Odd iTunes Library Path Info

I've been searching for hours to find an answer to this problem and either I'm the only one in the world having this problem (not bloody likely) or I'm not searching on the right terms. Anyway--let's see if I can explain it this way:
My music is stored on a NAS, and a sample path to the actual file location looks like this:
...\Drobo1\My Music\iTunes Music\Music\Artist Name\Album Name\01 Track Name.mp3
If I go into iTunes 11 and select the same track within iTunes, and select 'Get Info', I get this:
...\Drobo1\Volumes\Drobo1\My Music\iTunes Music\Music\Music\Artist Name\Album Name\01 Track Name.mp3
Even though the second path does not exist on my network, iTunes is still able to find and play the file with no trouble (I can also manually browse to the track and play it in Finder no problem). However, iTunes' nonsensical path information is exported to the XML file and this is causing me all kinds of havoc for 3rd party apps like my Sonos system. I've deleted the iTunes XML file and recreated it and the weird path info persists.
Bottom Line: How can I get iTunes to retain the true path info and properly export this information to the XML file?
Thanks in advance.

If the drive is not mounted, online and ready, iTunes will not see it.
Stop iTunes from opening at startup.
You could create an Applescript that checks for the external drive, then when it sees it, starts iTunes.
Put that in your Login items (instead of iTunes itself).
For details, post over in the Applescript forum here -> http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=724

Similar Messages

After moving itunes library paths are still set to old drive

I have moved my itunes library from my hard drive to a network connected NAS drive. The problem I'm finding is that itunes now can't find the songs in the library as they still show (when looking at 'Get info') the path to the old location).
I have done the following:
1 copied all song files in the 'itunes music' folder as well as the files in the folder above (including 'itunes library.itl' and 'itunes library.xml') to the new location
2 Checked the boxes in Edit > Preferences > Advanced that read 'Keep iTunes Media Folder Organized' and 'Copy Files to ITunes Media folder when adding to library'.
3 Changed the iTunes Media Folder location to the new location (the same folder as the 'itunes library.itl' file is held.
4 Re-started iTunes while holding the shift button so that I can 'choose' the library, then browsed to the new location and selected the 'itunes library.itl' file in the new location.
None of this has any effect. This is what I've noticed:
a - The individual files cannot be found and when I right click and choose 'get info' it shows that the path is still set to the old location
b - The 'itunes library.xml' file still shows links to the old path for each of the individual songs.
c - I can manually 'point' the songs individually to the new location so that they can be found - although this is not an option for the whole library which is several thousand. I do this when I get the error message 'The song 'xxxx' cound not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?'.
d - I import a new CD or buy a new song from iTunes, the songs are correctly located on the new drive and play with no problems.
Can anyone tell me if I've missed a step? If I was to guess, I'd say that the 'itunes library.itl' still has all the old paths for the individual songs, but I don't know how to get iTunes to re-create or update that file and can't edit it myself.
Regards, Steve.

Thanks for that R. I'd seen a few of those posts but none of them seemed to match my query exactly.
However, I seem to have found a solution to my own problem. Whether it will help with yours I don't know (looks like you're a Mac user) but here's what I've found:
* The basic problem was with the file itunes music.itl' which was still pointing iTunes to the old location of the music files. I don't know why it didn't update this file when all the 'consolidating files' was done but there you go. This is not in a format editable by ordinary mortals, but you can re-create it if it gets corrupted by editing another file called 'itunes music.xml', which is in an editable format.
* It seems the .xml file basically contains all the .itl file information and is used essentially as a backup (my guess, don't know if it's correct). So deleting the .itl file and then re-creating it by telling the system to import the information from the .xml file is the thing to do. Here's how I did it:
* Go to the new drive and path where you've copied your itunes library to. I copied both the two files above first just in case to my desktop (doesn't really matter where). They're in the 'Music' folder above the folder where all your music files are kept (music files are kept in 'iTunes Music' in my setup).
* Edit the 'itunes music.xml' file. You'll need a good text editor with search and replace functions to do this as you'll have to do the same number of replacements as you have song files - in my case a number of thousand. Even better than a standard text editor would be an XML editor as that will make the text file easier to read (I used Dreamweaver just because I already have it on my system).
* If you look through your xml file you'll see all your songs listed with lots of other information such as track id. At the end you'll see a line that says something like:
<key>Location</key><string>file://localhost//EDNET01/Users/Steve/My%20Documents/My%20Music/iTunes/iTunes%20 Music/Bob%20Dylan/Modern%20Times/01%20Thunder%20On%20the%20Mountain.m4p</string>
If you're in the same position as me you'll notice that the path name is wrong (it's still showing the old path and drive). So the job is basically to edit and replace each of the paths to show the new drive and path.
*To do this with a single search and replace you don't need to change the album and file name, nor should you need to change the folder containing all the song files. This is the search and replace change I made then:
Search (all instances, hopefully if your text editor will allow it):
//localhost//EDNET01/Users/Steve/My%20Documents/My%20Music/iTunes/
Replace with:
//localhost/X:/FamilyMusic/
which is the drive and path where I've moved my itunes music to. The song folders are in the folder below that called 'itunes music'.
* Once you've saved this file (and having a backup copy of the old .itl and .xml files saved somewhere just in case) delete the two old files from the new folder where you've copied your music
* Open iTunes. Go to File > Library > Import playlist.
* Navigate to your newly edited version of 'itunes music.xml'. Select it and you should find that itunes begins rebuilding your library with the new paths and creates a new 'itunes music.itl' file in the process.
Once that's done you should have your music, podcasts and playlists back.
** Disclaimer ** I'm no iTunes expert so I don't know if this is the 'proper' way to do things. If it doesn't work you should be ok to replace the copied files back into your music folder and no damage done, but in any event I'm not responsible for any problems. Make sure you've got backups is my advice!

