Music library file cannot be saved

It would suggest there was a problem saving your Music library database. Reboot your computer. Press and hold down option+cmd as you launch Music to open it in safe mode. Check over the library to see that it has your contents. Close Music and see if will now reopen and close without error. If you're not already backing up your library with Time Machine or some other mechanism start now.

tt2

Coming perhaps late to the thread, I have a similar problem, but the error I receive is 'The Music Library File cannot be saved. An unknown error occurred (-54). I have followed turingtest's advice and even added a file to the database, but when I reboot the file has gone. On checking the file library even the path to the media file as gone. Any further suggestions?

crusheen

Do you have any third party security software? Locate the library file, typically ~/Music/Music/Music Library.musiclibrary, right-click on it and click Show Package Contents. Do you see .tmp files inside? These typically indicate something is going wrong as the database gets updated, though not exactly what.

tt2

Sorry for the delay in responding, I've been otherwise occupied. None of your suggestions helped, so I took the easy route and created a new library. (Should have thought of that before). I also did a complete review of my Apps folder and cleared out some of the now redundant progs. Everything now seems to work OK. I hope this might be of use to someone in the future, but anyway, many thanks for your assistance

crusheen

turingtest2, I'm sorry that Crusheen's exit caused you not to continue your great help with this problem. I followed your suggestion to open the package to my .musiclibrary file, and sure enough I had a ton of temp files. The error message ["The Music Library file cannot be saved. An unknown error occurred (-3201"] pops up every few seconds, although I can still play my library. But I can't Import an album any more without the error.

I've researched like crazy, and cannot find a solution for this.

Using Big Sur 11.4 on a Late 2015 iMac, 40MB memory.

Do you have any third party security software? If so add the Music folder to its list of exclusions. Is the library backed up? Try deleting all of the .tmp files from inside the package, then hold down option+command when launching Music to open it in its safe mode. Close Music and reopen. Do you still get the error?

tt2

I just have the free version of Malwarebytes, latest version, which just works manually & no way to define exclusions. I deleted the .tmp files, launched into safe mode. When I closed/reopened Music the error appears the same--every few seconds--without my doing anything.

I neglected to tell you my collection resides on my Synology server, and has worked fine there for several months. I'm just recently getting all these errors. Here's what my files look like--anything look off to you?

As far as I am aware Apple have never specifically endorsed placing the media library on NAS storage. While it may work for some, for some time, there have also been plenty of reports of issues with NAS. You might try copying the Music Library.musiclibrary file to local storage and see if it behaves better there.

tt2

I tried placing the .musiclibrary file locally (~Music), and for a minute I thought that was going to work. But no dice, I still get the -3201 error. So I've moved my whole Music operation onto a local drive, and it's working great; I can now import, and am not getting any errors. I don't know why Apple stays so fussy about servers—Time Machine is glitchy with servers, too.

Thanks for your always-helpful responses, tt2.

You're welcome. 🙂

Glad to hear you've got things working in a new library.

tt2

Crusheen,

I have the same problem. Did you ever get a solution?

John

Oops! I failed to see your solution response.

You're welcome. 🙂

tt2

I have had this problem since iTunes disappeared, I'll have to breakdown and take it to the "genius" bar