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Mac iTunes and external hard drives going crazy


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I have my music files on a Passport external hard drive connected via firewire. All has been working fine with a 2009 Mac Mini running Audirvana plus and iTunes. I happened to empty the trash bin last night. I was not paying that much attention before I realized it was deleting 4000 files. When I went to check the hard drive, all of my individuals album folders were there, but the tracks were gone. All that remained in each folder was a log file.

 

Fortunately, I had a backup on another hard drive, so it was no big deal to copy the music folder back over to the Passport.

 

What is weird is that, now, as soon as I plug in the hard drive, the music folder ends up in the trash AND iTunes thinks that is where it has to look for the files. If I go to the advanced settings and point iTunes to the hard drive, it cannot locate the files. FWIW, the iTunes library is intact. Also, if I eject the drive, the trash bin empties, too. What is going on???

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You should be able to take that folder out of the trash and put it back in your iTunes folder. Shut down iTunes first, move the folder. The normal structure should be iTunes/iTunes Media/Music (and Movies, Podcasts, etc.). After you move it, launch iTunes, go to Preferences, Advanced, and make sure iTunes is pointed at your folder. If not, point it there. Then shut down iTunes and relaunch. Should be fine.

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I think you missed the bit where the op said they emptied the waste bin...

You should be able to take that folder out of the trash and put it back in your iTunes folder. Shut down iTunes first, move the folder. The normal structure should be iTunes/iTunes Media/Music (and Movies, Podcasts, etc.). After you move it, launch iTunes, go to Preferences, Advanced, and make sure iTunes is pointed at your folder. If not, point it there. Then shut down iTunes and relaunch. Should be fine.

Eloise

---

...in my opinion / experience...

While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing.

And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism.

keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out.

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Just something to check... iTunes isn't set to have its default location in the trash has it?

 

Eloise

I have my music files on a Passport external hard drive connected via firewire. All has been working fine with a 2009 Mac Mini running Audirvana plus and iTunes. I happened to empty the trash bin last night. I was not paying that much attention before I realized it was deleting 4000 files. When I went to check the hard drive, all of my individuals album folders were there, but the tracks were gone. All that remained in each folder was a log file.

 

Fortunately, I had a backup on another hard drive, so it was no big deal to copy the music folder back over to the Passport.

 

What is weird is that, now, as soon as I plug in the hard drive, the music folder ends up in the trash AND iTunes thinks that is where it has to look for the files. If I go to the advanced settings and point iTunes to the hard drive, it cannot locate the files. FWIW, the iTunes library is intact. Also, if I eject the drive, the trash bin empties, too. What is going on???

Eloise

---

...in my opinion / experience...

While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing.

And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism.

keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out.

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This is a tough one. Do you use any other softwares other than iTunes and Audivrana for music playback? Did you use a software other than iTunes for ripping your CDs? I am not sure those questions lead to any definitive answer but just looking for variables that maybe come into play.

"A mind is like a parachute. It doesn't work if it is not open."
Frank Zappa
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Just something to check... iTunes isn't set to have its default location in the trash has it?

 

Eloise

 

interestingly, yes, but I definitely never set it to look for it there. And even when I reset the location in the advanced tab to the hard drive, it changed back to the trash again.

 

To update things: i ended up using Time Machine to reset my computer to a date before this problem. Worked fine. Also worked fine when I plugged in the Seagate USB drive. Oddly, when I plugged in the WD firewire drive and pointed iTunes to it, it rebuilt the library, then promptly put the files in the trash again. If I eject the drive, the contents of the trash go away. If plug the drive back in, the files are back in the trash.

 

I ended up reformatting the drive and recopying the music folder to it, but I put the Seagate drive in back in and am using the WD just for backup. Seems to be working.

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This is a tough one. Do you use any other softwares other than iTunes and Audivrana for music playback? Did you use a software other than iTunes for ripping your CDs? I am not sure those questions lead to any definitive answer but just looking for variables that maybe come into play.

 

 

No other software besides Audirvana and iTunes. I use XLD for ripping.

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Oddly, when I plugged in the WD firewire drive and pointed iTunes to it, it rebuilt the library, then promptly put the files in the trash again. If I eject the drive, the contents of the trash go away. If plug the drive back in, the files are back in the trash.

That's actually correct behaviour - when you move something to the trash nothing is actually deleted (or moved). Therefore if you disconnect an external drive the files vanish; but when you reconnect the drive the Trash can again see the files on the external drive moved there.

 

Eloise

Eloise

---

...in my opinion / experience...

While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing.

And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism.

keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out.

Link to comment
That's actually correct behaviour - when you move something to the trash nothing is actually deleted (or moved). Therefore if you disconnect an external drive the files vanish; but when you reconnect the drive the Trash can again see the files on the external drive moved there.

 

Eloise

 

Okay, but why are the files going into the trash to begin with? I don't believe they ever did this before, and I definitely do not want them there to be accidentally discarded with "real" trash.

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