My Music is Hiding

[rom661]

Hey everyone

 

I thought I was past this stage but obviously not. Today I had additional ram and a solid state hard drive installed in my Mac mini. Now I can't get my music to show up in iTunes. My music is on an external Iomega hard drive connected via firewire. There is also a USB connected MyBook drive for back up. I can see both drives in Finder with the music files on them. I should have noted my setup. Dumb.

 

In iTunes the library name is Richard M******'s library. I selected the Iomega drive under the advanced tab as the music folder. I seem to remember that my prior entry was more involved than just the drive name. Keep iTunes Organized is selected.

 

This should be convincing evidence of the veracity of my disclaimer that I am much more of a high end sound guy than a computer guy. I'm a little embarrassed but any help would be appreciated.

 

Rick

 

 

[tdme_tj]

Rom661,

 

Sounds like you are doing some worthwhile upgrades to you Mini and have just had a fairly simple and common glitch.

 

While you are pointing iTunes to the right music folder location (think of this as "the stacks" where the "books" are stored in a real world library), you have probably lost your iTunes Library file (which is analogous to the "card catalog" in a real world library). Chris has done an excellent job of going over this in the Computer Audiophile Academy, and you can find his helpful article at:

 

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

 

What has probably happened is that when you swapped out your old internal HD for the SSD, your iTunes library file (the "card catalog") was in your user/music folder on the old HD and now cannot be seen by iTunes. When you had the SSD installed the iTunes library file couldn't be found so you end up with either no tunes in your iTunes music pane, or the dreaded exclamation points next to each tune.

 

So, you still have all the "books in the stacks" but iTunes can't find them because the "card catalog" is gone. If you still have access to the old HD via Finder you can simply drag the iTunes Music Library files/folder onto the same location on the new SSD. If not, things get a bit more involved, but really not very tricky, especially since you have all your music backed up (or at least that is the impression I got from your initial posting). If you do not have access to the old HD, you can recreate the iTunes Library file (the "card catalog") fairly easily, though it does take some time. The biggest issue when doing this is the possibility of creating a full set of duplicate Music files (doubling up the "books in the stacks"). Not the end of the world if you have plenty of HD space, but it can add a bit of time to the process.

 

For now, take a look at the link above and then let us know if the old internal HD is available via Finder or not (I believe new Mac Minis can accommodate multiple internal HDs/SSDs, so I am not certain how your machine is configured). Once we know that, one of us on CA should be able to "talk" you through the process.

 

TDME_TJ

 

 

 

[rom661]

I appreciate the response. I did look at the posting but need to look closer. It seems like I dealt with something similar some time ago using the consolidate library option, but I ca't recall with certainty.

 

You are correct about the backup. Hopefully it is healthy. I would hate to have a flat spare tire. Unforunately the other drive is in a bag. My mini is the generation prior to the one that just came out. Limited RAM and no second drive but according to Gordon Rankin the USB output is slightly better.

 

I have been stabbing around but I should probably wait for specific instructions so that I don't make things worse. I have between 7 and 8 hundred uncompressed CD's on the drive.

 

Thanks again. Sorry that it looks like it's going to be the hard way.

 

[tdme_tj]

Rom661,

 

No worries.

 

You won't be consolidating, although the process you will need to undertake is similar.

 

First thing that we need to know is what happens when you open iTunes? What does the iTunes window look like when you select music in the left hand control pane? Does it display any information at all (do you see a list of any of your tunes when in "List View" or is it a totally empty window)?

 

I will be online for a while longer tonight so if I hear back from you by say 1:00AM EDT in the US, I may be able to help you out yet tonight.

 

Regards,

TDME_TJ

 

[rom661]

It's a totally empty window. I appreciate the help and I will be up for a while but please don't stay up past your comfort point for this.

 

Rick

 

[tdme_tj]

Rom661,

 

Not having any information at all in the iTunes window can be relatively good news, depending upon how you encoded your music files when you originally ripped them to your HD. If they were encoded as either AIFF or Apple Lossless via iTunes the process will be fairly painless, though you may have some limited issues with album artwork. If the original rips were done in WAV format, or in AIFF or Apple Lossless using software other than iTunes, then you stand to have more significant problems with ID tags and album artwork.

 

Personally, I am an AIFF and Apple Lossless fan and I use iTunes almost exclusively, so I don't spend much time, if any at all, working with WAV files or other CD ripping software. If you are in the same camp as I am (ripping via iTunes in Apple Lossless or AIFF) then I would be comfortable helping you get your iTunes library up and running. If you were in the other camp(s), then I would feel more comfortable having either Chris or another CA member walk you through the process so you can maximize the likelihood of saving/preserving any album artwork and ID tags (and any other Metadata) that could be salvageable.

