Only see folders in itunes library file

My imac's hard drive failed but before that, I made a backup. However, the backup has all the folders but nothing is inside -- none of the music. Could it be somewhere else? Why would it only copy folder playlists?

boscobilly wrote:
I do have this folder (external HD) as my music Library in Spotify. Is that where it's coming from?
Possibly. I don't use Spotify.

Similar Messages

I downloaded the Special Edition of 'Avatar' with the included 'Extras'... I use to see them in my iTunes library, but, can no longer locate them anywhere on my computer or in the iTunes library files! What happened?

I purchased 'Avatar' The Special Edition with the included Extras with a gift card. I had enough money in my account to cover this purchase. I only got to watch the 'Extras' for one or two times, and now, they have vanished! They no longer appear in my iTunes library or anywhere on my computer! Where are they and how do I regain access? The movie, itself, is still in the library...only the downloaded 'Extras' are gone!

Visibility of the Podcasts section is controlled from within the Edit > Preferences dialog.
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.
Missing tracks
Typically this can happen because a file or folder is accidentally shunted to the wrong location. iTunes can also get confused if it expects to be talking to an external drive which isn't there. If will often reset the default media folder location and may have trouble finding files in the old folders.
Select one of your tracks that is missing in action. Press CTRL-I to Get Info. Cancel when asked to try to locate the file, then look at the location given on the summary tab. This where iTunes thinks the file ought to be? Now find out where it actually is. Post back the two locations for comparison. I should be able to give you some steps to reconnect everything once I can determine which of the things that might have gone wrong is most likely in your case.
When you get it all working make a backup!
tt2

I have multiple libraries on an external drive. Somehow all the iTunes library files i.e. iTunes Library.itl, xml, itdb, Media folder, etc disappeared! Only the music files remain. Now when I start iTunes w/option it can't find any of the old libraries!

Help! I 'm using an old G4 powerbook, Mac OSX 10.5.8, iTunes ver 10. I have multiple iTunes libraries on an external drive. Everything was fine for a while, then all of the iTunes library files, i.e. iTunes Library.itl, xml, itdb, artwork folder, Media folder, etc mysteriously disappeared! Only the music files remain (thank god) So now when I start iTunes w/option key to choose a library, I can't choose any of them because iTunes won't recognize them. Because all the library stuff is missing. So can I re-create the library files? (I don't care if I lose my ratings)
Or should I create a new empty library on the external drive, then manually move all the music files to the Media folder in the new library?
I tried some stupid ideas like creating a new library just to start iTunes, then going into prefs and advanced, then under iTunes Media folder location, selecting the location of the old library on the external, to see if iTunes would then find all the music which is still there, but no workee.
I'm out of ideas, and I searched the archives.
Help! anyone?
Scott

I don't know if this is me adding files to iTunes when the external wasn't connected
it is.
is it OK to just keep deleting that library on the Air?
i wouldn't - at least not until i
mount the external
point iTunes media folder location back to the external via preferences > advanced
consolidate my library via file > library > organize library
The ntfs hasn't seem to be causing any problems, but I've always wanted to know.
in order for your Mac to write to NTFS drives, it needs some help by installing e.g. the NTFS 3G driver. apparently that or something similar is installed on your Mac already. preferably, it would be formatted for Mac but then windows machines would need to have e.g. MacDrive installed to recognize the drive.

I have a new PC and I am getting the message "The iTunes Library File cannot be saved. You do not have enough access privileges for this operation." I am the only one using this PC and I have Windows 7 Pro and have an administrator account. Help

Can anyone help me with this problem. ITunes message," The iTunes library file cannot be saved. You do not have enough access privileges for this operation." I have administrator account and transferred files from old PC. I downloaded new iTunes program on new PC. I synced my iPhone to new PC, no problem. I deleted old account after indicating shared files to new admin account. Can anyone help?

A belated reply, as the problems itunes has have discouraged me from using it much. If you uncheck the "read only" box, it doesn't stay that way! Next time you use it, the box comes up checked.
I'm still having that problem, even when I open iTunes as administrator.
I've yet to see the answer to this problem. I use itunes mostly to download audiobooks, and I'm ready to download more, and want to save them!

I keep getting dialog box saying " The itunes Library file cannot be saved. You do not have enough access privileges for this operation" I am the only user on this computer and only one library! how do i change access privileges please?

hi I keep getting the dialog box " The iTunes Library file cannot be saved. You do not have enough access privileges for this operation"
How do i amend this as i only have one account and one library. I cannot save new work or delete duplicate files

A belated reply, as the problems itunes has have discouraged me from using it much. If you uncheck the "read only" box, it doesn't stay that way! Next time you use it, the box comes up checked.
I'm still having that problem, even when I open iTunes as administrator.
I've yet to see the answer to this problem. I use itunes mostly to download audiobooks, and I'm ready to download more, and want to save them!

