Music library missing files

My old Ipod died and I wanted to load my itunes songs onto my son's extra ipod. When I did, only 2/3 of the songs were transfered, with the rest having !next to the songs with the message - "the song could not be used becasue the origional file could not be found. would you like to look for it." my problem is that I can not find the files anywhere on my computer. I am the only one to have music on it. how do I fis this and why did it happen? where did the files go since i put them into itunes?

Hey Iambann,
I think I'm on to something. Are you missing other things from the Library in addition to music files? Do me a favor and do a cmd-i (Get Info) on the music/app/movie files you're missing. When iTunes asks you if you'd like to look for the file, answer No or Cancel - the info window should open.
At the bottom of the window, what does the "Location" say? Does it say:
file:///localhost/Users/username/.Trash/iTunes/...
That's the last "known" location of the missing files. In my case, the files were automatically moved to the user's Trash. If you haven't Emptied your Trash yet, the files might still be there. If you have Emptied your Trash, then the files are gone - but that means we have the same EXACT symptoms.

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The iTunes music library.itl file cannot be found or created?

itunes 7 worked all day for me yesterday, but I have had this problem since last night where when I try to start it I get this message: "the iTunes music library.itl file cannot be found or created. the default location for this file is in the "itunes" folder in the "my music" folder. PLEASE HELP!

there should also be a "Previous iTunes Libraries" in the itunes folder besides itunes music.
if not, good luck making a new playlist

Can I manually edit the iTunes Music Library.xml file

Here's why.
Noticed on my Apple TV that there were a number of podcasts that when selected would say "Apple TV cannot play the current song".
Looked in iTunes and these podcasts are no where to be found. Did some searches in Spotlight and also, turned up zeros. Not found.
I then looked directly into my iTunes Music Library.xml file and sure enough there are the records.
What is odd is that the location of all the bad songs have a similar invalid path.
Bad path.
<key>Location</key><string>file://localhost/Volumes/iTunes/iTunes/iTunes%20Music/Podcasts/KQED/podcast.mp3</string>
Correct Path
<key>Location</key><string>file://localhost/Volumes/iTunes/Music/Podcasts/KQED'/podcast.mp3</string>
Now, all of these have dates that lead me to believe this was due to an iTunes upgrade back in September of 2005. It doesn't look like they are causing problems with iTunes itself. However, it is quite annoying for my Apple TV.
Question. Is there a different way to fix this than just manually removing the entries from the xml file?
I haven't tried to edit the iTunes Music Library.xml file just yet as I want to make I don't totally screw things up first.

I did some additional testing here and I deleted the track information from the iTunes Music Library.xml
On start up of iTunes, it does not add the deleted file back in. On the Apple TV, it still shows the bad file.
What I think that means is that even the Apple TV gets its playlist information from another source.
I have also started on another track which is to remove all of my podcasts from iTunes. Which I have now done.
The only ones left are these bad tracks that only show up in the iTunes Music Library.xml file and more importantly on my Apple TV.
I'd put this on the podcast or the Apple TV thread, but still believe this is an iTunes issue.

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.

Why does iTunes not refresh the Music Library if files are updated?

What if have already a nice library SYSTEM built for my music, and every time I add 30-50 files to 30-50 different locations, iTunes requires me to add the same song again... What if I am doing this updating for 3 hours and I can't remember anymore which songs I added to my Brazilian compilation folder? Why can't iTunes update the library with added files? I see this question popping up on a lot of forums. This is very cumbersome. I keep my international music collection organized by country of origin. If I let iTunes consolidate my music, it will put everything into one big folder organized by name of artist. I definitely don't want to let the program do that. I would lose all my work and all my system.
Once I imported the folder system into iTunes though as a reference, it does not recognize if there was a change, music added, music deleted, music reogranized. It doesn't make sense to delete everything from the iTunes Music Library every time I update my music collection.
Where is the solution? I want iTunes to find the changes and apply it to my Music Library automatically.
I can live with my iPod only having the files in one big library, since I mostly use it for shuffle play anyway, but I want to keep my originals in an orderly manner based on style, country of origin, etc. I don't want to end up having all my files renamed and moved.
So I need iTunes to refresh my Music Library by looking at the original folder I imported the list from, and make the necessary changes.

