Itunes media on NAS

Hi
I used to sync my iphone with a PC which has recently crashed!!
Fortunately the Itunes Media is stored on a NAS. How do I get my laptop which I have just installed Itunes on to look at the Itunes media folders on the NAS.
Also would I be able to sync the iphone with my laptop?

iTunes prefs < Advanced.
Set the iTunes media folder location to the *iTunes media* folder on the NAS.
Then File -> Add folder to library and select the *iTunes media* folder on the NAS.

Similar Messages

ITunes Media on NAS: iTunes makes a terrible mess... tips?

Hi all
I have transferred my iTunes Media (folder) to a NAS (currently Synology DS212+), and I'm having repeated troubles in using those media from the iMac.
iTunes simply makes a mess in the iTunes library, and in the files as well. If I let iTunes organize the files, I suddenly and randomly find podcasts in music albums, and music files within podcasts, files are randomly missing, because iTunes moves them to slighly awkward locations, and so forth. From my experience, it seems as if there is some relative addressing of files involved, which leads to havoc if the respective file paths change.
I'm really lost and need help here.
What are the best settings I have to use when having iTunes Media on the NAS?
Where should the respective iTunes files sit? Experimenting around, I found that the iTunes library needs to be in the iTunes standard folder (putting it to the NAS seemed to be impossible). Podcasts on the NAS seem to work somehow if the folder sits within the iTunes Media folder; but for Apps, this doesn't work - they apparently need to be in the iTunes standard folder. (I observed also that if the NAS isn't available temporarily (disks sleeping and waking up), iTunes just makes a new iTunes Media folder and reverts its settings to standard folders... awkward)
Does anyone have an idea on where all the iTunes folders must be best for iTunes?
And then, I tried to use beaTunes for un-messing, and help make order in the library... random results to say the least).
So what is the best setup to use iTunes, when data are supposed to be stored on a NAS?
Thanks!!!!!!! Help very much appreciated.
Simon

Apple doesn't have a problem with iTunes, it works if you dont interfere. iTunes manages its own data. They are your media files, but don't you try to manage them.
Setup your NAS volume as the iTune media library. My iTunes library is on a USB external 2TB HD. Then set "keep iTunes Media folder organized" and "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library.
When you add new media file to iTunes you drag them to iTunes Library (top of left column.)
Never touch the iTunes files or folders on the NAS volume. Never move, rename, add or delete files or folders.

ITunes media on a NAS, libraries locally?

Hello, all,
I've been browsing search results on hosting iTunes on a NAS, and I had a couple of questions and perhaps someone has some wisdom to share.
My girlfriend and I have separate iTunes libraries that we would like to combine. We are each on an iMac: hers is running Snow Leopard, mine is running Lion; each of our computers is authorized to play each others' music as far as older FairPlay DRM goes. She and her kids sync their iPods on her machine; they each have intricate playlist structures that I think have evolved into sentient life forms. I sync mine on my machine. We each have our own iTunes/iCloud accounts, and each have our own sets of iPhone apps.
We are attempting to migrate her user account over to my iMac, as a way of load-balancing the available computer time, as it were. So now the question is how to keep all the media updated between the two machines; it would appear that the best way to do this would be to merge the two libraries. I currently keep my iTunes and iPhoto libraries on an (old, and getting older) external firewire (400) hard disk. We both need to update our storage, and so I'm considering two different approaches:
(1) NAS. Have a partition for Time Machine, a partition for a combined iTunes library, and a partition for file sharing.
(2) New, larger Firewire 800 hard drive, combine our libraries. This wouldn't be accessible, though, from both machines.
So some questions about option (1):
--I understand that if I copy the entire iTunes library and media to the NAS, that that can bring everything to a crawl. I currently have mine on my external drive, and all user accounts on my machine have access to it and use the same library. I get the feeling that if I utilize the same tactic here, that everything will operate very slowly.
I've read that if I copy just the iTunes media library to the NAS but keep the actual library files on each local machine (and, I guess, user account), that not only would that speed things up but would also enable each user to have their own library, with their own playlists and their own play counts etc. But how would that work if User 1 purchased a new song or app? Would that new media only be added to User 1's library? Or would it become available to every library (I would prefer the latter)? How can this be made to happen?
--Songs are easy enough, but what about apps? If an app is purchased by User 1, using Account 1, and iPhone 1 is linked to Account 1...that part's easy. But what about User 2? Does User 2, using Account 2 on iPhone 2 also have access to that app? I'm not interested so that I can avoid paying twice, that's not the issue: but if all the apps are stored on the same library but are purchased from two different sources, then how would we/should we keep them separate as far as syncing with our iPhones?
And a question about option (2):
--So let's say I just bring my girlfriend over to my iMac, and do something similar to what I have now: a shared iTunes library on a new external drive, with all users on my machine using the same library. Her user account still is tied to her iTunes account while my user account is tied to my iTunes account: each of us can purchase music, and each piece of purchased music drops into the exact same library. How, then, to keep that library in sync with the library on the other machine?
Here is my idea, and would like feedback: if she makes all her purchases (songs and apps both) on her machine rather than on mine, then using iCloud should not all those purchases (again, songs and apps both) also download to my machine as well?
Thanks for any help you can give!