Unable to change my iTunes library path

Just upgraded to itunes 11 this afternoon, wanted to change my library path to my Time Capsule, but when I select it; itunes crashes.
Thank you and I hope there is fix for this SOON!

Happens to me as well on Windows 8, but even earlier. When the pop-up dialog to select a new library location appears, iTunes crashes immediately.

Changing iTunes library path

Weird things happened when I upgraded to Lion. The main problem is that my user name changed from an old to a new user name. I vaguely remember Lion asking me if I wanted to keep a user name or use both or something like that - well - I didn't make the right choice. The old is in a password protected directory or something like that. The unfortunate part of this is that my iTunes library and all the songs are now password protected. To fix this I need to put the library in the main directory and then tell iTunes to choose this library. Does this sound correct? Or do I need to do something else?
Lou

I'm glad if iTunes is happy, but of course I care more about my happiness!
Indeed.
The problem is that although you can move the iTunes Music folder wheresoever you desire as described in my previous link, the iTunes folder has to be in the My Music folder and Windows XP is quite particular about moving that folder.
You have to use the Tweak UI Power Toy (or do some registry editing on your own) to do so. Have a look at this article in the Apple Knowledge Base for information and a link for downloading it.

Itunes library path x 2

I have two iTunes libraries on the same laptop. One path is:
C:\Users\Users 1\My Music\iTunes and the new library is:
C:\Users\User 1\Documents\Empty Rip Folder do not delete\new user\iTunes Media
I created the empty rip folder because of all of the confusion between Media Player and iTunes, but that is a long story. Anyway I would like to change the path of the second library because it just is not something I remember. Does anyone have a suggestion of how I can put it into My Music without causing problems?
Do you think I could have something like:
My Music\King\iTunes and My Music\Queen\iTunes

See my user tips Make a split library portable and Getting iTunes & Windows Media Player to play nicely.
If you want to be able to switch between two libraries easily both should be in a portable layout and each should really be using iTunes Media as the media folder name. The folder above can vary, so you could have ..\My Music\King and ..\My Music\Queen, with independent library files in each of those folders, and each containing an iTunes Media folder for its own media files. The first tip should help with manipulating the libraries into the right shape for moving around without breaking the internal links between the library and the media.
Note also that certain settings such Keep iTunes Media folder organized & Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to the library act on a per user basis rather than per library, so changing settings while one library is active may affect when happens when you switch to the other one.
tt2

Extra Music Folder turns up unexpectedly in iTunes Media path

Everything will seem just fine and suddenly a new Music Folder will show up in the path of my iTune library. My iTunes library preferences path looks like this /volumes/music library +(an external hard drive)/music/itunes/itunes media/music...+it is at this point that all of my music folders show up in finder. However within this list of music folder another Music Folder will show and some titles or portions of titles are transferred under this sub Music Folder again located among the artist folders. I have gone and transferred these files back into the proper position under the original Artist Folder following the original Music Folder. Sometimes it is only one or two songs that gets moved and sometimes an entire album. The path remains the same under preferences. I think it may have something to do with iTunes organizing the files but I do not know how to correct this. Help!

