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Old 06-10-2008, 11:53 PM   #1
schneb
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Refreshing Movie Path in iTunes?

I have all my movies and videos nicely cataloged in iTunes. The problem is, when I move any of the folders, the link is broken to the movie or video. If I rename the drive, its broken. Now music seems to know when such changes occur, but movies and videos do not.

Any way to refresh the path without searching for each broken file? I could delete them and reimport, but that will lose all my great poster frames--and maybe my metadata.

Any help or hints would be appreciated. I wish Apple would fix this in iTunes. It works great for music.
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Old 06-11-2008, 04:27 AM   #2
EatsWithFingers
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Quote:
Originally Posted by schneb;
Now music seems to know when such changes occur, but movies and videos do not.

Is your music on a different drive to your movies?

The reason that I ask is that iTunes won't lose track of files which have been moved or renamed if they are on a HFS+ drive, but will if they're on a FAT32 drive. If I'm not mistaken, this is because files on a HFS+ drive are located via their inode reference, not their path -- and inode references do not change when you move or rename a file.


But I agree that iTunes should have a mechanism for batch fixing songs/videos which should have a common prefix path (e.g. let you change the drive name for selected files in iTunes' database).
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Old 06-11-2008, 11:57 AM   #3
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They WERE on different drives, but I got a refurbished 1TB LaCie drive and (without iTune running) I transferred all my files from two drives on to the one and named it the same. DiskWarrior says that all my drives are HFS+.

I tried going in to the iTune Library.xml file to hard code the right path into the file links, but it always manages to revert them to the older drive. So it sounds like that inode reference has taken over.

I tried a test on a few video titles, and I, indeed would lose my metadata if I tried to import them. Augh! All that work I did would be lost. I check Automator, and there again, nothing that will help remedy.

Is there ANY recourse?

Last edited by schneb; 06-11-2008 at 12:00 PM.
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Old 06-11-2008, 12:29 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by schneb
I tried going in to the iTune Library.xml file to hard code the right path into the file links, but it always manages to revert them to the older drive. So it sounds like that inode reference has taken over.

iTunes recreates this file from the proprietary database file, rather than the other way about.


Quote:
They WERE on different drives, but I got a refurbished 1TB LaCie drive and (without iTune running) I transferred all my files from two drives on to the one and named it the same.

That was your mistake. You should have used the 'consolidate library' option from within iTunes to copy everything to the new location.

But that's of no help now, so...

Just to make sure I understand the situation. You had two drives:

DRIVENAME_A/../../../files_on_drive_a
DRIVENAME_B/../../../files_on_drive_b

and you now have a new drive laid out as follows:

DRIVENAME_A/../../../(files_on_drive_a & files_on_drive_b)

As a result, iTunes has no problems with 'files_on_drive_a', but has lost 'files_on_drive_b'. Is this correct?


Quote:
Originally Posted by schneb
Is there ANY recourse?

If you still have the old drives and can recreate the old (working) setup, you should be able to do the 'consolidate library' thing.

Basically, you have to put the files which iTunes can't find back where it thinks they are, and then tell iTunes that you want to move them to the new location.

Sadly, fixing broken file links is not one of iTunes' strong points.
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Old 06-11-2008, 04:53 PM   #5
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Yes, this TB drive was actually meant to be a redundant backup, but it is so quiet and eliminates one more brick under my desk, I decided to use it primarily and keep the other two in a safe location (fear of fire and such). So yes, I still have my two drives.

I will do a little testing on the consolidate library option. I just don't want iTunes to reorganize my folders or really change anything except the file location. Oy, what a pain, and it could/should have been so easy to fix. :P In fact, it should have been as easy as finding the new location for one file, and have it ask if I want to look in the same place for any other broken files. Zip-- done. This is very unMac like behavior on iTunes part. And really, couldn't Spotlight have had a bit of a hand in this?

Last edited by schneb; 06-11-2008 at 05:30 PM.
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Old 06-12-2008, 12:03 PM   #6
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Oy, what a pain, and it could/should have been so easy to fix. :P In fact, it should have been as easy as finding the new location for one file, and have it ask if I want to look in the same place for any other broken files. Zip-- done. This is very unMac like behavior on iTunes part. And really, couldn't Spotlight have had a bit of a hand in this?

Couldn't agree more.