HI
Read this user tip Make and keep a backup of your iTunes library, and only stream from the cloud.
Problems? No hidden catches. Whilst streaming using match, you will need a wifi connection. You main worry is that if your NAS drives fails, you need to redownload your music from match but this could take time depending on how large your collection is. Personally I keep an additional backup of all my music as a matter of course.
Jim

How can I move my media files from USB-HD to NAS without having to copy the media files to iTunes Media folder?

I have iTunes on a Mac with the iTunes Media folder stored locally and the music on an external USB-HD. The music files are Not copied to iTunes Media folder when added to the library.
Now I want to move my files from USB-HD to a NAS without losing any information or settings. I want to do the similar to my iPhoto library. I do not want to consolidate my files to iTunes Media folder. The articles I’ve read only discuss how to do if the files are copied to iTunes Media folder when added to the library. Any tips or trix?

I have iTunes on a Mac with the iTunes Media folder stored locally and the music on an external USB-HD. The music files are Not copied to iTunes Media folder when added to the library.
How are you achieving the above? What are your copy setting in preferences? If you are manually overriding the copy-to by holding down the option key while adding media then that won't apply when you import a playlist (as in importing the .xml). When you import a playlist like that you are essentially adding the files to the library again and it will obey the preferences setting since you can't option add them that way.
Correct on the .itl. Only iTunes itself can edit that file.
I think you need to review your basic wants/needs in doing all this. If your reason for not wanting to use the Media Folder settiing is because you do not want it to go on the internal drive, but you don't actually mind if it organizes it as long as it is on the NAS, change the Media Folder preferences setting to the NAS and let it consolidate to there. If you want to move the stuff but keep it organized in your own folder structure you may need to do it as I suggested initially. Once it is on the NAS and iTunes recognize the file locations you can do what you can only do if you manually manage music which is move it around in Finder afterward once it is on the drive and recognized to tweak location to your final wishes.

I have a back up of the folder 'iTunes Media' on a Nas (LaCie CloudBox). I do a weekly update. Everything is cool.Now I would love to keep the folder on the Nas and delete the one on my internal HD. What kind of trouble i may run into?

I have a back up of the folder 'iTunes Media' on a Nas (LaCie CloudBox).
I do a weekly update.
Everything is cool.
Now I would love to keep the iTunes Mediafolder on the Nas and delete the one on my internal HD.
What kind of trouble I may run into?
Where are the hidden catches?
What can go wrong, and how can i undo any mistake?
I also have an iTunes Match acccount.
Cheers
rudy

HI
Read this user tip Make and keep a backup of your iTunes library, and only stream from the cloud.
Problems? No hidden catches. Whilst streaming using match, you will need a wifi connection. You main worry is that if your NAS drives fails, you need to redownload your music from match but this could take time depending on how large your collection is. Personally I keep an additional backup of all my music as a matter of course.
Jim

Is there a way to sync my iPhone or listen to my iTunes media when I am not connected to my NAS which houses all of my media?

