Narrowing search in iTunes music library

Hi All...I'm using iTunes 7.0.1 on a MacBook Pro and wondering if there is a way to narrow the search criteria in the music library. For example, searching for a song title "Love," and wanting to see songs with only that word as the title, not songs in which the word is part of the title. Is this possible, or have I overlooked something obvious? Thanks in advance for any help, suggestions, etc. And apologies for duplication. Message was originally posted in the wrong group.

Hi...You can restrict the search in the iTunes search window itself by entering a title and, for example, an artist. Entering "Love" and Ronstadt will give you all the songs in your library with "love" in the title and sung by Linda. But there does not seem to be a way to narrow a search by title alone--for example, wanting only songs with "Love" in the title, and not as part of a title.

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Transferring iTunes music library from a mac to a PC

Hi
Does anyone know how i can transfer all the songs on my mac iTunes to my new windows iTunes? I followed the instructions on the msn support website but these instructions must only be for transferring the iTunes library from a mac to a mac, or from a pc to another pc, and not from a mac to pc or vice versa.
I`ve just bought a laptop to take to university and i want to bring my music library with me.
When i loaded up my itunes from mac onto the pc it just keeps saying windows does not recognise the type of file. Is there a way of changing the settings so that windows will recognise and run a mac file?
If anyone knows that'd be of great help

The music files will transfer and play without a problem.
You will need to download a Windows version of iTunes and the iPod Updater in order to use the PC. The Mac versions will not work.
iPod Updater
iTunes Download Page
There may be some problem with the Windows version of iTunes reading the Mac's iTunes Library file. This may prevent you from completely moving over some of the music meta-data from the Mac to the PC.
There have been some posts on this, but I'll need to search for them.
Also see this for the transfer process: Buegie, "transfering music to another pc." #4, 11:22pm Oct 14, 2005 CDT
EDIT: Based on an old post I had copied into my "iPod Hints" file, here is how one contributer gave a high-level process:
i 1) copy the iTunes Music folder to your Windows machine, replacing the existing folder (back up the existing one first)
i 2) copy the iTunes Music Library.xml file to your Windows machine, and change the name to e.g. iTunesMac.xml so iTunes won't write over it.
i 3) delete any "iTunes Library.itl" file (back up the existing one)
i 4) run iTunes, and do File > Import... and pick iTunesMac.xml
Hope this helps.

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.

Japanese text is gibberish in iTunes Music library

Hello,
Problem is: Songs w/Japanese text (Kanji, Kana) as artists and/or title names look like gibberish in my iTunes Music library (viewing songs on the hard drive).
On a new WinXP PC I loaded iPod+iTunes from CD on computer. Songs play fine in iTunes. Japanese text looks fine in Windows\My Music folder. Japanese text looks fine in iPod device. With iPod connected to PC, I can view my iPod songs inside the iTunes window and the Japanese songs text Kanji looks great. (Yet if I look at same songs located on the PC using the iTunes program, they look bad).
I removed iTunes from PC, then downloaded it from the Japan Apple.com site; no change in problem. Help!
Window's settings are:
--WinXP is US English, Control Panel region is US English, Window's Far East language support is enabled. but language for non-Unicode programs is Japanese (other Japanese software looks fine), Japanese IME is enabled
-- Internet Explorer's Language Preferences is set for Japanese 1st, English 2nd.
Thanks in advance!
Erin W

I tried the "convert ID3 tags >> Reverse Unicode" option on a few songs. It only caused the gibberish song names and titles to change to different gibberish.
The odd thing is that I have some songs that had english in some ID3 tags (such as "name") and Japanese in other ID3 tags (such as "artist") and for those, the Japanese text looks great. And yet some song text doesn't.
I tried deleting a few songs from the iTunes Music library, then click-and-drag the songs from Windows' My Music folder into the iTunes program. It adds it back with the Japanese text still unreadable, same as before.
I don't know what else to do. I've searched the discussions database here and found instances of the same problem but no fixes.
Thanks for the help though, and I'd be glad to see any other ideas.
Erin

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

Odd: 1037GB iTunes Music Library when it's really only 280G or so...

