What is "Consolidate Library"

What is 'consolidate library?" Under my previous OS my ITunes library showed categories such as 'genres' now it's all gone...all music remains, individually in my 'playlists' but nothing appears as before. It would show me EVERY "MeatLoaf" cd in the entire library....does anyone know how to restore that capability....careful, I'm a "ROOKIE" at this cyber-stuff but any guesses will be appreciated. If "Consolidate Library" doesn't do what I'm after, does anyone know what will? Also, the message "cannot be undone" shows under "Consoli...."
h e l p ? ?

WHen you use iTunes with the default settings, as you add content to your library, those media files are copied into the iTunes folder from where ever you added them from (Desktop, CD, media card, etc.).
However you can turn that off and when you add files to iTunes, it will add them to the library and simply use them from where ever you added them. So next time you play them it will go to that location for the file. For example you might have some songs in your My Documents folder, others might be on an external drive, & still others in a folder called "Songs" on your C: drive or another internal drive. Some people like this better because then they can organize their files any way they want and not have iTunes make copies into the iTunes folder and use its own structure.
Which brings us to consolidate library. All this function does is copies all the media files that are not in the place iTunes would normally put them and copies them into the iTunes folder, thus consilidating everything into the same folder. This would be useful, for example, if you were getting a new computer and wanted to move everything from the old computer to the new computer. Rather than trying to find everything spread all over your old computer system, you can consolidate the library then everything will now be under one folder on the one drive and you can now easily move that folder to the new computer knowing everything has been consolidated into it.
Patrick

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What is consolidate library mean?

what is consolidate library mean?

Using this option places the content of the iTunes library into the iTunes Music folder; by default on Windows, the iTunes Music folder doesn't contain music imported from hard disks. Content downloaded from the iTunes Store or ripped from CDs is always placed in the iTunes Music folder.
(26374)

What does consolidate library do?

hi, iam trying to transfer songs from my computer to a friends and keep iton my computer at the same time, and one of the steps is to consolidate library, will someone tell me what this means please?
thnk u

1. It isn't essential that I keep the iPhoto Books, but would be nice. Anyway to archive and still zap iPhoto library?
2. This confused me:
leonieDF wrote:
Then you can consolidate the originals, that are referenced inside the iPhoto Library, or better, relocate them directly to a folder outside the iPhoto Library on your second internal drive, since the Masters folder inside the iPhoto Library is larger than the free space on your SSD; assuming you want to have your Aperture library reference the originals/masters on your second internal volume.
My current set up is Aperture library references photos inside iPhoto library.
Are you suggesting better to:
1. Leave Aperture managing portion of photos as it currently does, on SSD, and simply move Masters folder from iPhoto library using Finder to a different location, and then reconnect them as referenced?
Is that better than what I suggested above?
1. Use Consolidate Masters to move currently referenced iPhoto library images into a managed Aperture library.
2. Then use Relocate Masters to effectively keep my Aperture library file on my SSD, but keep the master images referenced on my internal 2nd hard drive
Thanks for patience, sorry if I'm not understanding your suggestion! Thanks!

Consolidate Library Error

Hi,
I'm looking to migrate my iTunes library to another hard disk on my laptop. I have followed steps on Apple's website where I reset the library location to the new drive and am now using the consolidate library function.
I'll highlight 20GB of files and select consolidate library however it trucks along for a while until it seemingly finds a file it doesn't like and iTunes hangs for 20 minutes then gives me an error message "Copying files failed. The disk could not be read from or written to.". While it's hung the copying progress bar shows the file it was supposed to be copying so I can identify the problematic song and skip that artist however I then find it hits same issue with another file along the way.
I've got about 170GB of media so it's not really practical to go through this process of bypassing files it doesn't like so I wondered if anyone has any idea why these files are causing problems for iTunes?
I have run chkdsk on both the source and destination drives and no errors came back and I don't think it's an issue with the drives as I copied a load of other stuff to the new drive without issue. The source drive is my Windows drive and I don't see any errors there.
So, I have my original library files on C: and some copied files on D:, which is now set as the library location. Can I potentially have my 'old' library as is on C: and have any new files running from D: concurrently so I've got it in two locations simulataneously? This way I can 'consolidate' what iTunes will let me copy to D: and leave anything else on C: and have any new files imported into D:, would this work?
Any help would be much appreciated.