I have 2 itunes libraries on my macbook, but can only access one. The itunes library file for the inaccessible library is subdued and won't open. Help?

When I select "Choose Library" the itunes library file is subdued. I copied the library file off of Time Machine and put it back in itunes, but it remains subdued. I'm running OS X 10.6.8 and iTunes 10.4.1. Help?

I too had this problem and have solved it. After upgrading to iTunes 10.4.1 (Running OS X 10.6.8) I could no longer select library files. Previously, I would launch iTunes with the option key down to trigger the "Choose Library" dialog box. I have three libraries, each of them stored in separate iTunes folder within my user:music folder. I would then double-click on a given folder to open it and then double-click on the library file. After the 10.4.1 upgrade the library files were grayed out (not selectable). The problem was resolved by changing what and how I selected. When the three iTunes folders were displayed I clicked once on a folder to select it (instead of double-clicking to open it) and then clicked the "open" button in the dialog box. This resulted was iTunes launched with the library file contained in that folder.

How can i sync videos to my iphone 5 using Itunes 11. i also tried to convert the videos to mp4 and drag and drop the file in itunes but still i cant see videos in itunes library.

how can i sync videos to my iphone 5 using Itunes 11. i also tried to convert the videos to mp4 and drag and drop the file in itunes but still i cant see videos in itunes library.

Copied from this link.
http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html
Video formats supported: H.264 video up to 1080p, 30 frames per second, High Profile level 4.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format
There are 3rd party utilities available that "rip" content into a compatible format - most include an iPod and/or iPhone format selection. If a video plays in iTunes, iTunes includes an option to convert a selection for iPod/iPhone.

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.

The itunes library file cannot be saved. An Unknown error occurred (-1450)

Greetings,
I'm getting the following error:
The itunes library file cannot be saved. An Unknown error occurred (-1450)
I have uninstalled/reinstalled Itunes twice including deleting the old databases. After importing my old songs I get the above error continuously and when I restart Itunes my songs are no longer listed in Itunes.
One thing, all the folders on my computer or now "Read-Only" I can't get rid of this. I uncheck it and aply the change but when I check the properties for the folder again Read-Only is selected again. This is a funny read-only in that the check in the box selecting read-only is ghosted but still there AND WONT GO AWAY.
Any ideas?
Thanks.
Dell XPS Windows XP Pro Itunes Ver. 6.0.4.2

i did move the music library folder to a shared documents folder, but I'm the only one who uses that folder. and the hard drive is not full, almost, but still 10 gigs left for use. itunes was working fine, and then one time when it started up it said the there were missing files, and that itunes had to be reinstalled. I looked but could not see any missing files. nothing bad has happened.it cant be a virius, because i have not been on the internet at all in the last month. but i did use CCleaner to clean out my hard drive of unnecessary files , not the first time i have, and then itunes did not work, this has never happened after I've done this so i doubt that CC was the prolbem. I looked at all of the files it was going to delete, and none of them were related to itunes.

Locked iTunes Library file

Suddenly today I can not access iTunes. I get a message saying +"The iTunes Library file is locked, on a locked disk, or you do not have write permission for this file."+
I'm totally bewildered and don't know what to do. Advice will be so very, very welcome. The only thing I can think of is that perhaps the version of iTunes was upgraded inadvertently. The computer I'm having a problem with is an iMac running on OS 10.3.0.
I'm just hoping this will be easily resolved and I haven't lost my library.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give.
Linda

copied this from another post hope it helps you, i am having the same issue now:
You need to check and see that you have both Read AND Write permission on the iTunes Music folder AND on all folders within it. Log in to the account where the library resides and navigate to the music folder thru Finder. Get Info and check your permissions. To change them, you may need to input the Admin password. Also, and very important, make sure that Read and Write permission is applied to ALL enclosed folders. (Check this under details.) Set your pemissions to allow you Read/Write permissions to the iTunes folder (\Music\iTunes\)and everything in that folder.
I had copied over my entire iTunes folder. This included the following:
iTunes Library
iTunes Library Extras.itdb
iTunes Library Genius.itdb
iTunes Music Library.xml
Because they were set to default to the admin acct, when they copied over they retained the admin only read/write access.
I had originally only checked the iTunes Music Library.xml file for access issues.
Thank you for your help!!!