 

Finally, the back up that you have available, is it a full system or user folder backup, or is it just a backup of your Music Folder on the firewire drive? If it is a full system or user folder backup, is it current/up to date, or have you added any music to the library since the last backup?

 

Let me know and I will get back to you ASAP.

 

ATB,

TDME_TJ

 

[rom661]

Everything is AIFF. I'm not sure about the backup. Definitely not full system. I used the automator setup that Chris laid out some tije ago. I believe it is just the music folder. 90% current. I am actually using firewire to connect the library and USB for the backup to keep traffic off of the USB when playing music, not that it matters in this context. I have never tested the backup so I would prefer to try to avoid using it considering the amount of material involved.

 

This can certainly wait. I have the good fortune of having taken delivery of a 12K CD player for a customer who has asked me to break it in for him. I have become spoiled to my iTouch access but I have been listening to glorious music all evening.

 

Thanks again for your interest and willingness to help. I think I'm going to turn in but perhaps we can resume tomorrow.

 

Rick

 

[rom661]

Just heard from Chris. I think we're fixed. Again I really appreciate your concern and willingness to help. If I can ever help you on the sound side of things, please let me know.

 

[tdme_tj]

Rom661,

 

All in all this should be fairly easy but you may still run into some issues with album artwork.

 

Since it is getting late right now we can break until tomorrow. However, I can give you a basic tutorial on what I would recommend doing, and what I have done in the past for myself and clients. Keep in mind that in using this method you will not be able to capture your old Playlists and possibly your Ratings information. The only way to get that information back (and info regarding music to accompany any iPhoto Slideshows or other iLife background music) would be to reconnect the old HD and find your original iTunes Library folder/file.

 

The following is a step by step procedure I have used in the past (given the above caveats and warnings):

 

1. Open iTunes

2. Open iTunes preferences under iTunes in the Finder Menu Bar

3. Select Advanced in the iTunes Preferences pane

4. Confirm that the listed iTunes Music Folder Location is the correct folder on your Firewire drive. If not, select Change and point iTunes towards the correct folder on the Firewire drive

5. Deselect (uncheck) the box next to "Copy files to iTunes Music Folder when adding to library". (This step prevents duplication of your entire iTunes Music Folder on your HD).

6. Select (check) the box next to "Keep iTunes Music folder organized".

7. Select (click) OK at the bottom of the iTunes Preferences pane.

8. Open an OS X Finder Window

9. Navigate in Finder until you have located the iTunes Music Folder on your Firewire Hard Drive.

10. Make sure you can view both the Finder Window (showing the iTunes Music Folder on your Firewire Hard Drive) and the iTunes Player Window (the iTunes user interface).

11. Drag the iTunes Music Folder from your Firewire Hard Drive to the Library header in the upper left hand section of the control pane of the iTunes Player Window and drop it (there should be a Green "+" next to the folder you are dragging and Library will be "outlined" when you have the folder in the proper location).

12. This action will create a new iTunes Library or "card catalog" for your iTunes Music Folder (this step will take some time as iTunes will index your entire music collection, so you may want to let it run overnight).

13. After iTunes finishes indexing the iTunes Music Folder and creating the new iTunes Library folder/files, you will be able to access all your music within the iTunes Player Window. The following steps allow you to tie up some loose ends.

14. Open iTunes preferences under iTunes in the Finder Menu Bar

15. Select Advanced in the iTunes Preferences pane

16. Select (check) the box next to "Copy files to iTunes Music Folder when adding to library". You want this on so future CD rips to your iTunes library will be saved in the proper location.

17. Confirm the box next to "Keep iTunes Music folder organized" is selected (checked).

18. Select General at the top of the iTunes Preferences Pane.

19. Select Import Settings... in the lower third of the General Preference Pane.

20. Select AIFF Encoder in the drop down menu.

21. Select (check) the box next to "Use error correction when reading Audio CDs".

22. Select (click) OK at the bottom of the Import Settings pane.

23. Select (click) OK at the bottom of the iTunes Preferences pane.

 

After this procedure you should have all of your songs with ID tags in your iTunes Library. You will need to search for Album Artwork using the "Get Album Artwork" option under the Advanced menu drop down list in the iTunes Menu Bar, and recreate any Playlists and possibly the Ratings that you had set up before. If you have an iPod that has your complete library on it you should be able to use it to help recreate your Playlists and Ratings (by hand, unfortunately).

 

This should get you most of the way home, but feel free to ask any additional questions that may come to mind.

 

ATB and happy listening!

TDME_TJ

 

*Note - Just posted this procedure and saw that Rom661 had cleared things up with Chris. I will leave this as it is in case anyone needs this information in the future.