I guess then this is a serious shortcoming of iTunes... Up till this point I owned an RCA Lyra MP3 player and it had no problems whatsoever doing these things. I guess, after seeing how iTunes and iPod works, I'd rather return to Lyra if it had an 80 G version. The only thing that still keeps me with iPod is the capacity.
It seems like that iTunes is a very cumbersome program and it tries to be so much user friendly that it even tries to eliminate the human element. Sometimes, it makes sense to keep files organized in specific manner. Especially when there is work involved and productivity.
I guess I will just delete everything from the play list and read in the main folder every once in a while, leaving the machine working on it during the night or something, then another night, it will refresh my iPod. That's the only solution I see right now.
It is interesting that a huge program like iTunes cannot do what a small one like Lyra can. And I even read in user groups that some people created programs for this problem, but those programs don't work with iTunes 7 well yet, so I am stuck with the manual updating or the brutal deletion and re-reading.
Thank you for the answer. At least I know what not to expect from the program. I just use it for only one purpose: load music onto iPod, then forget about it. It quite an unuseful program for me otherwise.
G5 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Files disappeared from library, "missing" files not really missing

I had a folder with 3 files in different formats for each image. These were imported several days ago, grouped into stacks, captioned, tagged, etc. and synced to the files. They continued to exist in the library some time afterward, but today when I opened lightroom all of the jpg versions of all of the images and all 3 formats of one image in particular had vanished from the library. It did not claim that it could not find them on disk (and in fact the files *do* still exist on disk right where they should), they just didn't show up. I was able to re-import all of the jpg images without trouble, but for the other two formats of the one missing image, importing one of them fails because it "already exists in the library," and the other one is willing to import but then doesn't show up in the folder or the recently imported files list. When I try to synchronize the folder, it suggests that I import that file, but it never actually does. Since importing the jpgs, it also suggests that I remove 53 "missing" files, the number of jpgs imported. When I view the missing files in the library, it shows only 2 of the jpgs, one of which belongs with the files that will not import and neither of which is actually missing--they can both be synchronized just fine by clicking the little synchronize icon on the actual photo.
Does anyone know what's going on here and how I might be able to get the files that won't import back into the library? And how to be sure that files won't just go away on their own again?
Edit: to be clear, missing versions of files were definitely not stacked with the other ones and the "don't import duplicates" box was not checked when re-importing the ones that won't re-import

I managed to get the photos that wouldn't import back in by deleting them directly out of the database and then reimporting them into lightroom. I'm a little concerned that they disappeared in the library view in the first place, though. Does this sort of thing happen often, and under what circumstances? I'm still in the free trial period and was very close to buying the program, but now I'm not so sure. If I'm using an application to manage my photos, I want to know that it's actually managing all of the photos I put into it and not randomly forgetting about them.
I'm still having the not-really-missing files problem, though. I think it may actually be because they got associated as "sidecar" files somehow and are now in there twice, once as the sidecar file and another time as a separate jpg image. I'm not really sure why only one of them shows up in the missing images view, I think it might be because I edited that one so it's in a slightly different state from the others? If there are any tips on how to resolve that state, I'm all ears, I'd like it to stop telling me I have 53 missing files when I don't.

Question: Multiple iTunes users w/ single music library on file server

My son and I (separate computers) host all of our music on a common file server. Initially, it was my music library...when he loaded iTunes, it imported everything and all was fine.
However, now if I add a few songs to the library (I can see them in the shared folders that we both have setup as our music folder within iTunes) they don't show up in his music library unless we either import them or drag them from File Mgr into iTunes.
There has to be an "automatic" way...doesn't there?
I'm eager for suggestions.
Thanks much,
Rick

Sorry to say, there is not an easier way and folks have been requesting it from Apple for years.
You are running into the situation noted in this article, towards the end
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203
+When another user of the computer has imported new music from CD, repeat steps 6 through 8 to add the music to your library.+

Can't play my music Saying missing files 856

Have had lots of music in itunes on my computer Windows Vista, have gone back to play some songs and said 856 missing files. The songs have ! beside them HELP PLEASE

Okay, did something change on the computer?
Were any directories or files moved outside of iTunes?
Was the OS or Computer upgraded?
A drive replaced?
Basically the error indicates that the files are not where iTunes expects them to be.

Library Missing Files

WIthin Library, inthe Library module, I have a reference to 83 Missing Files yet I am able to see the images.
What causes this reference to Missing Files & how can it be corrected?
TIA
Tom

Did you convert a beta library?
This could be that you are seeing the previews, do they have a ? in the top right corner?
If so click on that and see if you can locate them.

Music library missing

Hi. My Ipod is working. Its says I have 48 Gb used, but it can find the music library nor the songs. In About appears: "songs 0". How can I rescue the music inside it? Thanks in advance!