Is there a way to sync my iPhone or listen to my iTunes media when I am not connected to my NAS which houses all of my media?

There are no free ones that I'm aware of.
This article contains suggestions as well as instructions on what you're going to have to do to avoid data loss: Syncing to a "New" Computer or replacing a "crashed" Hard Drive

Running iTunes media from a wireless NAS

I am having a hard time finding a clear answer as to how I can move and play my iTunes media from a wireless NAS. I would really appreciate help anyone can give.
Specifically, here is what I am attempting to do: In order to free up disc space on my laptop I purchased a LaCie Network Space 2 and plugged it into a Linksys e4200 router via ethernet. I then moved the entire "iTunes" folder to the NAS. My particular NAS has three share options, MyShare (Password protected), OpenShare (Publicly accessible to anyone on the network) and USB Share. I put the iTunes folder in NAS/OpenShare/Music/iTunes.
Question 1: Should I have put the entire iTunes folder on the NAS or do I simply need to put the iTunes Media folder on the NAS?
Next I deleted only the iTunes Media folder from my computer, leaving the rest of the iTunes folder intact.
Question 2: Should I have deleted the entire iTunes folder to clear out existing library files?
I then went into iTunes Preferences/Advanced and changed the iTunes Media folder location to NAS/OpenShare/Music/iTunes. Afterward, I dragged the iTunes Media folder from the NAS into iTunes. For some reason only purchased music was copied over. Any ideas what I did wrong?
Also, I have read a lot about iTunes not being able to find the NAS library or defaulting to the iTunes library on the Mac if you start iTunes before the NAS is booted. (ie, I open my laptop and run itunes while the Mac searches for the NAS via wireless)
I would much rather have iTunes take a moment to look for the files while the computer connects to the NAS than default back to the library on my computer.
Lastly, I do have the NAS set up to automatically launch when the computer starts/wakes. (If that makes a difference.)
If anyone could offer a step by step setup explanation I would be very grateful. ****, at this point I'd be happy if someone could just clearly explain what I'm doing wrong.
Thanks.

I seem to have resolved the issue, and of course it turns out it was not the Time Capsule, but the cable router that was causing issues.

ITunes library local and media on NAS

Is there a way to have the library files local and the media files on a NAS like a Drobo?

Yep, I have my iTunes media folder on my WD Nas.
iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder - Apple Support

Can you "lock" iTunes Media Folder location?

One of the things I hate about iTunes is that I keep my music collection on an external hard drive with mirrored RAID array. Songs I buy are automatically transferred onto that drive. But sometimes, the hard drive will go offline, for whatever reason - a power issue, bumped by someone, whatever. When that does happen, iTunes doesn't give you a warning, it just defaults to the internal Music folders. Until you realize that the hard drive is offline, every CD you rip, every song you buy will go straight to the iTunes folder on the Mac. When you finally reconnect that hard drive, and redirect iTunes to the iTunes Media Folder on it, you're hopelessly lost, with your music collection distributed between the two drives.
First off, WHY can't iTunes notify you that it can't find the designated iTunes Media Folder? It'll notify you about just about every single other bloody thing that happens in the computer?
Second, is there a way to LOCK the iTunes Media Folder onto another drive, such that iTunes can't find the iTunes folder on the Mac HD?
Third, is there an easy way to scan the library on my Mac HD and on the external HD to find out which files are missing from the external HD and need to be manually added to the library?
ks in advance!
Than