I assume you ran chkdsk with the "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors" option? One failure would be annoying to transfer would be annoying. Repeated failures suggest there may be an underlying problem with one of the disks. I'd be keen to get another drive and start backing up to it.
iTunes will work OK with the files in the split locations, but you have to manually check what can be safely deleted from drive C. Normally I'd recommend that you move the entire iTunes folder as a unit and then hold down shift as you launch iTunes to choose the library in the new location. Given that you are part way through consolidating this isn't so simple now, but see my post make a split library portable for more information.
tt2

Consolidate Library, Not enough Space, itl files, genuius, external drive,

In the interest of putting something back, thought I would post this
Objective
To have a single iTunes Library, on a Server PC, (Windows Home Server) so that if a change is made while on PC (a) or PC (b) we see the change.
Setup
PC (a) living room
PC (b) kitchen
Windows home server, on 24 x 7
In doing this I made a number of errors, and hope you learn from this, and also found a couple of 'features' that made life harder.
Standard approach
1) in iTune preferences, alter the position where you want to store your data, so this could be
//Server/Music/iTunes/Alison/Library
You need the subdirectory as the Library is where your itunes will reside, and your internal itunes file one directory up.
This process will change pointers in te internal itunes files, but still references the music in the various locations it is stored.
2) Now go to the File Menu/ Library / Consolidate Library
This will move all your music to teh location you specified above.
At this point I ran into my first problem, despite having adequate space on the Windows Home Server (WHS) I would get the error 'not enough space to copy files'
I believe the reason I was getting this error message was that some of the files paths were over 256 chat in length. There is also a limitation in WHS on this, but I believe the issue in this case was with iTunes, not WHS.
To get around this issue, I changed the location of where I was going to consolidate all the files to, to an internal disk on the PC where my itunes library was. so Instead of;
//Server/Music/iTunes/Alison/Library
I used m:/iTunes/Alison/Library
This worked, so I had all my data (now duplicated effectively, but consolidated) on the same PC.
The reason people say use consolidate is that it makes the move easy and changes all the internal files, but as I couldn't consolidate to the location I required due to the error, I now have to move all the rest of the data manually.
3) Copy the Library file on the local PC drive to the WHS Library Directory;
Copy m:/iTunes/Alison/Library => //Server/Music/iTunes/Alison/Library
4) I then edited the internal itunes files, so that it pointed to the WHS server location. I edited the itunes internal file;
Settings\Alison\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music Library.xml
I did this in notepad, with a find and replace command,
Find 'm:/'
Replace '/Server/Music/
The above bit does require some thought and if you have made it this far, have a look at the xml file structure, and you will be able to figure out how to alter the path.
This has the effect of pointing the iTunes file at where the music is now stored, you can confirm this by starting iTunes and getting it to show the track it is playing in Explorer. If it is pointing at your new location you are good to go.
Remember I only had to do this, as I was unable to consolidate to the location I really wanted to go to, due to the space error.
Also note that I had 2gb memory on the machine I did the find and replace on, as Notepad is not memory friendly.
5) Apple has some other internal files that need to be corrected as well;
iTunes Library.itl
iTunes Library Genius.itdb (if running genius)
iTunes Library Extras.itdb (believe is genius related)
sentinel (no idea, but saw this file !)
To get these all corrected to the new WHS (or external drive) I created a iTunes Library.itl file with zero bytes in the directory Settings\Alison\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\, did this in notepad. I then started iTunes, and it created all of the above files with the new file locations. You can't edit the above files, apple encrypts them
6) you now move all of the corrected internal files to the WHS home server location;
//Server/Music/iTunes/Alison
iTunes Library.itl
iTunes Music Library.xml
iTunes Library Genius.itdb
iTunes Library Extras.itdb
sentinel
7) Now you repoint the itunes to the new location for the internal files, specifically the correct itunes library, there are a number of references on the net to do this that you press the shift key(PC) or the option key (Mac)
I am running a PC, and pressing the shift key while clicking on the itunes icon on the desktop does not work. You have to hold the shift key while starting itunes from the Start Menu, Programs, Itunes. This will then give you an option of which library to look at, and look at the library on the WHS drive (or external drive)
Thats it
Hope this helps someone who has to battle with iTunes like I did. Due to the variosu errors, size of the library (200gb) and other issues, whole process took 2 days, if doing this again would have taken a couple of hours.
DGW

Hiya, that's sweet to post what you went through!
I have a question, though - are you able to have both PCs running itunes at the same time?
When I try this, I get an error message that the ITL file is locked on the 2nd instance I try to open. I'm using an exHD, not a server.
Also - all that editng of the XML file doesn't save ratings, date added, and some other metadata. If you'd just moved the ITL file, that metadata would be intact.

Can't consolidate library (it disappeared in iTunes 8)

I recently download iTunes 8 and I am completely satisfied with Genius.
Thing is, now I can't consolidate my library to my external hard drive.
Anybody know what happened?
I would usually go to the top taskbar and use the consolidate library option in iTunes 7, but now, no more of that.