Trying to back up iPad to external hard drive, "iTunes library file cannot be saved. The disk you are attempting to use is full."

This issue is somewhat complex so I will try to explain it as clearly as I can. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
It all began when I kept getting popups from my iPad saying that I had not backed up since May. I realized that was pretty dangerous so I decided to finally try syncing it to iTunes, though I had avoided doing so for so long because I knew that when I tried there was no room on the computer. I then remembered that I have an external hard drive with plenty of storage space, so I got that out and set it up with a folder to move iTunes and the backup into.
On iTunes I went to the Advanced Preferences and changed iTunes Media Folder Location to the G: folder, with the keep organized box checked. I also copied the previous backups from the original C: drive to G: so that I could delete the ones on C:.
I used Junction Link Magic to link my now empty MobileSync backup on C: to a new (JLM would not work unless it was empty) backup folder on external hard drive G:.
I plugged in my iPad to iTunes to sync it, and while it was backing up I checked the new folder on G: to make sure that the backup was being put there. It was.
However, about halfway through I got the message "iTunes library file cannot be saved. The disk you are attempting to use is full."
My question is Why? If it is being made in a 1.5 terabyte hard drive now, and not the computer, why is there no disk space? My guess is that it must still somehow be saving to the computer. But how? And how can I get it to save solely on the G: drive where there is enough room?
I am running Windows XP and the latest version of iTunes.
An additional but not as crucial issue:
Much of my music has been lost, with the being displayed next to the songs in the iTunes library, and only 50 (purchased) songs remain on my iPad. This was because those missing songs were stored on a different external hard drive ( I:). However, I copied many of the music folders on I: over to G: so that everything could be together. I am wondering if it is possible for me to get these songs back onto my iPad. But this is not my most important issue right now, because I believe that once I get the first issue solved I can simply plug in I: and G: at the same time while syncing the iPad, and get the songs back.
Note: I have come to realize the iTunes program itself is still under Program Files in the C: drive. Does this have to do with anything?

Short term, free up some disk space. Long term, move the library to a bigger drive.
tt2

I just upgraded my mac book to 10.6.8 and downloaded the new version of itunes. When I try to open it and error message appears saying, "The iTunes Library file cannot be found or created. The default location for this file is in the "iTunes" folder.

I just upgraded my mac book to 10.6.8 and downloaded the new version of itunes. When I try to open it and error message appears saying, "The iTunes Library file cannot be found or created. The default location for this file is in the "iTunes" folder in the "Music" folder."
I have tried a few things but iTunes closes right after i click okay. Anyone know anything?

Look in your Home > Music folder. There should be an iTunes folder there and it should have a number of files and folders including one called library.itl You want to guide iTunes to that file. If you don't see that file or folder then in your next post you will have to be very specific as to what you do see or how you have your iTunes set up because that's where it should be according to default settings.

ITunes Library File Size Limit?

I've been struggling to get my AppleTV to work as advertised since I bought it on the day it was originally released. I'm a big music fan and wanted to use it mostly as a music device. My iTunes library is huge. I have my entire CD collection ripped in lossless, as well as AAC for my iPod. I also have lots of other music, some DTS audio files, etc... and very detailed organization.
At any rate, I could always get the AppleTV to work if I just set it up to sync and play the files locally, but never to properly stream in a manner that's useable. And any syncing would take FOREVER. I'm on an N network, and I was getting speeds around 100KB/second. And then after it finally would get setup, I would often get pauses up to a minute where the AppleTV would freeze between menus while "thinking". It would take me 5 minutes just to navigate to a song and start playing it.
I tried all sorts of troubleshooting. Test libraries always worked fine. I've rebuilt my iTunes library from scratch, suspecting a corrupt library file, even though there was no other evidence to support this theory. No dice.
I'm finally giving up, and deciding that AppleTV has a limit to how large an iTunes library file it can handle. My iTunes library file is 160MB. Just the library file. You figure it's only got 256MB of RAM, and it's no wonder it can't handle it. I'm not sure how large the AppleTV OS is, but I suspect with a library file that large that the ATV has to do lots of going back to the HD to retrieve information it just doesn't have enough room for in RAM.
So my new strategy is to set up a secondary iTunes library just for my AppleTV that contains just music I want to sync, and any video I may want to stream. If I want to stream video, I'll launch this new library. If I want to listen to music without my computer on, the AppleTV will have a selection on it from this new library. If I want to stream my huge library, well, now I can use my iPhone as a remote to control my large iTunes library, and use the AppleTV with airtunes feature. And this works wonderfully, 100% responsive with no "waiting".
At any rate, I'm very disappointed that I couldn't get the AppleTV to work as advertised. I wish Apple would specify that there's a limit to how large a library it can handle. I've been screwing around with this for a long time and am essentially giving up, although the iPhone remote / airtunes solution works well for me.
Maybe down the road they'll come out with a new hardware revision with more RAM that can handle things better.

