Sentinel file in iTunes?

MBP running OS X 10.7.5; iTunes 11.0.3
Have noticed in the last couple of days an iTunes-related Sentinel file getting updated and synced with Dropbox (that's where my iTunes library resides). The file is not visible in any of the iTunes folders. Is this Sentinel file supposed to be there and, if so, what is it for? Any documentation available? If it is NOT supposed to be there, what should I be concerned about and what steps should I take to remedy? Thanks!

I believe the sentinel file is dropbox related.
Do a Google search on "Dropbox sentinel" and you'll find quite a few possible reasons for this. I don't use dropbox, but I imagine the file depends on exactly how you use the app.

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What is the purpose of the Sentinel file in the iTunes directory?

Haven't seen a concrete answer to this yet, just what people think it's for...

Hi, welcome to Apple Discussions.
I can't say for certain, but I think iTunes marks it in some way during every update to the library. If iTunes should crash then the state of the sentinel file signals that the library should be checked for consistency when iTunes starts up again.
tt2

Files in itunes music library.xml but not visible in itunes

I have several files that are visible in the xml file, but that do not appear when I search for them in the itunes library. I've seen what looks like attempts to sync these files to my ipod, but they don't exist any more. The files in question are podcasts created by the product formerly known as ipodderx and were converted to m4b.
How can I fix this without losing all of my ratings and play counts?

Can you be more specific about the files you're referring to? Overall, the structure of a "well formed" library is like this:
The five files listed in the iTunes folder are the four "library" files I listed in my previous file, plus the "sentinel" file (which is normally hidden in Windows) which is associated with maintaining the integrity of the iTunes database. The Previous iTunes Libraries folder contains date-stamped copies of the library database file - these are generated by the iTunes update process if and when the new version being installed requires a change to the database structure. These files aren't used by iTunes when in operation, but act as a partial backup mechanism should you want/need to roll back to an earlier release. Otherwise you have:
the Album Artwork folder which contains (in an iTunes-specific format) both all the artwork images retrieved from the iTunes Store and cached versions of all artwork images used to speed up display.
the iTunes Media folder, which contains several subfolders based on the media kinds you have present in your library. In the "standard" layout (as found when you configure iTunes to organize your library for you) you'll find - within the Music folder - one folder for each artist, each containing one folder for each album by that artist, where each of these contains the actual media files (.m4a, .mp3, etc.) containing your music. The iTunes Preferences.plist file lurking in the iTunes Media folder determines the actual folder structure in place (this was changed between iTunes 8 and 9, though iTunes will still work if the library is in the "old" layout.
Does this help? If not, posting a screen shot showing the files you're referring to would be useful!

I backup my iphone on my pc and copy backup file into drive D then i setup new OS on my pc. after that i copy the backup file into itunes backup folder but itunes can't find the backup file to restore my iphone. how can i restore my iphone?

i backup my iphone on my pc and copy backup file into drive D then i setup new OS on my pc. after that i copy the backup file into itunes backup folder but itunes can't find the backup file to restore my iphone. how can i restore my iphone?

Don't you just love changes in interfaces?
I found the answer to my question.
When you attach a device (iPhone, iPad) to your Mac, in iTunes 12 in appears as a tiny icon in the second "row" of the iTunes display. Click the icon and the familiar iTunes display for the device appears. From there, on the Summary screen, you can see the dates of the backups of the device (iCloud and backup to the computer). You can also use the button to backup to the computer.

ITunes update corrupted some of my music files so iTunes can't find the file, nor music I bought from the iTunes store.

After an iTunes generated update of iTunes, some of my music can't be accesed any more. When I try to play the file, iTunes says it can't find the link. This also happens with music I purchase from the iTunes store, so I've lost all this music; do I have to re-buy the purchased music again? My iTunes program is on my C drive, and the music library is on my D drive. In iTunes, I've set the ripped music to be placed in my D drive. The lost links are on some music files, but not others which do play music. Some compilation music files were split up into individual files, usually without LP art attached. Some album art was placed on wrong albums as well. Music with lost links have a ! mark beside the song name. File info says the link is on my C drive, but I can't find it there. Any ideas on how to get these lost files back. Thanks, Moizy.

