iTunes re-install ratings issue

[action711]

I've had to go back to iTunes 7.7 cos of my other music software and the way iTunes 8 displays album artwork.

Found iTunes 7.7 no probs, installed it, copied in my tunes ( I have everything backed up, of course ).

But the song ratings don't appear.

So I imported the library from my laptop but this didn't bring back the ratings either.

How can I do this?

[Hal Itosis]

Quote: Originally Posted by action711 So I imported the library from my laptop but this didn't bring back the ratings either. How can I do this?

Tests i did as far back as iTunes 5 showed that importing the iTunes Music Library.xml file
will lose certain custom "metadata" (if user had set them) including ratings, EQ assignment,
volume settings, start & stop times (and basically anything in the Info "Options" section).

Sad but true: <consequences of "recreating" the iTunes Library>

If anyone here knows different, speak up please.

-HI-

[action711]

That's shocking!

That data must be kept somewhere tho, I'll try and find where.

[EatsWithFingers]

Quote: Originally Posted by action711 That data must be kept somewhere tho, I'll try and find where.

When you upgraded to iTunes 8, your old library file should have been placed in the "Previous iTunes Libraries" folder in your default iTunes directory (usually ~/Music/iTunes).

If it is still there, then just copy it back in place of your new library file, and everything you had before should return. Obviously though, and additions you had made to the library since upgrading to iTunes 8 will not be there.

EDIT: you can test this simply by holding the "alt" key when launching iTunes, and then selecting the old library file.

[louislouis]

I downgraded from iTunes 8 to 7.7 for Mac, using this guide -

http://www.oldapps.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2075

Ratings were all transferred over, as was all song data, but the layouts of the playlists had to be re-entered.

[Hal Itosis]

Quote: Originally Posted by louislouis I downgraded from iTunes 8 to 7.7 for Mac, using this guide - http://www.oldapps.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2075

Yes, those instructions appear to be the same as Apple's: "How to re-create your iTunes library" (also linked to in post #2).

Quote: Originally Posted by louislouis Ratings were all transferred over, as was all song data,

I agree that that's what should happen. Looking into the XML file, it appears that the info is all there.
[for example: grep Equalizer ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes\ Music\ Library.xml produces output.]

However, i saw it fail and i've heard of it failing for others. So there's probably some bug
or other anomaly, which occurs under certain conditions. It would take extensive testing to
find the problem. If we knew more about your library (how many songs with volume or EQ
tweaks, how many *custom* EQs have you created... etc.), maybe we could figure out why
it worked for you. As it stands now, that procedure simply fails for some users. Others may
not have many such tweaks, so they might not even notice the loss.

Quote: Originally Posted by louislouis but the layouts of the playlists had to be re-entered.

Yes... the view options for our playlists go default on us.

But there can be more oddities. If a user has created smart playlists that
refer to *other* smart playlists, then those settings get whacked out too.
More than just a view option tweak, we need to reconfigure the list criteria.

Here again: if someone doesn't have smart playlists that refer to other smart
playlists, they won't see that failure happen either.

[louislouis]

Quote: Originally Posted by Hal Itosis If a user has created smart playlists that refer to *other* smart playlists, then those settings get whacked out too.

Yes, I had that problem

[Hopeful]

Quote: Originally Posted by EatsWithFingers When you upgraded to iTunes 8, your old library file should have been placed in the "Previous iTunes Libraries" folder in your default iTunes directory (usually ~/Music/iTunes). If it is still there, then just copy it back in place of your new library file, and everything you had before should return. Obviously though, and additions you had made to the library since upgrading to iTunes 8 will not be there. EDIT: you can test this simply by holding the "alt" key when launching iTunes, and then selecting the old library file.

This was the key, after 3 hours of searching for a solution to downgrading itunes. It was worth registering to post this, well, I may need this forum again in the future. Hopefully not. I digress....

After various attempts at copying my old previous library and renaming it, there were so many files in my folder I thought I was going to have to take my computer in to a tech.

I simply launched the new downgraded itunes with the alt key, it asked me to choose a library and I simply chose the recent one before the upgrade in my previous libraries folder. It was a last ditch "what the hell", and waited while itunes launched (a good sign) It did, everything is in it, playlists included.

Sorry for being long-winded, I hope it works for anyone else out there. Why am I afraid to hook up my ipod to it? I thought I read it would be erased. But my mind's not being logical atm.

Thanks for reading, if you made it this far.

[Hal Itosis]

Quote: Originally Posted by Hopeful I simply launched the new downgraded itunes with the alt key, it asked me to choose a library and I simply chose the recent one before the upgrade in my previous libraries folder.

Glad that worked out for you, and that your previous library file was in good shape.

The main problem in the past wasn't necessarily when upgrading or downgrading... but rather when some unfortunate event caused a user's Library file to become corrupt (it's a "binary" data file of sorts). In such cases, iTunes refuses to (or simply can't properly) read the info that's there... and folks had to resort to that Apple kbdoc "How to re-create your iTunes library and playlists" (linked twice above), which deals exclusively with the Library.xml file (since the binary data library file is presumably florfed). It was that procedure which seemed flawed, and would miss essential metadata (like volume, etc.)

Fortunately -- these days -- Time Machine's hourly backup should save the day, by allowing us to go back and find an uncorrupted library file. . [also, any serious iTunes user should be using iVolume (plus Sound Check) to balance the audio levels across the spectrum... and that (hidden) "iTunNORM" tag is saved in the song files themselves (while the volume in the options box is simply reset back to the center position).]