Alle files gone from Apple Music! Message: The library “Music Library (Damaged).musiclibrary” does not appear to be a valid music library. WHAT???

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Level 1

4 points

Alle files gone from Apple Music! Message: The library “Music Library (Damaged).musiclibrary” does not appear to be a valid music library. WHAT???

Dear people,

My HUUUUGE music library has just vanished in Apple Music. Before I set their headquarters in flames I'd like to post an outcry for help. Does anyone know how to resolve this? All my files are on an external hd.

So when I opened Apple Music today this message appeared:

'The library “Music Library (Damaged).musiclibrary” does not appear to be a valid music library. Music has created a new music library and renamed the damaged library to “Music Library (Damaged) (Damaged).musiclibrary”, after which I pressed 'ok' (it's the only option given...).

I'd be very happy to hear from you!

Best, Rogier

iMac Pro, macOS 10.15

Posted on Apr 26, 2021 10:14 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

rogierbos Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 27, 2021 12:38 PM in response to turingtest2

Hi TT2, I tried it again (and again). And...now it works! Went back in Time Machine, chose 1 earlier backup than the last time, restored the the file, THREW AWAY all the damaged files, opened (with OPTION pressed) Music, chose the restored libraryfile and ...voila!

Mr TT2, I want to thank you for all your time and effort!

Have an amazing week!

-Rogier

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Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

274,516 points

Apr 26, 2021 11:28 AM in response to rogierbos

Thanks. No .tmp files there to help out, but hopefully Time Machine will do the trick. What is the date of the Music Library.musiclibrary file? This is the usual name for the library file. I would normally expect the warning message to be along the lines of:

The library “Music Library.musiclibrary” does not appear to be a valid music library. Music has created a new music library and renamed the damaged library to “Music Library (Damaged).musiclibrary”

As Music Library.musiclibrary is the default name for the library. Your variation on this theme suggests that before things went wrong Music was using Music Library (Damaged).musiclibrary as the active library, which is a bit odd. Open your ~/Music/Music folder and then go into Time Machine from the icon in the menu bar. Step back to yesterday or the day before to locate a copy of the database to restore. Look at the file modification dates and sizes in the details view to get a sense of which files is most likely to represent a complete copy of the library. After restoring it you should rename it as Music Library.musiclibrary, if necessary, and then use the option-start-Music method to direct Music to open the file that you restored.

tt2

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Answer 3

rogierbos Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 27, 2021 5:27 AM in response to turingtest2

Hi tt2,

I've followed up your instructions regarding Time Machine. It didn't work. I went back to the right date /time in Time machine (april 26th early/very first backup of the day), before the 2 damaged files were created, chose 'restore' and opened Music while holding the option key, chose the right library (not one of the damaged ones) and got this message:

...after which I've created yet another 'faulty file':

Hmmm...

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Answer 4

turingtest2

Level 10

274,516 points

Apr 26, 2021 10:25 AM in response to rogierbos

This is the second time that this has happened?

Do you have Time Machine set up and covering your Music folder?

If you do restore Music Library (Damaged).musiclibrary from a snapshot before this incident occurred, rename it as Music Library.musiclibrary, then option-start-Music and choose the restored library with its new name.

If not please locate the new damaged library Music Library (Damaged) (Damaged).musiclibrary right-click on it and click Show Package Contents. Please post a screenshot so we can discuss possibilities. I'd like to see if there are any temporary files inside and the sizes/modified dates which might be used to restore the state of your library.

tt2

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