Quote:
I got a refurbished 1TB LaCie drive [...] it is so quiet

Is it LaCie's "Designed by Neil Poulton" drive? I'm thinking of getting one myself because the fan in my current external is driving me crazy - I keep my music and films on it, and I hate hearing the fan in the background when the volume is low.
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Old 06-12-2008, 01:56 PM   #7
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Is it LaCie's "Designed by Neil Poulton" drive[/URL]? I'm thinking of getting one myself because the fan in my current external is driving me crazy - I keep my music and films on it, and I hate hearing the fan in the background when the volume is low.

I wish. That thing looks great. However, I would probably make like an ape and go stroking it while playing an MP3 from my 2001 soundtrack.

This was a reconditioned D2 model for $80 less. I noticed that when I tried to partition the 1TB drive that it gave an error that it needed to be HFS+ Journaled--which I thought it was (according to the instruction). So, I took the plunge and completely erased my 1TB drive and formatted it with DiskUtility. I did a test and found that indeed, if I moved a video folder over to the new drive, reimported it into iTunes, then moved the files into another sub-folder, the link would not break. It followed much like it does with my music files. Unfortunately, all my metadata did not follow, I would have to start from scratch there with all my series numbers, track numbering, comments, all of which are important for searching and organizing. Arrrgh.

Not sure how to remedy the problem. I am afraid that the Library Consolidation will reorganize my songs and it will be confused regarding all of my video titles. I'm still trying to figure out a solution that will consolidate all my media in one place, while still retaining the metadata and accurate linking.
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Old 06-12-2008, 06:47 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by schneb
I did a test and found that indeed, if I moved a video folder over to the new drive, reimported it into iTunes, then moved the files into another sub-folder, the link would not break. It followed much like it does with my music files. Unfortunately, all my metadata did not follow, I would have to start from scratch there with all my series numbers, track numbering, comments, all of which are important for searching and organizing. Arrrgh.

Are you saying that the metadata is lost when you move the file, even though iTunes can still find the file? This seems strange. I know that the metadata will be lost when you re-import a file, as not all of it is embedded in the actual file.

Quote:
Originally Posted by schneb
Not sure how to remedy the problem. I am afraid that the Library Consolidation will reorganize my songs and it will be confused regarding all of my video titles. I'm still trying to figure out a solution that will consolidate all my media in one place, while still retaining the metadata and accurate linking.

I have an idea which may work. If you can put your video files on a HFS+ drive such that the path names are what they used to be (i.e. what iTunes expects), then you may be able to drag them across to your new drive without the links breaking. The only problem will be if the inode association doesn't work when a file is moved to a different drive (which is entirely possible).

If this doesn't work, then it looks like you'll have to re-associate the files manually from within iTunes, since the consolidate library route will mess up your own filing hierarchy.


I really hope you find a solution because I will face a similar problem when I eventually get that shiny black LaCie drive (my music is organsed automatically by iTunes, by my video files are not - and everything is on a FAT32 drive...)
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Old 06-13-2008, 12:17 PM   #9
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Quote:
Are you saying that the metadata is lost when you move the file, even though iTunes can still find the file?

No, it is lost when I reimport the video files. I think the metadata is held in another file somewhere, not in the file itself. Sort of like Spotlight comments are not found in the actual file, but rather the DSStore file.

Quote:
I have an idea which may work. If you can put your video files on a HFS+ drive such that the path names are what they used to be (i.e. what iTunes expects), then you may be able to drag them across to your new drive without the links breaking. The only problem will be if the inode association doesn't work when a file is moved to a different drive (which is entirely possible).

Yes, this is what I tried before, but my error was in not formatting my drive properly first. I am going to try this method again. I might even partition my drive with the exact names of both drives, but I am going to try a few experiments before that.
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Old 06-15-2008, 11:46 AM   #10
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Found a Solution

Quote:
Originally Posted by EatsWithFingers
I really hope you find a solution because I will face a similar problem when I eventually get that shiny black LaCie drive.

I may have found a solution. Here is what I did. With iTunes NOT running, I copied all of the music, video and iTunes Library files to the new drive (you do not have to transfer the iTunes Library if it resides locally--I keep mine with the external hard drive). I then unmounted both older drives. I started iTunes and , of course, it could not find the necessary Library, so upon setting the new drive iTunes Library as the one I now want, it started with all the files and metadata in place. Problem is, the links were all broken. This was to be expected, now what to do?

My big mistake before was to always delete the iTunes file entries then reimport. This is where I lost all the metadata. However, if I reimport all the files BEFORE deleting the old linked entries, I found that, miraculously, the metadata remained intact!

I can now safely get rid of the duplicate entry by sorting by "Date Created" and delete all that were not created today.