Hi Jonathan, it annoyed the heck out of me too. Answers to your questions:
No idea, it’s probably trying to be “helpful”.
I don’t believe you can lock iTunes the way you want, but you CAN stop iTunes from running WITHOUT THE DRIVE YOU WANT I got sick of manually transferring songs when this happened to me too. In my case my library is on a network server (NAS). I wrote the following AppleScript to deal with the situation and it will work for any externally connected drive, network, USB, FireWire etc.
So to explain the script: I’m asking Terminal to list the directory contents of the iTunes Library folder on the external drive. If it can, it makes iTunes start. If it can’t (the “on error” bit), it beeps at you and displays a dialog box that tells you it cannot start. I then save the script as an App, and give it the same icon as iTunes has, but a different name (‘iTunes Custom Launcher” for example). Then I remove iTunes from the Dock and put my custom launcher in the Dock instead. Doing this means the only odd thing you will see is that when the launcher starts iTunes, there will seem to be two iTunes icons in the Dock, but only while iTunes is running.
— Start of script
tell application "Terminal"
          try
                    do shell script "ls \"/Volumes/Music/iTunes Library\""
                    tell application "iTunes" to activate
          on error
beep
                    display alert "iTunes will not start until the Network Music Library is available"
          end try
end tell
tell application "Terminal" to quit
quit
— End of script
In order to use the script, you will need to replace the folder location of the iTunes Library. If you’re not familiar with Terminal, see what Finder says the name of the Disk (or network share) is when it is connected. Assuming your iTunes Library is called “iTunes Library”, the format of the third line of the script is:
do shell script “ls \"/Volumes/<disk or share name>/<folder>/<sub-folder…>iTunes Library\"”
If, like me, your iTunes Library folder is at the root of the external drive, you only need to replace <disk or share name> with the drive name and forget about the <folder>/<sub-folder…> bit. If you’re not sure what to do to the script let me know and we can do more Q&A to see exactly what you need to make the script look like.
So, the main steps:
Open the AppleScript Editor and copy/paste the script into the blank window
Save the script as “iTunes Custom Launcher” and choose to save it as an Application.
Copy/Paste the app into your Applications folder using Finder
To give the new app the same icon as iTunes has (optional), in the Applications folder, select iTunes and copy it. Do a “Get Info" on your new app and select the little icon in the top-left of the info screen so it has a blue outline, then do command-V (paste).
Remove iTunes from the Dock and add your new app.
For your question 3, I would just go into the music folders of whoever logs on to your mac and manually move whatever folders for artists/albums/songs are there; it should be the last time
Let me know if you need more help
Message was edited by: SilverSkyRat

Support symbolic links (symlinks or Unix's 'ln -s') in the iTunes Media folder hierarchy

As of iTunes version 12.0.1.26, iTunes has partial support for symbolic links in the iTunes Media folder hierarchy. I'd like Apple to enhance iTunes to treat any symlink or folder alias within the hierarchy the same as folders. With the Unix core under OS X, there is no clear reason to not support this feature.
Why is this important? As more of us try to use iTunes as the single repository of all media, the library size becomes larger than is possible to hold on a single partition. The simplest and most convenient solution is to allow users to move large folders (e.g. Music, or Movies) to a different drive or partition, then put an alias or symlink in the original location within the iTunes hierarchy. Users with large collections or small partitions may need to split multiple times. Other users may want to put the bulk of their media on their home/work NAS and only keep a portion on their laptop for mobile access (think long overseas flights), but not have to constantly fiddle with iTunes.
The point is not whether any one of these scenarios may be supported today though a crude hack or third-party tool. Support for symlinks would be relatively easy for Apple to implement and extremely flexible for advanced users.
This is partially supported today. For example, if you do what I described above, iTunes will play all of your existing media. The part that is definitely broken is when you try to use the "Automatically Add to iTunes" folder, iTunes will not copy the file to a location under a symlink or alias. The new file will sit in the "Automatically Add to iTunes" folder and iTunes will generate multiple instances/tracks inside iTunes (e.g. movies appear in the "Unwatched" tab). While there are ways to work around this limitation, they are tedious and ultimately unnecessary if full symlink/alias support is provided.
Best,
Pete

Click here and fill out the form.
(119798)

Problems transfering iTunes Media folder from one external HDD to another.

