Computer thinks my shuffle 4 is an external drive

Just purchased a new iPod shuffle 4. iTunes will not acknowledge it and my computer thinks it as an external drive. I have shut it off, restarted, replugged, tried to reinstall still no luck. Best bet, I'm thinking, is to return it and try again any other thoughts?

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3572 for iPod Shuffle not appearing in iTunes:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1363 for when the Ipod is seen by the computer, but not itunes.
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/iPod_shuffle_4thgen_User_Guide.pdf is the user manual: Section 5 is using iPod Shuffle in disk mode.

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I have a new computer, I have itunes library on an external drive. How do I configure my new computer?

I have a new Windows 7 computer. On my old XP, I had my iTunes on an external hard drive that I still want to use, but now I need to figure out how to set up my new computer to do this. Do I do a fresh install of ITunes first, on my new computer? Any help would be greatly appreciated! I am so glad that I recently synched my ipod.

How did you migrate to external drive originally?
Was your original iTunes setup set to keep all files in the same location, i.e. consolidated on your external drive?
Did you actually move your iTunes library out to the external drive, or did you only changed the location of the music files, and then reimported them into iTunes?
Sounds like you simply moved your files out to the external drive and reimported, but the library itself was still pointing to your internal hard drive. Which means anything you added after the migration was kept in the internal iTunes library folder rather than in your external drive.
If you still have the old XP computer around you amy be able to salvage what you imported afterwards from there.
Otherwise, you basically have only the part of the library you moved out.
To have correctly moved your library you needed to have moved a folder named iTunes from the Music folder in XP. That would contain all your iTunes library information including music, videos apps etc...
iTunes: Understanding iTunes Media Organization - Apple Support

HT1751 Just installed itunes on my new computer. My music is on an external drive. How do i get newly installed itunes on new computer to recognize the music on the external drive?

I just got a new PC, thank goodness. All my music is on an external drive (F). i installed Itunes on my new computer. Now want to get itunes to recognize all the music on my external drive. Don't want to put music on new computer, but keep on external drive. Can anyone help me - thanks

Was the media solely on the external library? If so, it is likely that iTunes was started at some point with the external drive unaccessible. Simply point iTunes to the correct library location. To do this, close iTunes. Hold <SHIFT> and launch iTunes. When prompted to find library or create a new one, select the find option and point iTunes to where the iTuneslibrary.itl file is at on your computer (or external drive).

Was able to transfer itunes music from an external drive to a computer, but cannot listen to it without external drive being connected. There are "!" next to the transferred music.

Was able to transfer itunes music from external drive to computer, but they won't play. There are "!" marks next to all transferred songs and a message reads "Unable to locate songs". How do i get the transferred songs to play without having the external drive connected.

Select a single song with a broken link, press CTRL+I to Get Info, cancel when asked to locate the track and take a look at the Summary tab. Post back where iTunes is looking for the file. It begins file://localhost
Where is it really?
Please post back both paths so that I can make suggestions. Full paths please, exact spellings, you can replace your user name with <User> if needed.
tt2

Computer has to relocate music files on external drive

all my music files are on an external drive. When I disconnect and then reconnect my external drive, I get an exclamation mark when I try to play music from library & have to relocate every time. Is there any way to avoid this happening?

snives wrote:
Yes, annoying, wish it would just try to play the **** song whether it had an exclamation point or not.
It is trying to play the song, but it can't play it if it can't find it. If you were asked to get pasta from the top shelf and boil it, only to find the pasta wasn't where you were told it should be, you wouldn't be able to boil the pasta. Of course, you are a human so you could look on other shelves until you find the pasta, but a computer program doesn't know how to do this unless it has been programmed to do so.
Also, if you have your iTunes library database file on your internal drive, and the Media folder on the external drive, you will have the problem you described when the drive is disconnected. If you put all of the iTunes files on the external drive and keep the iTunes Media folder along with the database file, it won't forget the location of your media folder. Of course, you won't be able to open your library at all unless you have the drive connected.

