IiTunes library on an external disk

I know there have been mny discussions about this but I can't seem to find one that matches my problem.
I use iTunes on an old MacMini as a Sonos server, with the library and all files on an external disk. I wanted to merge this library with an iTunes library on another imac, a faster one, and so connected the external disk to the imac and made the merge. I then used TuneUp to tidy up all of the files, get new artwork etc. On the imac iTunes worked perfectly – all the music seemed to be available and worked well.
I ejected the external disk, connected it to the MacMini, opened up iTunes via the option key and rediredted preferences to the new library on the external dirive (actually to the complete iTune folder).
Now, only half of my music seems to be available. A lot of it appears with the dead track exclamation mark but when I try to play it I can navigate to the folder where the track is and select it. Itunes then asks if I want to locate other dead tracks in the sme folder. I click yes and the beacball appears but iTunes doesn't find the tracks and reports another 5000 or so tracks ar missing. All the missing tracks seem to be pointed to the itunes library of my imac, not the mini, but other tracks appearing in the itunes window are pointed to the mini.
Why did this happen and how can I fix it - tried Powertunes but that failed too.

Yes, it's most certainly possible. The easiest way is to just drag the entire iTunes folder (the entire folder, not just the iTunes Music folder) to your desired location. Then hold down the Shift key while launching iTunes. You'll be given a dialog box where you can select the iTunes library you want to use. Navigate to and select the iTunes folder in it's new location. Note that this procedure assumes that all of your content is contained in the iTunes Media/Music folder. If things are scattered around your drive, moving them becomes much more complex.
Once you get things moved successfully, be sure not to launch iTunes with the external drive not mounted or iTunes will default back to the internal drive. If it does, though, just mount the external drive and launch iTunes with the Shift key again.
Regards.

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Can i put my itunes library on an external disk?

hi,
i want to store my itunes library on and external disk but want it to work just like it does on the internal hdd. is that possible?
i tried to store it on a home server. and while i could play the contents of the library. the art-work and so-forth did not appear in the itune client.
please advise.

Yes, it's most certainly possible. The easiest way is to just drag the entire iTunes folder (the entire folder, not just the iTunes Music folder) to your desired location. Then hold down the Shift key while launching iTunes. You'll be given a dialog box where you can select the iTunes library you want to use. Navigate to and select the iTunes folder in it's new location. Note that this procedure assumes that all of your content is contained in the iTunes Media/Music folder. If things are scattered around your drive, moving them becomes much more complex.
Once you get things moved successfully, be sure not to launch iTunes with the external drive not mounted or iTunes will default back to the internal drive. If it does, though, just mount the external drive and launch iTunes with the Shift key again.
Regards.

Am trying to transfer iTunes library to an external disk for back-up purposes. have followed normal protocol i.e. locating iTunes file in Music folder and dragging across to external disk icon. However, nothing seems to happen. Any advice please?

Am trying to transfer an iTunes library to an external disk for back up. Have followed normal instructions by locating iTunes folder in Music file and dragging across the iTunes folder to the external disk icon. Nothing happens. No notifications. Just a very pregnant pause. Any advice gratefully appreciated.
Michael L J

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
The external drive must be formatted in "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)", exFAT or FAT32, because OS X can't write in NTFS partitions by default.
As you just want the library on the external drive to make a backup of your library, you can format it in "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" by using Disk Utility > http://pondini.org/OSX/DU1.html (Note that you won't be able to use the external drive with PCs unless you install a special application in them).
Finally, drag your iTunes folder to your external drive

When I try to drag the iphoto library to the external disk a forbidden (circle with slash through it) icon appear. Why do you suppose it is preventing me from adding to external drive? These are pictures I have taken. I believe it cannot find the origina

When I try to drag the iphoto library to the external disk a forbidden (circle with slash through it) icon appear. Why do you suppose it is preventing me from adding to external drive? These are pictures I have taken. I believe it cannot find the original file. Please help.
Thanks.

What happens if you try to Option-drag the library to the EHD? The same icon?
Make sure the EHD is formatted Mac OS X Extended (journaled) with Ownership set to be ignored:
OT

Is it possible to keep iTunes Library on an external disk ?

Is it possible to keep iTunes Library on an external disk ?

Moving a library: Quick answer if you use iTunes' default preferences settings: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its sub-folders and files) intact to the other drive. Hold down the option (alt) key (shift on Windows) and open iTunes. At the prompt to create or choose a library choose the copied iTunes folder.

How do I link an iTunes Library (on an external disk) ?

