iTunes slow on new Retina iMac

[kirkmc]

I think your problem is related to the fact that you're storing your stuff on a network device. Try creating a new library, with the iTunes Media file on your internal disk, and see what happens. It's not that easy to compare, because the library will be empty, but it's worth checking that before trying more complicated tests.

[Keithb1498576217]

I think your problem is related to the fact that you're storing your stuff on a network device. Try creating a new library, with the iTunes Media file on your internal disk, and see what happens. It's not that easy to compare, because the library will be empty, but it's worth checking that before trying more complicated tests.

 

Kirk, I'm NOT on a networked drive I am using an external drive.

 

I have created a new library as you suggest (with just 2 albums) and everything is instantaneous. BUT where does that leave me. There should be no issues with speed to the external drive as its capable of over 200MB s.

 

Is the problem my moving the library from computer to computer over time possibly.

 

 

How easy would it be to rebuild my library, and how would I go about it. Is it something worth trying?

[Otto Nikolaus]

By comparison...

 

MP3 album, 14 songs, total 80MB, on Flash Storage iMac 5K

 

iTunes ITL file stored on Flash Storage, media on Lacie d2 Thunderbolt 2 6TB drive.

 

Beach ball. Total time 00:50:45. Which I believe is 1.57 MB/s, which is actually quite a bit faster than yours.

 

I really don't think this is just my 'perception'. I'm adamant that my old iMac was much quicker.

Yes, that's quicker (over 2x) than my test (assuming you meant 50.45!) but I don't know how fast it *should* be considering you are using a TB connection.

[Otto Nikolaus]

I was using one from Dougs Scripts called 'Put track prefix to track number'.

 

On a similar note, I am manually trying to change some song names on a newly uploaded album and it is taking 52 secs to save the song title and move to the next song. This should be instant almost.

 

iTunes is really becoming unusable for managing a collection (adding art, adding metadata etc).

I assume that that script renames the relevant files so that they match the prefix you get with iTunes > Preferences > Advanced > Keep iTunes Media folder organised, so it should be quicker than, say, adding new files.

 

Changing song names is much the same and I agree that it should be nearly instant. I've just tried one and even across our network with all files on a low spec NAS, it's so quick it's hard to time (< 2 secs).

 

Does the file structure on the Lacie look OK? Are Finder copies to/from that as quick as you would expect? If so, I can only guess that the ITL file is corrupted and needs to be recreated. Do you have metadata in there that you want to keep?

[Otto Nikolaus]

Kirk, I'm NOT on a networked drive I am using an external drive.

 

I have created a new library as you suggest (with just 2 albums) and everything is instantaneous. BUT where does that leave me. There should be no issues with speed to the external drive as its capable of over 200MB s.

 

Is the problem my moving the library from computer to computer over time possibly.

 

 

How easy would it be to rebuild my library, and how would I go about it. Is it something worth trying?

I would copy the existing ITL file as a backup then recreate it from the XML file as described by Kirk here http://www.mcelhearn.com/how-to-rebuild-your-itunes-library/

[Keithb1498576217]

I assume that that script renames the relevant files so that they match the prefix you get with iTunes > Preferences > Advanced > Keep iTunes Media folder organised, so it should be quicker than, say, adding new files.

 

Should be, but it isn't. Any change to song name for instance is taking around 60 secs

 

 

Does the file structure on the Lacie look OK? Are Finder copies to/from that as quick as you would expect? If so, I can only guess that the ITL file is corrupted and needs to be recreated. Do you have metadata in there that you want to keep?

 

I can copy the same 80MB of files to the Lacie in literally 1 sec. So this is clearly an iTunes only issue.

 

I have created a new ITL file from the XML but it has the same problems regarding renaming etc. Plus, there are significant differences in the new library file: which I think are related to it importing podcasts as Albums and songs resulting in an increased album and song count but 0 podcasts.

 

So, I'll be reverting to the old library.

 

The file structure of the Lacie simply has iTunes at the root with same associated file structure as it would otherwise have.

 

This is completely baffling.

[Otto Nikolaus]

Should be, but it isn't. Any change to song name for instance is taking around 60 secs

 

 

 

 

I can copy the same 80MB of files to the Lacie in literally 1 sec. So this is clearly an iTunes only issue.

 

I have created a new ITL file from the XML but it has the same problems regarding renaming etc. Plus, there are significant differences in the new library file: which I think are related to it importing podcasts as Albums and songs resulting in an increased album and song count but 0 podcasts.

 

So, I'll be reverting to the old library.

 

The file structure of the Lacie simply has iTunes at the root with same associated file structure as it would otherwise have.

 

This is completely baffling.

Indeed it is. Am I right in thinking that nothing has changed other than the computer running iTunes (and hosting the ITL and XML files)?

 

I don't think you've said, but have you tried deleting and reinstalling the iTunes app?

[Keithb1498576217]

Thats right, nothing has changed other than me buying a new computer and copying the library file to it (media has not moved).

 

I have also tried a backup of the original file and same issue there.

 

I don't think I want to delete the app itself. Seeing lots of other people reporting same speed issues. If I check Activity Monitor when doing anything iTunes CPU usage flies upto 100%

[Keithb1498576217]

I have just noticed something pretty significant I think.

 

The slowness in changing titles etc has been specifically in relation to using the metadata dialogue box invoked via cmd + i in the My Music view. However if I update the title in a playlist view (I have a playlist for files added today for instance) it updated instantly.

[Keithb1498576217]

Doing some further analysis I am finding that updating metadata is significantly slower when in Artist view (which just happens to be my preferred view). Whereas, amending in either song, or album view is much quicker, even though the dialogue box appears the same in each case.