It's been moved to a slightly different location: File menu > Library > Consolidate Library.

Consolidate Library command doesn't work--how can I import my library?

I've transferred my music from a back-up disk and want to import it into iTunes on my new machine, but the Consolidate Library command does nothing. Import Folder only works one folder at a time and I have hundreds of folders (40+gb of music). Anybody have any ideas how I can import it all into iTunes without having to spend a weekend tediously importing one folder at a time? Thanks in advance!

Consolidate only works on music already in your library.
What it does is to copy any music in the library database but not in the iTunes Music folder into the iTunes Music folder.
It cannot be used to add music to your library.
File>>Add folder to library ought to be able to add a music folder containing multiple folders in one go.

Consolidate library?!?!?

what does this do, when I click it I cannot get it to import any files into i-Tunes is this what is this function for? is it not for consolidating all of my music on my computer into i-Tunes? I have no music in my itunes right now but like 2500 songs stored as mp3.Please help I really don't understand this program. I am useing a dell by the way

'Consolidate Library' only applies to tracks that are already in your iTunes library. It simply moves all of your iTunes content into one specific folder.
If you want to add new content to your iTunes library, you need to use the 'Add to Library' function in the 'File' menu. When you select that function, then you'll just browse to the folder where your MP3 files are located and choose that folder.

Consolidate Library - why is this bad?

Article 1751 says to consolidate library, to back up library to an ext hard drive. Why is this step bad? I see that it copies to another file and in the future new music goes to the new file. So what? When i click on library will it go to that new file?
Thanks for the clarification.

It's always advisable to keep a back of of your songs and library files before you make any irreversible change to iTunes. Consolidating cannot be undone which is why Apple advise you to back everything up in case you need to manually revert.
When you consolidate, any songs in the iTunes Library that are not in the iTunes Music Folder are copied to the Music Folder and the Library is updated to point to those new files. Files already in the iTunes Music Folder have no changes made to them: Consolidating your library - Windows
Once you have consolidated your library, if you want to make sure anything you add to your library is always copied to your iTunes Music folder in future the go to Edit>Preferences>Advanced and check the box "Copy files to Tunes Music folder when adding to library.

Duplicate files created after library consolidate library

I have been trying to clean up everything. I have several iTunes libraries. The one I have selected in preferences is on an external HD, it was up and running. I went to library>consolidate library. When I went to look at the actual files in my selected ext. HD iTunes folder, nearly EVER song (several 1000's) had a duplicate, tune.mp3 and now tune 1.mp3. ***??? Where did they come from? Did iTunes gather all of the files up from other itunes folders & copy them???
How do I get rid of the duplicates?
What a mess...
They don't show in the iTunes window. Just in the file folder.

Hi,
Then you may need to monitor the behavior to see if you can find out the cause.
First you can enable Audit on that folder to get the account who create the /1 file. You need to set Audit in 2 settings:
1. Configure "audit object access" in AD Group Policy or on the server's local GPO. This setting is located under Computer Configuration-->Windows Settings-->Security Settings-->Local Policies-->Audit Policies. Enable success/failure auditing
for "Audit object access."
2. Configure an audit entry on the specific folder(s) that you wish to audit. Right-click on the folder-->Properties-->Advanced. From the Auditing tab, click Add, then enter the users/groups whom you wish to audit and what actions you wish to audit
- auditing Full Control will create an audit entry every time anyone opens/changes/closes/deletes a file, or you can just audit for Delete operations.
Also you can try Process Monitor to see if you can capture the exact process when the file is created. However as the issue occurs randomly it may take your time to get an accurate trace.
Troubleshooting with Process Monitor
http://blogs.technet.com/b/askperf/archive/2007/06/01/troubleshooting-with-process-monitor.aspx
If you have any feedback on our support, please send to [email protected]

External drive ejected during "consolidate library" attempt

I have a recent mac mini running mountain lion with a 1 tb g drive connected via firewire 800 and a 2 tb seagate connected via usb. The original itunes files are on the gdrive. I want to consolidate and back up the music files to the Seagate but in the middle of the consolidation, the g drive spontaneously ejects and I get an error message saying i have ejected it improperly. I had settings on so computer would not go to sleep so its not that. I have run disk utility on both external drives, no errors. I had this happen twice while trying to consolidate library and twice while trying a simple drag and drop of the itunes folder. What's the deal? Can anyone help? Has anyone had this problem?
rabbit

