" write access for your iTunes Media folder"

Hello,
My iTunes all of a sudden started to gave me this error when I tried to update my iPhone Apps:
*iTunes couldn't download your purchase*
*You don't have write access for your iTunes Media folder or a folder within it. Change permissions (in the Finder) and then choose Store > Check Available Downloads.*
This is most weird since I haven't done anything to the system nor the iPhone.
I tried to repair permissions, tried CHMOD and then booting from the installation disk and reset password, thrash preferences and the message is always there. Even weirder is the fact that when I connect my iPhone, iTunes ask me about "authorization", if I say AUTHORIZE, it gives me another error saying that it cannot be authorize because of an error, but it does not say what error!
If I deauthorize, I'll loose more than 200 Apps, but if I authorize, even with the correct password, it simply gives me that bloody error.
I do not know what else to do, any ideas?
And yeah... I tried going to the iTunes list, get info and authorize myself, despite being already authorized... by the way I do not have the "apply to the contents within...or something like that, you know what I'm talking about option". My system is 10.5.8. PPC, and I do not see the relevance but the iTunes list is hosted in an external HD.
I'll be more than thankful for any help.

wcarcass wrote:
I do not know what else to do, any ideas?
check if you have read & write permissions for your music folder. in finder, right-click on it and +get info+. unlock the little padlock (you may have to enter your admin password) and change the permission settings. next, click on the little gear-shaped icon and +apply to enclosed items+ like so
you may also give everyone read & write access.
the important part is to *apply to enclosed items* !
And yeah... I tried going to the iTunes list, get info and authorize myself, despite being already authorized... by the way I do not have the "apply to the contents within...or something like that, you know what I'm talking about option". My system is 10.5.8. PPC, and I do not see the relevance but the iTunes list is hosted in an external HD.
if above don't work, try the same procedure on the folder on the external containing your media files.
JGG

Similar Messages

"You don't have write access for your iTunes Media folder..."

My daughter is trying to import CD's into her library. Some work fine but most won't load and she gets a message stating "You don't have write access for your iTunes Media folder or a folder within it. To change permissions, select your iTunes Media folder in the Finder, and choose File>Get Info."
Following those directions the iTunes Info window appears and at the bottom her user name appears with the privilege as Read and Write. Clicking on the little gear icon below we select Apply to Enclosed Items. A message pops up stating "Are you sure you want to apply the selected owner, group and permissions to all the enclosed items?" Clicking ok a status bar pops up showing "Applying permissions to iTunes".
No changes occur in the issue we're having. This only occurs on her user.

If you have problems importing CDs with iTunes because of write access errors, you can do the following to reset the permissions to the Music folder for your user/s where the iTunes subfolders are typically located:
Open Finder
Macintosh HD
Users
Open the folder for your User
Music
Right click > Get Info
Bottom right hand side, unlock the padlock, entering your user's password
Under Sharing & Permissions, ensure all relevant users have Read & Write, including Staff
Then, click on the main user (you), then go to lower left hand side, click on the settings cog, and press Apply to enclosed items.

PLEASE HELP. you don't have write access for your itunes media folder or a folder within it

I am using Windows 7. If it makes a difference, my OS and important programs run on an SSD, while eveyrthing else is on a larger HDD. For awhile now I have had this problem anytime I try to do things in iTunes like import a CD, or a blu-ray digital copy. It gives me this error "you don't have write access for your itunes media folder or a folder within it windows 7." I have read tons of articles on how to change file permissions in windows and give full control and all that stuff. I swear I have read and tried anything remotely close to a solution for my issue, and it just wont fix it. Anyone have any out of the box ideas aside from changing permissions on the iTunes folder?
Also, when I make a new user account on my PC, the fresh iTunes on that account works just fine. So I don't know whats going on. Any help is GREATLY appreciated. Thanks!

clsepulveda wrote:
! I've gone to the itunes folder and found where it says read and write and I don't understand what the problem is.
Make sure to click the gear icon and select Apply to enclosed items.

On my mac, when I try to import certain music CDs (not all) I get this message "You dont have write access for your iTunes media folder or a folder within it. To change permissions, select your iTunes media folder in the finder, and chose file get info"

I am not sure how to fix this and it is driving me crazy can anyone help?
Thanks.