Try this...
Empty/corrupt library after upgrade/crash
Hopefully it's not been too long since you last upgraded iTunes, in fact if you get an empty/incomplete library immediately after upgrading then with the following steps you shouldn't lose a thing or need to do any further housekeeping. In the Previous iTunes Libraries folder should be a number of dated iTunes Library files. Take the most recent of these and copy it into the iTunes folder. Rename iTunes Library.itl as iTunes Library (Corrupt).itl and then rename the restored file as iTunes Library.itl. Start iTunes. Should all be good, bar any recent additions to or deletions from your library.
See iTunes Folder Watch for a tool to catch up with any changes since the backup file was created.
When you get it all working make a backup!
tt2

Placing 24/192 WAV files on iTunes for playback through Wadia 170 iTranspor

I record live music on a Sound Devices 722 digital audio recorder at 24/192 as WAV files. I can import the 24/192 WAV file into iTunes on a Mac and the bit rate is displayed as 9216 kps. This makes sense since 24x192=9216. When I click on the song in iTunes it plays back at the correct tempo.
I bought a Wadia 170 iTransport since it says it will output bit perfect digital files. I'd love to hear my recordings this way over my sound system. I understand that this would chew up drive space real fast on an iPod. However . . .
I can't get my iPod to accept the 9216 kps song files. I went to set iTunes / Preferences / Advanced / Importing to WAV but the options for sample rate only go up to 48.0 kps and the bit rate up to 16-bit.
Any thoughts or suggestions on how to overcome this will be appreciated.

Hi,
I'm from germany so no 'best buy' but I think I will lock around sleeve/bag for a different product with same measures. Any tip?
The clear plastic case is not what I want. I would like to use the player without such protections. I just want a sleeve to protect the player while its in my jacket/pants.
Btw, i have bought this version: Creative Zen (maybe european version?). I also doesn't seem to have your mentioned sleeve. I also couldn't find it on the website.
Anyway, thank you,
Chris

I can't seem to ADD or even PLAY big files in iTunes

Well this forum is my last resource, really. I've tried everything, even called Apple Technical Support twice, with no solution.
The thing is I wanted to add an audio file, mp3, to itunes library. I noticed it wouldn't be added in any way (dragging or from the menu). I couldn't find out what was the problem but then I saw that another file, same size (65 MB), hadn't been added too. All the other files, which are much smaller, work fine. So I think the problem is the size of the mp3.
Anyway, I tried everything I could think about, and also reinstalling itunes (which was suggested by the tech support). I checked the files and they're OK, they play regularly on WMP, winamp, VLC. Then i found out that don't even play on itunes. In fact, it doesn't recognize them: the SOLE rection it manifests is coming to the top when I try to open the files straight from the explorer. And that's all, no error msg, nthng, it just stays there, not even opening the player or addind to a playlist if I will.
That's basically it... i really tried to circumvent this issue on my own, i tried hard and called support. When they couldn't help i gave up. I always think I'm doing smthng stupid and that the solution is obvious, right in frint of me, but I really can't see it. If you could help me, even telling me if you are also unable to deal with "huge" files in itunes, I'd be grateful...
Any suggestions? Thanks!
ps: i got windows XP pro SP 2, i have free disk space and my ipod is a shuffle 1 G (its not lack of space on it, i cant even manage to get to the stage of filling it)

Just out of curiosity, try playing the song in a different program . . . maybe Windows Media Player to see if it works. I wonder if it's corrupted....

