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User profile for user: ferdinand202
ferdinand202 Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

iTunes 12.12.4.1 Windows -> migrate library to Music/MacOS Monterey 12.5.1

Hi,


After several absent years I bought a new MacBookPro running MacOS Monterey 12.5.1. The last thing I am doing along my Windows -> Mac migration is so migrate my iTunes library to Music. And this makes me sad and angry unfortunately. I spent ages to enrich my media with covers, ratings, meta data and so on. But unfortunately "Music" just doesn't like my itunes library. Btw.: The library contains approx. 95 GB / 30k files


So what did I do on Windows?

  • Windows iTunes is the moste recent one 12.12.4.1
  • I consolidated the library
  • The media is organized by iTunes and located in the iTunes Music folder.
  • I do not use a split library
  • I copied the whole "iTunes" folder (including library XML, several subfolder with Album artworks. etc. as well as the iTunes music folder with the mp3


What did I do on MacOS?

  • I copied the whole folder "iTunes" to the Mac in the folder "Music"
  • I started Music using the Opt key
  • I selected "choose" and chose my itunes library.itl
  • It works, but my Music library stays empty and an eternal loading ring appears.
  • I let it spin for 12 hours, but nothing happened


So I read several posts (especially from turingtest2) and tried to reorg my itunes library on Windows before moving it etc.


But eventually its always the same result: The infinite spinning wheel and no media.


By using "create new library - import itunes library.xml" I am able to restore about 11k files, their ratings, there meta data, etc. But this only seems to include some files from actual playlists and I also get an error message, that not all files could be processed properly. Remember: All of those files are working perfectly fine on Windows.


So, guys..... To be frank: I am desperate. I dont wanna loose my YEARS of work with my iTunes library and just import the tracks as a new library :-(


Who can help me??


Thanks and best regards


Ferdi

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 12.5

Posted on Sep 12, 2022 12:48 PM

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User profile for user: ferdinand202
ferdinand202 Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Posted on Sep 13, 2022 12:25 AM

Thanks for the quick answer! I guess this is something which could have solved the problem.


But in the meanwhile I tried something else (which might be relevant for other people as well):


  • I downloaded the migration assistant for Monterey on Windows
  • I started the assistant on the Mac
  • I did a migration procedure for only ONE folder on Windows: The Music-folder.
  • It took about 5 hours at super fast 100 MBit ;-)
  • Afterwards the migration assistant created a new user in my Mac and there my music was successfully (!) migrated in the Music-library. Including ratings, meta data etc.
  • The last step was to move the folders "Music" and "iTunes" to an external hard drive, delete the newly created user, login with the regular user, empty the Music folder and then move the "Music" and "iTunes" folder from the external drive to the regular Music folder.
  • Boom! Just started Music and EVERYTHING is there...


I am so happy! Thanks for the support!!

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User profile for user: ferdinand202
ferdinand202 Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Sep 13, 2022 12:25 AM in response to turingtest2

Thanks for the quick answer! I guess this is something which could have solved the problem.


But in the meanwhile I tried something else (which might be relevant for other people as well):


  • I downloaded the migration assistant for Monterey on Windows
  • I started the assistant on the Mac
  • I did a migration procedure for only ONE folder on Windows: The Music-folder.
  • It took about 5 hours at super fast 100 MBit ;-)
  • Afterwards the migration assistant created a new user in my Mac and there my music was successfully (!) migrated in the Music-library. Including ratings, meta data etc.
  • The last step was to move the folders "Music" and "iTunes" to an external hard drive, delete the newly created user, login with the regular user, empty the Music folder and then move the "Music" and "iTunes" folder from the external drive to the regular Music folder.
  • Boom! Just started Music and EVERYTHING is there...


I am so happy! Thanks for the support!!

Reply
User profile for user: turingtest2
turingtest2
User level: Level 10
274,494 points

Sep 12, 2022 2:10 PM in response to ferdinand202

There does appear to be an issue with Monterey converting .itl files right now. One possibility if you have a friend with access to Catalina or Big Sur is to send them your iTunes Library.itl database and ask them to send back the converted Music Library.musiclibrary file. Not tried it myself but apparently this works without needing the media to be present. To use the XML file generated by iTunes for Windows you'd need to massage the XML file to reflect the new paths in the different operating system. Typically in Windows the path is of the form file://localhost/<Drive Letter>:/<Path to Media Folder>/ whereas in macOS this string will be file:///<Volume>/Path to Media Folder>/. In Windows I would recommend NotePad++ for editing the XML.


tt2

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iTunes 12.12.4.1 Windows -> migrate library to Music/MacOS Monterey 12.5.1

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