Except for a few stray files that needed a little housecleaning, this has saved me days of work! All my iTunes music, audio, and video files now reside on one 1TB drive instead of two large drives.

Last edited by schneb; 06-15-2008 at 11:51 AM.
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Old 06-15-2008, 03:57 PM   #11
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I just made an alias to the iTunes Music Folder and moved the files to another drive. Worked for me..
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Old 06-15-2008, 09:30 PM   #12
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If you read the earlier posts, I have two drives that are going to be replaced by one. The alias idea would not work in this situation.
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Old 06-16-2008, 08:25 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by schneb
However, if I reimport all the files BEFORE deleting the old linked entries, I found that, miraculously, the metadata remained intact!

Nice one! This bit of info will come in very handy. Now just to get my hands on that shiny black hard drive...
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Old 06-16-2008, 11:31 AM   #14
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Great! I thought it worthy to submit as a hint. Here is what I submitted in case you need the information between now and the day it is officially posted. - Schneb

Quote:
I use iTunes for not only my extensive music and audio library, but my vast video library as well. So large, that I needed to copy all the files to a new, larger drive. My troubles began with iTunes unintuitive linking. Library Consolidation scared me in that it would mess up my hierarchal structure. If I reimported my videos, all my meticulous metadata noting would be lost. Naming the new drive the same as the old worked, but would break the link if anything within the link structure moved or changed due to the inode reference database. In other words, I MUST reimport from the new drive (and thus lose all my metadata).

After days of experimenting, I came up with a solution that did the trick. With iTunes off, I copied all my music and video files to the new drive. I also copied my iTunes Library folder to the new drive as well (I prefer keeping all on one drive).

I then unmounted my old drive and launched iTunes. Of course, iTunes could not locate the iTunes Library, so I pointed to the new location. I then saw all my music and videos as if all was well--but alas, none of the links to the various media files were correct. (here is where Spotlight should have automatically re-established the links globally--sigh).

The great question now is, "How do I relink all the music and videos?" I could either take a year and relink each file one at a time or, I can delete all the iTunes files, reimport and take another year re-entering my metadata. Both approaches were unacceptable.

I was overjoyed to find that there was a simple solution. Keep ALL the music/video information and organization intact and unchanged in iTunes. Reimport all the files into iTunes. This creates a duplicate of each file--one broken, the other not. The wonderful thing is, all the album art, poster frames, and metadata notations duplicate as well! Since you cannot sort via the link warning symbol, the good news is that you can sort by "Date Added". Your unlinked files are now all grouped together, thus allowing you to shift-select all the unlinked files and delete.

The result is properly inode referenced files on a new drive with all your original iTunes organizational structure and information intact.

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Old 06-23-2008, 05:06 PM   #15
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Quite a few a responses to the hint above. Where were these guys when I originally asked?
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.p...08061608302145
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Old 06-24-2008, 11:46 AM   #16
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I skimmed some of the comments that were made, but a lot seem to overlook two issues that made your situation difficult:
  1. Your library was originally split over two separate hard drives, and you wanted to move them to a single drive
  2. You didn't want iTunes to organise your movies

The first point negates the ability to use a symlink in the old location to point to the new location, and the second point removes the 'Consoliodate Library...' route as an option.

As for the method to re-create the library database file from the XML file (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1451), I was always under the impression that this did not preserve all the metadata. However, all the metadata is in the XML file, so maybe it has to be done from an empty library (i.e. the persistant IDs of the tracks in the XML file must not already be used in the library).

I had been trying to re-import tracks whose links were broken, after fixing the links in the XML file. Result (IIRC) was an entry for the original file with the correct metadata but that still had the broken link, and a duplicate entry for the locatable track, but with only basic metadata (the stuff embedded in the track).

Just tried to import the XML file into a new library, and it works as advertised - all the metadata is retained. Of course, there is a problem:

If 'copy files to iTunes library' is checked, you will lose your own filing hierarchy. If 'copy files to iTunes library' is not checked, then the files will not get copied from their exisitng location to the new one.

Neither outcome is what you were originally after. However, modifying the path names in the XML file first (to their new location), and not checking 'copy files to iTunes library', should give the desired result - although I haven't tried it.

Definitely a useful bit of info though.
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Old 06-24-2008, 12:10 PM   #17
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Those are all right on observances. Obviously I struck a chord with quite a few people. I think it would behoove Apple to do something about the linking issue--obviously, we are not the only ones having troubles.
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