Itunes music library got corrupted

all my music in my iTunes are gone, is there a way to copy back the entire library on my iPod to my iTunes on my computer? RIght now, the only thing I could use the iTunes for is syncing the pics and and the apps with my iPhone, where can I find the copy of my music library to install back to iTunes? Thank you.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2562?viewlocale=en_US
Had the same problem - works a treat now =)

Similar Messages

ITunes Music Library File Corrupt

Hey,
Yesterday I was putting some podcasts on my ipod shuffle, when itunes froze. I force quit it, and when i booted it up again, it said that the iTunes Music Library File was locked or that I don't have permissions for it. I replaced it with my previous library, except now I have a library that's like four months old. Is there any way to import the songs/podcasts from my music folder into my music library? Or perhaps to repair the damaged Music Library File?
PS I don't have any .AACs.

Do you still have a copy of the problematic library file? (or of the "iTunes Music Library.xml" file that was in the (home)/Music/iTunes at the time? If so, use the File->Import function to import either of these files.
(First make a backup copy of your current "iTune Library" file just in case.)
If the import won't work because it says the file is locaked, go in the finder and select hte file, do control-I to bring up the get info box and make sure the file's preferences are set to read and write. If that doesn't help use the Disk Utility application in your Utilities folder to "repair permissions" on your hard drive.
Finally, if these methods don't work, then you can manually add the missing music (but this won't bring back any ratings, playcounts, etc associated with the tracks in your old library). Go File->Add to Library and select your music folder. It will go through the files and only add the ones not already in your library.
By the way, AAC files wouldn't affect this problem one way or the other.

X6 Music library got corrupted. File manager plays...

Hi,
I have X6 with version 21.0.004 installed.
I have downloaded ~300 songs from ovi music. Everything has worked fine until yesterday.
I was listening one album and tried changing to another, phone was kind to inform "File is corrupted operation cancelled" Then I was only able to play that one last listened album. Today I could not even listen that one anymore. First every album I tried opening gave an error, now Music player crashes when trying to open anything.
I tried playing files from file manager and it played just fine.
Any ideas?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Google had solved this issue for Nokia 5800 and it seemed to work with X6 too.
Search for: "Nokia 5800 refreshing corrupted music library"
Music player library database files are the ones corrupted. Those exist in mass storage (E: ) private directory.
You can get access to private by connecting your phone with PC in "mass storage mode" and enabling "show hidden files and folders" from windows.
Remove files from these directories (do not remove directories)
Private\101f8857\Cache\E
Private\101ffca9
And finally, remove:
mpxv2_2.db and mpxv2_2.db-journal(Mp3 library db)
pcv6_1.db and pcv6_1.db-journal (podcast library db)
from Private\10281e17
If you think the above is too difficult, another way of solving this issue would have been backing up/formatting mass storage (E: )
Edit: I hope you guys in Nokia have a bug reported about this issue...

My music library seems corrupted. Nearly every song (431 albums) displays "the song ... could not be used because the original file cannot be found". Is there any way to correct this? Please help, thanks, Kelly

Almost my entire itunes music library seems corrupted. Nearly every song (431 albums) displys "the song ... cannot be used because the original file cannot be found". Is there any way to correct this? Please help!
thanks,
kelly61

Select one of the songs in question and right click, then select "Get Info". On the main dialog page you should see where iTunes thinks the file resides. Then use Windows Explorer to see if the file is actually there. If not, find out where your music is stored.If there is not a correlation between iTunes and reality, go into iTunes and delete all of the files which are not found. Then, in iTunes, select File->Add Folder to Library and select where the music is stored. iTunes will re-add all of the music into your library.

HT201272 Having a bad day my iTunes library got corrupted and my back up disk has failed how can I restore my purchases from the iTunes store

Having a bad day my iTunes library got corrupted and my back up disk has failed how can I restore my purchases from the iTunes store? When I try it tells me the pruchases have already been downloaded to this computer.

Does your purchased rmusic appears under the Purchased link under Quicklinks on the right-hand side of the iTunes store home page (music can't be re-downloaded in all countries) ? If they do and you don't have the cloud symbol against them so as to re-download them, then do you still have the entries for them in your library i.e. where you would normally click on them to play them ? If you do then try deleting them from there (iTunes will be seeing them and assuming that you still have them somewhere) and they should then get the cloud symbol for re-downloading in the Purchased link.
If you aren't in a country where music can be re-downloaded then you could try contacting iTunes support and see if they will grant you a re-download : http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/contact/ - click on Contact iTunes Store Support on the right-hand side of the page,

ITunes Music Library corrupted by Update 5.0?

