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moved: iTunes

post #1 of 16
2/27/03 at 10:50am
Thread Starter 
I just transfered my 25+ GB of music from my dell to my powerbook so I could back it up on DVDR. My problem is that the songs all got resorted by proper album name instead of just being in the respective folders where they were originally. Is there anyway to order it the way I had without going through all folders because that would just take too long.

Edit: I just realized that this also happens in Finder.

It's really annoying when I am trying to find a band or song and they are all broken up into folders that I dont know the contents of and have never made.

Thanks,
Dan

[ 03-01-2003: Message edited by: Brad ]</p>
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post #2 of 16
2/27/03 at 3:35pm
Open iTunes
Preferences &gt; Advanced
uncheck the two boxes @ the bottom (Keep iTunes music folder organized and copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library)

I don't think uncheckign these boxes will bring back your old filing system though.

Sorry
i lost the names of a bunch of tagless mp3s when i upgraded to itunes 3 because they were all in folders names after the album/artist
now they are all in the unknown album folder
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post #3 of 16
2/27/03 at 4:37pm
I had the same problem. I ended up getting frustrated, deleting everything and reloading all 200 CDs onto the computer one by one. (I don't download since I can't find a decent p2p network)
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post #4 of 16
2/27/03 at 5:56pm
[quote]Originally posted by Asaph:
<strong>I had the same problem. I ended up getting frustrated, deleting everything and reloading all 200 CDs onto the computer one by one. (I don't download since I can't find a decent p2p network)</strong><hr></blockquote>

i dont get it what is wrong with the way iTunes organizes the songs? its the way i did it by hand before iTunes changed things automatically
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post #5 of 16
2/27/03 at 9:24pm
[quote]Originally posted by Paul:
<strong>

i dont get it what is wrong with the way iTunes organizes the songs? its the way i did it by hand before iTunes changed things automatically</strong><hr></blockquote>

Well good for you. Some of us had our own systems and iTunes fuxored that by organizing our music by default. Bad decision.

[ 02-28-2003: Message edited by: serrano ]</p>
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post #6 of 16
2/27/03 at 9:44pm
[quote]Originally posted by serrano:
<strong>

Well good for you. Some of us had our own systems and iTunes fuxored that by organizing our music by default. Bad decision.

[ 02-28-2003: Message edited by: serrano ]</strong><hr></blockquote>

what i was getting at was what those other systems were... I'm curious
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post #7 of 16
2/28/03 at 1:49am
[quote]Originally posted by BuzzardsBay:
<strong>
It's really annoying when I am trying to find a band or song and they are all broken up into folders that I dont know the contents of and have never made.
</strong><hr></blockquote>

You didn't really give all the details of your transfer but iTunes only manages the files within its library. Are you sure the original files, in their original organization aren't still about.

And if you are looking for a specific mp3 file I usually find the fastest way to be locating the song using the superb interface in iTunes then hitting Cmd-R to reveal the file in the Finder.

Hope this helps.
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post #8 of 16
2/28/03 at 4:11am
[quote]Originally posted by stupider...likeafox:
<strong>

You didn't really give all the details of your transfer but iTunes only manages the files within its library. Are you sure the original files, in their original organization aren't still about.

And if you are looking for a specific mp3 file I usually find the fastest way to be locating the song using the superb interface in iTunes then hitting Cmd-R to reveal the file in the Finder.

Hope this helps.</strong><hr></blockquote>


Not if the original files had incomplete or faulty id3-tags. Then they're all listed as "unknown" or worse... <img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[oyvey]" />

The iTunes way is sweet as sh!te when you've started using it the way it should, but there is a migration process involved...

[ 02-28-2003: Message edited by: Whyatt Thrash ]</p>
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post #9 of 16
2/28/03 at 7:02am
[quote]Originally posted by Whyatt Thrash:
<strong>
Not if the original files had incomplete or faulty id3-tags. Then they're all listed as "unknown" or worse... <img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[oyvey]" />
</strong><hr></blockquote>

Aha! That explains a lot.

In that case there are tons of id3 tagger programs (on Mac and Windows) that will transfer metadata from directory structures to id3 tags or vice versa.

I wouldn't know which to recommend but most are free or shareware so you haven't much to lose.

And if your collection is just utterly f'cked then the MusicBrainz.org project has a tagger (windows only at the moment) that will try to identify your mp3s by listening to the first 30 seconds and populate the id3 tags with fully normalized data. Very cool.

edit: Having said that, I still don't understand where the original mp3s went because I have the opposite problem. I have to manually delete downloaded mp3s after iTunes has filed them away in its library.