Hi folks,
I've had this issue for a year now and I've read this and several similar articles on how to change permissions for you iTunes Media folder and all that enclosed stuff.
Well today, I got brave and dove into this issue once again and to my surprise I have it remedied.
Before I kept going to my side bar folder 'Music', then located the iTunes Media folder ( I have several libraries).
This time, I went from (your mac)HD, directly to the 'Library', scrolled to 'iTunes' and reworked my permissions there by creating a new user... (ME). While at it, I adjusted 'Administrator from and back to, 'read and write', gave myself, 'read and write' and left other users as 'read only.'
I then applied to all enclosed folders with the 'gear wheel,' locked the whole shabang up and proceeded to install several old CD's which refused to import in the past.
RECAP:
HD/Library/iTunes set permissions for YOU to 'read and write,' then apply to all enclosed folders.
BTW: those enclosed folders are likely to be all the albums you've collected previously.
Perhaps, the 'iTunes Media folder' description from previous instructions kept people looking in the wrong place.
In any case, I'm up and running and I hope you will be too.
Thanks,
PS

Backup Copy "Don't Have Write Access for your iTunes Media Folder"

Subject states the case. Here is what changed. I run a Mac Mini with an external hard drive with about 200gb of music (HD-1). I have a second external HD that I use to periodically back up with Time Machine (HD-2). HD-1 crashed so I bought a new drive. Well I want to use the new HD (HD-3) for the Time Machine backup, so I copied the iTunes folder from HD-2 to HD-3. I did this by opening the disk, selecting the file and copying, not by using "restore." I then erased HD-2 and copied the file back from HD-3 to HD-2.
iTunes has now found all my music and plays great. Then I tried to add a music CD and got the message above. I used Disk Utility to repair permissions on the internal hard drive, which took 17 minutes and found a ton of problems. Got one "Warning: SUID file system/library/core has been modified and will not be repaired. Disk Utility won't let me do the same repair to the external HD-2.
I also checked info and the permissions are "read and write" on the disks. I'm in over my head already to do this much and now stumped.
Any ideas? THANKS!

Problem Solved! Thanks to information I learned in an excellent article by Jesse David Hollington, "Transferring your iTunes Library" from iLounge. Published in Tutorials, Monday, Sept. 21, 2009.
I created a new library and now I can add media.
1) Go into iTunes Advanced preferences and change the Media Folder path to a new location. In my case I created a new folder on the same external drive as the "bad" library copy named (not creatively) "new 2011". Do this by selecting "change" and choosing this new folder.
2) Go to File>Library>Organize Library. Select Consolidate files, then OK.
This will move all your media to the new file. I have 180 GB of music, so this took a few hours. In my case, in this new location I am now able to add music.
3) As iTunes made new copies when it moved the files, the old "bad" music folder still exists. After you confirm that your media is in the new location and working, you can delete this old copy.
Hope this helps others.

Cannot import music: "Don't Have Write Access for your iTunes Media Folder

Subject states the case. Here is what changed. I run a Mac Mini with an external hard drive with about 200gb of music (HD-1). I have a second external HD that I use to back up with Time Machine (HD-2). HD-1 crashed so I bought a new one. Well I want to use the new HD (HD-3) for the Time Machine backup, so I copied the iTunes folder from HD-2 to HD-3, erased HD-2 and then copied the file back from HD-3 to HD-2.
iTunes has now found all my music and plays great. Then I tried to add a disk and got the message above. I used Disk Utility to repair permissions on the internal hard drive, which took 17 minutes and found a ton of problems. Got one "Warning: SUID file system/library/core has been modified and will not be repaired. Disk Utility won't let me do the same repair to the external HD-2.
I also checked info and the permissions are "read and write" on the disks. I'm in over my head already to do this much and now stumped.
Any ideas? THANKS!

Problem Solved! Thanks to information I learned in an excellent article by Jesse David Hollington, "Transferring your iTunes Library" from iLounge. Published in Tutorials, Monday, Sept. 21, 2009.
I created a new library and now I can add media.
1) Go into iTunes Advanced preferences and change the Media Folder path to a new location. In my case I created a new folder on the same external drive as the "bad" library copy named (not creatively) "new 2011". Do this by selecting "change" and choosing this new folder.
2) Go to File>Library>Organize Library. Select Consolidate files, then OK.
This will move all your media to the new file. I have 180 GB of music, so this took a few hours. In my case, in this new location I am now able to add music.
3) As iTunes made new copies when it moved the files, the old "bad" music folder still exists. After you confirm that your media is in the new location and working, you can delete this old copy.
Hope this helps others.