I have something similar on a brand new iMac 27" i7 top of the line model. I bought a USB 3 enclosure from OCW for a 120 gig SSD. I was using it as the cache drive for Photoshop CS6. It began to display the same issues you are describing. I brushed it off and blamed the cheap enclosure I purchased. This all occurred 1 week ago on 1-22-2013.
On Saturday 1-26-2013 I was backing up a sweet sixteen shoot via time machine connected to the USB3 port and the drive ejected mid way of a 70 gig back up. I found that strange because I've never had a problem with that drive or the enclosure it's in. (By the way this is a USB2 enclosure) I tried it 3 more times and the same issue occurred. I figured it was the cable and switched it with another USB cable and this time it worked.
Not thinking much about I assumed the problem was the cable. The next morning I realized I still had one 8 gig compact flash card in my camera and I needed to back that one up. This time I used my USB 3 RAW STEEL UDMA card reader to ingest the work. There were only 20 images on the card. During import the compact flash drive froze on the third image. I had to force quit and redo the import again. It took 3 times before I had no issues importing the images. I could not figure out what the **** was going on until it hit me.
During my trouble shooting I realized the 3 drives were, when they ejected themsleves, connected to the same port in the back of my iMac. The second one closest to the SD card reader port in the back. That was the free port I kept switching to use these different peripherals.
I need to do a little more testing but I'm almost certain something is wrong the the USB3 ports in the back of the new computers. Never had these issues with my late 2009 iMac.
The last thing I want to is haul this machine into Apple after it took me 4 days to get it set up the way I use it for my Photography business.
Disappointed big time!

I Get an Error When Trying to Consolidate Library

I am trying to consolidate my music library with Itunes, but when I choose "Consolidate Library" I get the message "Copying music failed. The file name was invalid or too long" Does anyone know how to fix this? I'm really getting fed up with Itunes and can't seem to get any support. Please help.

Hi, globe9.
This can be a tricky problem to figure out since iTunes doesn't specify what file name - nor is there any documentation saying what determines when a file name - is "invalid or too long".
We had one user report that he was able to use his/her keen eyesight to note the last file that appeared before the error message appeared and it turned out that file was the cause of his/her trouble.
If your eyesight isn't that keen, I'd suggest concentrating on the file name being too long possibility.
The entire directory path leading to the file is considered part of the file name so, as an example, iTunes' default settings might place a particular file at C:\Documents and Settings\user name\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music\artist folder\album folder\whatever.m4a.
Is the directory path leading to your consolidated location much longer than that?
polydorus has suggested a way to look over your file names: Assuming your music is currently in the default location, make your way there with Windows Explorer and select List in the View menu menu and see if anything stands out as being unusual.

Cannot consolidate library

When I try to consolidate my library on I get the following error message:
¨ Copying music failed. An unknown error occurred (-50). ¨

You don't use "Consolidate Library" to get songs in the library. When you use "Consolidate Library" what that does is COPIES all the files listed in iTUnes to the "iTUnes Music" folder.
To add songs to iTUnes you need to hit file>add folder (or file) to Library OR drag and drop the file/folder to iTUnes

HT1449 Help! This all runs quite smoothly until i get to 'consolidate library'. Then, tracks start copying, then stop followed by a pop up saying 'Copying files failed. The disc could not be read from or written to.' Any suggestions? Thank you!

Help! This all runs quite smoothly until I get to 'consolidate library'. Then, tracks start copying, then stop followed by a pop up saying 'Copying files failed. The disc could not be read from or written to.' Any suggestions? Thank you!

I had similar problems, it was a nightmare and on a 3 month ipod too!. I use a Powerbook G4 at home and a G5 at work - both were returning the same problems. so I sent it off to apple, they quickly sent it back saying there was nothing wrong with and it didn't need to be repaired. I tried it again and the same problems occurred "disc cannot be written to or read from." I could copy 20 songs onto it at the very most. A couple of guys at my work suggested updating it on a PC, then adding tunes via my mac as normal - guess what!? it works a treat!?. How ridiculous is that!? an Apple product works best on a PC. these generations of ipods are obviously designed to work best on Intel based Macs. What is wrong Apple? are you abandoning the G-generation!? still, atleast my ipod works for now - it will prove a problem when I have to update the iPod's software since I don't own a PC or an intel-based Mac.

Consolidate Library - why won't this work?

Hi there,
I've been using iTunes and my iPod on several iMacs successfully for years - I've just changed to a PC and now I feel like a beginner!
I can't seem to get iTunes for Windows to seek out all my MP3s and put them in iTunes. The only way I can get iTunes to put them in it's library is to play them - then iTunes recognises then and remebers them. I have tried clicking on consolidate library - nothing. I have tried downloading my new music directly into the iTunes music folder - nothing. I can maunally add the file I download music into, but I don't want to have to do that all the time.
Why won't iTunes just find my music for me? It does on my iMac!

I dont know!
In what way is it not working?

What is "Consolidate Library"

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