Putting library on a shared drive

I have a 500 GB ext drive with my iTunes & iPhoto libraries on it connected to my old G5. I am ready to do away with this computer altogether & would like to move this drive to another room, connect it directly to my Airport Extreme & share it with the laptops we now use. Is this possible?

Wonderdog wrote:
Is this possible?
yes. make sure the entire iTunes folder (not just the iTunes music folder) is on that drive. then, on each lappy, launch iTunes while pressing option and, @ the prompt, select +choose library+. navigate to the *iTunes library file* inside the iTunes folder on the external.
be aware, though, that only one computer @ a time can access the library file.
also, make sure the drive is mounted on the desktop of the Mac trying to use the library before launching iTunes.
JGG

Similar Messages

  • Can't access iTunes Library on a shared drive

    Here is my problem: I want to access my iTunes library from a shared drive.
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    2. 1 week old Macbook Air running iTunes 10.6
    3. 1 Timecapsule that is 1 day old, bought with the express purpose of putting my extensive iTunes library on it, and was assure I would be able to stream it.
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    I've gone over this again and again, and this SHOULD work. What am I missing here? Should I take the Air and the Timecapsule back to the store?

    Uh, I fear you followed some wrong directions. This is what you should have done:
    iTunes: How to move [or copy] your music to a new computer [or another drive] - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
    do not confuse moving your whole folder and library with moving just media files as in
    iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449
    It sounds as if in part at least this is what you did, at least when you say you are going to preferences and changing things.
    Quick answer if you let iTunes manage your music:  Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its subfolders and files) intact to the other drive.  Start iTunes with the option key held down and guide it to the new location of the library.  Do this with both computers if the shared library file is on the external drive.
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  • ITunes not seeing the library on a shared drive

    Greetings,
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    sceptomaniac wrote:
    I have put the library on an external drive connected by usb to my wireless router.
    what exactly have you put on the external ? the entire iTunes folder or just the iTunes music (or media) folder ?
    On my iMac I can select the itunes folder on the drive in itunes advanced preferences and my music shows up in the itunes window an I can play it. But on my MacbookPro although I can select the folder, nothing shows up in the itunes window.
    this leads me to believe that you consolidated the iMac's library to the external but kept the library files local. pointing iTunes media folder location to a new spot tells iTunes where to put new additions to your library, but not where the current content is.
    what you need to do is to copy the entire iTunes folder to the external, then (on each Mac) launch iTunes while holding the option(⌥) key, click on choose library when prompted, and select the iTunes folder you copied to the external.
    note only one Mac at a time can access the library !

  • Itunes library on a shared drive

    I would like to share an itunes library wirelessly between the Macs in my house. I have put the library on an external drive connected by usb to my wireless router.
    On my iMac I can select the itunes folder on the drive in itunes advanced preferences and my music shows up in the itunes window an I can play it. But on my MacbookPro although I can select the folder, nothing shows up in the itunes window.
    There maybe a setting I have to change somewhere, or an order in which I have to connect or open things....
    Any suggestions?

    sceptomaniac wrote:
    I have put the library on an external drive connected by usb to my wireless router.
    what exactly have you put on the external ? the entire iTunes folder or just the iTunes music (or media) folder ?
    On my iMac I can select the itunes folder on the drive in itunes advanced preferences and my music shows up in the itunes window an I can play it. But on my MacbookPro although I can select the folder, nothing shows up in the itunes window.
    this leads me to believe that you consolidated the iMac's library to the external but kept the library files local. pointing iTunes media folder location to a new spot tells iTunes where to put new additions to your library, but not where the current content is.
    what you need to do is to copy the entire iTunes folder to the external, then (on each Mac) launch iTunes while holding the option(⌥) key, click on choose library when prompted, and select the iTunes folder you copied to the external.
    note only one Mac at a time can access the library !

  • Using Aperture 3 with library on a shared drive

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  • Can I have a common itunes library on a shared drive?

    All of my music library is stored on my Power PC G5 iMac. Itunes no longer supports PowerPC iMacs and so I can no longer sync my iPhone to my PC.  Since I cannot upgrade iTunes I can't use features such as Home Sharing or iTunes match.  Whjat I want to do is to move my music library to an external hard drive and then connect to that iTunes library from my macbook and other computers. All I want to do is store my music on a network drive and have iTunes access the common library across multiple computers. Is that possible?  Can I store my music in a central place and have iTunes map to it? 