Well, I was hoping I could send you a private message, Greg Neil, because I don't know if you'll ever see this message. Regardless, your iTunes library is NOT the problem no matter what others have told you. 7000 files it's child's play. My iTunes library currently has 14,639 music files in it and 129 Movies ripped at 3000kbps. The library size is NOT the problem. If your network is slow then that will be what is hurting you. The second fastest behind 'n' (i always forget this bit of trivia) should be fast enough for streaming music and most movies. I know that because I've done it. Having said that, go out and buy a bit of ethernet cable and hook it directly into your machine and see if you can stream that way. If you can't then you need to take back your aTV because, in that case, it's the problem. If your network is of adequate speed per what I and the previous poster have mentioned and it still won't stream at all wirelessly then TAKE IT BACK. Mine has streamed fine in the past however, I eventually just hardwired it via ethernet to prevent any drops ever. Hope this helps. I just wanted you to know that going to that amount of trouble to make it work should not have been necessary, and btw, aTV running all your favorite music to your home stereo is worth the price of the device itself. You shouldn't have to suffer.
All the best,
A fellow music lover

ITunes Library File Not Valid! What the Heck?

I have 11,500 songs in my music library and am running iTunes 7.0.2. My iTunes Library file from time-to-time becomes corrupted, on probably at least a weekly basis. I have no idea what's causing this.
Here's the typical scenario ... iTunes works fine, I quit it, and the next time I open it it shows the dialogue box that says, "Importing 'iTunes Libray.xml'..." Then it organizes the files and a dialogue box indicates "iTunes Library" does not appear to be a valid iTunes Library file ... Renamed damaged file ..."
When it's finally all done, I get my music library back minus all my playlists as well as EQ and volume settings.
This happened today and my most recent backup (done earlier in the day) was also corrupted. This is why I've learned to keep a set of four recent backups just to insure I have a reliable and useable one not more than a couple of days old. But it seems a very unnecessary hassle and I'm always losing adjustments made to my database!
Anyway ... would anyone among our distinquished and experienced iTunes geeks out there have a clue as to why this is happening OR any suggestions as to what I might do to help alleviate the problem?
Is anyone aware of a program that will search for corrupted files within your music library? I suspect this might be part of the problem.
Thanking you in advance for your help!
PowerBook G4 17" | 80GB Video iPod Mac OS X (10.4.5)

It seems like the ITL file is not being properly written after iTunes closes. Then when you re-open iTunes, it cannot load the ITL file and creates a new one. Forcing you to recreate your Library manually, again and again.
Several things to check:
-Double check to see that the ITL file or the folder it resides in is not read-only.
-Using Windows Explorer, right-click on the file (or folder) name, go to Properties.
-If it is, then close iTunes, change it, and reopen iTunes.
See this thread to reset the iTunes preferences: http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=1216090#1216090
And see this post to use TweakUI to check the location and validity of your My Music 'Special Folder': http://discussions.apple.com/click.jspa?searchID=487067&messageID=1197027
Once the main cause of the inability to save the ITL file is corrected, you'll need to recreate your Library one last time to finally save it. No way to resurrect the original one, unless you had backup copies of the ITL file.

Error message -48: The itunes library file cannot be saved.

Hello,
When I open up my itunes i get an error message 48 - the itunes library file cannot be saved. All my data is there - music, podcasts etc. Just wondering if this error message means anything, if so what, and what I can do to fix it?
Thanks!

I just called Apple Support and I think they helped me, but I'm still waiting to see if the error message returns. I was experiencing the same problem. Whenever I started iTunes, I would get the -48 error message. Everything else was working fine. Apple Support instructed me to delete some files from a folder and restart my pc. I did this and it seems to have worked. The folder is on my C:/ drive. Using Windows Explorer, I went to my C:/ drive and then opened the following folders in this order: "Documents and Settings", "Administrator", "Application Data", "Apple Computer", "iTunes", "iPod Software Updates". Inside the iPod Software Updates folder, I found four files which I deleted. I then emptied my trash can and restarted my pc. After I restarted my pc and opened iTunes, the error message did not come up. So it looks like my problem has been solved. Just some minor glitch having to do with the last update. I should mention that I did just get an iPod Classic 80 gig which replaced my 30 gig iPod Photo which just died.

Only see folders in itunes library file

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