It must have been doing something for nearly 6 minutes. Prob something to do with those broken links you mentioned earlier.
Quite correct.
I used the itsvf program to clean up the itunes library and remove references to the missing files.
I really hate having to use 3 different programs just to sync ratings I make on the iphone back to MC.
So, in review, here's what I'm doing:
1) flacs are imported into MC library.
2) sync to portable folder in MC. MC converts the flacs to mp3. Adds new files and deletes some if they no longer belong on the iphone.
3) itunes library looks at files in folder referenced in step 2. This is a temp folder as far as I'm concerned.
4) run itsvf program, which adds new mp3's to the itunes library and removes deleted mp3 files from the itunes library. As far as I can tell, this is necessary since itunes is so inferior that it has no watch folder functionality built in to keep the library in line with the actual files in the folder.
5) Rate songs either in itunes or MC.
6) Run your program to sync the rating changes.
I'd really like to remove the need for the itsvf program if at all possible. There's 4 programs involved here and they must be run in a specific order. Would like to simplify more if it's possible.
Is this how everyone else with flac or ape are handling this?