[ 02-28-2003: Message edited by: stupider...likeafox ]</p>
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post #10 of 16
2/28/03 at 8:07am
Thread Starter 
[quote]Originally posted by stupider...likeafox:
<strong>

You didn't really give all the details of your transfer but iTunes only manages the files within its library. Are you sure the original files, in their original organization aren't still about.

And if you are looking for a specific mp3 file I usually find the fastest way to be locating the song using the superb interface in iTunes then hitting Cmd-R to reveal the file in the Finder.

Hope this helps.</strong><hr></blockquote>

When I transfered the files, through AIM, some songs were in folders called scotish music, such as scotish highland bagpipes. Now in finder scotish highland bagpipes is in Celtic Crossing and then Unkown album.

Sorry I didnt give enough information. I'm assuming there is no quick fix for this, and I really don't want to transfer it all again.

Cheers,
Dan
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post #11 of 16
2/28/03 at 8:29am
[quote]Originally posted by BuzzardsBay:
<strong>
When I transfered the files, through AIM</strong><hr></blockquote>

I don't use AIM but this seems like your big mistake right here.

Assuming the two computers are able to be placed next to each other you could transfer via an ethernet or firewire cable. I just moved about 30GB of files to an iBook and back and it really didn't take very long.

If you did it this way because the computers are remote then you can use a firewire drive, iPod, or laptop to sneakernet the files or just zip them and ftp it if you've both got broadband.

Just transfer to the Finder at first and only open them in iTunes when you've set the appropriate options to stop it wrecking the organization.

But before you do any of that check that the original files aren't hiding anywhere on your drive. The first easy check is to see if you're missing 30GB of hard drive space, if so then start searching.

I'm still fairly sure that iTunes doesn't do anything destructive unless you choose Consolidate Library... from the Advanced menu.

edit: to clarify, iTunes makes copies of the files that it organizes leaving the originals wherever they were before.

[ 02-28-2003: Message edited by: stupider...likeafox ]</p>
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post #12 of 16
2/28/03 at 9:41am
Thread Starter 
How can I do it through ethernet? My Powerbook won't recognize any other computers on my school network. The computers are next to each other, but crossover cables won't work and I dont really have $55 to spend on the one Apple sells. Also my Dell does not have firewire capabilities.

Thanks,
Dan
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post #13 of 16
3/1/03 at 2:14am
[quote]Originally posted by BuzzardsBay:
<strong>How can I do it through ethernet?</strong><hr></blockquote>

First up crossover cables aren't necessary if you've got Gigabit ethernet.

These Apple docs (and the ones they link to) should cover any and all questions:

Macintosh: How to Create a Small Ethernet Network
<a href="http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=19652" target="_blank">http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=19652</a>

Macintosh: Networking With a Windows PC
<a href="http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=19652" target="_blank">http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=19652</a>

These cover it with much better depth than I could but if you have any specific questions then feel free to post them.
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post #14 of 16
3/1/03 at 5:18am
[quote]Originally posted by stupider...likeafox:
<strong>
edit: to clarify, iTunes makes copies of the files that it organizes leaving the originals wherever they were before.

</strong><hr></blockquote>

I'm not sure if it works this way if you manually put the files in your "itunes music" folder. If you drop them on iTunes, they get copied and reorganized, but what happens if you copy them through the finder? Does itunes process at all?

Otherwise, like you say, he may have the originals resting safely somewhere on the HD.

Have you checked that yet?

And are you sure iTunes organizes by default? I'm pretty sure I had to check that box myself for it to rename my files & folders...
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post #15 of 16
3/1/03 at 7:17am
I happen to have just done a complete reinstall and the options to 'Keep iTunes Music folder organized' (i.e. when you change the id3 tags, it renames the file and folder names to be consistent) and 'Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to Library' (i.e. leave the original where it is) are both checked.

This means iTunes is non-destructive by default and only becomes destructive if you uncheck the second box or choose to Consolidate Library....

Dragging the file onto the iTunes window, selecting Add to Library.. from the File menu or double clicking it in the finder will only create a copy and organize that.

The only problem then is if you are doing it from a remote location like a web or ftp server or detachable hard drive as obviously you won't have the original when you break the link.

As I said, I don't use AIM but if it is like a browser then you would expect dragging straight to iTunes to organize it, and dragging or simply saving to the finder to leave you with the original organization.
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post #16 of 16
3/1/03 at 12:31pm
Moving to Digital Hub
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