Remote Storage/Access of Library on External Hard Drive

Hi,
I have over 12 gigs of music stored on my desktop, and it's slowing my computer down...so I bought an external hard drive and transferred everything over. I would like to know how it is possible to play my music from the external hard drive. If I delete all my music from my desktop and only leave the "shell" of iTunes software, how do I go about playing my music? I would appreciate any help...with step-by-step instructions, if you may. Many thanks!

Assuming you use the iTunes default settings where iTunes copied added items to your iTunes folder and organizes your library (meaning - everything is all self contained in the iTunes folder), then all you have to do is drag & drop your iTunes folder (not just the iTunes Music folder you find inside the iTunes folder) to the external drive and copy the entire thing.
If you want to test that it worked and actually start using it from that location instead, use these instructions when you start iTunes to point it to the new location...
How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304447
If you are just testing, then close iTunes after you verify it works, and restart iTunes again with the same instructions and point it back to your internal drive (original) location.
Patrick

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Can't access iPhoto library on external hard drive (from Mavericks days) now that I'm running Yosemite on my Macbook.

I have an iPhoto library on an external hard drive (from when I had Mavericks), but now that I've upgraded to Yosemite, "Photos" won't open my iPhoto library. Ideas for how to import that iPhoto Library into Photos?

"Photos" won't open my iPhoto library. Ideas for how to import that iPhoto Library into Photos?
What is the file system of the external drive, and how is the drive connected? DO you get an error message? If yes, which message?
You can only open a library on a directly connected drive, formatted MacOS Extended (Journaled). If the drive is correctly formatted, hold down the alt/options key while you are launching photos, and then select your library from the Library Chooser Panel.
If the library is not listed in the panel, use the "Other Library" button.

Can't set up an iPhoto library on external hard drive: access privileges

Hi all
I am trying to set up an extra iPhoto library on an external hard-drive to store some of my photos.
I get the following message: 'iPhoto cannot create a new library in this location because you do not have enough access privileges.'
The external hard drive is Formatted: Mac OS Extended (Journaled), is 500g capacity and is empty. Also 'Ignore ownership on this volume' is ticked.
I am the administrator of this computer (imac) which is running Yosemite 10.10.1
Any clues as to what I need to do to make this happen? I'm not much of a techie!
Cheers
Finella

Once you've confirmed that the EHD is formatted correctly and all is well (run Disk Utility and repair the disk) try the following to create an almost "duplicate" library on the EHD:
Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
1 - download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.>Click on the Add Library button,
2 - select the library you want to add from those in the selection window.
3 - make sure that in the rebuild window the checkbox "Scavange orphaned photos" is checked.
4 - now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the Library ➙ Rebuild Library menu option
5 - in the next window name the new library and select the EHD as the location where you want it to be placed. Click on the Create button.
Note 1: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments. However, books, calendars, cards and slideshows will be lost.
Note 2: Your current library will be left untouched for further attempts at a fix if so desired.

Iphoto library on external hard drive now does not show all the photos when i access it from macbook

i backed up iphoto library to an external hard drive. Deleted photo library on the macbook. After transferring some new photos to macbook from a camera, when i access the iphoto library on external hard drive only the new photos show up. Originals are still in files, but don't appear when opening iphoto library on external hard drive.

Make a temporary, backup copy of your library if you don't already have one (Control-click on the library and select Duplicate from the contextual menu) and apply the two fixes below in order as needed:
Fix #1
Launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys held down and rebuild the library.
Select the options identified in the screenshot.
Fix #2
Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
Download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
Click on the Add Library button, navigate to your Home/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.
Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the File ➙ Rebuild Library menu option
In the next window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed.
Click on the Create button.
Note: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments but not books, calendars or slideshows. The original library will be left untouched for further attempts at fixing the problem or in case the rebuilt library is not satisfactory.
OT

My mac will not properly read the iphoto library on external hard drive. It only reverts back to the library on the computer instead.

I have an iphoto library on an external drive, which I have connected to my airport extreme. I can see the disk in my finder and access data on the external hard drive through the wireless, local network. The only problem is that when I use my iMac, the machine does not read the iphoto library on the external harddrive, instead it picks up the library that's on the iMac itsel. Is this a preferences list issue or something else? Any help would be great, thank you.

