Problems importing music with iTunes

[esteban]

I have a really random bug with iTunes... whenever I import music from a directory (doesn't happen with a CD), iTunes sometimes imports songs twice, so I have to go through and delete half of the songs. This doesn't happen under certain circumstances; as fas as I can tell, it's pretty random, and sometimes it doesn't even do it to the whole folder. Does iTunes like my music twice as much as I do?

[wierdOne]

yes.

iTunes loves music.

[getbent]

to simplify the fix you can go to the view menu and select 'show duplicates'

one experiment you may want to try is to show duplicates and repeat your action and see if, in fact, you have told itunes to add songs automatically AND then you drag them in and they have been added twice... might be a bug, might be that you have had itunes do some work and then you did some work and you got two results... not a bug, per se, just duplicative efforts.

[esteban]

Originally Posted by getbent

to simplify the fix you can go to the view menu and select 'show duplicates'

one experiment you may want to try is to show duplicates and repeat your action and see if, in fact, you have told itunes to add songs automatically AND then you drag them in and they have been added twice... might be a bug, might be that you have had itunes do some work and then you did some work and you got two results... not a bug, per se, just duplicative efforts.

Yeah, I've been doing the 'show duplicates' thing.

This doesn't happen when I import a CD or sync an iPod. Here's the procedure:
1. I have a folder of music (friend gave me some stuff or something).
2. I go to iTunes, File->Add Folder to Library, and select said folder.
3. As iTunes imports, it will import some songs twice. I've watched my library during the import, and this is what it does: iTunes adds all the stuff in the folder, but then adds it again. It does not necessarily add all songs again, but it usually does.

I think I'll just blame Windows Millenium Edition. Even though I'm on XP. I hated that OS...

[getbent]

in your preferences do you have the box checked 'copy files to itunes library when adding songs"?

if yes, then I think what may be happening is that you've made itunes aware of the 'new' song and it adds it to the library.. it adds a sym link in itunes to the other non itunes music directory... then it is also added to the itunes library and gets an xml link to the itunes library.. so you end up with two entries... working as designed.

If you want to maintain your itunes music in a variety of directories and you don't want duplicates you should uncheck that box and your problem will disappear.

[esteban]

Originally Posted by getbent

if yes, then I think what may be happening is that you've made itunes aware of the 'new' song and it adds it to the library.. it adds a sym link in itunes to the other non itunes music directory... then it is also added to the itunes library and gets an xml link to the itunes library.. so you end up with two entries... working as designed.

Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh......... that makes sense. IMO, seems like a small design error, but who knows.

Ok, so what about this: I have both 'keep my library organized' and 'copy files when adding' checked. I would like to maintain my organized library, which is on a separate partition in my hard drive.

Now, let's say I have a folder of music, called "music," that I wish to add to my library. If I moved "music" to the E: drive where my music is, and add this folder to my library using "Add Folder to Library," will iTunes organize the songs into the proper folders AND remove "music"? Should 'copy files when adding' be unchecked for this?

Thanks for the help, getbent.

[BillyG]

Originally Posted by getbent

in your preferences do you have the box checked 'copy files to itunes library when adding songs"?

if yes...

The songs in your iTunes music library are aliases. The actual file is in a folder and as getbent indicated, look in your iTune preferences (under "Advanced") to see if the box "Copy files to iTunes music folder when adding to library" is checked.

iTunes prefers to store your music files in its dedicated folder. If you have a separate folder that contains music, a copy of the music file will be added to your iTunes folder if this box is checked. "Check for duplicate song" within iTunes will not reveal this.

[getbent]

I'll do my best. First, it is hard to design for large heterogenous groups who also need things to work without training or reading instructions. But, if folks do things the default way, it works fabulously...

In this case you are doing things differently, but the product is designed to meet those needs... but since you are doing an 'advanced' thing it will require some instructions. our theory on that is that if you can conceive of the advanced solution to meet some need, then doing a little more won't be a hassle because you are capable of the conception of the exception.

My recommendation is that if you maintain your itunes library on a drive other than the boot drive... you first 'point' itunes to that location in preferences/general/itunes music folder location.

If you then have a folder with additional songs you wish to add and you don't want duplicates and you do want to keep all your stuff in that itunes music directory... keep that box checked... and drag your music folder into itunes.

that should solve the issue and work perfectly. Then take your music folder where the new songs resided and throw it away. Then you will only have one copy of the songs and the songs will be organized by itunes for easy use.

I have had a few folks request that we change the structure of the itunes music folder and make it 'simpler'. It is our take that itunes is really simple and straightforward and for the average user (my mom) when she starts digging through directories for individual files... the tech support calls start to ring off the hook. To satisfy the 5% who love to dig through things and make things 'simple' in their estimation of file organization, it ends up making it less than trivial for the end user.

This should resolve your duplicates issue...

[esteban]

Originally Posted by getbent

I'll do my best. First, it is hard to design for large heterogenous groups who also need things to work without training or reading instructions. But, if folks do things the default way, it works fabulously...

In this case you are doing things differently, but the product is designed to meet those needs... but since you are doing an 'advanced' thing it will require some instructions. our theory on that is that if you can conceive of the advanced solution to meet some need, then doing a little more won't be a hassle because you are capable of the conception of the exception.

My recommendation is that if you maintain your itunes library on a drive other than the boot drive... you first 'point' itunes to that location in preferences/general/itunes music folder location.

If you then have a folder with additional songs you wish to add and you don't want duplicates and you do want to keep all your stuff in that itunes music directory... keep that box checked... and drag your music folder into itunes.

that should solve the issue and work perfectly. Then take your music folder where the new songs resided and throw it away. Then you will only have one copy of the songs and the songs will be organized by itunes for easy use.

I have had a few folks request that we change the structure of the itunes music folder and make it 'simpler'. It is our take that itunes is really simple and straightforward and for the average user (my mom) when she starts digging through directories for individual files... the tech support calls start to ring off the hook. To satisfy the 5% who love to dig through things and make things 'simple' in their estimation of file organization, it ends up making it less than trivial for the end user.

This should resolve your duplicates issue...

Alright, I'll try that when my girlfriend gives my CD back (SHAMELESS PLUG FOR AUSTIN BAND: "WHAT MADE MILWAUKEE FAMOUS"). I've never dragged a music folder into iTunes as a way of importing (never knew!), and it sounds like it'll work. I'll be playing around with this...

This still does not explain why this doesn't happen for every song I import from a separate folder. But I guess I shouldn't dig too far, before someone asks where I'm getting all this music...