was fine for a while, then all of the iTunes library files, i.e. iTunes Library.itl, xml, itdb, artwork folder, Media folder, etc mysteriously disappeared! Only the music files remain (thank god) So now when I start iTunes w/option key to choose a library, I can't choose any of them because iTunes won't recognize them. Because all the library stuff is missing. So can I re-create the library files? (I don't care if I lose my ratings)
Or should I create a new empty library on the external drive, then manually move all the music files to the Media folder in the new library?
I tried some stupid ideas like creating a new library just to start iTunes, then going into prefs and advanced, then under iTunes Media folder location, selecting the location of the old library on the external, to see if iTunes would then find all the music which is still there, but no workee.
I'm out of ideas, and I searched the archives.
Help! anyone?
ScottI don't know if this is me adding files to iTunes when the external wasn't connected
it is.
is it OK to just keep deleting that library on the Air?
i wouldn't - at least not until i
mount the external
point iTunes media folder location back to the external via preferences > advanced
consolidate my library via file > library > organize library
The ntfs hasn't seem to be causing any problems, but I've always wanted to know.
in order for your Mac to write to NTFS drives, it needs some help by installing e.g. the NTFS 3G driver. apparently that or something similar is installed on your Mac already. preferably, it would be formatted for Mac but then windows machines would need to have e.g. MacDrive installed to recognize the drive. -
ITunes Library File Size Limit?
I've been struggling to get my AppleTV to work as advertised since I bought it on the day it was originally released. I'm a big music fan and wanted to use it mostly as a music device. My iTunes library is huge. I have my entire CD collection ripped in lossless, as well as AAC for my iPod. I also have lots of other music, some DTS audio files, etc... and very detailed organization.
At any rate, I could always get the AppleTV to work if I just set it up to sync and play the files locally, but never to properly stream in a manner that's useable. And any syncing would take FOREVER. I'm on an N network, and I was getting speeds around 100KB/second. And then after it finally would get setup, I would often get pauses up to a minute where the AppleTV would freeze between menus while "thinking". It would take me 5 minutes just to navigate to a song and start playing it.
I tried all sorts of troubleshooting. Test libraries always worked fine. I've rebuilt my iTunes library from scratch, suspecting a corrupt library file, even though there was no other evidence to support this theory. No dice.
I'm finally giving up, and deciding that AppleTV has a limit to how large an iTunes library file it can handle. My iTunes library file is 160MB. Just the library file. You figure it's only got 256MB of RAM, and it's no wonder it can't handle it. I'm not sure how large the AppleTV OS is, but I suspect with a library file that large that the ATV has to do lots of going back to the HD to retrieve information it just doesn't have enough room for in RAM.
So my new strategy is to set up a secondary iTunes library just for my AppleTV that contains just music I want to sync, and any video I may want to stream. If I want to stream video, I'll launch this new library. If I want to listen to music without my computer on, the AppleTV will have a selection on it from this new library. If I want to stream my huge library, well, now I can use my iPhone as a remote to control my large iTunes library, and use the AppleTV with airtunes feature. And this works wonderfully, 100% responsive with no "waiting".
At any rate, I'm very disappointed that I couldn't get the AppleTV to work as advertised. I wish Apple would specify that there's a limit to how large a library it can handle. I've been screwing around with this for a long time and am essentially giving up, although the iPhone remote / airtunes solution works well for me.
Maybe down the road they'll come out with a new hardware revision with more RAM that can handle things better.Well, I was hoping I could send you a private message, Greg Neil, because I don't know if you'll ever see this message. Regardless, your iTunes library is NOT the problem no matter what others have told you. 7000 files it's child's play. My iTunes library currently has 14,639 music files in it and 129 Movies ripped at 3000kbps. The library size is NOT the problem. If your network is slow then that will be what is hurting you. The second fastest behind 'n' (i always forget this bit of trivia) should be fast enough for streaming music and most movies. I know that because I've done it. Having said that, go out and buy a bit of ethernet cable and hook it directly into your machine and see if you can stream that way. If you can't then you need to take back your aTV because, in that case, it's the problem. If your network is of adequate speed per what I and the previous poster have mentioned and it still won't stream at all wirelessly then TAKE IT BACK. Mine has streamed fine in the past however, I eventually just hardwired it via ethernet to prevent any drops ever. Hope this helps. I just wanted you to know that going to that amount of trouble to make it work should not have been necessary, and btw, aTV running all your favorite music to your home stereo is worth the price of the device itself. You shouldn't have to suffer.