How do I use old playlists on a new computer with my music still on an external drive?

I have a MacBook Air. I'm getting an external hard drive and plan to copy all of my files, including music, to it from my family Mac Pro. I am planning to keep the music on the external drive as there is not enough room on my laptop. I want to be able to use my playlists from the Mac Pro on my MacBook Air while the music is still on the external drive. Is this possible?

Drag the entire iTunes library, not just the iTunes Media folder, to the external drive, launch iTunes with the Option key held down, and choose that library. Your playlists will come across.
(126542)

How do I recover another computer's time machine backup to an external drive

I did much searching on this and came up dry on how to clone a new drive on one computer (A) from a Time Capsule backup from another computer (B) for the purpose of installing on that other computer (B).
Specifically, I want to replace the drive in my wife's MacBook Pro (Snow Leopard 10.6.8) with an SSD. I have a drive Dock that can be attached to the iMac (Mavericks 10.9.3) with FireWire 800 (and also to the MBP using a much slower USB2). I wanted to allow her to use her MacBook Pro (browsing only, no new documents or emails) while I used my iMac to create her boot drive from her Time Capsule backup, but couldn't figure it out. Migration Assistant assumed I was migrating to my own Mac or to a remote Mac running MA. I couldn't figure out how to get CCC to just see one backup on Time Machine as input rather than the entire volume with all the backup versions. Everything I found with Google assumed I was using the MBP for the restore. CCC won't clone to a remote drive either--local only.
This is academic at this point as I connected the dock to the MBP over USB and am now using CCC to the attached drive, which will take several hours during which I assume we shouldn't be using the MBP. Maybe that was the only way all along? I suppose another way would have been to install the SSD in the MBP and boot from a DVD and use Migration Assistant. I'm just curious for the future as I help friends upgrade from time to time.

Since you don't really have a question, I will give you a very broad information source for the next time you have a Time Machine question.
Please visit Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for help with all things Time Machine.
Oh, you cannot use a computer whose only disk drive is the target of a an OS X cloning operation regardless of what software is used for the clone. You can, however, use the source drive except if you try to clone using Disk Utility.

Can't switch iPhoto Libraries to use external drive

I'm using iPhoto 4.0.3 on an old iBook G3, and I keep my photos on an external drive, but right now I can't access it, because my computer seems to have created its own imaginary version of the external drive, which I can't access. (I'll explain it better below.)
In other words, if I open iPhoto, there are photos there (165 of them, all fairly recent), but if I try to find an iPhoto Library on my hard drive, or any record of the photos in it, I come up empty. I must have accidentally imported photos when my external drive wasn't connected, but now I can't figure out where my computer actually put those photos, so that I can delete that iPhoto Library and go back to using the iPhoto Library on my external drive.
Here's what I've found so far:
If I open Finder and search for iPhoto, there is no iPhoto Library.
If I search for the name of one of the photos that's displayed in iPhoto, I get 0 results.
If I search for all files with the .jpg extension, none of the photos that's showing in iPhoto shows up.
If I create an album and put some photos in it, and then search for that album name, I get 0 results.
BUT, if I try to EXPORT a photo from iPhoto, I get some clue to where these photos are hiding - the default location to export photos to is XXX's Computer/Macintosh HD/Volumes/FANTOM/Pictures/iPhoto Library. That's the location of the iPhoto Library on my external drive.
Also, based on an answer to another forum question, I opened Libraries/Preferences/com.apple.iPhoto.plist in Text Edit and searched for key>RootDirectory, and the directory it gives there is /Volumes/FANTOM/Pictures/iPhoto Library. The only problem is, I've disconnected my external drive and restarted my computer, and iPhoto is still displaying 165 pictures in my photo library.
So it seems like my computer THINKS it's looking on my external drive, but actually it's looking at some 'volume' that's on the hard drive - and even when the external drive is connected, the only photos it shows are the ones in this volume, not the ones in my actual iPhoto Library. I want to be able to switch to my normal photo library, but the only way I can do that is if I figure out where this mystery photo library is located, and rename it. Does anybody know how to do this?
Thanks for your help.
iBook G3 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