I opened my iTunes library and while looking at it noticed that there were alot of duplicates in the library window. At the bottom for the Music list it says: " 252693 items, 730:15:50:30 total time, 1037.01GB"
I looked in the actual Library folder at the suspect music and there are not duplicates in those folders -= just in the Library.
I can get rid of the dups but this seemed odd and seems mainly a problem that might be more easily solved by rebuilding the library file or something = I'd rather not lose my various playlists and my ratings etc.
Any suggestions as to what is going on and how to clean things up without destroying the Library xml?

Thank you so much for your reply Katrina. Interesting stuff. Somehow in the mega searches I was doing for answers I didn't think to search using the Vaio angle. I will definitely go through those Vaio Files. This is my 4th Vaio and I NEVER seem to use any of the preloaded software, but to this point have not had problems until I installed iTunes 9.
Last night I read another post that reminded me that the music files that show up in the iTunes/music folder are just "pointers" or say "shortcuts" (I can't remember the actual term used) to where the ACTUAL music files are located. When I used the Add Folders from the file menu I've always assumed that these "shortcuts" have been placed in the iTunes/Music folder properly. But just in case, I clicked on the Copy Files to iTunes Media folder in Advanced tab to be safe and then I did the Drag/Drop from my windows MY MUSIC folder (rather than using the Add Folders to Library in iTunes). I started by dragging and dropping like 5 albums. Then I'd close, open, close, open etc. to see if they would stay in my iTunes music library.... and they DID! So I left it overnight and then this morning I dragged a bunch more albums into my iTunes music library. Did another close, open, close, open on iTunes and so far everything is staying in place. My next test is going to be to completely shut down my Vaio and start it back up and see if it's all still there.
Do you think any of this makes sense, or relates back to the Vaio software issues from the post you provided? I don't quite understand why it would work to drag/drop but not simply click Add Folders to Library???
Thanks Again,
Jeromy

"importing itunes music library.xml" pops up every time I launch iTunes

My MacBook Pro crashed this morning, requiring a "safe mode" restart. Anyway, on relaunch, everything seems to be working okay now. EXCEPT -- now whenever I first launch iTunes (after rebooting the computer), I get the popup progress box "importing itunes music library.xml" which is followed by a message about the iTunes library being moved to a "iTunes Library (damaged)" message when complete.
I guess my iTunes library has gotten corrupted somehow.
I've searched for this error message and found numerous posts, but all seem to be in reference to moving the iTunes music library from one computer to another.
Can someone assist me in how to correct this problem? I don't want to try resyncing my iPod without fixin this first...

same prob here, but mine goes one step farther (read: worse). i reported in the form from previous post, but no response yet.
in addition to displaying the "importing..." message, the system ultimately indicated that the file was damaged and saved a version as such. Over half my music is not shown in the new file, and thus not in itunes (though the music files are still there.
has anyone figured this out? would hate to have to individually add everytihg back.

ITunes Music Library file cannot be saved. An unknown error occurred (-54)

I just went through the problem of not being able to access my iTunes library and think I got that fixed. It is on an external drive because it is about 55gb's of HD space. I have it linked via an alias on my internal drive of my powerbook.
Now I get this message: The iTunes Music Library file cannot be saved. An unknown error occurred (-54).
First question: If Apple has tagged it with a -54 then it wouldn't be unknown would it?
Second question: I can still play music through iTunes, this dialogue just keeps coming up, with the option to not warn me again. Is it anything to worry about?
Thanks for any help.

