External Drive not recognized - lost ITunes library

I installed the 7.1.x version of Itunes. When I rebooted, Windows would not start, I got a blue screen. So I did a restore in Windows from before the ITunes install. However, my computer now saw my external drive as blank and in need of formatting in order to be used. I housed all of my ITunes music on that drive.
Is there any way to get the drive back, short of reformatting and starting over?

The setting in Preferences only directs iTunes where to place new media when you import it. To locate a new library (or an old library in a new location), try launching iTunes while holding down the Option key and navigate to the library on the external when prompted.

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I redirected iTunes to an external drive and moved my iTunes library and folder, but my hard drive is still low on space. How can I be sure that my music is all on the external HD ONLY, especially with the new iCloud technology?

I redirected iTunes to an external drive and moved my iTunes library and folder, but my hard drive is still low on space. How can I be sure that my music is all on the external HD ONLY, especially with the new iCloud technology? It doesn't look like I created any more space by doing this, AND I totally lost all my iTunes playlists. I'm not sure if because I added old library materials manually if this messed up my playlists, or if the new location is just not reading my moved library. In any case, I followed step by step instructions and found a few holes and thought I'd just "figure it out" but I guess I'm not as smart as I thought since I'm still scratching my head many hours later.
Thanks for any support ;-)
Eaglerocker

Quick answer if you use iTunes' default preferences settings: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its subfolders and files) intact to the other drive. Open iTunes and immediately hold down the option (alt) key (shift on Windows) so you get a prompt to select a library, then guide it to the 'iTunes Library.itl' file in the moved iTunes folder.
If this is to a new computer and you put the copied iTunes folder in the default location of Macintosh HD > Users > *User Name* > Music then you don't even need to start with the option key held down, iTunes will automatically look for it there. (Make sure there isn't anything already in the iTunes folder there that you want to keep since you will be replacing it with the one you are moving.)
iTunes: How to move [or copy] your music [library] to a new computer [or another drive] - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527 - a somewhat bewildering and not always easily understandable set of options.

I have an iMac and I am running out of disc space. I am considering an external drive to house my iTunes library. If I buy a second drive to operate as a back up will time machine back up the disc on the IMac and the external drive with the iTunes library

I have an iMac and I am running out of disc space. I am considering an external drive to house my iTunes library. If I buy a second drive to operate as a back up will time machine back up the disc on the IMac and the external drive with the iTunes library?

If you have a considerable photograph and/or movie collection you may want to consider off loading those to the EHD too. Here are Apple's article showing how handle iTunes & iPhoto libraries.
iTunes: library on EHD
iPhoto: How to move the Library to EHD
Roger

Reinstall of OS: iTunes Library on external drive not recognized

I've always had my iTunes library on my external drive. Now that I reinstalled my OS iTunes will not open the library. I've navigated to the correct library using the advanced preferences but that's not doing it. I've tried discarding the existing library in the music folder. Can't seem to find the answer.
Thanks

JS,
I had some trouble following macmenno's instructions, but have had almost complete success. If you DO have your original itunes library file, this should work for you too.
Background, my situation:
My harddisk was failing but warned me, so i copied the ENTIRE itunes folder to an external drive. The iTunes folder includes the "itunes library" file, the music folder, and the xml file. This was suggested in a book i have on iLife as the best way to backup itunes to an external HD to preserve playlists, et al. But the book failed to say how to copy the folder back if needed.
So the first time i naively just copied the entire folder back to the imac (new HD) but itunes failed to "find" it, even though it was exactly where i had deleted the equivalent default (empty) files/folder. Playing around i managed to get itunes to find the music but not the playlists and ratings...i.e., it was not finding the library file.
Macmenno's instructions:
I started all over: With Itunes closed, I deleted all three items from the itunes folder: the library file, music folder, xml file. to be safe, i also emptied the trash since itunes seemed to be following the files. But i left the itunes folder in place, albiet empty. Per macmenno's instructions, i then copied ONLY the itunes library file and the xml file from my external HD to the imac itunes folder. I then opened itunes, checked the preferences to be sure it was pointing in the right direction. I then dragged the Music Folder from the ext-HD and dropped it on the library icon in the itunes program window.
That worked. i have my playlists, ratings, comments, et all.
Only problem is i now have duplicate listings of all music songs -- one with an exclamation point that doesn't play (apparently came from my itunes library file before i dropped in the songs), one that does play.
So macmenna, if you are still with us, how can i delete the 3,000 song titles with exclamation points? I tried to click on the column head to sort them all together, then block-mark and delete... but apparently we can not sort on that column head.
Or did i miss something in your instructions?
Thanks. and good luck to you JS.
SB
imac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.7) itunes 6.0.5