You don't say whether you've restricted your search, or where you are searching. If you haven't renamed your iPhoto Library folder and it doesn't show up in a search, then it isn't there.
I'm not clear on what you mean by "imaginary version of external drive". Disconnect the drive, and there should be very little left to it's imagination. If iPhoto launches, then it's not looking for the iPhoto Library folder on the external drive -- nothing imaginary.
The destination to which a photo is exported has nothing to do with where iPhoto might have its library (real, or imagined). An "exported" photo is, by definition, not a part of your iPhoto library -- all you're doing is drawing conclusions from unrelated information.
Quit iPhoto if it's running, disconnect your external drive, and delete the "com.apple.iPhoto.plist" file from your user's Library >Preferences folder. If iPhoto starts without any unusual prompts, then it is (and likely, has been all along) using the iPhoto Library folder from your start-up drive's Pictures folder.

Everytime I start time machine, my computer backs up +/- 250MB, then freezes. Tried it with 3 different external drives, all stop at about the same point (they all work fine on other macs). Any suggestions?

The drives I have are Seagate 1TB GoFlex portable drives (one has UBS 3.0, the other USB 2.0), and a WesternDigital 1TB passport (USB 3.0). I originally tried to backup with Time Machine using the Seagate USB 3.0, and when that didnt work, Seagate suggested maybe since my operating system is a little older, that I try with a USB 2.0, so they sent me another NEW external hard drive, with the USB 2.0. Had the same issue. Frustrated and convinced that Seagate just sucked, I went and bought the 1TB WesternDigital passport (USB 3.0). Have the exact same issue again. Every drive was new, and formatted for mac. When I started time machine it started to back up my files, but froze after copying give or take 250 MB (usually 252.5MB, to be exact). I went and tried the drive on several other macs, and none of them presented any problems. I also tried dragging individual files, but it still freezes on pretty much anything bigger than +/- 100MB. Disk Utility says that all the drives are fine. Obviously this is a problem with my computer, and not the 3 brand new external drives. I thought about upgrading to OSX 10.6, but don't know if this'll help or not (plus, I'd really prefer to have all the files backed up on a drive before doing that, just in case). I dont know what else to do.. called apple, but I'm not about to pay them $50 to have them MAYBE give me a solution (done that twice now for previous unrelated issues, and each time they just told me to take it to a computer repair place.) Just seeing if anyone out there has a solution before I cave and take it back to the certified computer guys for them to figure it out.. Also, I live in Montana and theres no apple store anywhere close (not suprising), so taking it to an Apple Store is just not an option.
Side note: Seagate tech support is awesome; they tried everything to solve the problem, and they even bent their rules a little to send me a new drive, even though it wasn't a malfunction issue with their drive. Really helpful, friendly people, which is much more than I can say for Apple at this point...

this is what you need to do to exclude everything apart from desktop.
on time machine preferences, click on Options
click plus sign, on the new window, click macintosh HD
do a Control + A then deselect users then click okay
go to options again, plus sign, go to users, control +A then deselect your user account
go to options again, plus sign, go to your user account, control + A, deselect desktop
start the back up.

How do I restore the entire system from a Time Machine external drive?

Hello everyone,
Up front - I have searched through numerous threads but have not yet been able to solve my problem - even though it is presumably easy for many.
So... I had to bring in my late 2009 27" iMac to Apple to replace the hard drive - mine was one of the thousands affected by the defective Seagate 1 TB disk recall. I was told that the disk would be cloned, but nevertheless I made a full system backup with Time Machine to a dedicated external hard drive.
A week later and I now have my iMac back - but when I boot, I only see a white screen with a pointer, so it appears that the drive was not cloned - but that I now have a blank 1 TB disk, correct?
I have also tried booting with the external drive attached, thinking that the dedicated Time Machine external drive would allow me to boot directly from it and restore the system if need be - I booted with CMD+R, tried again with ALT ... no luck.
And I cannot find my Mac OS DVDs...
So... is the drive blank, or am I missing something here?
If so, how can I boot from the external Time Machine drive, or is that not possible either?
Any pointers greatly appreciated, thanks very much in advance.

