# Fallen at the first hurdle ;(

**URL:** <https://discourse.beets.io/t/fallen-at-the-first-hurdle/178>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [September 7, 2017, 5:02am UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/fallen-at-the-first-hurdle/178 "2017-09-07T05:02:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![antechinus55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@antechinus55](https://discourse.beets.io/u/antechinus55)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 5:02am UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/fallen-at-the-first-hurdle/178/1 "2017-09-07T05:02:59Z")

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Hi,  
I found beets today and it looks like the answer to all my iTunes hassles (as an aside I hate, really hate, iTunes). I am using an iMac running Mac OS 12 with a large iTunes folder on an external HDD. It’s got really messed up and there are missing songs on lots of albums and I want to find and reinstall these files. This is not an issue with broken links in iTunes, the actual individual files have disappeared.  
Anyway I installed beets in an existing XUbuntu virtual machine on the same iMac. I am using Virtualbox. I have set up the XUbuntu virtual machine with shared folders and I can see and access the iTunes folder. I have followed the instructions in the getting started documentation but I get the following error if I try any beet command:  
'database file /home/richard/data/musiclibrary.db could not be opened’  
Here is my config file:  
‘directory: /media/sf\_iTunes/Music/  
library: ~/data/musiclibrary.db  
import:  
copy: no  
write: no’

~/richard/data exists and is empty.  
What I want to do is read and write all my music to the existing external iTunes directory. All assistance appreciated.

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**Author:** ![antechinus55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@antechinus55](https://discourse.beets.io/u/antechinus55)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 5:20am UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/fallen-at-the-first-hurdle/178/2 "2017-09-07T05:20:03Z")

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small update: I commented out the library path in my config file and beets now works.

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**Author:** ![adrian](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.beets.io/adrian/32/4_2.png) [@adrian](https://discourse.beets.io/u/adrian)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 1:09pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/fallen-at-the-first-hurdle/178/3 "2017-09-07T13:09:04Z")

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OK! If you still want the other path, can you try:

$ touch /home/richard/data/musiclibrary.db

to see if there’s a permissions problem or something else?

Also, any particular reason you’re using a VM instead of running beets directly on your Mac? (That’s what I do; it works great.)

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**Author:** ![antechinus55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@antechinus55](https://discourse.beets.io/u/antechinus55)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2017, 1:49am UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/fallen-at-the-first-hurdle/178/4 "2017-09-08T01:49:53Z")

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Thanks for your reply. I read the install instructions for osx 10.11+ and decided it would be simpler to just use the VM, which was already set up, so just lazy I guess. Plus I love Xubuntu.  
I have followed your suggestion and I am now importing the whole library using the import -A option. Seems to be working.