Hi all,
I'd like to keep my huge collection on external drives.
I was able to link the correct playlist (on external disk which was cloned from my previous Mac).
What exactly should I link?
For example: in Aperture, I just select the Aperture Library on my external drive and all my pics are available (obviously if the drive is plugged in).
In iTunes I don't see this option... The only thing I see is the iTunes Media Folder Location option... which I don't really understand why is not there on my external hard drive.
Any idea?
Thanks

If you have the whole iTunes library (media files, library files, genius, artwork, etc.) on an external drive hold down the option key while starting iTunes, navigate to the external, and it will use the iTunes folder on the external. This is all too often confused with just keeping media (but not the library files or artwork) on an external which is the setting you see in Preferences.

How do I create an iPhoto Library on an external disk

I have a project that has grown out of all proportion, and for space reasons I wish to move the iPhoto library from the system disk to an external disk and access the pictures from there.
Is this possible?
I have tried duplication the original library file moving it to the external disk. I then moved the original photos to trash but this caused BOTH iphoto library files to go blank.
Fortunately I was able to get back to square one.
Regards Peter

Peter:
1. Quit iPhoto
2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
3. Hold down the option (or alt) key while launching iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location. From that point on this will be the default location of your library.
4. Test the library and when you're sure all is well, trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.
Regards
TD

How do I import my library from an external disk to my new MBP hard drive?

My old MBP was running out of space so I exported my Aperture library (250GB) to an external drive. I just replaced my old computer with a new MBP with a 1TB flash drive. Now that I have the space, I want to put my library back on my computer but I can't figure out how bring it in from my external hard drive. Any ideas? Many thanks.

Why do you say " I exported my Aperture library"? Did you actually use "File > Export > Items as new Library" in Aperture to create a new library on your external drive? A simple drag and drop of the library should have sufficed. What is your Aperture version?
My old MBP was running out of space so I exported my Aperture library (250GB) to an external drive. I just replaced my old computer with a new MBP with a 1TB flash drive. Now that I have the space, I want to put my library back on my computer but I can't figure out how bring it in from my external hard drive. Any ideas? Many thanks.
Connect your external drive and use the Finder to drag the Aperture library from the external drive back to the Pictures folder.
Then double-click the library to point Aperture to the new location and open the copied library in Aperture.
If your Aperture library uses referenced originals, select the referenced images and use the command File > Consolidate originals" to move the originals back to your internal disk.
If you should encounter any error messages (like error -36) while moving the library to the internal drive, post back.

Organizing iTunes Library onto two external disks

I would like to keep my Music files on one external disk and the Podcasts files on another external disk.
I understand how to designate the media files to an external disk, but am not clear how to split the two different sources between two separate libraries.

I see. To get a better idea of what is being stored where please download and run the script iTunesInfo which should output something like this:
I'm interested in the block of 4 results starting ITL location. If your profile name shows up somewhere replace it with <Name>. It is also worth checking under Edit > Preferences > Advanced to see where iTunes thinks your media is supposed to go. My script estimates the setting based on the location of the first media file it can actually find.
tt2

I can't open my iphoto library on an external disk (78 gb ntfs); if i copy the files on the iMac the file is smaller and not usable. how can i recover my photo?

hi all,
i'm using the last version of iPhoto and i save my library on a western digital external USB drive; the drive is formatted in NTFS; i usually use tuxera to access and browse the files.
Unfortunately, i don't know why, i access this drive in read only mode, so iPhoto doesn't accept the library any more; i tried to copy the library on the iMac but the copied file is really smaller (54 gb instead on the 78 on the drive), and iphoto doesn't accept it.
i need to find a solution and to recover my library, i've no other copies?!
tuxera doesn't open any other ntfs drive i think the problem is there, but i have to finf other solutions to recover my photos.
thank you all for any suggestion.

This problem is entirely due to this:
the drive is formatted in NTFS
iPhoto needs to have the Library sitting on disk formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Users with the Library sitting on disks otherwise formatted regularly report issues including, but not limited to, importing, saving edits and sharing the photos.
Do you get any error messages when you try and copy the file back to your Mac?
Do you have a back up?

How do I import a large Aperture library from an external disk?

I have a large Aperture library, about 110GB of photos, it currently resides on an external USB3 drive for space reasons. I'd like to migrate this into Photos, but every time I try I get an error: "There is not enough disk space to migrate your library. It is estimated that you need at least 21GB of additional free space."
From finder, if I get info on my Mac's main drive, it says I have 297.51 GB available, and on disk, my Aperture library is 105.8 GB. There is almost 3x as much space available as I should need!? And after the first time I tried this I freed up an additional 30 GB of space and still received the same message, still claiming to need 21 GB of space.
My drive has FileVault enabled, would that matter?