Call Apple to get replacement DVDs > http://support.apple.com/kb/HE57
1. Insert the Mac OS X DVD and press C key while your computer is starting.
2. Go to Utilities menu and restore the backup.
You should have made a clone instead of the backup because Apple gives the hard disk without OS X

Satellite M30X-129: Can recovery CD be run from an external drive?

My wifi appears to have packed up - recognises wireless networks nearby but won't connect to them - so I am trying to use the Product Recovery disc in the hope that this might restore the wifi.
However, the DVD Multi Drive is not working properly - the light flickers briefly to indicate some sort of activity but no disc shows up in My Computer. I'm thinking that if I buy the External Drive, I can run the Product Recovery disc from this.
Is the Toshiba External DVD SuperMulti Drive (PA3454U-1DV2) compatible with the Satellite M30X-129 P-M 735? Can Product Recovery be run from an external (bootable?) drive?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

Hi
According to this Toshiba page the drive is compatible with your unit:
http://eu.computers.toshiba-europe.com/cgi-bin/ToshibaCSG/options_and_accessories_search_by_model.jsp?servic e=EU&selSeries=-1&selFamily=2326&selCategory=2319&family=2326&selP roduct=98795
The fact is that only this boot device options are available: USB-FDD/HDD/ODD/LAN
I know that you can only boot from the external CD/DVD drive if the device support this option and the unit.
In my opinion to be100% sure you should ask the ASP for the opinion.
But know another question: Did you boot from the recovery CD to recover the OS?
If you want to recover the OS you have to boot from this CD and not to start it under Windows. Check it

IPhoto library locked on failing external drive

I have my iPhoto library on an external hard drive which I also used as a time machine/backup. I did this to save space on my much older macbook, and when I purchased a new macbook it would have taken months for the full iPhoto library to be moved to the new computer, so I left it on my external drive. Unfortunately, that external hard drive has started to fail. I ran the disk utility repair to try and fix the external drive, and I was able to retrieve everything off of the external drive except for my pictures, which are locked in that darned iPhoto library. I have not yet found a way to retrieve or move the pictures or the entire iPhoto library from the failing drive. My MacBook Pro is AOK, my iPhoto is fine- and I think the library would have been fine as well if not for the external drive failing. It hasn't completely crashed, and I'm afraid to do much more to it. I can still hack into the in the disk utility to see the files it's holding hostage. I desperately need to get the pictures back though. Is there any way to rescue my precious pictures? Please help!

Bear in mind that Time Machine will apply ACL's (extended permissions) to the backup disk so it may be completely normal to be unable to access files on that disk. If you are trying to use an iPhoto library inside the backups folder it may not work at all - it must be copied off to another disk to use with iPhoto.
With that said, if the disk is failing or damaged it may not mount in Finder - is that what is happening here?
It is also possible that the failure is the 'external case' and not the actual disk, if the controller is not working the disk may not mount - sometimes you can get a disk to work by using a different external case or a USB toaster
You will need to consider data recovery if the disk is on it's last legs or is corrupted. Frankly this is complex & you should send it to data recovery professionals if you are inexperienced - it is the best way to stand any chance of recovering data on a failing drive, but it is costly. You are also correct to se the disk as little as possible - if the damage is a mechanical issue reading the disk can cause the disk to fail quicker.
If you are intent on doing data recovery yourself you must get another disk that is larger than the disk you need to repair. Then you can use tools like Disk Warrior or or Disk Drill to repair the disk or recover the files.
Provide more info about where the library is & the state of the disk, you may not need to do recovery.

