iPod - "Poof" and they're gone...

[The Bone]

My ripped files, that is. I have ripped almost my entire CD library and have synced my iPod a couple of times. Now, I'm trying to make a playlist, and about 10-20% of my files are saying "file does not exist". I am using an external drive for my iTunes.... I'm frustrated...

[getbent]

on a pc go to edit/preferences/
Advanced/General

make sure your music library is pointed to the place where your music is... really make sure though, usually it is nested...

then see if your music shows up... oh yeah make sure your external drive is actually on and mounted before you do this stuff...

Once you have all of that right and all your music is 'found' you can choose 'consolidate library' and then all your music will be in the same place and you won't have the problem again (uh unless you change stuff)


if you get a dialog box with that message that says "can't find your songs.. do you want to locate them?" if there is a button that asks "do you want me to find them for you (paraphrasing)" click yes... then consolidate your library.

[Tdot]

Originally Posted by getbent

... oh yeah make sure your external drive is actually on and mounted before you do this stuff...

That's probably the reason your files dropped. Make sure the external drive is attached and on, before you open iTunes. If it isn't on, the music library location is reset to the default (internal drive).

[The Bone]

when I ripped the music, then how could I sync the files onto my iPod?

I should have mentioned that these files actually made it onto my iPod prior to the "file missing" issue arising.

[tiktok]

Originally Posted by Tony

when I ripped the music, then how could I sync the files onto my iPod?

I should have mentioned that these files actually made it onto my iPod prior to the "file missing" issue arising.

It's possible to have audio files in places other than your iPod music library if the preference for "copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library" has been unchecked. You should do a search on your hard disks for the names of one of the missing files and see if it's just misplaced.

[GhostofJohnToad]

I have had the exact problem you are referrring to. For me I changed my iTunes music library to reside on the portable rather than on the pc drive where it wanted to put it. I also made sure that I let iTunes keep my library organized. That seemed to work. Also be sure you don't rename any files on the portable using windows explorer or change the id3 tags outside of iTunes. That will also get you the file missing thingy.

[The Bone]

[getbent]

I think you still have the wrong path for your music.... do a find for one of the lost songs (in windows explorer) figure out where the 'lost songs are' figure out the path and use that path to tell you where to point itunes....

[The Bone]

[garcia]

Originally Posted by Tony

My ripped files, that is. I have ripped almost my entire CD library and have synced my iPod a couple of times. Now, I'm trying to make a playlist, and about 10-20% of my files are saying "file does not exist". I am using an external drive for my iTunes.... I'm frustrated...

Same exact thing happened to me last year. I spent countless hours ripping my cd's onto my iPod, and one day i noticed that I was missing some songs. Then, I noticed that I didn't have certain albums. Shortly thereafter, complete artist catalogs were missing. Needless to say I was super frustrated. I took the pod into my local Apple store and the folks there told me to reset my ipod and start the whole ripping process over again. What a drag.

[The Bone]

it appears to have affected entire albums, as the poster above said. Not just individual songs off of random albums, but entire albums....

[getbent]

Tony you are on a PC right?
You ripped your CD's with itunes?
You added the new drive AFTER you ripped the songs?
You dragged the song folder to the new drive?

Something changed, right? What changed? I know you titled the thread 'poof' but when magic like that happens there is usually a 'magician' making the magic happen.

Are all of your songs on your ipod?
What exact location is your music folder set to in itunes? (place that in your response please)

can you do a find (not in itunes) on your computer and locate one of the missing songs so that you can determine its location?

Windows explorer is a utility on many windows computers (kinda part of the OS) which allows you to 'explore' your hard drive and find things like lost files.

[The Bone]

Thanks!

1. Yes, I am on a PC.
2. Yes, I ripped my CD's with Itunes.
3. We added the new drive after we ripped a few CD's, then transfered those existing CD's as well as iTunes itself, onto the External Drive.
4. My iPod has been synced, and all of the songs that I wish to be there are there currently.
5. My music is both in the "music" folder, and is also in the "recently added" folder. In addition, I have dragged by genre into seperate playlists, for example "Tony's Blues", "Tony's Rock".
6. I will try to find a missing song when I get home. Last night I went through every single file folder on my F: drive and C: drive. I found a number of the current Itunes data folders, but could not locate any of the missing files.

[getbent]

Okay,
so, two things....
First, in edit/preferences Advanced tab General what is the location of your itunes music library?

Second, if you have all your music on your ipod, ripping it back to your computer is easy...

ipod rip download that little hummer and it will take care of your problem.

[The Bone]

The music is under:

F:my music/itunes/itunes music

When I try to search for a file, it says "would you like to look for file", I click "yes", and it comes up with the "my music" directory, "itunes" subfolder, and I type in the file, and nothing comes up. The tile asking for my info just goes away...

[tiktok]

Originally Posted by The Bone2

The music is under:

F:my music/itunes/itunes music

So when you go to that folder, do you have folders for the artists who are missing?

[The Bone]

Thanks for all of your advice. I have a feeling what may have happened is that at some point I may have hard-booted my computer to close it for some reason or another (not my common practice). When I did that, I believe I must have caused a bunch of itunes files to be lost. That is the only thing I can think of. I've tried all the remedies and nothing has worked, so I am simply ripping all of my lost files back again. Thanks my friends!