IPhoto, iTunes, and Time Machine

I have a late 2009 Mac Mini running Mavericks. The Mini has a 200gb drive. Is it better to have iPhoto, iTunes and Time Machine on an external hard drive? I understand it doesn't matter where the location is as long as you have adequate drive space. That is not what I am asking. Another words, you have a separate external drives for EACH one. Does it make sense to have separate drives for iPhoto, iTunes and TM. All of these external drives plugged into the Mini. I am thinking of the recovery as well as if one drive crashes then you are not dead in water,
I am thinking this way because iPhoto alone can get fairly large as well as iTunes. It makes sense to me to have separate drives for each one. Anyone else have this type of setup at home?

Thanks for the response. I understand that I would need a backup of all three drives. However, I was asking if it is better to have your iPhoto and iTunes libraries on separate drives versus using 1 large drive to hold the data. The other point, iPhoto and iTunes can get fairly large in size over time. So, do you use 1 large external drive or use 2 separate drives. Obviously, I know that when a drive crashes, you may or may not be able to recover any data off of it. Obviously, I know that you need a backup of the drives in case of drive failure.
I would like to know if other Apple users have separate drives for iPhoto, iTunes and TM? If so, which manufacturer are you using?

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Can someone help with Iphoto 09 and Time Machine

I upgraded to ilife 09.....I am having problems between iphoto and time machine. All my photos are in iphoto but when I went to see if everything was ok in time machine all I find are blank windows no photos from iphotos are in there.
Everything was OK in iLife 08.....and now this problem.
Please help.
Terry

Terry
I don’t understand:
Browse backups...it worked...I did see all the photos in time machine.
doesn;t seem to tally with
After trying yours suggestion I than clicked on iphoto and opened time machine and it was empty.
The way to access photos in TM is via the Browse Backups command.
Regards
TD

IPhoto '11 and Time Machine Error

After installing iPhoto '11 the Time Machine reports "The backup is too large for the backup disk..."
Apparently iPhoto touched each file and all are considered new.
The problem is with Time Machine Error - while the error is a failure there is no way to reset the Time Machine unless I go and manually delete entire Time hard drive. Time Machine has not button to restart the backup process from beginning without doing incremental backup.
Should go to Time hard drive and delete Picture folder?

How big is your TM drive and how big is your internal drive?
The general recommendation I've seen is for the TM drive to be at least 2 1/2 times the size of the main drive.
LN

ITunes and Time Machine

Hello,
My 2006 iMac has a 160G hard drive. More than half that is the iTunes library! And lately, the hard drive is getting too full.
I back up with Time Machine onto a Western Digital USB external hard drive with 320G capacity.
I'm thinking I should put the iTunes library on the WD external HD.
Will I have to delete all my HD back ups to do this? Should I re-format the WD external HD?
Or should I buy a new 2T external HD which would be big and fast, usable when I upgrade to a new iMac later this year?
What new external HD would you recommend?
Many thanks,
Art

A couple of things.
First I'd recommend against using WD EHD, their enclosures tend to have problems with OS X.
Next is NEVER use the TM drive for any storage than TM. If you want to store your media library on an external HD (which is a very good idea) get another EHD and dedicate it for media, including your iTune, iPhoto (or Aperture) libraries.
As far as what drives I'd recommend they would be:
OWC Mercury Elite Pro series
Lacie Quadra d2 series series
G-Tech G drive series
All are of similar build quality and features. Personally I use Lacie but wouldn't hesitate with either OWC or G-Tech.

Itunes and time machine (authorization)

Hi all,
After a recent apple update I lost the ability to connect wirelessly to the internet. I have reverted back to an older system set-up and have rectified this problem however now I can't play any of my itunes purchases. I believe this is because I changed the username of my apple account after the latest time machine backup I made. It says I am signed into the correct account but if I try an play anything it asks me to authorize the computer again. If I put my password in at this point it opens a file and starts to play however there is no picture or sound just a grey window? I have tried the help on the apple website and it didn't help at all as I had to get the latest version of itunes which required an update of safari, quick time and the operating system (to 10.5.8) so I lost the wifi again.
Anyone had this problem?