Hey Yinz.
I'm running a MBP 13" 2.7Ghz Intel Core i7...OS X 10.6.8. Recently the NAS that hosted my iTunes Media folder and library failed. I recovered the drive from the NAS...a WD Caviar (WD2500JS), which was originally written in XFS. After substantial effort, I found a process that would enable me to access this drive, and have my Mac read it. This involved a Newer Technologies Voyager Q, coupled with a recent version of (whatever they're calling) MacFuse. It did so sucessfully. Now what i want is to take my iTunes Media folder and library off of the WD, ex-NAS HDD (its original location), and transfer it to a new HDD.
I bought a Toshiba Canvio basics usb 3.0/2.0.
Most online tutorials describe dragging and dropping the folder in the new location. I can connect both HDDs to my MBP, and the transfer will begin...
But.
After the first few minutes...The Finder will not allow me to complete the transfer. I keep getting an error code -8084.
I'm almost certain that the new HDD (which i formatted as Mac OS X Journaled in Disk Utility) is not recognizing special characters in certain file names in my iTunes Library. I have some artists in my folder that require special characters to display their names properly. I realize these were originally written in a Linux format.
So, is there a way around this...other than changing the filenames? I really don't want to destroy the integrity of my library by changing a bunch of characters that accurately identify artists. I guess if all i had was Billy Joel and the Beatles in my library, i'd be Okay...but i don't.
I also read a thread somewhere that suggested that error code -8084 relates to inadequate power distribution of an attached HDD. This also complicates my problem...as the new external HDD (Toshiba) is bus powered, and lacks an option for a dedicated AC power supply.
While i am able to access and use my iTunes as normal...i'm tied to that WD HDD, which is like, over 5yrs old, and i'm really hoping to get my media off that old HDD, and onto a new HDD with the files intact and accurate.
Any help would be much appreciated and welcome.
--j.m.
P.S. I'm running iTunes 10.7

No solid data here but it just seems to me that when I see issues arise about copying data and strange error messages that it has to do when people are using non Mac-formatted drives. I think they kind of work but once you put them under real pressure you just get problems. Maybe I'm just thinking of all those vague error -50 "communications difficulties" messages from people trying to copy their libraries to FAT drives. I wonder if using Terminal to do the copying would help.
Now, there is a difference between placing your media on a drive and your library on a drive. Your library is your whole iTunes folder along with files such as the critical library.itl file and artwork files, etc. Media are just what's in your media folder - music, movies, etc. If you are moving your whole library you can drag and drop copy. If you are moving your media you can drag and drop but then the new drive has to have the identical drive name as the old one (the old and new pathnames have to remain unchanged). Usually the best way to move media is to use iTunes' preferences setting to consolidate your media to the new location. iTunes very easily loses track of files unless you let it do the moving (exception: moving the whole iTunes library folder).
iTunes 10 for Mac: Consolidate your iTunes library - http://support.apple.com/kb/PH990
iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449
vs.
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.
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), then guide it to the new location of the library.itl file in the moved iTunes folder.
Windows users see tip at: https://discussions.apple.com/message/18879381

Is it possible to use my Time Capsule as an iTunes Media Server?

I've bought a macbook air, which is awesome, but a bit lacking in space, it's already filling up.
At the same time I bought a 2TB time capsule. Although I think the back up features are great, I always had the intention that I'd be able to use the Time Capsule as a wireless, and even remotely accessible, personal cloud, to store some of my bigger files. Namely, my iTunes library and my iPhotos library.
I've been into the Apple Store, and the genius there told me it was a simple as copying the two libraries onto the TC, and then redirecting the apps to look at those libraries. Dead easy.
In theory, this creates a perfect system. I realise there might be a bit of lag retrieving stuff, especially if I'm trying to get a movie off the TC while I'm travelling. But if I've got half a day spare to download it, then it's great to have that option if I've forgotten to copy it to my Mac Book before I leave.
In practice, it doesn't work. Because the TC is being used to keep a back up as well, I can only copy the libraries into the Data folder. And I've read somewhere that this can confuse issues a little bit. Now when I try to navigate to the libraries, connection to the Time Capsule always fails.
I realise I could probably achieve this by plugging an external hardrive into the Time Capsule. But I've got two terabytes of space on the TC, it'll take forever to fill that up with just back ups. I don't feel I should have to buy another hardrive, when I've got a TB and a half of free space waiting to be used.
The only idea I can think of is if I partition the TC harddrive, keeping one half for the back ups, and one half for my media library.
Has anyone actually succedded in doing this? Any ideas or help anyone can offer, this is getting really frustrating, and if it doesn't work, I think I'll have to return the Time Capsule, or scrap the idea of backing up, and just use it as an iTunes server instead.
Thanks.