ITunes 7.6 running slow with library on external drive

Ever since upgrading to version 7.6, iTunes freezes for about 30 seconds to a minute, every 2 minutes or so. Essentially, half the time i'm using it, I'm waiting for the "pinwheel of death" to stop spinning. My library resides on an external drive, when I open iTunes without having the drive connected, it doesn't freeze at all. Also, I noticed that when this freezing occurs, the light on my other external drive, and even my 4GB USB-key drive flash repeatedly, as if iTunes is searching for something.
I work for a music company and this is occuring on our two other Mac's as well: one is an iMac G5, and the other a duel-processor PowerMac G5. The iMac G5 actually has it the worst: when first opening iTunes, it is unusable for about 20 - 30 minutes while it seems to be scanning the external drive.
This did not happen with version 7.5.
I tried deleting iTunes preferences and reinstalling 7.6. I'm hesitant to roll-back to 7.5 as we have a ton of information in the library that I'm afraid to lose. But, if no other solution is available, that's what I might have to do.

Two suggestions:
1- Have you looked at this announcement? http://discussions.apple.com/ann.jspa?annID=552
2- Are you certain it's not the external drive? If it is happening every time you plug the external drive into another computer (you mentioned an iMac and a PowerMac), then my inclination is to think the problem is with the external drive, and perhaps not iTunes. If the light is flashing on the HD, that doesn't necessarily mean that iTunes is searching for something; it means your HD is trying to complete a process.

Extremely Slow Disk Access from External Drives (USB & Firewire)

Following the upgrade to 10.6.2 (from 10.6.1), my computer is communicating extremely slowly with all external drives (both Firewire 400 and USB). File transfers which used to take less than a minute now take 5-10 minutes (less than 1 GB). Peering into the Console, I see messages for each aspect of a file reading: Nov 13 12:30:12 Nautilus /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder[152]: Possible unresolved transaction race -105/filename
(Nautilus is the name of the computer)
By "each aspect", I mean that for Pages files, it provides a message for Quicklook,(null) , Contents,(null) , and filename,(null).
All disks are in good health, formatted as FAT32 for ease of use with all OS types, and are SATA.
Again, this occurred immediately following the installation of 10.6.2 (both Software Update and Combo). I've seen similar errors online with iTunes libraries on network drives, but this is on directly connected drives.
I normally wouldn't ask this, but, is there a way to reinstall 10.6.1 over .2? At this point, Time Machine would likely cause me to lose other data as well in a full revert, since it has been more than a few days.

I have various personal files backed up on these drives (not system data): music, pictures, documents, etc.
FAT32 should not be an issue, as I have used these drives for over 2 years with Tiger, Leopard, and then Snow Leopard with nay an issue, until now. Additionally, while the Time Machine backup may be an archive, it is the sole occupier of an HFS-formatted partition which is not exhibiting the issue. I only included that information since it is physically on the same drive as a partition (FAT32) which is being troublesome to rule out driver/hardware problems.
Bottom line: All of my drives worked perfectly on 10.6.1 (and continue to do so on my other Macs (10.5.8), but do not on 10.6.2. I was only looking for a potential solution to my computer's specific issue, not a statement that my "compromise" is the cause of my problems.
Actually, since Apple fully supports read/write access on FAT32 partitions, I should, indeed, be able to "have all things all ways...", no offense intended.

How do I share music on external drive with 2 laptops

We have 2 laptops in our household, my macbook and my partners iBook. Is there a way of keeping all of our music in one folder on the external drive and have it accessible to both computers, each with their own itunes library? Or does each computer need to have it's own iTunes music folder? As we share some but not all of the same taste in music it seems a waste of space to duplicate music files on the same drive.

The sync options relate to the iPod connected, not the library itself, so you can use different iPods with different sync options with the same library.
The problem with sharing your library over the network is that the computer which "owns" the library on the external drive always has to be near (and powered on) when the other computer wants to access it.
But you can have one library (.XML) file per computer, and still store your music on the external drive: just go to iTunes menu > Preferences > Advanced > General and uncheck "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library". Now you still have to import the files on the external drive once per computer, but they will not be duplicated.

Computer thinks my shuffle 4 is an external drive

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