Editing a file from Itunes library

Hello,
I called Apple care about this and they recommended asking here because they don't know how to edit files from I tunes library.
I have a live talk that was recorded on an MP3 recorder and given to me as a Wav file. I want to edit and cut out a live song on the beginning of the talk before burning copies because the quality is bad. I tried monkeying with this by changing the format to aiff or aac etc and when I try to drag it to garage band it doesn't import it. I also tried exporting it to garage band and it saves it as a text file and it's greyed out and I cannot open it.
Does anyone know how to accomplish what I am asking??
Thanks very much

yes there can be and hopefuly you have it in AAC -- don't have to but recommended. Use iTunes to set the 'start playing time' to the time after the song. When you imported your live talk file into iTunes, find the file and right click it then choose "Get Info". Choose the "Options" tab. In it, you will see a box and the words "Start time" next to it. Check that box and edit the start time that you want. In your case is the time when the song finish playing. Press "OK". Right click on the file again and this time choose "Convert Selection to AAC". A new file is being made which will start after the song just finished played.

Cannot delete movie file from iTunes

After converting movie file via Quicktime and adding it to the iTunes library, I am not able to remove it anymore. If you try to delete it, it crashes iTunes and after that all desktop icons are frozen. The movie does not play in iTunes, you cannot edit its info without crashing iTunes either. Movie plays in preview pane in Finder....
Is there any other way to remove the file from iTunes?

Try deleting the file without iTunes running.
When you next open iTunes it should then be marked as a missing file and you should be able to delete the entry from iTunes.
Hope this works
Regards,
Colin R.

Can't delete files from iTunes File Sharing

iPad, IOS 8.1.3
MacBook Pro Retina, OS 10.10.2
iTunes, v12.1
I'm trying to delete files from iTunes. In this instance, I have files I made in Pages, via my iPad, I have learned how to move them to my computer without using iCloud, which I prefer. Now I can't get them off of the iTunes app on my computer.
I have deleted them from my iPad and from my computer but they are still in the iTunes app on my computer. To see these one must plug the iPad into the computer. When iTunes, on the computer, opens, choose Apps from the side bar, (under settings), scroll down to File Sharing, pick the app, in this case Pages and there is a list of all the files, (docs), still on the computer, within iTunes.
If i drag one of the files to the desk top on my computer and clic on it it will open. This is true for any of the apps under File Sharing.
This seems very insecure to me and it also appears to take up space on my iPad.
Anyone know how to get rid of these files?

Hi,
I had an orhpanded link to a networkshare which does not exist anymore. With the "cmd" key pressed down I was able to dump the favorite to the trash.
Thank you.
Cheers
Robert

I get an error when trying to import MP3 files in iTunes?

When I try to import mp3 files into iTunes (version 6), I get an error message of:
The file "song file name" can not be imported An unknown error has occurred (-50).
I have already imported these files into iTnes on my old computer, but run into this problem with my new laptop. I downloaded a new version of iTunes just like I installed all my new programs on this new laptop.
For some reason, I run into this problem when trying to import any mp3 files (as mentioned, even mp3 files that I successfully imported into iTunes previously).
(I've tried a complete removal and re-install, but that didn't help)
Anyone know why I'm getting this error message and how to correct things?
Thanks in advance for any help !!!

C:\DOCUME~1\Mark\LOCALS~1\Temp\WERe357.dir00\iTunes.exe.mdmp
C:\DOCUME~1\Mark\LOCALS~1\Temp\WERe357.dir00\appcompat.txt
those are the files that are sent as an error report... i dont know what the problem is! this is starting to get me mad! I need my music! some1 help plz.
I cant load that one folder, what could be the problem? I've loaded another folder similar to this one but it was alot smaller and everything worked out fine, but for my big one its messing up.

I was cleaning my macbook pro and i deleted all my files including itunes. Then when i turn on my itunes it says the folder"itunes" cannot be found or created, and is required. the default location for this folder is inside the "music" folder. help please

My itunes keep saying The folder “iTunes” cannot be found or created, and is required. The default location for this folder is inside the “Music” folder.iTunes needs a library to continue. You may choose an existing iTunes library or create a new one. please help i presschooseexisting cuase i have one but then it says this The file cannot be found or created. The default location for this file is in the “iTunes” folder in the “Music” folder. please help

I was cleaning my macbook pro and i deleted all my files including itunes
Restore your computer from your backup.