Yesterday iTunes was normal. Late last night Software Update presented me with an update to iTunes (5.0) which I declined to install. This morning, when I launched iTunes several unexpected things happened:
1. iTunes hung searching for (or loading) the Library for nearly 30 minutes. On launch I saw the loading progress bar, then was busy with other things (in other Spaces desktops) till I noticed it hung. I cancelled this loading operation and continued launching, then...
2. iTunes reported a damaged Library which would be renamed "iTunes Library (Damaged)" and that a new library would be created.
3. iTunes very quickly began rebuilding my music database, searching for album art, etc. -- all of which I stopped as quickly as possibly.
4. iTunes launched with a completely bare browser (new installation: utterly without any of my stuff), which was a shock to say the least, but all the previous occurrences began to add up. I quit iTunes.
5. I went directly to the Music/iTunes directory and began investigating. I found that...
6. iTunes had created a brand new file named < iTunes Music Library.xml > at 12:53 PM (it's now 1:53 exactly) and a file named < iTunes Library (Damaged) >.
7. Previous iTunes libraries I have collected over the years (by manual backup and in Time Machine) are named < iTunes Library.itl > (I assume ".itl" stands for iTunes Library).
8. I went to System Preferences/Software Update/Installed Software and confirmed that the most recent software update was "Java for Mac OSX 10.6 Update 6 Version 6.0" on 11/11/11; as expected, I had NOT inadvertently installed the unwanted iTunes update last night.
Before I begin bleating my own opinions, I would love to get more informed comments and answers to a few perhaps obvious questions.
Q1. What happened?
Q2. Could it have been related to the update I declined to install? (Pure coincidence would be positively mystical.)
Q3. If not (Q2), then why the radical change in Library name and tag ( iTunes Library.itl --> iTunes Music Library.xml )?
Q4. Can I use my manual backups (or Sync, or Time Machine) to restore the previous Library and get my hard-wrought, very coveted collections back as they were? If yes, how? If no, what then?
I do not yet plan to update my Mac OS to Lion for a number of reasons (therefor making the Apple Cloud service unavailable to me), so I'd intended to be cautious about related updates, such as the updates to iTunes, iPhone (...) and wait a bit. The DotMac/MobileMe account I've had since the beta days will remain active till summer and I figured I'd have plenty of time to think about it and to formulate a strategy for dealing with dreaded software/hardware obsolescence issues and so on.
Thanks to the community for any help forthcoming.
-- Bill

Some clarifications (hopefully):
The iTunes update flashed by me pretty fast on the night of Nov 15 as I quickly chose not to accept it. I seem to have mistaken the version number. The newest version of iTunes showing at the Apple site is 10.5.1 (I thought I'd seen a 5.0, but obviously not). I just looked in the Applications folder at the iTunes app version; it's 10.5, and the Date Modified is October 12, 2011. As mentioned above, System Preferences/Software Update/Installed Software shows no recent update to iTunes. It seems Software Update was trying to update iTunes to version 10.5.1 on the night of Nov 15th..
Also, I spent a bit more time today trolling about some loosely related discussions on these lists, and believe I might have misunderstood the three types of file I mentioned, so I looked more closely at them:
Music/iTunes Folder:
< iTunes Music Library.xml > Shows created Aug 3, 2008, modified Nov 16 at 12:53 PM.
< iTunes Library.itl > Shows created (12:52) and modified (12:53) yesterday (Nov 16.).
< iTunes Library (Damaged) > Shows created Oct 12, 2011, modified Nov 15, 2011 at 7:55 PM (when update was cancelled).
Applications Folder: iTunes (app) - version 10.5 - created Jan 14, 2008, modified Oct 12, 2011 (Finder info);
System Preferences/Software Update/Installed Software: iTunes 10.5 installed Oct 12, 2011 (nothing more recent)
Why was the "iTunes Library (Damaged)" file created a _month_ ago and only modified when I declined the iTunes 10.5.1 update? I can't get any sense from this. Now past 2 AM on the 17th. I'm calling it a day on this. Hope to get iTunes up and running soon.
-- B.

ITunes musical library located on a WD 2TB, ext. drv. Computer destroyed by virus; ED survived. Bought new laptop, connected ED. Not able to see library. ED shows as 'G:' 95% full. How can I reconnect my old library to new laptop?

