Files Not in iTunes Library

[rogerdn]

Re: Files Not in iTunes Library

iTunes can't play your music? What happens.....an error message?

Bad explanation by me, I mean the new rips are missing so no play these rips just using iTunes, ie with the other players closed.

[BrodyBoy]

Re: Files Not in iTunes Library

Bad explanation by me, I mean the new rips are missing so no play these rips just using iTunes, ie with the other players closed.

Oh okay. Yes, like I said, I do think it's basically an iTunes configuration issue. But these other players integrate with iTunes, and may alter its settings.

Personally, if it were me, I'd re-install both iTunes and Amarra on the Mac Mini, if that's not too much of a pain (with activations, licenses, etc). But just focusing on iTunes, here's how you would completely re-install it and re-build its music library. (Note that this may delete all your iTunes playlists and user settings.)

• Download and re-install a fresh copy of iTunes. (Make sure those 3rd party players are not running while you do, if you didn't uninstall them.) Don't let iTunes scan for music at the end of the install. Close iTunes.
• Move all your music into one big folder on the external drive (this isn't absolutely required, but it makes the next part easier). Delete any iTunes-looking files or folders, including the "Automatically Add to iTunes" folder (move any music out first). So basically, you just want all your music, nothing else, on one big folder on the external drive. No iTunes stuff.
• Hold down the OPTION key while you open iTunes.....this opens a dialog box to Create or Change your iTunes library. Select Create.
• In the "New iTunes Library" dialog box: For "Save as," give it a name, if desired. In the "Where" window, select the root directory of your external drive (not that big music folder).
• In Finder, go to your external drive and drag that big music folder into the "Automatically Add to iTunes" folder.
• Open iTunes and let it re-build your library.

Before adding any of the 3rd party stuff, you may want to test that the fresh install works as expected. Copy some new music into the "Automatically Add to iTunes" folder (or rip from the PC). Next time you open iTunes, it should find that music.

[rogerdn]

Re: Files Not in iTunes Library

Oh okay. Yes, like I said, I do think it's basically an iTunes configuration issue. But these other players integrate with iTunes, and may alter its settings.



Personally, if it were me, I'd re-install both iTunes and Amarra on the Mac Mini, if that's not too much of a pain (with activations, licenses, etc). But just focusing on iTunes, here's how you would completely re-install it and re-build its music library. (Note that this may delete all your iTunes playlists and user settings.)

• Download and re-install a fresh copy of iTunes. (Make sure those 3rd party players are not running while you do, if you didn't uninstall them.) Don't let iTunes scan for music at the end of the install. Close iTunes.
• Move all your music into one big folder on the external drive (this isn't absolutely required, but it makes the next part easier). Delete any iTunes-looking files or folders, including the "Automatically Add to iTunes" folder (move any music out first). So basically, you just want all your music, nothing else, on one big folder on the external drive. No iTunes stuff.
• Hold down the OPTION key while you open iTunes.....this opens a dialog box to Create or Change your iTunes library. Select Create.
• In the "New iTunes Library" dialog box: For "Save as," give it a name, if desired. In the "Where" window, select the root directory of your external drive (not that big music folder).
• In Finder, go to your external drive and drag that big music folder into the "Automatically Add to iTunes" folder.
• Open iTunes and let it re-build your library.

Before adding any of the 3rd party stuff, you may want to test that the fresh install works as expected. Copy some new music into the "Automatically Add to iTunes" folder (or rip from the PC). Next time you open iTunes, it should find that music.

I assume my current iTunes should be removed first ? And if I don't find all the iTunes files stuff is that a problem ?

[BrodyBoy]

Re: Files Not in iTunes Library

I assume my current iTunes should be removed first ? And if I don't find all the iTunes files stuff is that a problem ?

It's not a problem if you don't find iTunes files there....it's just better not to have remnants of old installations, so I was suggesting you check for & get rid of them.

Ideally, yes, it would be preferable if you could remove your current iTunes installation first. In the Windows universe, that's easy. But as I understand it, it's actually hard to do on a Mac. If you think you can, go for it.

[rogerdn]

Re: Files Not in iTunes Library

BrodyBoy,

I found out I can drag/drop the files from Finder so think I prefer to trying a reinstall. Although it may not be the ideal solution do you see any significant problems with this ?

Roger

[BrodyBoy]

Re: Files Not in iTunes Library

BrodyBoy,

I found out I can drag/drop the files from Finder so think I prefer to trying a reinstall. Although it may not be the ideal solution do you see any significant problems with this ?

Roger

No, I don't think so. When I've read up on this stuff on the past, I've seen varying kinds of explanations of exactly how this works on Macs, so I don't know the definitive answer. In Windows, of course, you can't just delete an application to uninstall it (as there are a number of registry changes and other files involved). But Macs have that whole "opacity" thing going on, making it annoyingly hard to know what's going on under the hood.

Overall, my impression is that it actually involves some low-level terminal commands to truly uninstall native OSX applications, but that a new installation does a good job of "installing over" the old app. I cannot personally confirm this, but I suspect you're safe either way.

The bottom line is that you're fixing any possible issues with the application itself, and then doing a proper library set-up on the external drive.

[rogerdn]

Re: Files Not in iTunes Library

Thanks for all your help.

Roger

[BrodyBoy]

Re: Files Not in iTunes Library

Thanks for all your help.

Roger

No problem at all, Roger. I'm anxious to see you get this issue resolved, too. I know how frustrating it can be when something just isn't working the way you expect and there's no obvious reason why.

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As a side note, there is a good side benefit to all of this trouble. Over years of battling iTunes' quirks, especially when it came to moving its library around (different drives, new computers, etc), I realized that the set-up you're doing is the "best practice" approach. Especially since you're using an external drive. When you use that "Create" option to set up a new library, it's essentially a self-contained, portable library that's much easier to move when the time comes. Just changing the location in Preferences > Advanced doesn't do that. So, should you want/need to move the library in the future, say to a new computer, you can just attach the external drive and use Option+iTunes to select that existing library, if you want. This is much more efficient than moving all your music into a brand new library and starting over again.

[rogerdn]

Re: Files Not in iTunes Library

No problem at all, Roger. I'm anxious to see you get this issue resolved, too. I know how frustrating it can be when something just isn't working the way you expect and there's no obvious reason why.

------

As a side note, there is a good side benefit to all of this trouble. Over years of battling iTunes' quirks, especially when it came to moving its library around (different drives, new computers, etc), I realized that the set-up you're doing is the "best practice" approach. Especially since you're using an external drive. When you use that "Create" option to set up a new library, it's essentially a self-contained, portable library that's much easier to move when the time comes. Just changing the location in Preferences > Advanced doesn't do that. So, should you want/need to move the library in the future, say to a new computer, you can just attach the external drive and use Option+iTunes to select that existing library, if you want. This is much more efficient than moving all your music into a brand new library and starting over again.

Thks for the heads up, good to keep in mind.