Important safety tip
Do not point iTunes at mp3s that do not have any of the track information filled in. Tried that. iTunes will set them up, but has no way to display them. No really good way to fix it afterward.
And, now, to join evil_1_2 in complaining about iTunes. I did find the file where it stores information about all the tracks. It is conveniently located up in the default 'My Music' folder rather than in the iTunes directory. Because that's where everyone stores their music, right? Anyway. It's an xml file. Tried to open it. Default application is IEEEEEE! Could see some of it, but it hung. Killed it. Did 'Open With'. Noticed a Windoze XML editor and tried that. It refused to even attempt it and kept kicking back to the 'Open With' chooser. So, I tried Firefox, the browser of champions. It hung too. Someone needs to sit down with the iTunes guys and explain to them about scalability. Sure, when you're dealing with some kid with a few CDs and a Nano, storing everything in a flat file is fine. But come on. I have a 60 gig iPod (which I haven't even quite half filled). There are close to 5,000 tracks on it. Each xml entry has a dozen or two lines. You guys should probably think about learning a bit about databases or something.
I'm not upset about the proprietary problems and such that others complain about. I knew all that going in. Plus I only have bought a few things from the store. I ripped all my own CDs and just point iTunes at the mp3s, so its not like they are keeping me from doing whatever I want with my music. But this is just poor programming. No wonder iTunes is so bleeding slow.
Oh, the solution to the above. Go into each mp3, add the info. Rename the folder and point iTunes at the 'new' folder. Reassure it when it says it can't find the old folder.
And, now, to join evil_1_2 in complaining about iTunes. I did find the file where it stores information about all the tracks. It is conveniently located up in the default 'My Music' folder rather than in the iTunes directory. Because that's where everyone stores their music, right? Anyway. It's an xml file. Tried to open it. Default application is IEEEEEE! Could see some of it, but it hung. Killed it. Did 'Open With'. Noticed a Windoze XML editor and tried that. It refused to even attempt it and kept kicking back to the 'Open With' chooser. So, I tried Firefox, the browser of champions. It hung too. Someone needs to sit down with the iTunes guys and explain to them about scalability. Sure, when you're dealing with some kid with a few CDs and a Nano, storing everything in a flat file is fine. But come on. I have a 60 gig iPod (which I haven't even quite half filled). There are close to 5,000 tracks on it. Each xml entry has a dozen or two lines. You guys should probably think about learning a bit about databases or something.
I'm not upset about the proprietary problems and such that others complain about. I knew all that going in. Plus I only have bought a few things from the store. I ripped all my own CDs and just point iTunes at the mp3s, so its not like they are keeping me from doing whatever I want with my music. But this is just poor programming. No wonder iTunes is so bleeding slow.
Oh, the solution to the above. Go into each mp3, add the info. Rename the folder and point iTunes at the 'new' folder. Reassure it when it says it can't find the old folder.