iTunes 7.3 (#4): Another fix for -50 errors when saving library

We continue to report on an issue where iTunes reports a -50 error when attempting to save the iTunes library.

As previously reported workaround involves a full library deletion and restore, which requires backing up the music library to another location, then deleting the original library and finally re-importing.

We've now received reports that the issue may have to do with sorting, and simply accessing the information for each and every iTunes library track can resolve the issue.

One reader writes:

"For me the problem was that I had customized some of the new "Sort" fields introduced in the last version. I could tell it was a problem because I had used the sort field to sort by last name (for example "Simon, Paul" instead of "Paul Simon") and it was sorting by "Paul Simon" even though the sort field said "Simon, Paul". But after opening the information panel and hitting OK, it did sort it by "Simon, Paul". So then I had two Paul Simon entries, one for P and one for S.

"I then fixed all my entries by viewing all the songs, going to information for the first, and clicking Next all the way through. Boring but it worked! I also only had about 800 songs, so it wasn't actually too bad."

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

Previous coverage:

• iTunes 7.3 (#3): Downgrading to iTunes 7.2; Deleting and restoring the library for -50 errors; more
• iTunes 7.3 (#2): Fails to launch (-50 errors), fixes; Display bug in podcasts; more
• iTunes 7.3 released: adds iPhone support, Apple TV features; -50 errors (cannot save library) at launch

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