A couple of things.
First I'd recommend against using WD EHD, their enclosures tend to have problems with OS X.
Next is NEVER use the TM drive for any storage than TM. If you want to store your media library on an external HD (which is a very good idea) get another EHD and dedicate it for media, including your iTune, iPhoto (or Aperture) libraries.
As far as what drives I'd recommend they would be:
OWC Mercury Elite Pro series
Lacie Quadra d2 series series
G-Tech G drive series
All are of similar build quality and features. Personally I use Lacie but wouldn't hesitate with either OWC or G-Tech.

Iphoto library and time machine backup on a same drive ?

Hi
I want to free up some space on my MBP so I am planning to move my iphoto library from MBP to an external hard drive. Can I also use the same external drive to keep Time Machine backups ? In short if I buy a large size external drive can I use it as a TM backup drive and also as iphoto library home location ? Or do I have to keep two separate external drives...one for TM and the other for iphoto library.
Thanks
Mandar

Yes, you can, but I wouldn't recommend it. Should your backup drive fail then you not only lose your Time Machine backups but you will also lose your iPhoto Library. But if you put each on two different drives then you lose none. If the iPhoto drive fails your library is still backed up on the Time Machine backup drive. If you lose the Time Machine drive then you lose a backup that can be easily recreated, but you still have the iPhoto drive. Two drives is a much better strategy. Always keep backups separate from all other external drive uses.

Problems with new iMac and Maverick: ITunes and Time Machine

Just upgraded from an old to new iMac, migrated my data from my old machine and installed Maverick. Couple of major problems.
1. My iTunes library won't open. I've been into the library folders but can't work out how to get the old library to load. Decided to try a sync back from my iPhone but while the phone tells me that it has synced with my Mac, the music hasn't moved across.
2. Time Machine doesn't work. On my old machine I was using an external Omega hard drive but when I plug it into the new Mac it isn't even showing up on the desktop. Clearly there's a connection of some sort as the disc is powering from the Mac. Prior to upgrade, I was getting messages that Time Machine couldn't be updated but I put that down to my failing elderly Mac, which kept crashing, freezing and needed replacing. Perhaps the external drive was dying too.
Any suggestions welcome.
Thanks,
Mike

I dragged the installer from the install disk to my desktop and was more successful in installing problem CS2 apps. Make sure to update everything as well. Some times it takes a restart to get the finickiness out of PS.

2 external hard drives with iTunes and Time Machine

Hi folks.
My 160gb hard drive on my iMac is full so I've bought 2 x 1tb external hard drives, my plan being to move my iTunes library to one of them (as this uses the majority of space) and run it from there and use the 2nd hard drive with Time Machine.
My question is this, will Time Machine backup any changes to my iTunes library if it isn't on the computer's internal hard drive?
Thanks!
Brian

Just be sure the iTunes volume is formatted +Mac OS Extended (Journaled).+ Most drives come formatted for Windoze, and TM can't back them up.
See #1 in [Formatting, Partitioning, Verifying, and Repairing Disks|http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/DU.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of the +Using Snow Leopard+ forum) if you need to reformat and aren't sure how.

Trouble with itunes and time machine

i am having trouble with my iphone and thought it may have been itunes, so i went into time machine and tried to replace my current version of itunes with the last one. Everything went fine until i got right to the end of replacing it. it said i didnt have the authorization to do that...or something along those lines... now i cant even open itunes, ill click on it and it just bounces once and thats it. can anyone help me!?

I haven't been able to back up to my FreeAgent external hard drive
The TM disk is your backup destination and I assume it is the Seagate FreeAgent disk. The source is your Mac.
Wireless. I have a Seagate FreeAgent external hard drive plugged in by USB to the mac.
You say it is connected via USB, yet your are saying backups are done wirelessly.
From Terminal, can you post the output of tmutil destinationinfo (remove any personal information as you see fit)?