Please let me know what you decided to do with this problem. I am suddenly getting the same "error" message. Well, except that my "unknown error" is tagged as (-50). I'm searching through the discussions now.
I had some trouble with iTunes earlier in the week (after wiping out my iPod and other not-so-helpful "tips" on here) I wound up reinstalling Quicktime. But it worked fine until just now.
Now keep in mind, I subscribe to tons of podcasts and add new music both from iTunes Music Store and other sources all the time.
thanks,
bob
mini Mac OS X (10.4.6)

My iTunes Music Library.xml includes 2 location paths for files

A while ago, I copied and consolidated my itunes-songs from internal drive c: to internal drive f:
I changed the location of my "itunes library" accordingly to look at f:... - all went well and all songs were playing from the new location (I thought).
However, after a while I decided to delete the OLD physical location of the mp3-files on c: and now about 2.000 songs in my iTunes are missing and have the well know "!" mark in front of them.
Now, in the itunes music library, there are 2 different locations for my songs listed - although there is only 1 location given in the settings.
Most songs are - where they should be - at localhost/f:/....
But the missing songs still are listed at localhost/c:....
Apart from the fact that I am still searching for the songs (have emptied the trash since) - how in the world can the itunes library still contain 2 different paths?
Any ideas?

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 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 Music lIbrary Sharing problems; repeatedly asks to authorize computer after it has already been successfully authorized

Having a very frustrating issue. I want to share music from my iMac's iTunes Music Library to my MBP. Purchased music plays fines on my iMac but not on the MBP. I can see the iMac's shared iTunes library from iTunes on my MBP. I have successfully authorized both of my computers using the same iTunes account username and password. When I try to play any purchased iTunes music on the MBP, it asks me to authorize the MBP again. Then it verifies that it is already authorized. Trying to play the same song again asks me to authorize my computer again at iTunes, over and over, ad nauseum. I can log into my iTunes account from both computers (via iTunes) which verifies that the username and password are correct. Both computers have the same version of the MacOS and iTunes, 10.5.8 & 10.4.1, respectively. It does this from multiple user accounts on the MBP. I went to iTunes and deauthorized both computers and reauthorized them again, no change. I uninstalled iTunes & all iTunes preferences and downloaded a fresh iTunes 10.4.1 from Apple, no change. I searched the Apple Communities and tried the suggested fixes in the knowledgebase article, http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1389 with no change. I also ran Disk Utility and rebuilt disk permissions but there were no problems found.
Short of doing clean install of the OS or even a reformat and restore, does anyone have any other suggestions. Thanks in advance.

I had the same problem, the only way to fix it is to oddly enough de-authorize your computer and reauthorize it and you'll have the correct number of authorized computer again.
I do not know why iTunes does this maybe someone else can explain why?

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

Why doesn't my whole iTunes music library show up on Apple TV? Only songs I have purchased or downloaded show up

Why doesn't my whole iTunes music library show up on Apple TV? Home sharing is on on all devices.

nevermind, i had automatic graphics switching check off. i removed the check mark and then went into about my mac and voila there was the amd card. Figured i'd post what i found in case anyone else was looking for an answer.

I bought a new laptop and used Windows Easy Transfer cable and moved all files from one computer to another. I installed iTunes and found my iTunes music Library. However, when I plug in my iPod it says it is already synced with another iTunes Library.

I bought a new laptop and used Windows Easy Transfer cable and moved all files from one computer to another. I installed iTunes and found my iTunes music Library. However, when I plug in my iPod it says it is already synced with another iTunes Library.
I don't see anything in Help that shows when you already have transfered all the files over. Why would it want to erase and sync when I already have all the music folder copied over? I didn't have an issue when I had another technician copy from one laptop to another. Home sharing is also on but not being recognized.

I suspect you only migrated the media folder instead of the complete working library. Either review the transfer process and copy over the entire iTunes folder from your old profile's music folder or see Recovering your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.
tt2

Itunes won't find 'itunes music library' on external hard drive by default

I have my Itunes library saved on a wireless external hard drive. When I open itunes for the first time after a re-start it won't automatically detect the itunes music library file and I have to point it to the correct folder on the external hard drive. Once I do this everything works perfectly until I re-start my mac and then I have the same problem.
One of my friends has told me that macs won't automatically connect to wireless devices like windows does but he thinks there is some software that enables it to do so. I presume this would sort the issue out or alternatively any other suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks for any help

Your external HD needs to be mounted before launching iTunes or iTunes will create a new blank library on your startup drive.
You can add your external HD to the list of startup items in  > System Preferences > Accounts to avoid this problem.

Narrowing search in iTunes music library

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