I am totally confused. Once again an additional Music Folder has appeared in my iTunes Library path and some items have been transferred there. Again my path is /Volumes/Music Library/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music. At this point are the Artist Folders in alphabetical order. In the Artist Folders under the M's is again a folder Music and under that two Artist Folders, one Oscar Peterson which contains a single Album Folder (of which I have three OP albums) that contains 9 out of 10 songs. This is followed by a Doors folder containing a single album folder (of 6 albums I have) with a single song. In iTunes selecting that song and Get Info it shows the same path as above but with the extra /Music on the end. I am perplexed. I am dumbfounded as to the problem and what to do.

ITunes 11 - Where is the iTunes Library.itl file?

I used iTunes 11 to move my entire library to a new Western Digital Thunderbolt duo drive. In iTunes advanced settings, I specified an itunes library path of /Volumes/Media Library/iTunes Media. Then from the menu selected File -> Library -> Organize Library. This moved all my itunes media from my local hard drive to the external drive in the path specified above. As expected, there was still a /Users/bernie/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media folder, which contained my iTunes Library.itl and other files. So, I moved this folder somewhere else, yet iTunes continues to function normally.
The iTunes Library.itl file is NOT on the external drive. Can anyone tell me if this file is still necessary, and if so, how is my iTunes still working without it?
-Thanks

You did not in fact move your entire library, you moved just the media files. Your iTunes application is likely using the true "library" file (along with all the other supporting files it needs) normally in your Home > Music > iTunes folder. I have not tried what you have done but it seems iTunes is keeping track of where you have relocated that iTunes folder with the rest of the library in it. In some regards iTunes is good at keeping track of moving files, but is horribly unforgiving if you do that to media files.
Yes, that file is still necessary, though you could use Spotlight to see if you have other copies iTunes could be using instead.
To properly move your whole library to the external you should have copied the whole iTunes folder to the external drive, then start iTunes with the option (alt) key held down and guided it to the iTunes Library.itl file on the external drive.
As expected, there was still a /Users/bernie/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media folder, which contained my iTunes Library.itl and other files.
Is this accurate? Your iTunes Library.itl file should not have been in your media folder.

HT5085 Gathering Info About your iTunes Library - Keep getting Network error

I bought iTunes Match yesterday, and so far have not been able to use it.
It gets to Stage 1: Gathering Info About Your iTunes Library and makes progress, but right at the end an error box appears saying:
"We could not complete your iTunes request. The network connection was reset.
Make sure your network connection is active and try again"
Well I know the network connection is active as I was able to be charged for iTunes Match and have had no problems making other purchases. I went to Advance > Run Diagnostics Tests from Help in iTunes and ran the Network Connectivity Diagnostics and it reported no problems.
Now I know how much Apple hate giving back refunds, but if people can't help, does anyone know how I can get my money back? If I click "Report a Problem" it simply takes me to the help pages. I tried contacting support but I received an email saying they can't help.
I'm getting quite frustrated now, so I'm reaching out and hoping someone can help me?
I've copied the diagnostic results below:
Microsoft Windows 7 x64 Home Premium Edition Service Pack 1 (Build 7601)
Dell Inc. Dell System XPS L502X
iTunes 10.6.1.7
QuickTime 7.7.2
FairPlay 1.14.37
Apple Application Support 2.1.7
iPod Updater Library 10.0d2
CD Driver 2.2.0.1
CD Driver DLL 2.1.1.1
Apple Mobile Device 5.1.1.4
Apple Mobile Device Driver 1.59.0.0
Bonjour 3.0.0.10 (333.10)
Gracenote SDK 1.9.5.502
Gracenote MusicID 1.9.5.115
Gracenote Submit 1.9.5.143
Gracenote DSP 1.9.5.45
iTunes Serial Number 003CA7C40B1E98E0
Current user is not an administrator.
The current local date and time is 2012-05-18 20:20:20.
iTunes is not running in safe mode.
WebKit accelerated compositing is enabled.
HDCP is supported.
Core Media is supported.
Video Display Information
NVIDIA, NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M
Intel Corporation, Intel(R) HD Graphics Family
**** External Plug-ins Information ****
No external plug-ins installed.
Genius ID: bb5c046694c1f4c590202360da9f2bc5
iPodService 10.6.1.7 (x64) is currently running.
iTunesHelper 10.6.1.7 is currently running.
Apple Mobile Device service 3.3.0.0 is currently running.
**** Network Connectivity Tests ****
Network Adapter Information
Adapter Name:          {444AF521-4D63-434F-AC33-8F05DA9C6C64}
Description:          Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter #2
IP Address:          0.0.0.0
Subnet Mask:          0.0.0.0
Default Gateway:          0.0.0.0
DHCP Enabled:          Yes
DHCP Server:
Lease Obtained:          Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970
Lease Expires:          Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970
DNS Servers:
Adapter Name:          {4F46CBF3-C53C-4615-AF14-B46B9785D100}
Description:          Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter
IP Address:          0.0.0.0
Subnet Mask:          0.0.0.0
Default Gateway:          0.0.0.0
DHCP Enabled:          Yes
DHCP Server:
Lease Obtained:          Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970
Lease Expires:          Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970
DNS Servers:
Adapter Name:          {6D3CAB28-0C0B-4701-A440-B1A90BE75551}
Description:          Dell Wireless 5540 HSPA Mini-Card Network Adapter
IP Address:          0.0.0.0
Subnet Mask:          0.0.0.0
Default Gateway:          0.0.0.0
DHCP Enabled:          No
DHCP Server:
Lease Obtained:          Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970
Lease Expires:          Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970
DNS Servers:
Adapter Name:          {8C130DAB-E810-4FA6-8946-1600FFE0DB2F}
Description:          Intel(R) WiFi Link 1000 BGN
IP Address:          192.168.1.69
Subnet Mask:          255.255.255.0
Default Gateway:          192.168.1.254
DHCP Enabled:          Yes
DHCP Server:          192.168.1.254
Lease Obtained:          Fri May 18 20:01:40 2012
Lease Expires:          Sat May 19 20:01:40 2012
DNS Servers:          192.168.1.254
Adapter Name:          {B32D9395-8937-42EC-BC5F-352D07958EDF}
Description:          Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
IP Address:          0.0.0.0
Subnet Mask:          0.0.0.0
Default Gateway:          0.0.0.0
DHCP Enabled:          Yes
DHCP Server:
Lease Obtained:          Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970
Lease Expires:          Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970
DNS Servers:
Active Connection:          LAN Connection
Connected:          Yes
Online:                    Yes
Using Modem:          No
Using LAN:          Yes
Using Proxy:          No
Firewall Information
Windows Firewall is on.
iTunes is NOT enabled in Windows Firewall.
Connection attempt to Apple web site was successful.
Connection attempt to browsing iTunes Store was successful.
Connection attempt to purchasing from iTunes Store was successful.
Connection attempt to iPhone activation server was successful.
Connection attempt to firmware update server was successful.
Connection attempt to Gracenote server was successful.
Last successful iTunes Store access was 2012-05-18 20:14:07.