WD external drive not recognized with 10.7.5 update

I've got a Western Digital external drive that was working just fine an hour ago, then I installed the 10.7.5 update and now my Mac Pro is saying that it's not recognized by the computer and asking if I want to initialize it. I went to Disk Utility and the drive itself shows up but no disc image. It's connected via a RocketU USB 3.0 dual hub, which has also worked fine and aparently still is (it's recognized in my system report). I updated my drivers for the USB 3.0 hub anyways but still no disc being recognized.
It's not a complete disaster because this is a backup disc, but I'd love to avoid having to back up all that data again (about a terabyte, which happens to be all my work files and iTunes files - it's a LOT of stuff). I also wanted to post in case this is some kind of issue with this current update, but I digress.
This is what my disc utility currently looks like:
The destination and source can't be the same (as is pictured) when doing a Restore, right? That accomplishes nothing but a blank drive, I'm guessing.
I also have Drive Genius 3 and tried to "scan" the drive several times, all of them producing failure to scan results. I could try a bench test on the drive, but as I've already stated, it was working fine an hour ago. I'm pretty sure it's the update, not the drive.
So is there any way for me to save the information that's currently on there or do I have to bite the bullet and re-backup all that data?
Thanks for any help here. Every time I think I know what I'm doing on the mac I get something stupid like this that I should know but don't. :-)

Wow, no help at all. Thanks, Apple!! Another stellar performance. That's the last time I ever install an update as it comes up.

.m4v movies on external drive not showing in my library?

Some movies held on external drive are not showing in my library. I can open them with iTunes through Finder but they still don't appear in my library. Any ideas why. All my iTunes downloaded movies are there but the .m4v that I have loaded are missing.

Again I do not have iTunes 12 but I recall seeing a picture where movies have their own library section.
I did not fully understand your last post (cosignee?) but if iTunes is playing a file then it is in the library somewhere.
I know with my version of Quicktime Player it shows tag data in a separate information window I can choose to display. You can also use a tag editor such as MetaZ or Subler to edit movie tags.

New hard drive on pc lost itunes library

i have just had to put a new hard drive on my pc which has lost my itunes library?how do i get this back because it only shows up new songs ive put on.

Hello, a1p2r3.
Thank you for visiting Apple Support Communities.
There are a couple options available to you to transfer purchased media to your computer. Below, I have included a couple articles that outline this process.
iTunes Store: Transferring purchases from your iOS device or iPod to a computer
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1848
Please note that this feature works only for items that were purchased on the iTunes Store. Any items imported from audio CDs or acquired from other sources will not copy from your iPod to the iTunes library.
Download past purchases
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2519
Cheers,
Jason H.

WD Essential 500GB USB External Drive Not Recognized

I have a WD USB External Drive which was formatted for use with my old windows based PC. Bought iMac G5 and at first recognized but now does not and when i run disk verify in dissk utility get following error message:
Verifying volume “My Book”
** /dev/disk1s1
** Phase 1 - Read FAT
** Phase 2 - Check Cluster Chains
** Phase 3 - Checking Directories
Unable to read directory (Input/output error)
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 non HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair
Get same message when I try to repair, any help will be greatly appreciated

Hello! I would try hooking it back up to a pc and run the repair function from there or erase the drive as Mac format and start all over. Tom

New Toshiba 3tb external drive not recognized at startup WIn 7

My new toshiba 3tb external drive (with wall wart power) is not recognized at start up (Win7). The message I get is that it is a USB storage device but can not be used until it is formatted (I already moved files to it). If I plug it in after start up it's fine and shows up as a toshiba storage device. I've used the 2.0 and 3.0 ports and it is the same problem (it has wall wart power). I have never encountered this problem with any other usb storage device (an iomega 1tb and a WD 500gb) always plugged in and recognized at start up.
Thoughts?

Please provide your complete model number of your system.
By doing so, we will be in a better position to provide you assistance.
Thank you,
-Kenna
"Knowledge should be unrestricted and the most important commodity we can offer to help one another."

My Passport External Drive Not Recognized

I bought a MacBook last week. I also bought a MyPassport for Mac external drive. I connected it to the USB port and installed the software. The icon for the drive displayed in the upper right hand corner. I received a message that there was a firmware update for the drive. After obtaining the download and installing it, the drive icon no longer displays. Time Machine used to display the drive, but does not anymore. Finder does not show it as a device. The software for the drive does not show the device either. Other USB devices work great. I plugged the drive to the old Windows PC and it recognized it. I must have changed a setting or something during the firmware update. Suggestions?

Shteeg wrote:
I connected it to the USB port and installed the software.
Installed the software? Please explain.
At this point, I think you need to format the Passport for Mac with disk utility. Your post sounds like you took a product that was Mac ready and windowed it.

AirPort Extreme External Drive Not Recognized

I have an AirPort Extreme 802.11ac and am hooking up a Seagate 1.5TB external hard drive (USB 3.0 with backward compatability) to the USB port but it is not being recognized by Airport Utility. Does this need a power source? What am I doing wrong?
I did reformat the external drive from NTFS to be Mac compatible (Mac OS Extended - Journaled) and when I plug the external drive into my MacAir, it shows up and is completely usable. Once I plug into the AirPort Extreme though, it goes into the netherland and I can't find it at all.
Help?

