iTunes -- how do I force delete a corrupt album?

I have an album that has corrupted my iTunes database. If I select the artist, album or any tune the program hangs and I have to force quit. Removing the physical album from the library does not remove it from the database, but unless I remove it from the database I seem to be stuck forever. Is there some way to get into the library from outside iTunes to clean this up?

In article <bob-4B6582.10121606052011@5ad64b5e.bb.sky.com>, Robert Peirce <bob@peirce-family.com> wrote: > I have an album that has corrupted my iTunes database. If I select the > artist, album or any tune the program hangs and I have to force quit. > > Removing the physical album from the library does not remove it from the > database, but unless I remove it from the database I seem to be stuck > forever. > > Is there some way to get into the library from outside iTunes to clean > this up? Out of curiosity, how did that album get in there? �� where did it come from? And, is the iTunes library database somehow encrypted? Can it be opened and read with any other Mac apps (like BBEdit, just for example)? [I'm asking these questions as a non-iTunes user, but with some interest in how iTunes works.]

Robert Peirce <bob@peirce-family.com> wrote: > I have an album that has corrupted my iTunes database. If I select the > artist, album or any tune the program hangs and I have to force quit. > > Removing the physical album from the library does not remove it from the > database, but unless I remove it from the database I seem to be stuck > forever. > > Is there some way to get into the library from outside iTunes to clean > this up? I don't know whether this will work for you, but you CAN get into the iTunes library sideways from Finder on a Mac--I've done it that way to get at a single album. I believe you could delete your troublemaker that way. I can't give you the exact steps now because I'm away from home with iPad, not computer. -- Erilar, biblioholic medievalist with iPad

On 2011-05-06 14:03:09 -0400, Erilar said: > Robert Peirce <bob@peirce-family.com> wrote: >> I have an album that has corrupted my iTunes database. If I select the >> artist, album or any tune the program hangs and I have to force quit. >> >> Removing the physical album from the library does not remove it from the >> database, but unless I remove it from the database I seem to be stuck >> forever. >> >> Is there some way to get into the library from outside iTunes to clean >> this up? > > I don't know whether this will work for you, but you CAN get into the > iTunes library sideways from Finder on a Mac--I've done it that way to get > at a single album. I believe you could delete your troublemaker that way. > I can't give you the exact steps now because I'm away from home with iPad, > not computer. Open up finder, click on: user name -> music -> itunes -> itunes music. From that point all your albums should be listed and you can drag it to the trash. Does that fix the problem? -- Paul Goodman

AES <siegman@stanford.edu> wrote: > In article <bob-4B6582.10121606052011@5ad64b5e.bb.sky.com>, > Robert Peirce <bob@peirce-family.com> wrote: > > > I have an album that has corrupted my iTunes database. If I select the > > artist, album or any tune the program hangs and I have to force quit. > > > > Removing the physical album from the library does not remove it from the > > database, but unless I remove it from the database I seem to be stuck > > forever. > > > > Is there some way to get into the library from outside iTunes to clean > > this up? > > Out of curiosity, how did that album get in there? –– where did it come > from? > > And, is the iTunes library database somehow encrypted? Can it be opened > and read with any other Mac apps (like BBEdit, just for example)? No, and no. The iTunes Library file is in a proprietary database format that only iTunes understands. It can't easily be edited by anything else. iTunes also produces an XML-encoded copy of most of the information in the database, which can be read by other applications to get information about what is in your iTunes library (including your playlists). It can also be used to reconstruct the iTunes Library file if it gets damaged. See the details here for the procedure: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1451 -- David Empson dempson@actrix.gen.nz

In article <iq1d4t$519$1@dont-email.me>, Erilar <drache@chibardun.netinvalid> wrote: > Robert Peirce <bob@peirce-family.com> wrote: > > I have an album that has corrupted my iTunes database. If I select the > > artist, album or any tune the program hangs and I have to force quit. > > > > Removing the physical album from the library does not remove it from the > > database, but unless I remove it from the database I seem to be stuck > > forever. > > > > Is there some way to get into the library from outside iTunes to clean > > this up? > > I don't know whether this will work for you, but you CAN get into the > iTunes library sideways from Finder on a Mac--I've done it that way to get > at a single album. I believe you could delete your troublemaker that way. > I can't give you the exact steps now because I'm away from home with iPad, > not computer. I think I may be able to figure it out. I used to manipulate my iPhoto library that way. It is probably very similar.