All the best,
A fellow music lover -
ITunes Library File Not Valid! What the Heck?
I have 11,500 songs in my music library and am running iTunes 7.0.2. My iTunes Library file from time-to-time becomes corrupted, on probably at least a weekly basis. I have no idea what's causing this.
Here's the typical scenario ... iTunes works fine, I quit it, and the next time I open it it shows the dialogue box that says, "Importing 'iTunes Libray.xml'..." Then it organizes the files and a dialogue box indicates "iTunes Library" does not appear to be a valid iTunes Library file ... Renamed damaged file ..."
When it's finally all done, I get my music library back minus all my playlists as well as EQ and volume settings.
This happened today and my most recent backup (done earlier in the day) was also corrupted. This is why I've learned to keep a set of four recent backups just to insure I have a reliable and useable one not more than a couple of days old. But it seems a very unnecessary hassle and I'm always losing adjustments made to my database!
Anyway ... would anyone among our distinquished and experienced iTunes geeks out there have a clue as to why this is happening OR any suggestions as to what I might do to help alleviate the problem?
Is anyone aware of a program that will search for corrupted files within your music library? I suspect this might be part of the problem.
Thanking you in advance for your help!
PowerBook G4 17" | 80GB Video iPod Mac OS X (10.4.5)It seems like the ITL file is not being properly written after iTunes closes. Then when you re-open iTunes, it cannot load the ITL file and creates a new one. Forcing you to recreate your Library manually, again and again.
Several things to check:
-Double check to see that the ITL file or the folder it resides in is not read-only.
-Using Windows Explorer, right-click on the file (or folder) name, go to Properties.
-If it is, then close iTunes, change it, and reopen iTunes.
See this thread to reset the iTunes preferences: http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=1216090#1216090
And see this post to use TweakUI to check the location and validity of your My Music 'Special Folder': http://discussions.apple.com/click.jspa?searchID=487067&messageID=1197027
Once the main cause of the inability to save the ITL file is corrected, you'll need to recreate your Library one last time to finally save it. No way to resurrect the original one, unless you had backup copies of the ITL file. -
ITunes library file ("iTunes Music Library.xml") being trashed and not read
My iTunes music library is being recognized as a .xml file and comes up looking like a Dreamweaver file. It no longer can be loaded in iTunes (grayed out) when loading the app. Can't find the Library.
So iTunes no longer recognizes it, nor does it see the backup on a different drive! I have no idea how it got recategorized. I also check in my Time Machine backup and all the similarly named files show up as the same way (with a Dreamweaver icon). This did occur after a restart of this machine. I see the same problem with a backup of the library on the same machine.
I have not yet opened a new library and tried to import all my music over again. Is that the only viable fix? I remember this problem (or a similar one, I think) happening a year or so back. I didn't know what it was at the time but it caused me a considerable amount of grief with subscribed music not getting reloaded, etc. Is this what I'm in for again???
How can I fix this? Here's what I did so far:
1. Rebuilt Permissions. Here's the log.
+Repairing permissions for “Macintosh HD”+
+Permissions differ on "usr/share/derby", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are lrwxr-xr-x .+
+Repaired "usr/share/derby".+
2. Checked time machine to see if the folders' icons are the same. They are.
3. Tried to open up iTunes library manually (option+open iTunes). Grayed out.
4. Older backed up libraries show the same icon. Only version 3 or version 4 labelled libraries do not. Version of iTunes is 9.0.2
HenryChris CA wrote:
iTunes does not use the .xml file. It is created only for other applications to use the iTunes library.
Try this...
Hold Option and launch iTunes.
Select *Choose library* and select the iTunes library file in \Music\iTunes\ folder.
That's what I've said, Chris. The files that open when selecting the Choose Library are:
Yes they all exist. Also the following files exist:
*iTunes 3 Music Library*
*iTunes 4 Music Library*
*iTunes Music Library (2)*
Is there a pref I can delete somewhere to get rid of these? Copying the files from TIme Machine doesn't fix this. -
Error message - "The iTunes Library file is full could not be saved" - Help
Hi folks.