My itunes keeps telling me that i do not have the write access for my itunes media folder or a folder within it, what should i do to get permissions?

my itunes program keeps telling me that i do not have the write access for my itunes media folder or a folder within it, what should i do to get permissions?

i really need help because my itunes keeps saying "you don't have write access for your Itunes Media Folder or a folder within it. Change permissions (in the Finder) and then choose Store > Check For Available Downloads."

Hello. I am running the newest version of itunes on my PC. everytime I try to copy a cd to itunes it gives me an error message that says I do not have write access for my itunes media folder or a folder within it. I cannot get this resolved.

Hello. I am running the newest version of itunes on my PC. everytime I try to copy a cd to itunes it gives me an error message that says I do not have write access for my itunes media folder or a folder within it. I cannot get this resolved using the solution given on the error message. I have been using itunes for 4 years and have never encountered this problem until yesterday. Help would be greatly appreciated.

Quit iTunes.
Go to My Music folder.
Select the iTunes folder, right click > Properties.
Click the Security tab and make sure you have full Read/Write privileges.

In I tunes I cant down load a CD. I get the message "The file couldn't be convereted. You don't have write access for you ITunes media folder or a folder with in it. To change permissions, ... When I do this it still dosen't work

In I tunes I can't down load a CD. I get the message "The file couldn't be convereted. You don't have write access for you ITunes media folder or a folder with in it. To change permissions, ... When I do this it still dosen't work.

Thanks C F McBlob but I recursively changed the permissions of my Music directory meaning every file and directory beneath it, as well as the directory itself, had the write permissions added.
I used "chmod -R u+w ./Music" and chmod -R g+w ./Music" to do it.
Alas, no cigar. :-(

How do I regain write access to my itunes media folder?

How do I regain write access to my itunes media folder?

Navigate to the folder in Finder, Get Info and if the permissions are not set to read and write, change them. Then click the lock, enter your Admin password and click the Gear to apply to all enclosed folders.

How to set up iTunes with an external hard drive so that there is not a double location for the iTunes Media folder

Hi,
A very helpful postee got to the end of his knowledge level, so I am posting this for you tech guys to sort out. Bit long because I've tried to set it out step by step. Briefly I'm new to iTunes and my laptop has a very small hard drive and is virtually full and due to be replaced. So I want to use an external hard drive.
Now I know that iTunes installs itself to two locations: 1. Programs Files 2. Music. And its the Music location that bothers me.
I asked about using an external hard disk to store the actual AAC files. I was advised that in order to change the loaction of the iTunes media folder I was should employ preferences/advanced/ and this is what i saw (as you would expect):
Then I hooked up my hard drive, hit 'change', and this is what I saw:
I was a bit worried by the lack of pathway details, but assumed it must have done something on the external drive, so I looked on it and this is what i saw (highlighted):
But compare this with what was in the directory I attempted to reproduce, viz in the iTunes folder in /laptop/Music/iTunes:
A ton of stuff. The only stuff that corresponded with what iTunes had created on my external hard drive was in Music/iTunes/iTunes Media folder:
Now this suggests that there are TWO locations for my preferences. The advanced tab only allowed me to ADD an extra location, not REPLACE the original.
So:
1. Which of the two locations will iTunes choose when I add music? Surely it will go with the original pathway laid down in the directory when iTunes was installed, and ignore my external Hard Drive? I mean, how can there be two automatic locations?!!!
2.. I don't mind itunes library being on my laptop as this is just a list, but it obvoiusly has to have a pathway to the site where the actual AAC files are stored.
so surely it won't work unless the whole lot is on the external hard drive: library, extras, genius, the lot?
4. How then do I get it all on the external since merely changing "preferences" doesn't do the job?
5. Is this perhaps the reason why so many people report that iTunes does not recognize their external hard disk:
http://www.ehow.com/info_12199596_external-hard-drive-not-recognized-itun es.html
I just don't want this to happen to me. Any answers?
Philip Joy
UNITED KINGDOM