Iphoto 6 and time machine

Based on what I have read, TM is not compatible with iphoto 6... so does that mean that it's not backing up the content? Or only that i can't go back and retrieve specific files? Does that make sense? I just want to make sure something is backing up the content.
Also, can someone point me in the right direction for RAW/NEF plugins? I have the RAW plugin for my Leica, but not for my Nikon and can't seem to find it in the spot where i found the leica years ago.
thanks for your help!

For iphoto '08 and Aperture 2 ONLY.... Nikon d60: http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/digitalcamerarawcompatibilityupdate20.htm l
For iphoto '06 Nikon d80:http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/digitalcamerarawsupportupdate101universal .html
For a list of 10.5 RAW camera support:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306835
Read carefully for any Adobe Raw conversions. http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=3821
Most Nikon camera Raw support is already built into Leopard 10.5.2
From this site:
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/content_page.asp?cid=7-9258-9275
"A parallel update for OS X 10.4.x, one that would bump up the list of supported camera RAW files in that OS version, hasn't materialized, which may mean that system-wide support for the newest digital camera RAW files isn't in the cards for the older OS. But, Aperture 2 and iPhoto 7.1.2, when run in OS X 10.4.11, are able to view and process RAW files from the same list of cameras as OS X 10.5.2, including the latest Canon and Nikon digital SLRs."

I cannot retrieve iTunes and iPhoto libraries from Time Machine after re-installing OS X

I havd just re-installed OS X on my Mac, and I cannot retrieve iTunes and iPhoto libraries from Time Machine.

Please confirm that you are running Leopard 10.5.8 on a PPC iMac.

Cannot Find Photos on External Hard Drive Using iPhoto and Time Machine

Hi everyone,
This is my first time posting on this forum and am really hoping for some help! I have a 2006 PowerBook G4 that is running iPhoto and Time Machine, and I've used an external hard drive to backup everything on the computer via Time Machine. When I plug the external hard drive into my newer 2010 MacBook Pro, I follow this path to try to access the photos:
     External Hard Drive > Backups.backupd > PowerBook G4 12" > Latest > Macintosh HD > Users > Me > Pictures > iPhoto Library
When I click "iPhoto Library", I get the following message:
     "The iPhoto Library is a Time Machine backup, and so cannot be used as the main library. Relaunch iPhoto with <option> key held down to choose another   library."
So, I do as the error message says and I hold down the "option" key and iPhoto launches and says:
     What Photo Library do you want iPhoto to use?
In this case, I choose "Other Library..." and again follow this path:
     External Hard Drive > Backups.backupd > PowerBook G4 12" > Latest > Macintosh HD > Users > Me > Pictures > iPhoto Library
When I choose this, I again get the following message:
     The iPhoto Library is a Time Machine backup, and so cannot be used as the main library. Relaunch iPhoto with <option> key held down to choose another   library.
So as you can see, I'm feeling a bit like I'm chasing my tail in trying to open these photos. I did follow another user's advice and confirm that all photos are infact on the hard drive by using the "control" button and clicking "iPhoto Library" under the pictures folder, and choosing "Show Package Contents". All looks to be in tact in the "originals" folder when showing package contents, however, I just can't find a way to actually view the photos in iPhoto. I really don't want to import all the photos to my current MacBook Pro, because I'd like them to live on the external hard drive (which is formatted for Macs) so that I can browse the photos on the external drive, rather than housing it on my computer.
One other thing I tried was opening iPhoto on my MacBook Pro and going to File > Browse Backups... which essentially opens Time Machine and shows me the photos on my MacBook Pro but gives me no option to view them from my External Hard Drive.
Any super users out there willing to lend me some help?
Thanks!