I had my iTunes musical library on an ext. drv. WD 2TB, ‘MY BOOK ESSENTIAL'. Three weeks ago, my computer was infected by a virus that fried it. It did not affect the external drive. I bought a new computer: a laptop, Dell XPS, Intel Core i7-2630QM CPU, Windows 7 Home Premium. I have been able to connect the WD external drive; however, I am not able to see the musical library in my iTunes or Explorer. ‘My Computer’ shows the external drive as ‘G:’ 95% full. It reads, 32.1 GB free of 1.36 TB. When I click on the drive to see its contents, it shows nothing. The library in iTunes also shows nothing. Can anyone help, please? How can I reconnect my old musical library to my new laptop and iTunes? Many thanks.

Hmm, viruses don't generally "fry" drives. They can make bootable operating systems not bootable, hide data, and corrupt executable files. Software can potentially wipe all the data from the drive but it shouldn't be able to physically damage the drive. Bah! What's done is done.
As to unhiding your files assuming they are just hidden....
Hit Start > Run, type in CMD and press enter. Type the following at the prompt and then press enter:
attrib -h -s -r g:\*.* /d /s
This tells windows to clear the hidden, read-only, and system flags from all files on the drive, assuming of course your profile has the power to "see" the files and change them.
If that doesn't work then you may need to take ownership of the drive first. The drive may have security settings that make it "belong" to an account on your old system. Right-click on the drive in Windows Explorer and click Properties. Click the Security tab, the Advanced button, the Owner tab, then the Edit tab. Make yourself the owner, then you can make any other changes to the security settings you want to back on the Permissions tab. (If you can't change the owner log out and log back in as Administrator). For iTunes your account (or everyone) and SYSTEM need full access to all files. Any changes you make should be applied to "This folder, subfolders and files", should be inheritable and you should also replace the permissions on all child objects.
tt2

I deleted some files from my iTunes music library, how do I get them back?

Hi there, I hope you can help.
I have had an 80Gb iPod for a while now, but it got full, so I was deleting stuff that I didn't listen to very often from my iTunes library as I added new music. However, I kept all the music in my iTunes Music folder.
I have now purchased a 120Gb iPod, but obviously some of my music is only in the iTunes Music folder, but NOT actually in my music library within iTunes. Is there a way to sync the entire library with the new iPod (ie. including all the albums that I deleted from my iTunes library to accommodate new ones), or will I have to manually check my entire iTunes music library against my iTunes Music folder?
In essence, what I want to do is the opposite of consolidating my iTunes music library into my iTunes Music folder - to get all the music in my iTunes Music folder back into the library, without duplicating the stuff that's on there already. I hope that's clear...?
Best regards,
Matt.

Try iTunes Folder Watch for rereading the content you deleted, assuming you only removed it from the library, not the media folder. If you deleted the tracks then restore those that remain from the recycle bin first.
When you are finished you should have a new playlist with all the tracks that iTFW found. Rename this Exclude and then create a smart playlist called, say, iPod Music with the rules Playlist is Music and Playlist is not Exclude. This is the playlist you sync with your device, and any time it grows too large just find some more stuff to throw into Exclude.
tt2

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
Henry

Chris 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.

TS1717 how to restore my itunes music library when an apple download stuffs up

how to restore my itunes music library when an apple download malfunctions

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.
When you get it all working make a backup!
tt2

Can I add the iTunes Music Library (old) to iTunes Music Library?

Hi, I'm asking this question on behalf of a friend and I don't want to give her incorrect advice ... She has an Intel G5 iMac running 10.5.8 and iTunes 9.0 (she has downloaded but not installed the iTUnes 9.1 update).
Her problem is that she has deleted certain songs from her 'Jane Doe's iPod Playlist' so that she didn't have those songs on her iPod - I don't know the method she used to do this, nor does she. However, it has resulted in those songs now not showing up in the iTunes music library on her computer. There's just an exclamation mark and a dialog box asking if she would like to locate the songs.
She asked me to help her out and I discovered that all these songs (there are dozens- more than a hundred - of them) are still on her computer in a folder called 'iTunes Music old' - this is a sub-folder of the iTUnes Music folder where the path is Music - iTunes - iTunes Music.
My question is this -
Is it possible to select all the albums in this 'iTUnes Music old' folder and simply drag and drop it onto the iTunes Music folder (after making sure that the location I'm dragging and dropping to corresponds to the location for her library as specified on the advanced tab of preferences) so that the songs will be back in the default library?
It seems to me that it should work but I don't want to be responsible for the person who loses all her music for her if it doesn't.
I would really appreciate someone who knows their way around iTUnes telling me the best way to sort her music and whether or not she should install the 9.1 update before or after reorganising the library.
Cheers
Tricia

