Is there a way to fix the cannot locate file message in ITunes?

[bukweet222]

Hello,

 

I have recently moved my Itunes library to a Drobo but now I am getting the dreaded error: 'The song "whatever song' could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?

Is there a simple way to fix this other than manually having to do this?

I tried to consolidate the library but it failed at about 400 of my 500gb's so I just copied the library over and pointed Itunes to the new library where it organized the files, could this be the reason? It is only affecting some songs, about 5%.

The stats at the bottom of the screen has the same amount of songs that I had before the move so I do not understand why I am getting this error.

Thanks in advance,

 

Jason

 

[Audio_ELF]

No, there is no easy way to find the files. iTunes think they are in one location (the original hard drive) when in fact the files are in a new location (the Drobo). The only "simple" way, is to copy the files back to the original location.

 

Yes it's probably because the consolidation failed and you copied the files.

 

The stats refer to the number of tracks that iTunes has in it's 'database' not the number of files on the disk.

 

You probably didn't do any backup before you began did you so you can just "restore" your original iTunes folder complete with the original library file and music files.

 

Possible helpful reading

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/How-Move-iTunes-Library-Music-One-Computer-Another-Part-I

 

Eloise

 

[cfmsp]

the easiest way is to rebuild the entire library, by Removing all your songs (via Delete), and then Adding them all back to Library.

 

sounds scary, but it's not, so long as you don't check the box that says delete physical files.

 

Basically, you just 'remove' every song in your existing library, i.e. Select All, and select 'Delete' from the Edit menu, at which point you'll "Remove" the songs from the iTunes library.

 

You should get a prompt asking if you'd like to Delete the physical files, for which you should say NO, of course.

 

After this, you Add to Library, and select the entire music folder on your Dobro. Shouldn't take long, minutes, not hours, as I recall.

 

The only danger I'm aware of is IF you've checked the box which prevents this prompt box from popping up AND IF you selected the delete the physical files option when you did so. You should test this out with a small number of files, to be safe. NOTE: It may be that Apple will ALWAYS prompt before deleting files, I can't say for sure, but if not, you may NOT get the option to keep the physical files.

 

I've done (rebuilt the library) this several times myself, it's kinda scary the first time you do it, but it works. And once you experience it, it becomes a valuable tool in iTunes file mgmt - I've got music files on multiple disks, some wireless, some local, etc.

 

The failsafe method is to check the box for 'do not prompt' the first time you ever see it WHILE ALSO choosing to keep the physical files. In this case, you won't be asked by iTunes to delete the files in the future.

 

That's what I did, and so, I can't tell you exactly what the prompt box says - as it doesn't pop up for me any longer.

 

EDIT: Ive never had issues with Cover Art, etc., but if you have music files with loads of hard to find cover art, the above mentioned process may NOT be recommended. Perhaps others can chime in, if they've experienced difficulties.

 

cheers,

clay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Audio_ELF]

clay wrote... "I've never had issues with Cover Art, etc., but if you have music files with loads of hard to find cover art, the above mentioned process may NOT be recommended. Perhaps others can chime in, if they've experienced difficulties.

I've found that iTunes embeds the artwork that you manually add, but not the artwork that it finds. If you delete and reload the music files in this way you'll probably need to run "Get Album Artwork" again after logging into iTunes Store.

 

The thing I do find you loose recreating your iTunes library in this way, you loose the "Date added" field which I tend to find useful so I can keep my recently added music on my pod.

 

Eloise

 

[cfmsp]

 

"I've found that iTunes embeds the artwork that you manually add, but not the artwork that it finds."

 

that's good to know, esp. that work to manually add artwork won't be for naught.

 

"If you delete and reload the music files in this way you'll probably need to run "Get Album Artwork" again after logging into iTunes Store."

 

That has certainly been my experience. I used a trial of Tuneup to locate hard-to-find artwork.

 

thanks

Clay

 

 

[CG]

Try looking here:

 

http://dougscripts.com/itunes/

 

There's probably something that could help you. Doug has loads of good Applescripts, all of which can be run from within iTunes. Many are for file and library management. Except for a couple pretty complicated ones, they all are free.

 

[davidolldbyland]

Thankyou for your help in rebuilding my library. it worked first time. I had upgraded to Itunes 9 and lost access to over 5000 files. Spent days trying to fix it. Did get through to someone at itunes but they were useless,

 

[wioruq]

Have you seen "itunes fixer" here? It searches for songs using spotlight, so you don't have to click anything!