The iPhoto Library is a Time Machine backup, and so cannot be used as the main library. Relaunch iPhoto with <option> key held down to choose another   library.
You can have an iPhoto library on an external drive and use it from different machines
and you can have a Time Machine backup
The two can not be on the same volume - and iPhoto can not access the TM backup - it must be restored to use it
LN

How do I access my iphoto library on time machine backup external drive using Lion, originally saved from old computer and system

how do I access my iphoto library on time machine backup external drive using Lion, originally saved off old computer and system. It's not letting me open the folder???

Once again here's how to restore an iPhoto Library from Time Machine:

IPhoto and Time Machine Backup

I accessed an IPhoto backup on Time Machine from about 10 months ago and it automatically restored my IPhoto Library to that time. During this
transition I received a message that it was correcting an issue with permissions. Now I am missing photos for the last 10 months. All the Time Machine backups
for the last 10 months do not show the recent files either. Any ideas on how to get these photos to show up in my library again? IPhoto 9.5.1 and OSX 10.9.5.
Thank you.

I accessed an IPhoto backup on Time Machine from about 10 months ago
Exactly how did you "access an iPhoto backup" on TM - what exact steps did you do?
it automatically restored my IPhoto Library to that time.
There is no way for any action to "automatically" restore your iPhoto library - that can only happen by your direct actions - thee is no automatic restore of a library under any circumstanses
During this
transition I received a message that it was correcting an issue with permissions. Now I am missing photos for the last 10 months. All the Time Machine backups
This leads me believe that you did a restore and choose to overwrite the old library
If this is what you did then the only way to get newer photos is to restore a newer library
Something like this happened a couple of years ago on another computer, and the rebuild function solved the problem at that time.
Totally different - a rebuild can repair database problems which may allow you to view photos that were hidden due to the database problems - it can not "restore" any thing that is missing
I have read that sometimes software updates can sometimes cause issues with "permissions"
Sometimes they "reveal" permissions problems - they do not "cause" them - if you recently did an upgrade as this implies what was the upgrade (old version and new upgraded version)?
ut it appears that all of the backup Iphoto libraries have read and write access.
No idea what you are getting at - iPhoto libraries are just data files - they have no "access" to anything - backup programs (like TimeMachine for example) has read and write access - files (or packages) have no ability to take any action - they are simply passive data to be used by applications
Previously, you could access Time Machine through IPhoto and retrieve only one file but now the only option is to do a full restore.
That is correct - it changed several years ago
If I look at the backups on my external drive, none of them have files from the last 10 months.
How exactly are you "looking" at these backups? You do not directly look at backups - you restore them - you can use Spotlight while running TimeMachine to search for files in the backup - Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac
So more exact details are needed and you need to be sure you are using TM correctly
LN

Restoring itunes using time machine

Hi everyone,
I'm not hugely computer literate so please be gentle.
I managed to delete my ENTIRE itunes folder... apps, music, playlists, etc. Is it possible to restore itunes exactly as it was? I have a time machine back up from yesterday that would work.
So far I've managed to use TM to get all the music, apps and video back so I'm not stressed but it was basic and messy and not as organised as itunes was before I deleted everything.
So can you help? Can I restore itunes using time machine or not?

TheShield wrote:
Hi, im actually in the same boat here, im in the process of re installing my OS and i want to restore Iphoto and itunes as it was. So correct me if im wrong, all i have to do is on my Mac go to this folder (<MacintoshHD>/users/<yourname>/music )and than jump into time machine ? That would take me directly to the folder i have in view on my mac ? Once i hit restore, will this restore all my apps, songs, iphone and ipod back ups etc ? Thanks for your help all.
Probably not.
How and why are you reinstalling OSX?
Assuming you erased your internal HD before installing OSX, your best bet is to use +Setup Assistant+ when it reboots to transfer your apps, users, and data from your backups. See #19 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
If you don't do that, but set up a user account instead, that account probably won't be recognized as the same one on your backups, so you won't have permission to restore from them.

IPhoto, iTunes, and Time Machine

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