The Music or TV library could not be found.

[johny5]

When I plug in my iPad or iPhone and open finder I get the error "The Music or TV library could not be found".
It hasn't worked for many months, with the previous error before the latest Big Sur update being "couldn't communicate with a helper application".
I did a new fresh reinstall of Big Sur but then restored from Time Machine backup and the error was still there.
I have logged out and created a new user which then connects to the iPad and iPhone fine so it is something with my user account.
I have also tried deleting various prefs files in the hope it might come back to life because I really don't want to start using the new user account and having to set up all apps etc again.
Any other ideas or pointers greatly appreciated!

 

[johny5]

Fixed it by deleting all lock files in /library/prefs and also deleted com.apple.amp.devicesui and com.apple.medialibraryservice prefs files.

 

[A_TalkingWalnut]

Can you please specify which files you deleted and from what locations? I'm facing the same issue. I'm not sure how to delete pref files.

 

[randomhelperguy]

Hi everyone, I recently came across the same problem trying to sync my iPhone 11 to my MBP (after months of not having done so). In this timeframe, I must have accidentally deleted or moved around my Music Library while reorganising my folders on my MBP and therefore I got the prompt "The Music or TV library could not be found". The way I solved this issue is simple:

1. Open iTunes/Apple Music on your Macbook
2. Connect your iPhone or apple device to your Macbook
3. You will receive a similar message about not being able to locate your Music Library, however you will also be offered the opportunity to create a new one! Do that and make sure to give it a different name (such as adding a number at the end of the new library/folder name)

Voilà, you should be able to sync up your devices and all your existing media files on your iPhone should reappear. The ability to sync to your device through the Finder App should also now be restored.

Hope this helps!

 

[A_TalkingWalnut]

Hi everyone, I recently came across the same problem trying to sync my iPhone 11 to my MBP (after months of not having done so). In this timeframe, I must have accidentally deleted or moved around my Music Library while reorganising my folders on my MBP and therefore I got the prompt "The Music or TV library could not be found". The way I solved this issue is simple:

1. Open iTunes/Apple Music on your Macbook
2. Connect your iPhone or apple device to your Macbook
3. You will receive a similar message about not being able to locate your Music Library, however you will also be offered the opportunity to create a new one! Do that and make sure to give it a different name (such as adding a number at the end of the new library/folder name)

Voilà, you should be able to sync up your devices and all your existing media files on your iPhone should reappear. The ability to sync to your device through the Finder App should also now be restored.

Hope this helps!

I forgot I had posted about this. Thank you so much for your reply. I was so focused on Finder and Music that I totally ignored the most important part (in my case) of the message. "The Music OR TV library could not be found" I was prompted to create a new Music library after moving my .musiclibrary file, but that didn’t do the trick. Then two days ago I accidentally opened the TV app and got a message about the missing library! I created a new one and, like you said, voilà!

 

[Nermal]

Fixed it by deleting all lock files in /library/prefs and also deleted com.apple.amp.devicesui and com.apple.medialibraryservice prefs files.

What's a 'lock file' in this context? I don't have the two named files, and can't find anything resembling 'lock'. The Music app also doesn't prompt me to make a new library.

This used to work fine...

Edit: Of course, right after posting I figured it out. The music and TV libraries need to be accessible. I have my TV library on my NAS and didn't have it mounted (I usually keep it mounted so didn't notice). Since I was in the Music app I thought it would only be looking for the Music library, and I didn't think to double-check TV.

 

[brandonMacUser]

Hi everyone! So basically, I got this issue just now and I didn't know what to do. So first step I checked was my music library...it is all good from there because my music files are still in iTunes or in my music iTunes Media folder. Next, we have to check our TV LIBRARY folder, so you have to search it by pressing: CMD + Spacebar which will pull up the search bar and search for: TV.app. Click it and it will prompt you to locate your tv library. If not, you can easily create a new one. From there and on, everything should start working again. (sync everything like usual) Hope this works guys!

 

[Dave Braine]

1. Open iTunes/Apple Music on your Macbook
2. Connect your iPhone or apple device to your Macbook
3. You will receive a similar message about not being able to locate your Music Library, however you will also be offered the opportunity to create a new one! Do that and make sure to give it a different name (such as adding a number at the end of the new library/folder name)

This worked for me because I last used Music with a Library on an external drive. All I had to do was select the Library on my internal drive and the problem was solved.