Syncing iPhone with Erased iTunes Library (?)

[jt33murray]

Sorry if this has been answered before. I couldn't find such a post, though.

My iTunes 10.1 library mysteriously went blank the other day (all playlists and podcast subscriptions gone). Luckily, the files were still on my Mac, so I was able to get things back to how they used to be (almost).

Now I want to sync my iPhone 3G, but the syncing options on iTunes are all reset back to square one. It doesn't remember the music and podcasts I have clicked to be synced. Totally blank. I backed up my iPhone, but refrained from doing anything else yet.

With some effort, I can set it up on the iTunes side to replicate settings for the songs and podcasts I already have on the phone - but I am hoping for a simpler solution. Also, I am very concerned that various, notes, photos, application saves, etc will be wiped in this "syncing from scratch" process.

Any advice?

 

[jt33murray]

I should add that I have a month old backup of my music files and iTunes library. I used the backed up "iTunes Music Library.xml" file to help restore my playlists - but it didn't help with the iPhone sync settings.

Can I use something from the backup to set things straight?