My music file is still full
What is your "music file"?
but my music library is vacant
What is your "music library"?
except for what I just reloaded.
Why di dyou reload? Did you reformat or delete your music?
I'm not sure if it disappeard after an iTunes update or after I got a new computer but if it was because I changed computers, shouldn't it still be in my iTunes library?
Only if you copied your iTunes library from the old computer to your new computer.
How can I get it back?
Copy \Music\iTunes\ folder from the old computer to your new computer.
isn't there some way to transfer or copy them from iTunes music file to the library?
PLease explain what you mean by "iTunes music file"?

Itunes 7.1 music library missing

I thought 7.1 was supposed to fix the problems from 7.0? I downloaded and installed 7.1, but its not showing any of the misuc in my music library. The files are in the music library folder but not showing on itunes. Also it doesnt let me import,add file or folder. I also had to authorize my computer again after the install. When is 7.2 coming out?

Hi I am using 7.0.2.16 and I have exactly the same problem and I can't fix it despite spending hours. I have re-added all my music to the library but it still doesn't appear in the library in iTunes. What seems odd is if I add any new tunes from CD then it works fine, it just won't display any of the old stuff.
I have read the suggestions on this thread but unfortunately I don't have a "previous iTunes library" folder to reinstate my older version of the library.
One other thing is that I seem to be able to add music to playlists but not the library!
All of this is a bit of a pain but the 3 iPods that are used on this machine still have all theirt music in tact so it's not the end of the world but another worry for me is that I don't seem to have any of my purchased music anywhere other than my iPods. :o((
Finally, when any of the iPods are plugged in, you can't the folder structure so you can't delete any songs. This will be a problem for me pretty soon as mine is very nearly full.
I hope that someone can help but I am seriously considering reinstalling an old version of itunes and starting again.
Help............!!!!

Entire music library missing

After running iTunes "repair missing and damaged files" function, iTunes opens up and shows no music. 5 GB of recordings, formerly listed by artist, are missing. They are still contained in my iTunes Music folder and are on my iPod. How can they be restored to iTunes?

I'm having the same problem, after upgrading my computer. Backed up itunes to external drive, then copied it back after the upgrade. Some files are recognized, some not. All the music is there, iTunes just can't see it. The "add folder" function has never worked. "Add file" is extremely time-consuming when you've got 4000 songs. I've checked that the correct drive is indicated on the Advanced Preferences panel. I've been working from windows explorer because it's easier than "add file." Tearing my hair out. I've been through this before, and sometimes iTunes seems to forget where certain files are for no reason I can figure out. Decides on its own what's a compilation, taking hundreds of files out of alpha order. I'm just about reading to limit my iTunes library to what I need immediately on my iPod, though that limits my browsing ability. Am I missing something or is updating the library something Apple needs to work on?

Music Library Missing Songs

I'm using iTunes Match with automatic download of purchased items on my Mac. My daughter purchased a song using my account. It shows up in my "Purchased" list and my "Recently Added" list. It shows up on my iOS devices. But it doesn't show up in Library on my Mac. It is definitely downloaded on the Mac -- I see the file in Finder sitting exactly where it is supposed to be next to other songs by the same artist. I tried dragging the song into Library. I tried using "Add to Library" from the "File" menu. But when I search the Library by artist or song title it doesn't show up. This is a nuisance, because I count on the Library being a complete list of all songs I own, for building other playlists. I don't want to have to keep looking in different places to find songs. Any ideas?

Ok. So I checked today and they were there. I thought I had tried everything in terms of closing and restarting iTunes, updating Match, etc. But somehow it just required a lot of time to update itself. Still a mystery to me how that works.

Itunes music library backup file

i am updating to Leopard and want to make sure I have the most updated back up file. How do i do this?

thanks...but the most recent version of that file is from 10/10/08. I would like a more recent file. Any idea?
Ignore the date and back it up; unless you've told iTunes the library is in another location, that folder will be up to date.
(39738)

ITunes Music Library.itl file is locked, on a locked disk, or you do not...

^^....have write permission for this file.
Help! I originally installed iTunes,iPod on my user acct.#1
Then created user acct#2 on my PC. I deleted acct.#1 but have all its files on acct#2. Now I can't access my iTunes. I get the error message in the post heading.

See if this works
Buegie, "iTunes 4.9 and Windows Vista Beta 1" #1, 12:29pm Jul 30, 2005 CDT

Music library missing files

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