In article <2011050617173446244-goodmanp@comcastnet>, Paul Goodman <goodmanp@comcast.net> wrote: > On 2011-05-06 14:03:09 -0400, Erilar said: > > > Robert Peirce <bob@peirce-family.com> wrote: > >> I have an album that has corrupted my iTunes database. If I select the > >> artist, album or any tune the program hangs and I have to force quit. > >> > >> Removing the physical album from the library does not remove it from the > >> database, but unless I remove it from the database I seem to be stuck > >> forever. > >> > >> Is there some way to get into the library from outside iTunes to clean > >> this up? > > > > I don't know whether this will work for you, but you CAN get into the > > iTunes library sideways from Finder on a Mac--I've done it that way to get > > at a single album. I believe you could delete your troublemaker that way. > > I can't give you the exact steps now because I'm away from home with iPad, > > not computer. > > Open up finder, click on: user name -> music -> itunes -> itunes music. > From that point all your albums should be listed and you can drag it > to the trash. Does that fix the problem? No. Removing the physical album does not remove it from the database. In fact, you can remove an album from the database without physically removing it from the directory tree.

In article <siegman-7F7980.07222906052011@bmedcfsc-srv02.tufts.ad.tufts.edu>, AES <siegman@stanford.edu> wrote: > In article <bob-4B6582.10121606052011@5ad64b5e.bb.sky.com>, > Robert Peirce <bob@peirce-family.com> wrote: > > > I have an album that has corrupted my iTunes database. If I select the > > artist, album or any tune the program hangs and I have to force quit. > > > > Removing the physical album from the library does not remove it from the > > database, but unless I remove it from the database I seem to be stuck > > forever. > > > > Is there some way to get into the library from outside iTunes to clean > > this up? > > Out of curiosity, how did that album get in there? �� where did it come > from? It was added in the standard way, which seems to work 99.9% of the time. Something got screwed up on this on. > And, is the iTunes library database somehow encrypted? Can it be opened > and read with any other Mac apps (like BBEdit, just for example)? It shows up as an "iTunes.app Document." I'm not sure what would edit it. I will have to find out.

Robert Peirce wrote: I gather that iTunes stores the track data in the MP3s themselves. How about 1) moving all the MP3s out to somewhere else 2) deleting the iTunes library 3) opening iTunes, forcing it to create a new empty library 4) re-importing all the MP3s? Paul Magnussen

In article <CP6dnauH6exp61jQnZ2dnUVZ_hKdnZ2d@earthlink.com>, Paul Magnussen <magiconinc@earthlink.net> wrote: > Robert Peirce wrote: > > I gather that iTunes stores the track data in the MP3s themselves. How > about > > 1) moving all the MP3s out to somewhere else > 2) deleting the iTunes library > 3) opening iTunes, forcing it to create a new empty library > 4) re-importing all the MP3s? > > Paul Magnussen I have, at last count, 537 CDs in my iTunes Library, including artist info and their scanned covers. The covers might be preserved, but the time just to reload all the CDs with the artist information is prohibitive.

In article <bob-0AA336.21062316052011@5ad64b5e.bb.sky.com>, Robert Peirce <bob@peirce-family.com> wrote: > > I gather that iTunes stores the track data in the MP3s themselves. How > > about > > > > 1) moving all the MP3s out to somewhere else > > 2) deleting the iTunes library > > 3) opening iTunes, forcing it to create a new empty library > > 4) re-importing all the MP3s? > > > I have, at last count, 537 CDs in my iTunes Library, including artist > info and their scanned covers. The covers might be preserved, but the > time just to reload all the CDs with the artist information is > prohibitive. shouldn't be more than an hour or two, at the most. you won't be reencoding the audio, just copying files.

In article <160520112121279203%nospam@nospam.invalid>, nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> wrote: > In article <bob-0AA336.21062316052011@5ad64b5e.bb.sky.com>, Robert > Peirce <bob@peirce-family.com> wrote: > > > > I gather that iTunes stores the track data in the MP3s themselves. How > > > about > > > > > > 1) moving all the MP3s out to somewhere else > > > 2) deleting the iTunes library > > > 3) opening iTunes, forcing it to create a new empty library > > > 4) re-importing all the MP3s? > > > > > I have, at last count, 537 CDs in my iTunes Library, including artist > > info and their scanned covers. The covers might be preserved, but the > > time just to reload all the CDs with the artist information is > > prohibitive. > > shouldn't be more than an hour or two, at the most. you won't be > reencoding the audio, just copying files. Do the files contain all the information and album image for each track? In other words, do I just need to reload the album and that is it? That would be pretty easy.

In article <bob-7C95FD.15065517052011@5ad64b5e.bb.sky.com>, Robert Peirce <bob@peirce-family.com> wrote: > Do the files contain all the information and album image for each track? > In other words, do I just need to reload the album and that is it? That > would be pretty easy. artwork can be in the file or in the itunes library. i don't know which one you use (could even be both, depending on song).