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Asking tt2: add .itl to which iTunes library file?

tt2, in your response to Sadsongs on Mar 27, you wrote: "If any of your iTunes library folders contain files called simply iTunes Library you may need to add the .itl extension before trying to open with Music."

That could solve my problem, but to which iTunes file?

I messed up my library but had a full copy of it on an external drive (a copy, not a backup). I copied that back to my Mac mini, but the Option to Choose library failed to open it--instead I get a Finder file of the contents. There is no .itl file. Is your instruction to just add the extension .itl to one of theses file names: The Finder window reveals the following possibilities: iTunes Library (no extension, UNIX executable); iTunes Library.xml; iTunes Music Library.xml. (There are other files in that folder, like "iTunes Library Extras.itdb," Album Artwork, and "iTunes Music" which contains all of the songs.)

I don't understand why Mojave was opening my library (before I messed it up), but not the copy which is an exact copy of the entire folder.

Humbly seeking you help.

Mac mini, macOS 10.15

Posted on May 31, 2023 2:27 PM

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Posted on May 31, 2023 5:05 PM

Way back in the mists of time iTunes on Mac would call the library file iTunes Library without the .itl file extension. Successive updates to iTunes and macOS would have happily reconnected to the same library without that extension. Music on the other hand may not be able to automatically pick up the file after a macOS upgrade to Catalina or later, or allow you to select the library when using the option-start-Music method. It is expecting you to select a .musiclibrary or a .itl file. Note that Monterey has problems opening .itl files. I've been updating these for people using Catalina.


For further background and post-Music-upgrade advice see Managing your Mac media libraries - Apple Community.


tt2

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 31, 2023 5:05 PM in response to smelending

Way back in the mists of time iTunes on Mac would call the library file iTunes Library without the .itl file extension. Successive updates to iTunes and macOS would have happily reconnected to the same library without that extension. Music on the other hand may not be able to automatically pick up the file after a macOS upgrade to Catalina or later, or allow you to select the library when using the option-start-Music method. It is expecting you to select a .musiclibrary or a .itl file. Note that Monterey has problems opening .itl files. I've been updating these for people using Catalina.


For further background and post-Music-upgrade advice see Managing your Mac media libraries - Apple Community.


tt2

Jun 1, 2023 12:08 PM in response to smelending

See Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash - Apple Community. Check for hidden .tmp files in your iTunes folder. It is also work checking for a Previous iTunes Libraries folder. Sometimes people end up with their active library connected to a file in that folder. The link I posted previously covers layout of the media folder. iTunes Music is the older name, iTunes Media is a newer one. A Music folder within the media folder is an optional feature more useful with iTunes than it is with Music.


tt2

Jun 1, 2023 10:20 AM in response to Phil0124

It worked, but not perfectly. It allowed me to open the library, but does not include the songs added to the library over the past year. Curiously, the pre-converted "iTunes" folder confirms the songs ARE in the sub-folder "iTunes Music." They WERE in the library, but adding .itl which converted it to the new library structure, effectively produced the library as it was one year ago--less the songs added and the changes made to playlists. One workaround: With the newly converted (deficient) library open in Music, I can open Finder to locate each missing song in the original "iTunes music" folder and "open with" Music, which (re)imports it to the converted library. That imports critical files (name, album, date) but not all (composer, ratings). A pain because it will take time to find which songs are missing (among 4,000), and I will have to redo missing or changed playlists. Incidentally, the new library structure no longer has a "Music" folder showing all songs, which may be unfortunate.

If any of this sounds like i've missed something, I'm all ears. Thanks again for getting me this far!

Jun 5, 2023 9:41 AM in response to turingtest2

Being loyal to Apple is also being dependent.  We spend years (decades) curating our music libraries—rating songs, creating playlists, correcting metadata (wrong years etc)—confident that our work will survive with each graduation of OS or iTunes/music app. 


That trust has been shattered.  


I’ve struggled for days to open old libraries in Music—reading and conversing in this forum, dutifully studying each link, following suggestions. I was successful only once, and even then about 20% of songs were “not able to locate.”  The maddening thing is that the songs are right there in the Media folder!  But one must find it for Music and “open with..(Music)” to reactivate the link. 


So the question remains, why does Music not open every song it the media library? No, it’s even more basic: Why can’t Music FIND songs that are right there in the Media folder!!?? (among songs that Music does “find” and play)  Forcing the user to find the songs for Music is simply a programming failure.


The good news is I have not lost any music. My advice: hang on to your old copies of Media/iTune Music folders!  Finder is the savior. Searching in Finder for a song reveals all media folders it is in (old library backups -path appears at the bottom of the Finder window) usually including the active library that SHOULD have found it.  It is irritating that I must Find and “Open with (Music)” to do what a half-brain software programmer neglected to put into each new OS or Music version to insure that loyal customers have seamless access to their data. 


Thanks to all who tried to help. There may be a better way that I never learned, but I have already wasted hours. 

Asking tt2: add .itl to which iTunes library file?

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