As I've replied to your other threads...
Easy method 1:
Move or Copy entire working library from current location to the root of your external drive. Press & hold down shift (option on a Mac) as you click the icon to start iTunes. Click Choose when prompted, then browse to ..\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl on the external. If you copied the library across then test your new library works properly after renaming the original folder, before deleting the original folder to recover space.
Easy method 2:
If you haven't really started to build your library. Press & hold down shift as you click the icon to start iTunes. Click Create. Browse to the root of the external drive. Create the library as ITunes. Drag your media into ..\iTunes\iTunes Media\Automatically Add to iTunes.
Complex method:
Required if you've already tried other things and now have media & library scattered around. See the post make a split library portable.
in addition...
In all cases the idea is to get a library folder called iTunes containing a media folder called iTunes Media with all media inside this media folder. Once you have the library in this shape it is easy to reconnect to the library with the shift-start-iTunes method if the drive letter changes, move the library to another computer, and backup the library by cloning the folder to another drive.
tt2

Wind Vista SP2. iTunes 10.6.3.25. I'm trying to Consildate my Music Library on this PC, and get the error: "Copying files failed, because you don't have permission to change your iTunes Media folder or a folder within it." My admin user has Full Control

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I did what you suggested on all three folders: The main Music folder on the Mac hard disk, on the iTunes folder on the external 160GB Hard drive which contains the current media content and on the new 2TB hard disk on which I created a new media folder. I selected permission for myself which were already read+write and chose the apply to enclosed items on all three folders. I then changed the permission for others to read+write and applied to enclose items also an all three folders.
But it didn't solve anything.
Here's what happens: I choose the new directory in iTunes preferences (the media folder on the 2TB disk) I then go to File > Library > Organize Library and then choose Consolidate files. A window pops up and says copying "filename" with a progression bar underneath but the filename never changes. Instead the beachball appears when the mouse pointer hoovers over iTunes. Upon pressing the iTunes icon in the Dock it says that iTunes is not responding. At this point there's 2 different ways:
A - If I then force quit iTunes the iTunes window disappears but the application does not close. When I want to eject the 2TB disk it says it's being used by another application. Only when I cut the power to the 2TB disk does iTunes fully close. A window then pops up and says that the drive was not put away properly etc.
B - if I cut the power to the drive without force quitting iTunes, a window appears with the said: "Copying failed because you don't have permissions to change iTunes media folders etc." iTunes remains open and fully functional.

HT1449 When moving your iTunes Media folder to an external drive should the itl file be moved during the organise library process too?

I have moved all of the iTunes data to the drive, but can't seem to find the .itl folder when trying to make external drive the location for my music for a new computer.
Can anyone please assist on letting me know where the .itl file would have been copied to or whether, if I copy the .itl folder separately, would it keep play counts and ratings?
Thanks

Many people confuse moving their media folder with moving their library. A library is everything inside the iTunes folder. Unless you have a specific reason for not wanting to move the entire library it is best to do that rather than just media.
What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management
What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html
Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391
iTunes 9 [and later]: Understanding iTunes Media Organization - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3847 - plus supplemental information about organizing to new structure https://discussions.apple.com/message/26404702#26404702
Image of folder structure and explanation of different iTunes versions (turingtest2 post) - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-7392 and making an iTunes library portable.
If you move only media then the main library files remain on the computer. If you want to move the whole library:
Quick answer if you use iTunes' default preferences settings: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its subfolders and files) intact to the other drive. Open iTunes and immediately hold down the option (alt) key (shift on Windows) so you get a prompt to choose a library, then select the copied iTunes folder.
If this is to a new computer and you put the copied iTunes folder in the default location of Macintosh HD > Users > *User Name* > Music then you don't even need to start with the option key held down, iTunes will automatically look for it there. (Make sure there isn't anything already in the iTunes folder there that you want to keep since you will be replacing it with the one you are moving.)

I have been using an external hard drive for my itunes media folder. Today, I opened itunes on my PC and all of my playlists were missing, as well as the majority of my hundreds of hours of files. How do I restore?

How do I restore/reconnect my lost USB external hard drive connection to itunes on my PC?

You're welcome.
See also Make a split library portable and Backup your iTunes for Windows library with SyncToy.
tt2

Error: iTunes for Windows: Moving your iTunes Media folder

I needed move this folder itunes, because my HDD is full.
I think move this folder to new HDD.
I made step by step, this kb:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1364?viewlocale=en_US
But have error!!!!!!
I moved all files, but the iTunes not list (not show) my musics, my apps buy, my photos.
I Using the Windows Eplorer (windows 7), I saw all files in new file.
How did make process?
Plese help me

I figured out myself.

" write access for your iTunes Media folder"

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