    A  correction:
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    Your iPhone4 can still sync with iTunes 10.6.3 which will run on your PPC.
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  • How do I put library on external hard drive

    I want to put some of my photos in my iPhoto 6 library on my external hard drive. I've tried exporting, dragging, etc but my originals never end up on the external hard drive. How do I do this?
    I'm a novice with the external hard drive. I have an iMAC, Powerbook and external hard drive. I've been putting the external hard drive on the iMAC and when I want to use it with the Powerbook then I just eject it from the iMAC and attach it to the Powerbook. How do I hook everything thing together at once? Do I just USB the Powerbook to the iMAC? Then how do I move things from one machine to the other?

    If you can get the two computers connected together with an ethernet cable and get the computer with the external HD to see the other you can create a 3rd library, located on the external HD and merge the other two libraries into it to create a primary library. You will need to use the paid version of iPhoto Library Manager to copy the rolls of each library into the new one on the external HD like iPLMRollXfer.mp4.
    Once you get the two libraries merged into the one on the external HD you can do the following on each machine to link to it:
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    2 - launch iPhoto with the Option key depressed and, when asked, select the option to locate a library.
    3 - navigate to the external HD and select the iPhoto Library folder there.
    Once you've done that with each machine and are satisfied that the library on the external HD is complete you can delete the two libraries from the two Macs.
    REMEMBER the previous is to create one library on the external HD for use by both Macs and to remove the old libraries from the Macs when done.

  • Itunes Library - shared drive

    Here is my question. I have itunes on my mac mini - I just got a Buffalo Linkstation to set up as a shared drive on my network - I want to put movies on the shared drive to be able to then view on my Apple TV. I don't want my music on my shared drive, I want to keep it on my mini. Can I do this? If so how?
    Thanks

    vicky729 wrote:
    Can I do this?
    try if you can use this script:
    [_*Re-Locate Selected v1.1*_|http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=relocateselected]
    This script will re-locate the files of the selected iTunes tracks from their current location to a new user-chosen folder. iTunes will be updated with each track's new location and all of each track's meta-data will be preserved. Option to remove the files from their original location. (I don't advise using this on more than an album's worth of tracks or so at a time; re-locating dozens of tracks' files to a single folder doesn't seem to make much sense to me.)
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    you can also move the movie files manually:
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    (b) highlight the movie files in iTunes, right-click (or ctrl-click) and select +consolidate files+ from the pop-up menu.
    (c) point +*iTunes media folder location+* back to the original spot and delete (or keep) the original movie files from your local iTunes media folder.
    JGG

  • ITunes Library on shared drive, option-open itunes

    Just ordered my AX. Have Airport Express for AirTunes now.
    I have an MBP intel 2.3 17" and a PB G4 12" 1gig. I'll put my iTunes library on a drive shared via AX. I've been reading iTunes sharing threads, but I haven't come across anything about simply option-opening iTunes. Doing so brings up "choose library..." of course.
    Can I just share the library by option-opening iTunes each time, from either laptop, with all modifications made via one machine (playlists, purchases, etc.) showing up on the other? I'll never need to run iTunes on both at once.
    ...If I do try to use iTunes on both machines at the same time, would the second give me some kind of 'library in use' error message?
    Thanks.
    Cheers,
    Otto

    It's actually even easier than you describe. In a real way your iTunes "Library" is an index file in your Music folder. If you have 2 computers with iTunes then they each have their own indices in the Music folder of each users account on those computers. You can store the actual audio/video files that make up the music/audiobooks/videos really anywhere. Give the USB drive you attach to the Airport Extreme a name, mount that drive on each of your two computers. Copy the actual audio/video files from wherever you have them to that shared drive (I use a subdirectory called "library" to put them all in. Then go into the iTunes preferences on both computers. In the "Advanced" section change the directory that the library is stored at to the path of the mounted drive and whatever subdirectory you make it. In my house it's /public/library. "public" is the name of the shared USB drive, library is a directory I created on it and all the artists directories and such are under the "library" folder. That's all there is to it. Any other computer you want to use those files just update the preferences. The only other caveat is that since the "library" is really the index file on each computer you will need to authorize each computer separately to play any purchased files. That's about it.
    Message was edited by: Compono

  • Hello there - how can I share my iTunes library between two users on the same computer? I put the library in a shared folder between both and have selected this library on both as well, but when I update iTunes with music etc it only appears on one?

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    Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Subscriber Support, contact
    [email protected]
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    TechNet Community Support

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