Hi Latitude Journey
Make sure you do the following if you are planning to load all your library on TC:
Step 1: make sure that you tell iTunes where your media folder is located, under preferences, advanced, chose the location of your media folder (assuming you are using iTunes 10+.
Step 2: Once you are done telling iTunes where your media folder is located (music, etc) make sure you go to users & groups under system preferences (assuming you are running Lion or Mountain Lion OSX) and choose login items, then click the + sign and locate your time capsule from the shared drive section in finder, just chose it (no specific folder) just any folder.
the reason why you should do this, is that if it happen that you restart your mac! iTunes will try to look for the drive that has your media/music that you set earlier in step 2: , and since TC is not an actual NAS drive, it is more like a shared drive, it will take few seconds for the hard drive on it to load, where iTunes will not be able to locate it before it is ready, and thus it will revert to the default location of the media folder which is under music/itunes/itunes media/, and eventually none of your songs will actually work since they are on the TC and not your mac.
doing what i told to do in step 2: will make sure that your TC hard drive is ready before your iTunes try to locate the media folder, where you will be able to play your library without any issues.
failing to do so, most probably you will face the problem where you try to play songs in iTunes and finding that they have exclamation mark next to them, which means that they are missing from the library.
my music library is all located on my Time Capsule, and iTunes runs on my Mac mini (with home sharing enabled), and my iTunes is set to lunch on start up under system preferences/users & groups/login items/.
My mac mini act as a server (don't worry about your mac going to sleep, it will wake up once you try to access your media from other devices) assuming that you have the option wake on LAN enabled under network in system preferences.
This is my setup.
- Mac mini mid 2011, running Mountain Lion and latest iTunes set to launch on startup in case of computer power on or restart so i don't have to worry about launching it manually.
- Time capsule 2 TB, used as network shared hard drive
- MacBook Pro early 2011 running Mountain Lion and latest iTunes
- 2 iPads
- iPhones 4s
- Apple TV 1 and Apple TV 2
all my devices having home sharing enabled under the same account.
i can access my music library from any of my devices easily and problem free.
hope this will help you and other users.
Many thanks

Songfile path not writing to .itl file when iTunes Media Location is changed.

Running iTunes 11.1.4 on an Intel NUC with Windows 8.1. My iTunes library contains about 65K songfiles. All media is on a NAS.
Frequently when I restart the PC the NAS is not immediately mounted. So if I don't check this before starting up iTunes, the iTunes media folder location changes to its default.
I don't know if this is the cause of the problem, but a few days ago I started seeing a vast number of exclamation points indicating lost songfiles. All music is nicely organized in a parent folder on the NAS and iTunes had, until recently, no problem recognizing all of it.
So the other day I changed the iTunes Media Folder Location in the program from the default (which it had switched to at bootup) to the songfiles' location on the NAS. I then let the software update the library.
Still the exclamation points remained, with no discernible pattern. Within albums, some songs were recognized, some not. I'd say about two-thirds were missing, according to iTunes.
I shut down iTunes, fired up Vim, and had a look at the library's .xml file. Sure enough, about two thirds of the songfiles pointed to the default media location, with another one-third pointing correctly.
I edited the .xml file to line everything up properly, but came to find that this has no effect because the .itl file rules the roost. As soon as I started iTunes back up, the paths returned to the locations according to the .itl file, and these incorrect paths were also written to the .xml.
Updating the media folder location seems to have no effect on iTunes's ability to find the files. I know I can rebuild my library using the .xml file (presumably best done after I have changed the paths to their proper file locations), but I don't want to lose playcounts, ratings, playlists, etc.
So. It *seems* as if my .itl file is corrupt even though iTunes starts and the program is able to locate a portion of my media.
Is there something I am missing? Some way to get iTunes to recognize the proper path for all media without a library rebuild?
TIA.

