I recently got an external hd for my macbook. When I got it I put all of my itunes music on this and deleted it from my internal hd. Now I want to put the music back onto the internal hd, but at the same time keep it on the external also. I have tried dragging and dropping the music folder many times. Everytime it copies the folder for about 20 min. When I disconnect the external hd and try to use itunes it says that the file cannot be found would you like to locate it. When I do that it starts me in my documents folder and not the itunes music folder like I have it set up too. Help, what am I doing wrong?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
external hd+macbook+itunes
- Thread starter brendan8
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
It's trying to find your iTunes library file, you'll have to tell iTunes where it is if it isn't in it's default location.
Can you find the files iTunes Library and iTunes Music Library.xml?
Spotlight can help you locate them.
These are what iTunes is trying to find.
Spotlight can help you locate them.
These are what iTunes is trying to find.
Ok, I guess I need to clarify what you mean. Which of the following is true:
1) When you open up Itunes it tells you that the library file cannot be located and asks you to find it
2) You songs appear in itunes but when you try to play the song it tells you the file is not found
1) When you open up Itunes it tells you that the library file cannot be located and asks you to find it
2) You songs appear in itunes but when you try to play the song it tells you the file is not found
The songs appear but when I try to play them it says it can't find the file. I then locate it and then go into preferences everytime and make sure that the location that itunes is getting music from is the folder where I just "found" the missing file.
ok, this is because you moved your music when iTunes was closed, so iTunes still thinks your music is where it used to be. If you have moved your music with iTunes open, iTunes would have 'seen' the move and kept track of where the files had moved to.
The quickest solution is probably to close iTunes, move the music back where it was, then open up Itunes and move the music to where you want it. The iTunes database then should have correct info about where all you music is stored.
Edit: If you want to know where iTunes 'thinks' each song is, press Apple+I on one of the songs and it will show you where iTunes things the song is stored. This may not match up to where the song actually is.
That depends, do you care about maintaining things like your current playcounts, or does it not matter if these things get reset to 0?
Hmm, this could be tricky then.
Ok, here's a start. Find a song in iTunes that iTunes says it can't find. Now, press Apple+I to get info, and note what it says for the file location. This is where iTunes thinks the file is (but it is clearly not there), and thus this is where you need to move the file back to in order for iTunes to see it again.
Technically you will have to do this for each song, but if you maintained folder structure when you copied everything to the external then you may just be able to copy everything back on-masse and have it work.
Yeah, basically rebuild your entire library from scratch, quicker but you'll start out again with no playlists, no playcounts, etc
1. Delete all your songs from iTunes list, but NOT from your hard drive.
2. Move your music files where you want them.
3. Use the add to library option in iTunes to add your songs back into iTunes
In Itunes, press Apple+A to select all your songs, then hit the delete key. Confirm that you want to remove the songs from your library. If it asks you if you also want to remove the files from your disk, say NO.
Yes, move the files to wherever you want to keep them, then, in iTunes press Apple+O (add to library) select the folder containing all your music and it should add them all back to your iTunes library.