I looked for current / recent chatter on this iss before creating this topic. Didn't see anything that addressed this issued recently. If I missed it, sorry, if not, here you go!
I got an error message last night while using iTunes. It just popped up during use, not while using. The error message read "The iTunes Library File could not be saved." Now my hard drive is DEFINITELY not full. I have hundreds of gigs of unused space. This appears to be an issue strictly related to my library.xml file. Stupidly, I clicked the don't show me this again and closed the message. My concern now is that I'll rip new content that won't end up in my iTunes library even though it's on my hard drive, thus that content will not be findable by iTunes.
I don't want to just rebuild the library from scratch as I have fixed tons of errors in how iTunes classifies my music over the years and all that work would be lost.
Any ideas on how to get past this glitch?
I noticed this problem also cropped up circa the original iPhone launch. I had that phone and did not experience this prob, and I just upgraded to the 3G four days ago. It makes no sense to me that the phone is causing this, but perhaps the upgrade to the iTunes version 7.7 (necessary to use the iPhone with my Windows computer) is the cause of the prob.
I did erase a bunch of videos and unsubscribed to several video casts. That was one recommended solution way back when.
My concern though is that since I chose the don't show me this error message again option, I won't know whether the problem persists or not.
Oh the humanity...I have seen this a few times, usually when other 3rd-party applications are using itunes. Such as, lastfm & the Tivo remote music player.
And, I've also seen it when I was copying a bunch of digital photos to the exHD in the background while playing music and the song changed. iTunes saves the playcount in the ITL file when the song ends.
You might check this Microsoft article about "Enable write caching on the disk". I haven't seen that iTunes error since I turned mine back on for the exHD. The Tivo "delayed write failed" errors are back, but that's a different problem...
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;330174
Anyway, long story short, it gets saved OK later and I make frequent backups of that ITL file. -
Error Message: The iTunes Library file cannot be saved. Unknown Error 13001
My error message says:
The iTunes Library file cannot be saved. An Unknown error occurred (13001).
Ever since I loaded the new 3.0 touch upgrade I have been bombarded by error after error. I have turned off genius which seemed to fix the problem at first but about an hour later the error warning popped up again. I have tried the shift start and selected my library with no improvement. It seems to pop up if I load a new podcast or download something and then fails to download.Hmmm, that error message came up a lot with older itunes & Genius, like 8.0 version. But you have 8.2.
I don't know why it would crash on a download unless it is maybe a permissions problem. The download starts, but permissions make it so it cannot save it at the very end? Make sure you have ownership and full control over your itunes folder and all its subfolders.
How to Take Ownership and Grant Permissions in Windows Vista
And since you've turned off Genius, try deleting these 2 files
iTunes Library Genius.itdb
iTunes Library Extras.itdb
Restart itunes and see if there is any difference....good luck! -
"The Itunes library file cannot be saved" Error Message (-54) please help!
Hello, I was loading a music cd onto my itunes library today when I started getting this recurring Error message stating: "The Itunes library file cannot be saved. An unknown error has occurred (-54)"
It just keeps popping up, and now it let me play anything without getting it. So in a panic I realized that nothing is backed up, so I started backing up my itunes using a blank dvd and even that failed in the middle of burning. I guess it has something to do with the error message?
This scares me since I'm very careful of the types of discs I put into my Mac, and I know that disc in particular didn't have any kind of virus (its been playing in my car for the last two years actually) and it was burned on my PC using itunes a while back when the system was clean.
My music is like my life and this message is freaking me out, how do I get rid of the message without damaging my library? or what happened to make it appear?
I'm afraid of how to proceed next.....Someone please help!I suspect some anti-virus software is incorrectly interpreting the rewriting of the file and is causing a problem.
Either way, you should definitely update your anti-virus software and definitions to the latest, and run a full scan of your system. Then tell the security software not to scan the iTunes itl file/folder.
If that does not help, you may want to recreate your iTunes library:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93313 -
XCode update deleted iTunes Library files
I just updated XCode, and this meant updating the part about mobile applications, and my itunes library file was deleted in the process. Is there any way to retrieve my playlists/ratings? Last backup was a while ago, guess I've lost about 1000 ratings.
Anyone else had this happen?