The "missing file" error happens if the file is no longer where iTunes expects to find it. Possible causes are that you or some third party tool has moved, renamed or deleted the file, or that the drive it lives on has had a change of drive letter. It is also possible thatiTunes has changed from expecting the files to be in the pre-iTunes 9 layout to post-iTunes 9 layout, or vice-versa, and so is looking in slightly the wrong place.
Select a track with an exclamation mark, use Ctrl-I to get info, then cancel when asked to try to locate the track. Look on the summary tab for the location that iTunes thinks the file should be. Now take a look around your hard drive(s). Hopefully you can locate the track in question. If a section of your library has simply been moved, or a drive letter has changed, it should be possible to reverse the actions.
If another application like Windows Media Player has moved/renamed the files then the chances are that subtle differences in naming strategies will make it hard to restore the media to the precise path that iTunes is expecting. In such cases, as long as the missing files can be found somewhere, you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes. See this post for an explanation of how it works.
I've seen a suggestion that iTunes' own repair mechanism may work better when "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" is turned off.
See also make a split library portable. Keeping the whole library on the drive removes the problem of the media folder being reset.
tt2

Multiple macs and iTunes library on NAS device

My iTunes library is stored on a Buffalo NAS drive.
I have an older Mac desktop - running OS X 10.6.8; on this machine iTunes 11.4 is set up to use the library on the above noted NAS device. This is working fine; all my burned and purchased music is playing no problem.
I have a new (latest) version Macbook Pro Retina - running OS X Yosemite 10.10.2. I proceeded to set iTunes 12.1.0.50 on this machine to use the exact same shared location as is being used on the desktop noted above for the library location. On this machine, however, I am only able to view my purchased music (with the download cloud displayed).
Anyone know why two Macs pointed to the exact same iTunes library shared folder location would result in one working fine and the other only showing purchased music available for download?
Thanks

How exactly did you set it? You do not do it in preferences (a common mistake). You do it by starting up iTunes while holding down the option/alt key whereupon iTunes will irreversibly convert what it sees as the library, namely the iTunes Library.itl file, to a version which will only work with the newest version of iTunes you run (your 12). Clearly you can't use 12 on your old computer so there is no way to share the same library file. Each version of iTunes will have to run its own library file which will essentially maintain its own independent list of entries, though they can share media. This means changes you make to one library will mostly not appear in the other but if you do something such as delete media in one library the other library will fuss it can no longer find the file, etc.
If you are going to start doing advanced iTunes things you need to learn how iTunes works.
What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management
What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html
Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391
iTunes 9 [and later]: Understanding iTunes Media Organization - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3847 - plus supplemental information about organizing to new structure https://discussions.apple.com/message/26404702#26404702
Image of folder structure and explanation of different iTunes versions (turingtest2 post) - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-7392 and making an iTunes library portable.
One other tip. Just about every mention I see of people using iTunes with a NAS is something with a problem that results from using iTunes with a NAS. iTunes is likely not written with NAS use in mind. It may work, or it may not. Keep regular backups.

ITunes download on NAS WD MyBook Live - super slow!

I have a WD MyBook Live with latest firmware - 2TB. Ever since I moved my iTunes media folder to the NAS performance is great, except my download speeds are crazy slow! I have a 450MBPS 5ghz WIFI connection. When transferring to and from my Macbook Pro to the NAS I get speeds in the region of 30MB/s. Yet when I am downloading with iTunes I get 1MB/s!
If I download straight to my HDD ( tested by making another iTunes folder ) I get super fast speeds that pretty much max out my 120MBPS Virgin Media connection. So what gives? I tried both making an alias and also a symbolic link point downloads to a different location, but iTunes does not recognise this.
Any suggestions?

I would really appreciate some input on this issue please!

Itunes media on NAS

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