I have the HGST Touro USB3 drive that works fine with apple airport routers.
I did try and establish a sort of database.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5912861?tstart=0
Contributions are sadly lacking but it already shows.. some work some don't.. some work with hubs some don't.
To OP..
As per Bob's comment.. you are now in Limbo.. since you don't know if the problem is the hard disk or the usb hub. And it is possible either or both are at fault.
Look at OWC as they seem to specialise in external drives for Mac/Apple world. They sell hundreds of different USB drives.. I recommend you ring and ask their sales staff .. explain the problem and what you want.. a disk that works with model xyz airport.. like the Apple document show.
Even from Australia we buy stuff from OWC as they have first class knowledge of apple systems. And if you look for specials they are excellent.. !!

ESata external drive not recognized on MacPro 2,1

Hi. I installed Newertechnologys MacPro "Quad Xeon" eSATA extender cables from OWC into my MacPro 2,1. They connect directly to the logic board. I have tried connecting to OWC Mercury Elite-Al Pro Qx2 external drive bay and also tried an Eagle enclosure with a eSata port. No joy. Both drive bays are recognized on Firewire and usb, just not on eSata. The previous owner had used one of the logic board ports for an optic drive. Still had the cable attached to the port. I have tried multiple eSata cables from both ports. Am I missing something or are the ports bad? I see nothing in system profiler that would indicate that the ports even exist. Thanks.

It makes sense that you cannot Hot Swap. You are not actually converting to eSATA (as you would with an added PCIe card) you are simply extending the cables (that Apple put there for INTERNAL drives) out the back of the machine.
It also makes sense that these cables show up on the Serial-ATA, or SATA Bus.

Lacie External Drive not recognized

I just unpacked and turned on my new iMac Desktop. Then I plugged in my Lacie Desktop external drive (with all my files, iTunes and iPhoto data) to move all of my files. But the Lacie Drive doesn't show up anywhere on the iMac when plugged in.
I've tried turning both the drive and iMac off and on again
Disk Utility does not see the drive
i tried all USB ports just in case one was defective
the drive does show on older laptops, incl. one with Lion installed
I've contacted Lacie tech support but they aren't responding
What can it be? what can I do??

MeganEllen wrote:
What can it be? what can I do??
Why are you repeating yourself? That's unnecessary and disconcerting. As for your LaCie issue, return it and get one from a manufacturer that is responsive and makes things that work. FWIW, I never use USB HDs. They're slow when compared to FireWire ones. I roll my own and never have issues. These are the latest combos:
Macally GS350SUA Hi-Speed eSATA/1394A/USB2.0 Storage Enclosure for 3.5inch SATA HDD w/Seagate ST3750640AS Barracuda 750 GB SATA 3.0GB/s Internal Hard Drive
Macally GS350SUAB Hi-Speed eSATA/1394A/1394B/USB2.0 Storage Enclosure for 3.5inch SATA HDD w/Hitachi 1TB HD31000 IDK/7K Deskstar SATA 7200 RPM 32 MB Cache Internal Hard Drive
Macally GS350SUAB Hi-Speed eSATA/1394A/1394B/USB2.0 Storage Enclosure for 3.5inch SATA HDD w/Seagate 2TB ST32000542AS Barracuda® Green SATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive

External Drive not recognized anymore????

Just hoping I can find an answer about this from the community since I'm so inexperienced with the technical stuff pertaining to my iMac. For some odd reason, and I suppose it could just be that hard drives don't last forever, not sure, a My Book Essential External 3TB, USB 3.0 drive all of the sudden is not recognized by my iMac nor my MacBook Air. Literally overnight it just stopped being recognized by my apple computers. I had a whole bunch of data on it that I don't know how I'm going to replace it if I can't get an answer to this. The drives light comes on when the iMac system boots up in the morning, but it don't fire up (I think technically it's called initializing). Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

test with another computer even a windows computer should be able to detect it even if not mount it
because of the filesystem not being native supported
my wd my book ext 1TB usb2/eSATA/firewire died after 1-1/2 years after having problems spinning up a lot so I had to turn it on and off and on and off to get it to start
toke the box apart and put the 1TB hd in another external case and there it worked so suppose WD are better at making hd's then the external enclosure

Seagate external drive not recognized

Seagate Back Up Plus external drive is no longer recognized by my Macbook Pro. There were no warnings or prompts just one day was no longer recognized by Finder, Disk Utility and Disc Warrior can't see it either. I can hear the whirring sound of it starting up when plugged in to my computer. Any ideas how to get it back?

Thanks kaz-k,
/dev/disk0
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *750.2 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI                         209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            749.3 GB   disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s3
/dev/disk1
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                            DiskWarriorDVD         *1.4 GB     disk1
192-168-1-2:~ Jessie$

External Drive not recognized - lost ITunes library

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