@ deggie, I wasn't threatening ANYONE. I was simply saying how frustrating this has become, seeing how I have been trying on my own to figure this issue out for more then a month with no results. Like I said in the beginning, I have not used any other account to purchase apps or other products on my phone. I have only ever used one account. There are 23 apps that are saying they can't sync. It directs me to authorize the computer, which I do but it doesn't change the outcome. If I proceed, I lose those 23 apps correct? Do I also lose all my text messages saved, and other things such as documents in the "notes"?

I recently purchased a new PC. I had backed-up my old computer on Carbonite, so I was able to transfer my iTunes library to the new computer when I downloaded my info from Carbonite. Is there a way to restore my playlists?

I recently purchased a new PC. I had backed-up my old computer on Carbonite, so I was able to transfer my iTunes library to the new computer when I downloaded my info from Carbonite, but the playlists are gone. Is there a way to restore my playlists?
Most of my playlists are on my iPod. If I use my iPod to transfer, will the songs double in my library? Also, how do I do this?
Thank you for any & all info you can provide!
Julie

If you had backed up and restored your library properly you should have ended up with the playlists too. Did you import the media folder from the backup drive into a new library rather than restoring the entire iTunes folder?
See also Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.
tt2

Can anyone help me write a script that would click "get info" and then "enter" on each movie in my itunes library? I am asking because my itunes 11 repeatedly loses the artwork to my movies in my itunes library.

Can anyone help me write a script that would click "get info" and then "enter" on each movie in my itunes library? I am asking because my itunes 11 repeatedly loses the artwork to my movies in my itunes library. I can restore the artwork (and make my apple tv see the movie exists as well) by going into the movie library and clicking on each movie by hand, slecting get info, and then selecting enter. Now doing this 10 times in 20 days was fun and all BUT I would really like to automate the process so everytime itunes screws it up I can fix it easier.
I saw this example of an itunes script that restores artwork for music
tell application "iTunes" set theSelection to selection repeat with i from 1 to count of theSelection tell (item i of theSelection) set artworkCount to count of artwork repeat artworkCount times set theArtwork to data of artwork 1 delete artwork 1 set data of artwork artworkCount to theArtwork end repeat end tell end repeat end tell
but I need to tweak this to fit my needs for simply clicking the "get info" button and "enter" in the movie library rather than all the stuff this guy has listed. Any ideas or help on writing this? Thanks.