Her problem is that she has deleted certain songs from her 'Jane Doe's iPod Playlist' so that she didn't have those songs on her iPod - I don't know the method she used to do this, nor does she. However, it has resulted in those songs now not showing up in the iTunes music library on her computer. There's just an exclamation mark and a dialog box asking if she would like to locate the songs.
If you're seeing the , that's generally an indication that media files (the mp3 or m4a, etc., files) were moved using Finder. They were moved or removed and the iTunes library wasn't able to keep track of where they went. If this is an old machine that she's messed around with, it can be a bit of a crap shoot trying to figure out where the stuff should go (iTunes is quite unhelpful in telling you where the music for the broken links was expected to be ... you can take some guesses, but iTunes 9 and iTunes 8 use different folder structures, so getting the stuff in the right place can be a nuisance).
Is it possible to select all the albums in this 'iTUnes Music old' folder and simply drag and drop it onto the iTunes Music folder (after making sure that the location I'm dragging and dropping to corresponds to the location for her library as specified on the advanced tab of preferences) so that the songs will be back in the default library?
Surprisingly complicated question. If you were confident of where the music files should go, you could try moving them (safer, copy them) to your current iTunes media folder and if you drop them in the exact same spot they were before, your broken links problem will be solved. It's a long shot, though.
There are apps out there for rebuilding libraries, but if you don't have extensive playlists that would take forever to rebuild (or you don't have lots of ratings or things like that which you are trying to preserve), I'd personally be inclined to rebuild her library from scratch by:
Create a new library by pressing and holding down the option button while you start iTunes, keep holding the button down until it prompts you to create a new library.
Go into the "Advanced" section of the "Preferences" screen and tell iTunes to (a) keep your folder organized and (b) to copy music to the new media folder.
Use the "Add Folder to Library" command on the "File" menu to add the music to your iTunes Library. This will copy the music to the new folder you specified in the previous step. Repeat this for her old iTunes folders (sounds like she might have it in different areas). Nice thing is, you can select some common parent folder (e.g. your parent "music" folder) and you'll only have to do this once.
Once iTunes is done copying music to the new media folder and has rebuilt the new library, you can clean up the old music media files that it sounds like are scattered about on her machine.
Again, I personally lean towards just rebuilding the iTunes library, allowing iTunes to organize the files like it wants, and then rebuild your playlists. But, if you'd rather try to repair her old library in situ, then you'll want to check out some of the apps designed for repairing broken links in libraries. Let us know if you want to do that and we can point you to some apps that might be able to help.
It seems to me that it should work but I don't want to be responsible for the person who loses all her music for her if it doesn't.
It's kind of hard to lose the music unless you do something nuts like drag stuff to the trash without making sure you've got a copy/backup somewhere. In fact, go ahead and have her back up her machine before you start. And when you're all done, and you've confirmed that everything is great, do another backup.
I would really appreciate someone who knows their way around iTUnes telling me the best way to sort her music and whether or not she should install the 9.1 update before or after reorganising the library.
Unless her version of iTunes is archaic (v7 or earlier), I'd suggest fixing her library first, and then doing the upgrade. Let's not add variables to the situation. Also, I don't know what the iTunes upgrade process would do with the broken links in her existing library.
Frankly, there are enough bugs/problems with 9.1, you might want to wait until 9.1.1 comes out anyway. I personally regret doing the 9.1 upgrade. It works, but I'm working around various bugs. And some people are having very serious problems. If you absolutely need 9.1 (e.g., iPad), you can do it and you'll probably be fine. But unless you need 9.1 for some reason, I'd wait for 9.1.1 release.

Old 2005 Video iPod - How do I take music off and add to my iTunes music library? And battery life issues...