I'm a DJ, so this is a bit devastating, not convinced the backup will restore things but will attempt it if there's no other way to retrieve the original XML/ITL files...
cheersThankyou! I just tried however it won't let me create a new one on the external? Perhaps I have utterly stuffed up when removing the old ones. Is there a way around this? Thanks
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The iTunes library file cannot be saved. An unknown error occurred (-50).
I launch iTunes, I get "Updating iTunes library" and then, "The iTunes library file cannot be saved. An unknown error occurred (-50)." This started happening after I upgraded to iTunes 7.3. Things seem to work OK, but my artwork was rearranged in coverflow, and it seems to take much longer to get music videos to come up in Frontrow. This is a problem because my 2 1/2 year old doesn't like to wait for his Chili Pepper videos. What do I need to fix?
iMac 2.16 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo Mac OS X (10.4.10) 500GB 2GB RAMI am having the very same problem. Does anyone out
there have any ideas? Is this just a 7.3 thing that
needs to be fixed via apple ? Any ideas would be
great. Thanks
Same problem here,
I upgraded to 7.3 yesterday and have got problems since itunes taking ages to load beacuse of updaing library on start up,then the identical error message.The download that I bought last evening is nowhere to be found.I've only got the Ipod (and itunes) about 3wks and I have to say I WAS delighted up to this but this is really spoiling things,any getting the upodate now prompt might want to think twice. Somebody help please!
Many thanks.
Brendan.
Medion MD8822 Windows Vista Intel core2 duo 2.13 GHz
Medion MD8822 Windows Vista Intel core2 duo 2.13 GHz
Medion MD8822 Windows Vista -
The iTunes Library file cannot be saved. An unknown error occurred (-48).
I think this is a common issue with the current version from what I've seen from a quick google search. The iTunes Library file cannot be saved. An unknown error occurred (-48). Then it asks to warn again or not, even though it comes up every time I restart iTunes. And I can't add anything to my iTunes. It won't save...Help please. Also forgot to mention that from now on my itunes requires i agree to some TOS every time I open it. Idk if this is part of the update or anything but...used to not do that.
THanks and sry if this is a common issue,
g0ldenboy
Message was edited by: g0ldenboy
Message was edited by: g0ldenboyAny tips?
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MBP: The itunes library file cannot be saved. A folder was specified instead of a file
I've started getting this error on my MBP from iTunes:
I am running a MacBookPro with Snow Leopard 10.6.7 and iTunes 10.
Other than this warning, I can't detect any operational problems with iTunes, but rather than mask it, I'd prefer to fix it.
The my root iTunes directory and its contents all appear to have proper ownership:
mystic:~/Music/iTunes jrh$ ls -l
total 69088
drwxr-xr-x 5 jrh jrh 170 Sep 9 2008 Album Artwork
drwxr-xr-x 106 jrh jrh 3604 May 5 00:04 Mobile Applications
drwxr-xr-x 16 jrh jrh 544 Apr 28 00:30 Previous iTunes Libraries
-rw-r--r--@ 1 jrh jrh 2430114 May 22 07:32 iTunes Library
-rw-r--r-- 1 jrh jrh 528384 May 21 17:02 iTunes Library Extras.itdb
-rw-r--r-- 1 jrh jrh 21348352 May 21 17:06 iTunes Library Genius.itdb
drwxr-xr-x 705 jrh jrh 23970 May 21 17:01 iTunes Music
-rw-r--r--@ 1 jrh jrh 11058893 May 22 07:32 iTunes Music Library.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 jrh jrh 8 May 19 08:04 sentinel
I am not sure what the sentinel file is. It contains 8 nulls:
mystic:~/Music/iTunes jrh$ od -c sentinel
0000000 \0 \0 \0 \0 \0 \0 \0 \0
0000010
Any help would be appreciatedI've made some progress. In iTunes preferences/advanced you can re-set warnings. Repairing Disk Permissions on your boot drive will help when iTunes won't start. In addition to the saving issue, I've suffered through the problem of iTunes creating multiple .tmp files. With iTunes closed you can delete these files.
I also found these two threads helpful and have turned off local snapshots for Time Machine.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/17692965#17692965
Re: iTunes 10.5: Permission issue with the iTunes Library file...http://Pondini.org/TM/30.html
I have restored Lion once and it was easy. No disc required as Lion creates a recovery file on your computer, Instructions are here http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.7/en/mchlp1599.html
Hope this helps.
Steve
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