Try assigning Queen as the Album Artist on the compilations in iTunes on your computer.

Is there a way to overwrite the ORIGINAL songs with my iTunes library info?

Hi there,
I would like to know if there is a way to overwrite the original songs with my iTunes library info? What I mean is, I have MANY songs that I have transferred to iTunes (and were obviously not purchased from iTunes) and I always put the info (such as the album name, the album art, artist, composer, etc.) and it leaves the original song (like the songs that are in "My music" section that is in "My Documents") with the same info. For example : The song that I put into the library will be "chamiionaire feastureing flip"... and in the iTunes, I put it as "Chamillionaire ft. Lil Flip". How do I make it so that it replaces the "original" info (located in my documents) with the info I put in?

Same question. Used to have an iPod. Lost it (best digital player ever), now I use other portable device. The mp3 files have their id3tag edited in the original file, but the .m4a don't!.
Want to know someway to write the info from the library to the original .m4a files.

My computer crashed and I no longer have the itunes library. i get an error msg that my iphone is synced to another library - how can I get the info from the phone to the itunes library?

my computer crashed and I no longer have the itunes library. i get an error msg that my iphone 3g is synced to another library - how can I get the info from the phone to the itunes library without losing everything? How do I delete old audiobooks from my iphone?

You can transfer itunes purchases: File>Devices>Transfer Purchases
The iphone is not a storage/backup device. The sync is one way - computer to iphone. The exception is itunes purchases.
It has always been very basic to always maintain a backup copy of your computer. Use your backup copy to put everything back.

Why doesn't my iTunes Library list any track info. for the CDs I burn?

I've bought a new PC and after setting up iTunes i began to copy my CD library back into my new iTunes library on my new computer.
But when I copy a CD now the only album information that copies is "track 1" "track 2" "track 3" etc. No song titles, no artist names, no album names. No album covers. All of this information was automatically copied from the same CDs on my old computer with a slightly older version of iTunes.
What's wrong? How can I fix this?

Are you reimporting the CDs themselves or are you copying over the files from the old computer? I assume the latter.
If you are copying over the old files from the old computer, what format where they imported as? My guess is that you used AIFF or WAV files? If so, that is the problem. WAV and AIFF files can not store info like artist, track title, etc. like you can with MP3 and AAC files. Instead the iTunes database file (the .itl file on a Windows machine) keeps track of that stuff. If you move the WAV or AIFF files, that information is lost/disconnected.
Try this and see if it works. Pick all the tracks from an album and then use the Get Track Info command. Since they were originally imported by iTunes, it may work and fetch the proper information.
Patrick

I have just transferred my iTunes library from a hard drive previously connected to a windows laptop to a MacBook Pro and now all my options for editing info are greyed out. I have seen the answers if still using windows but could find a similar situation

I have just transferred my iTunes library from a hard drive previously connected to a windows laptop to a MacBook Pro and now all my options for editing info are greyed out. I have seen the answers if still using windows but could find a similar situation to this one.

Eels290776 wrote:
if my external hard drive is not connected to either of my machines, and I download something onto my iMac and then something different onto my Macbook, where are my machines going to be storing the new downloaded media
when the drive is not connected, +iTunes media folder location+ will default back to <MacintoshHD>/users/<yourname>/music/iTunes/iTunes music (or media)
and when I next connect the external hard drive how will I easily get the newly downloaded media onto the external HD
you'd have to point +iTunes media folder location+ back to the external via preferences > advanced > iTunes media folder location, then file > library, organize library > consolidate files
and essentially, to have it easily readable on both machines?
in that case it might be best to copy the entire iTunes folder to the external. then, on each machine, launch iTunes while pressing option on your keyboard. when prompted, click on +choose library+ and navigate to the iTunes folder on the external.
note only one iTunes can access the iTunes library @ a time !
also, make sure the external is mounted on either machine before launching iTunes.
JGG

I am in the process of trying to transfer my iTunes library from one computer to another. Some of the music/film info has been edited (by me) in my library (using get info). When put onto new computer the info has gone back to before i edited it.. Help!?

I am in the process of trying to transfer my iTunes library from one computer to another. Some of the music/film info has been edited (by me) in my library (using get info). When put onto new computer (following apple's instructions- using an external hard drive) the info has gone back to how it was before i edited it.. Help!?

Hello,
I would recommend taking a look at the article below for more information about migrating your iTunes library.
iTunes for Windows: Moving your iTunes Media folder
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1364
-Griff W.

Odd iTunes Library Path Info

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