Question

iTunes: rebuilding the library / searching for missing (links to) files

Asked by: R7AF

Many music files in my itunes library are missing. The items are still listed in the music library. When I click them (only selecting them), an exclamation mark appears to the left. When itunes is closed and reopened, this exclamation mark is removed until I click the item again.

The strange thing is that the files are all there, none of the actual files are missing. It seems only the itunes links to them are broken somehow. I can restore the link, and let itunes "search" for the file. When I've selected the correct file, it works again. The only problem is that I need to do this for each individual file, which is quite a hassle.

Is there a way to let itunes rescan or rebuild the complete library?

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Asked On
2009-08-05 at 12:12:30ID24629239
Tags

itunes

,

zend framework

,

eclipse

Topics

iTunes Software

,

Apple Software

Participating Experts
2
Points
500
Comments
5

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Answers

 

by: sharkbot221984Posted on 2009-08-05 at 12:17:12ID: 25026978

If the file name has been modified at from what was originally imported then iTunes will think it went missing.   I recently began using iTunes again and had the same issue, I identified all the ones that had an issue and just imported the missing file again.  You could though delete everything from your library and then import the folder containing all your music again.  If you don't like the filename that iTunes displays for a file, don't modify the file name where the file exists modify the properties of the file instead iTunes will update it.

 

by: R7AFPosted on 2009-08-05 at 12:42:32ID: 25027266

In the end I will reimport the complete library, as I have no idea how many files have a problem. I still hope there is a way to do this without removing the original items first.

I did rename some files, but only via itunes properties. This problem doesn't relate to those files. I have albums where all songs but one have this problem. I wouldn't move all files of a certain album and leave one in the original location. So I still don't understand how this can happen.

 

by: sharkbot221984Posted on 2009-08-05 at 12:48:35ID: 25027329

Yes, I had certain albums where iTunes duplicated everything then said that 1/2 the files didn't work, but the files were never even moved.  My Windows Media Player never even flinched.

You may want to give this a try:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=287812

 

by: xemaPosted on 2009-08-06 at 11:24:41ID: 25036482

If you have your music collection organized under one folder it's very simple
Delete the playlist, Add the parent folder of your music collection, problem solved

My music
    Artist 1
           Album 1
           Album 2
    Artist 2
           Album 1
           Album 2

 

by: R7AFPosted on 2009-08-06 at 13:55:14ID: 25037972

Thanks for the tips. The script seems to delete the problematic tracks, and doesn't repair them afaics. In that case, I better remove the entire library and rebuild the library from scratch.

I opened the xml file of the itunes library, and it turned out my installation of Eclipse for Zend Framework has somehow changed the link to many of those files. See the code below for two songs. The first song has a good link, the second not. (I removed several lines.)

Very very strange this!!!!

It turns out that there is no reference to the original file anymore, so this means I have to rebuild the whole library. 

<dict>
	<key>Track ID</key><integer>17586</integer>
	<key>Name</key><string>Glass</string>
	<key>Artist</key><string>Bat For Lashes</string>
	<key>Album</key><string>Two Suns</string>
	<key>Kind</key><string>MPEG-audiobestand</string>
	<key>Location</key><string>file://localhost/Volumes/store/music/Bat%20For%20Lashes/Two%20Suns/01%20Glass.mp3</string>
	<key>File Folder Count</key><integer>4</integer>
	<key>Library Folder Count</key><integer>5</integer>
</dict>
 
<dict>
	<key>Track ID</key><integer>17592</integer>
	<key>Name</key><string>Daniel</string>
	<key>Artist</key><string>Bat For Lashes</string>
	<key>Album</key><string>Two Suns</string>
	<key>Kind</key><string>MPEG-audiobestand</string>
	<key>Location</key><string>file://localhost/Volumes/applications/EclipseZend/docs/PHPmanual/function.win32-ps-stat-mem.html</string>
	<key>File Folder Count</key><integer>-1</integer>
	<key>Library Folder Count</key><integer>-1</integer>
</dict>

                                              
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