Playlost
Help. Quite without warning, when I opened iTunes last night, half of my music library did not load (I ended up with about 4,500 "items" in there, rather than the expected 8,654). It told me my library was "damaged." All the current podcasts and playlists were gone too. I was like I'd been burgled. Now, I sensibly searched for answers on various forums and have now reinstated my entire library by copying an old version of it over from where my music is stored, plus, my podcasts have reappeared (although I had to re-subscribe to them). However, I can't manage to reinstate my playlists. I know playlists are just lists of songs I already have, but I have built up some really good ones over the years and don't relish rebuilding them by hand. But in the current state, I assume the next time I hook my iPod up to my computer, all my playlists will be wiped from there too. (I have tried importing "iTunes music libarary.xml" but it just installs a load of empty playlists, and not my lovely ones.) Any ideas, o clever people?
posted by Andrew Collins @ 11:52 AM
28 Comments
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28 Comments:
I had an almost identical sounding thing happen to me with Itunes. It just seemed to revert back to an earlier library for no apparent reason.
I had to manually update everything back to how I wanted and pretty much start again with my Ipod. (at the time I had a large capacity player and it took a long, long time to sort out).
The Apple support forums were helpful and well-meaning, although never truly getting to the root of the problem. Others were in the same boat.
Didn't you recently have some problem with your MacBook where you took it in to be repaired without backing up?
How is it that after that incident, you still don't have a backup system?
Seriously, I'm not trying to be snarky, but the answer to your question should be "Restore your iTunes library from your backup copy".
And seriously, use this as a lesson/prompt to get a backup system sorted out. Before your hard disk dies and you lose *everything*.
I know this doesn't help your current problem, but if this causes you to get backups going and then your hard drive dies some time down the line, you will thank me :-).
I am very much not a clever person in these matters and other readers are welcome to contradict me if they think this suggestion is rubbish BUT when my 'friend' dropped my Macbook recently and lost all my music I was able to reload music from my IPOD to the Mac using free software called Ipod Access v.4.2.3. (I think there's a similar one called Pod Up too). Possibly you could use this to transfer the playlists over if you still have them on your pod. Worth a try? Good luck!
Try this Andrew - it worked for me when all my music weirdly dissapeared. Old libraries get saved so all your music will be hiding somewhere.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1589
A few years ago I had to restore my iTunes Library from my iPod and I found Senuti made the process as painless as can be.
I can't remember whether the version of the program that I used then transferred my playlists, but according to the About Senuti page the current version will allow you to transfer playlists back from your iPod to your computer.
[I have no connection with the makers of Senuti; I'm just someone who was once a satisfied user.]
Senuti (It's iTunes backwards -- geddit?) can definitely copy playlists from iPods back to Macs.
http://www.fadingred.com/senuti/
Oh, yeah. And what Tim said. Time Machine can make backup so simply your gran can do it. Go buy a nice big external drive (£100 will get you a terabyte these days, and quite a stylish one at that), click the two or three necessary buttons, and make yourself happier the next time you lose something important...
Tim, you big doom-monger! As stated fairly clearly, I was able to restore my library in full from back-ups of my library.
My very specific problem is that I can't restore my playlists. So thanks to Purlpower and Alastair for the hints. I'll investigate.
A fortnight ago the same thing happened to me. However, I have only been able to recover what my laptop calls iTunes Damaged. For reasons best known to itself, my itunes has deleted bits of albums. 3 or 4 tracks remain per album, but all the podcasts disappeared, I managed to get all podcasts I wanted back, but it's just done it again. Something has gone wrong somewhere.
this might help: http://support.apple.com/kb/TA47831?viewlocale=en_US
(PS: did you receive my Sopranos-related email of 10 Feb to your 'happy' address?)
Andrew,
Also look here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1967
Adam
Also, just thought of this, make sure your itunes isn't set to automatically sync with your pod otherwise as soon as you plug your pod in it might get rid of the playlists you want to copy using the Ipod Access.
Hey Tim - I never back up anything. Life's too short and you can get everything for free these days anyway. Besides, losing history forces you to make history, eh?
You're too sensible! Your answer reads like an email from a frustrated IT administrator - with obligatory smiley...
Loosen up!
By the way - anyone using Spotify?
By George, it's the FUTURE.
I'm using Spotify as I type this. It could well be the future...
I'd use Spotify if it was 'available' in Ireland.