How do you extract an .MP3 from an .MP4 file using iTunes?

I have figured out how to import a home video into iTunes (video taken with my iPhone 5S), and have figured out how to use iTunes to convert the video (recorded in Quicktime) to .MP4 format ... but I cannot then use iTunes to "Create a New Version" and have it allow me to select .MP3 as a choice. It's on the list, but it's greyed-out. Apparently, on a MAC, if you hold down the "Option" key, it will then allow you to select the .MP3 format, but pressing "ALT " (generally the PC equivalent) only closes the drop-down menu on me. So ... what do I do here?
I really don't want to have to download a different program to do this, especially since it seems that iTunes can ... I just need to know how.

THANK YOU.
I tried all manner of other keys ... but didn't think to try Shift. Or if I did, I didn't hold it down BEFORE clicking on File.
(For anyone else reading this ... it's important that you hold down the Shift key before clicking on File because iTunes won't allow you to choose .MP3 as an option if you try to hold down the Shift key after the File menu is already open.)

How to transfer my iPad 4 iOS 7 music files using iTunes and GoodReader (latest version) app to my Macbook Pro (Mid 2010)

The GoodReader user manual procedure allows me to transfer files from macbook to iPad but not the other way. I can see my iPad music files via iTunes on the MBP screen. However, I cannot select the music files for transfer to GoodReader, My Documents folder. Once they are in the Goodreader folder, then it is easy to transfer them to MBP.
Would appreciate any help. Thanks.
RMY

Thanks for your response, Demo.
I'm using the latest version of iTunes, also my MBPS is 10.6.8. My music files on my ipad are MPEG type and they should be compatible with iTunes and GoodReader. These files were already in my iPad before I installed GoodReader.
I want to move the files from my ipad to my MBPS. I previously thought that I am supposed to move these files myself to GoodReader documents folder by following some steps. But after reading the instructions for file transfer, I realized that the GR documents folder should show ALL the files on my iPad. While it shows a couple of documents that I downloaded after the GR was installed, it does NOT show the music files that were on iPad before. This is the problem.
I'm wondering if there is another way of getting these files to theMBP. These files should have a physical location on the iPad. Is it possible to access that location and move them from there? I tried to drag and drop these files from iTunes to a thumb drive in Finder but it did not work.
RKMY

How can I move my media files from USB-HD to NAS without having to copy the media files to iTunes Media folder?

I have iTunes on a Mac with the iTunes Media folder stored locally and the music on an external USB-HD. The music files are Not copied to iTunes Media folder when added to the library.
Now I want to move my files from USB-HD to a NAS without losing any information or settings. I want to do the similar to my iPhoto library. I do not want to consolidate my files to iTunes Media folder. The articles I’ve read only discuss how to do if the files are copied to iTunes Media folder when added to the library. Any tips or trix?

I have iTunes on a Mac with the iTunes Media folder stored locally and the music on an external USB-HD. The music files are Not copied to iTunes Media folder when added to the library.
How are you achieving the above? What are your copy setting in preferences? If you are manually overriding the copy-to by holding down the option key while adding media then that won't apply when you import a playlist (as in importing the .xml). When you import a playlist like that you are essentially adding the files to the library again and it will obey the preferences setting since you can't option add them that way.
Correct on the .itl. Only iTunes itself can edit that file.
I think you need to review your basic wants/needs in doing all this. If your reason for not wanting to use the Media Folder settiing is because you do not want it to go on the internal drive, but you don't actually mind if it organizes it as long as it is on the NAS, change the Media Folder preferences setting to the NAS and let it consolidate to there. If you want to move the stuff but keep it organized in your own folder structure you may need to do it as I suggested initially. Once it is on the NAS and iTunes recognize the file locations you can do what you can only do if you manually manage music which is move it around in Finder afterward once it is on the drive and recognized to tweak location to your final wishes.

Sentinel file in iTunes?

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