iPod & iTunes: Backing up playlists
I have a Windows PC, but I ordered a MacMini and will be transfering my files to it, including my MP3 collection and my playlists.
Recently, I had to do a fresh resintall of Windows. While my MP3s were saved and I'm still able to sync up with my iPod, I lost all my playlists. They're still in iTunes, but they're empty.
The first time I ran iTunes, it asked me to scan my harddrive for MP3 and I ended up with duplicates of every single MP3 I had. I had to clear my library and reimport, which probably screwed up my playlist (which seems to store tracks as track IDs).
I imagine when I transfer my MP3s to my MacMini the track IDs and playlists will be screwed up.
Is there any way I can back up my playlists, or do I have to rebuild them all from scratch?
Recently, I had to do a fresh resintall of Windows. While my MP3s were saved and I'm still able to sync up with my iPod, I lost all my playlists. They're still in iTunes, but they're empty.
The first time I ran iTunes, it asked me to scan my harddrive for MP3 and I ended up with duplicates of every single MP3 I had. I had to clear my library and reimport, which probably screwed up my playlist (which seems to store tracks as track IDs).
I imagine when I transfer my MP3s to my MacMini the track IDs and playlists will be screwed up.
Is there any way I can back up my playlists, or do I have to rebuild them all from scratch?
Comments
Originally posted by JavaCowboy
I have a Windows PC, but I ordered a MacMini and will be transfering my files to it, including my MP3 collection and my playlists.
Recently, I had to do a fresh resintall of Windows. While my MP3s were saved and I'm still able to sync up with my iPod, I lost all my playlists. They're still in iTunes, but they're empty.
The first time I ran iTunes, it asked me to scan my harddrive for MP3 and I ended up with duplicates of every single MP3 I had. I had to clear my library and reimport, which probably screwed up my playlist (which seems to store tracks as track IDs).
I imagine when I transfer my MP3s to my MacMini the track IDs and playlists will be screwed up.
Is there any way I can back up my playlists, or do I have to rebuild them all from scratch?
if you have a library with the proper playlists, go to file> export song list (in itunes) and save each playlist as an .xml file. then go into the new itunes and import those xml files (file>import) and it'll build your playlists.
Originally posted by ipodandimac
if you have a library with the proper playlists, go to file> export song list (in itunes) and save each playlist as an .xml file. then go into the new itunes and import those xml files (file>import) and it'll build your playlists.
(I had to space out D, :, and \\ , otherwise, I'd get smiley faces)
This is what I see in the text file:
NameArtistComposerAlbumGroupingGenreSi zeTimeDisc NumberDisc CountTrack NumberTrack CountYearDate ModifiedDate AddedBit RateSample RateVolume AdjustmentKindEqualizerCommentsPlay CountLast PlayedMy RatingLocation
Don't Turn the Lights DownSouldConfessionsDance4075188254\ t429/09/2004 9:10 PM19/01/2005 9:38 PM12844100MPEG audio file D : \\ Documents\\My Music\\Sould\\Confessions\\Sould - 04 - Don't Turn The Lights Down.mp3
The D : Documents.... convention will do little to help me rebuild my playlist on my Mac. This backup solution will work only between different Windows machines, or between different Mac machines.
Thankfully, all I need to do is open that file in gVim and:
%s/D : \\\\ Documents\\\\My Music/~\\/Music/g
%s/\\\\//g
{What I mean by this is replace the string "D : Documents\\My Music" with "~/Music" and then every backskash (\\) with a forward slash (/) }
Still, the average person wouldn't know to do this.
Apple should implement a way to transfer playlists from Windows to Mac and vice-versa.