The rights-owners have thus far failed to see beyond the end of their collective nose.
I fear that Spotify will go the way of every other innovation.
Spotify is ace. I am also using it as I type. Sorry I can't help, Andrew, hope you get your playlists back
My gosh... I just read those comments regarding Spotify and decided to try it out.
It's definitely the future, I love it!
(sorry for staying totally off the original topic, haha)
Hi Andrew,
Bizarrely, the EXACT same thing happened to me on the exact same day (makes me wonder if this is some kind of virus/bug?) I too lost almost exactly half the songs on itunes, plus play counts and playlists.
Like other people here, I've recovered all the songs, but I've had to conclude that there is no way of recovering playlists. Which is very frustrating.
Unrelated side note: Channel 7 has just started showing Not Going Out on terrestrial TV in Australia! Watched ep 1 of series 1 at the weekend and enjoyed it!
There is a way to recover playlists, it is just that by the time a user realises and has 'tried' other things, then it maybe too late.
The playlists are simply held in files that are in the Itunes folder on your 'home' directory.
However if you recreate your library, it can then become difficult to merge your old library settings with your new ones and it is the old one that have your playlists on them.
I have not had this problem at all, and have been using Itunes since way back version 4 or 5. I very much doubt it is a Virus (at least on the Mac platform), and is 'probably' caused - and this is just a wild stab in the dark - by the file(s) that hold the catalogue information (and that is all the itunes library is - glorified text files pointing to your music) are getting 'corrupted'.
You don;t give us much information, but if for instance Andrew you have itunes open all the time and perhaps (with your laptop) put the thing in and out of hibernation then maybe (maybe) this is just contributing as when hibernation occurs a lot of disk writing goes on and if itunes is doing some update of its library (for whatever reason) and you cause this update to fail or write rubbish then you can get this kind of think happen.
Normally restoring your whole music library (mp3s etc) is overkill, and as long as your files look intact, it is just about getting back those files that hold the catalog.
I see that one user gave the link
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1967
which shows you that itunes makes its own backups of these files taht you can (usually) restore and keep your play lists.
I am an IT support person and while not on Mac see this kind of thing occur a lot. There isn't much you can do to prevent this kind of thing except that I recommend that you shutdown all your applications that contain data that you consider 'important' before going into hibernation or shutting down - yes it shoudl work all ok, and generally it does - but this is just limiting the chance of anything bad happening.
It's a natural reaction to poke about and try to restore or rebuild things and THEN report the problem, but after poking about it maybe too late.
Maybe you could go back to your Genius bar you mentioned previously and see if they can offer any advice.
have fun
Thanks, OddyJon, for that especially detailed response. Doing this blog can be a bit like working in an office with the world's nicest IT department. (Not that I've ever experienced IT folk that weren't nice - they just tend to be busier than they'd like and plagued with the cries from help of idiots like me, which can make them tetchy.) Also, thanks to William, who emailed me privately with further reassurance. It looks to me as if I am unlikely to be able to restore playlists from the iTunes back-up files, having already restored my music files, so I may well look into paying for software that enables me to transfer from iPod to iTunes, which must be a bit like siphoning petrol from a toy car and putting it back into a petrol station.
Andrew, you're welcome. Just don't ask about fixing printer problems! That will test the patience of any IT department.
;)
IT attracts some weird folk. It can't be denied.
Mm, good analogy. Try the free software before you buy something though:
http://www.findleydesigns.com/ipodaccess/index.html
The advantage of Ipod Access being it also allows you to siphon petrol from other people's toy cars should you be of a slightly criminal persuasion....
Forget the petrol. Why not just start stealing musicians' cars?
What 6 podcasts are you listening to Andrew?
re: Spotify?
Weird, I'd never heard of it before today and now it was mentioned at a business meeting this afternoon and now I read about it on here.
It may be the future for you, dear listener, but not for the labels/artists they seem to be streaming. I was in a meeting with an (mid-sized) independent record company today who we do some work for and someone mentioned that a lot of the label's catalogue was on Spotify.
The label knew nothing about it, have not given them permission to stream the music and are unlikely to see any of the money Spotify have (apparently) agreed to pay to the industry for playing their music as the major labels are keeping it for themselves.
So, does the label ask them to yank the music and lose 'exposure' or ask them for something towards the cost of making the music in the first place?
Hmmm....
Pete
exact same thing happened to me...i also now can't update my ipod which is, frankly, rather painful :(
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