I experienced the exact same problem. I have a iPhoto Library in another volume (or partition) with very small free space, while main/system partition (Macintosh HD) has big enough free space.
Turned out, the one that should have big free space is the volume/partition that contains original iPhoto Library (to import from), not the system partition. So, I freed up some space, reopen Photos app (while holding Alt key), and select the iPhoto Library to import. It works!

Copying aperture library from one external disk to another fails with error -36

I am trying to duplicate my aperture library (449 GB) from one external hard disk to another. I get an -36 error and the copying fails before 1 GB is copied. I have repaired permissions and repaired my aperture library and have repaired both the source and destination disks. I am using a MB Air with a 256 GB HD (155 GB free) to perform the copy operation. Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks!

Rahul,
I have also used the Aperture First Aid to repair the perminssions and the library (just the first two options out of three provided).
What else can I do?
Sorry, I overlooked that you already had done the repair options.
To prevent permission issues, I'd enable the "Ignore Ownership" flag on both drives, if you have not already done so.
Your copy-problem may be caused by a bad media file in your library.
You could try to copy in small installments.
Open the Aperture library package in the Finder by ctrl-clicking (right clicking) the Aperture library.
You will see a Finder window with folders like Masters, Previews, etc.
Create an empty folder on your new drive, name it something like ApertureLibraryBackup and drag the items from your current Aperture library on by one to this new folder.
When the copy fails, e.g. for the Masters folder, check, how much could be copied. The first file, that not could be transferred, is probably the bad image or video.
Delete this file from your Aperture LIbrary (using Aperture) and then try to copy the rest.
Post back, when you discover what cannot be copied.
Regards
Léonie
P.S.
You enable the "Ignore Ownership" flag from the "File > Get Info" panel of the drive.

How do i (easily) store only PART of my iTunes library on an external disk?

i have a LOT of music to digitize and not a lot of space left in my powerbook. i want to keep this music on an external drive for later. i do not need to play it (for now) and i do not connect to this external drive often.
should i just drag the song folders or artist folders out of the iTunes folder on my laptop and onto the external drive?
or, is there some sort of cool way (play list?) that will let me keep them catalogued in iTunes even though unavailable?
pb g4 12 (first one) Mac OS X (10.4.5) want a new one

so dude, it would be better to put it all. You can't just put part because itunes needs to draw the songs from one place. So what you do is drag your whole itunes folder to your external hard drive then when it is all transported go to preferences and select advanced. Hit general and change the itunes music folder location to the iTunes music folder within the itunes folder. Also select keep library organized. It will automatically update you library, organize, and transport any imports to your external hard drive. Finally, it is safe to delete the folder from your computer. DO NOT DELETE FROM ITUNES! Delete the whole folder library on your computer. Remember to connect the hard drive when ever you open itunes, and if you forget repeat the steps to as stated before to draw the songs from the hard drive. Hope this helps. It helped me free up soooo much space on my computer.

I would like to save disk space by putting my library on an external disk. How do I get Itunes to relate only to the external library?

I have run into problems doing this. Itunes only wants to recognize the library on my hard drive or the music in the cloud. It will not use the externally stored library as active for downloads and for syncing. All these problems make me wonder if Apple is exerting pressure to give up on the classic and buy a touch which will connect to the cloud itself.

How to correctly move your media:
iTunes: How to move the library to an EHD

How do I import an old iphoto library from an external hard disk while keeping my editing and organization in tact?

I am running iPhoto '08 on a MacBook Pro 2.2 GHz Intel C2D (MacBook Pro 3,1). I backed up my hard drive contents onto an external hard drive, then formatted my computer and installed Mountain Lion. I then re-installed iPhoto '08 and ran all the updates. Now, I would like to import my old library from the external disk onto my computer without losing my editing and organization; however, when I select "import to library" from iPhoto, the old iPhoto library is not a selectable option.
I know how to "show package contents" and import directly from the Original and Modified folders, but I don't want to lose my organization. Can I simply drag the content of those folders into my new Original and Modified folders? Will iPhoto read that correctly?
I tried to open the old library from the external disk, thinking to export them all to a folder and import from there, but that just opened my new library and none of the old photos were imported or available.
I'm running out of ideas and would appreciate any help you guys can give. Thanks!!

You don't import it.
Just drag the iphoto Library from the external to the Pictures Folder.
Then open it:
Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'
Never import one Library to another. Every version and thumbnail is imported like a distinct photo, you lose all your Albums, Keywords etc., the link between Original and Previews is destroyed, the non-destructive editing feature is ruined and so on. In summary: it's mess.

IiTunes library on an external disk

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