I bought my husband a Video iPod clear back in 2005. I bought the 30GB serial No 4V544C1WTXK Model number A1136. Yes, very, very old. However, it is an Apple product and therefore should be good forever right? We actually rarely used it then and have not used it in years. I got it out and brushed it off the other day. I have two questions:
1- I have some great music on it that I would like to transfer into my iTunes music library. Is there a way to move it from the iPod into my iTunes library?
2- It isn't really holding a battery charge even when it's been charging for hours. Is there anything I can do about that? Do I need to replace the battery? Is there even a way to replace the battery?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

1- I have some great music on it that I would like to transfer into my iTunes music library. Is there a way to move it from the iPod into my iTunes library?
See this older post from another forum member Zevoneer covering the different methods and software available to assist you with the task of copying content from your iPod back to your PC and into iTunes.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2452022?start=0&tstart=0
2- It isn't really holding a battery charge even when it's been charging for hours. Is there anything I can do about that? Do I need to replace the battery?
Given the age of the device and that fact that it wasn't used for a lengthy period of time, it's likely that the iPod's battery is shot and in need of replacement. Lithium-ion batteries need constant activity in order to maintain any sort of charge. However, all batteries generally deteriote over time and lose their ability to charge.
Is there even a way to replace the battery?
Yes. You can choose to have Apple swap the battery for a new one for the price indicated on this page.
http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/service/prices/
You could also choose to send it to a third party service instead to have them swap it out at a much lower cost. A Google search for "iPod battery replacement" should give you a number of results to work with.
B-rock

HT1660 My "itunes library" folder is empty. My libray music (prior to upgrading itunes) is now in an .xml file in my itunes location under my music. How do I extract/convert this .xml file to a Itunes database and restore my Itunes music library??? Than

My "itunes library" folder is empty. My libray music (prior to upgrading itunes) is now in an .xml file in my itunes location under my music. How do I extract/convert this .xml file to a Itunes database and restore my Itunes music library??? Thanks, Tom

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.
When you get it all working make a backup!
tt2

Why all the extra songs in Itunes Music Library?

I have 20 versions from different artist of the same song in my Itunes music library of course they want you to press the buy button. When did this start? How do I just see my library not all the extra songs?

thanks! got it. it's the command key. hold it down while checking one of the boxes and the rest of them will be checked.

Itunes deleted my "Itunes Music Library.xml" file?

Here are the facts (and then I'll pose the question):
-Ipod 80gb Classic
-Just upgraded to Itunes v. 7.4.2.4 (after following the pop-up window asking me to upgrade to the latest version)
-Windows XP Pro
-My "Itunes Music Library.xml" file and the "iTunes Library.itl" file are stored in "C:\Documents and Settings\XXXXXX\My Documents\My Music\iTunes" but all of my music/tv shows/etc are stored in another location on my HD
Here's the problem:
After I upgraded Itunes, the "Itunes Music Library.xml" file and the "iTunes Library.itl" file were replaced with brand new blank files (10kb and 32kb, respectively). When I open Itunes, the library is blank. All of the music files are still on my hard drive in the other location, but they do not show up in Itunes.
When I plug in my Ipod (which still contains all of the music), Itunes says "The Ipod "my ipod" is synced with another Itunes library...What would you like to do?"
Here's my question:
How do I get Itunes to show the proper content that is already on my ipod and on my HD? I just need my old Itunes music library files back.
Thanks in advance.

One point where this seems to occur consistently is if you reboot or turn off Windows while iTunes is running, and have a largeish music collection.
Explanation: Programmatically, iTunes main window apparently responds OK (=TRUE) to the Windows WM_QUERYENDSESSION message and at the same time starts to write the *.ITL and *.XML files to the hard disk. Meanwhile, Windows continues to end the session because - after all - it was OK'ed by iTunes. Now, if the iTunes music library is "large enough", Windows will finish ending the session before iTunes has finished writing said files, and the next time you run iTunes they'll turn up corrupt. This is a huge caveat during iTunes reinstallation, because most of the time a reboot is needed whilst iTunes will necessarily be running at the same time (consequently, if you have a largeish music library, always back up the *.XML and *.ITL files before reinstalling or updating iTunes!!!!)
This is nearly an elementary bug, and a sad indication of the level of testing done by the Apple to products before they're released.
Workarounds: I myself just frequently backup the *.ITL and *:XML files to a different directory, and restore if file corruption occurs. Another workaround is to have another program (say, Notepad.exe) with an edited but unsaved file currently open. When Windows session ends, you will have one extra chance to delay the session end, so that either you remember to close iTunes first, or if iTunes was closed first, it'll have enough time to complete writing the library metadata back to disk.
Asian and European phone giants have nothing to afraid about iPhone, if iTunes and iPod classic are any indication of its quality.

Itunes music library got corrupted

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