A strong warning: If you're trying to edit the Library (that is, make albums, move photos around, keyword, make books or slideshows etc.) or edit individual photos in it via Wireless be very careful. Dropouts are a common fact of wireless networking, and should one occur while the app is writing to the database then your Library will be damaged. Simply, I would not do this with my Libraries.

Accessing iphoto on my external hard drive

I just backed up my computer to a WD My Book for Mac. I am trying to verify specifcally that all of my iPhoto library has been successfully backed up before deleting anything but when i try and open it, its says I can't because it's in time machine. When I open time machine and try to access iPhoto, it won't let me open it either. My computers HD is almost full so I must remove photos from my computer. I am a photographer and occasionally need to access old clients photo sessions. Please let me know how I am able to access the photos on my external HD. Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

See my answer in your other thread:
Re: accessing iPhoto on an external hard drive
It would be easier to relocate the complete iPhoto library to an external drive with a fast connection - Thunderbolt or USB3, and then work with iPhoto from that drive. Simply drag the library to that drive. This way you do not need to split up your iPhoto library and keep partial libraries in a different location. This can get messy, if you have duplicates in the partial libraries. And it is more difficult to search for photos, if you have several libraries, because you only can have one open at a time.
Any drive you are using with iPhoto needs to be formatted MacOS Extended (Journaled), see: Format external drives to Mac OS Extended before using with Aperture (this document applies to iPhoto as well)
The problem is - you want to do two in one; archive older photos and backup your library, using a backup.
You have to separate these two tasks and use separate drives for the backup and the archive, because a backup cannot double as an archive. The easiest way to achieve this would be to move the complete iPhoto library to an external drive and back this drive up to your regular backup drive.

Problems backing up I-tunes library to external hard drive.

Help - I'm having problems backing up I-tunes library to external hard drive. The drive appears on the desktop but when I try to drag in my i-tunes music folder I just get the circle with a line through it symbol. I can drag items from my mac to a different 4 gig memory stick with no problems. I put some music onto the hard drive from a windows p.c. and that dragged into my i-tunes fine. Any help would be much appreciated.

i'm guessing the external HD is NTFS formatted, which your Mac cannot write to (read only).
you will either have to reformat it (FAT32 or, better yet, for Mac) or install the _*NTFS 3G*_ driver.
JGG

Trying to copy iPhoto Library to external hard drive for backup. Error message: The Finder can't complete the operation because some data in "iPhoto Library" can't be read or written (Error code -36).

Trying to copy iPhoto Library to external hard drive for backup. Error message: The Finder can't complete the operation because some data in "iPhoto Library" can't be read or written (Error code -36).

That code is
-36
ioErr
I/O error (bummers)
Make sure the EHD is formatted OS X Extended (journaled) and run Disk Utilty on the EHD and repair the disk. If that fails to help I'd try the following:
Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
Download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
Click on the Add Library button,
navigate to your Home/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.
Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the Library ➙ Rebuild Library menu option
In the next window name the new library and select the external HD as the location of the newly rebild library.
Click on the Create button.
Note 1: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments. However, books, calendars, cards and slideshows will be lost.
Note 2: Your current library will be left untouched for further attempts at a fix if so desired.
OT

ITunes won't show library on external hard drive

I have just bought a MacBook Pro but I don't know how to get library on external hard drive to show in iTunes... Any suggestions please?

This is relevant portion of the support document with a bit of editing for clarity.
If iTunes is running, quit iTunes.
Using a Mac click the icon to open iTunes and immediately press and continue to hold down the Option key.
You should see the following screen:
If iTunes opens normally, close it and try again.
Once you've got that dialog you have two options. If your previous iTunes library database is stored on the external drive use Choose Library to browse to it and open it. If you only have the media folder on the drive then use the Create Library option to create a new iTunes library at /iTunes on the external, move the media folder to /iTunes/iTunes Media and then add it to your new empty library.
tt2

When using Time Machine, if I delete items from my computer, will they still be backed up to access later on my external hard drive? In other words, when time machine backs up again, will it delete the files from the back up?

When using Time Machine, if I delete items from my computer, will they still be backed up to access later on my external hard drive?
In other words, when time machine backs up again, will it delete the files from the back up that I have deleted from my computer?

No, I do not believe so. Time Machine would keep all those now-deleted files in previous backups, and as time goes by those backups might be deleted if you needed room, but it would still keep one backup from each day in last month, as well as one from each week forever, as long as you don't start running out of room, then just the oldest would be deleted to make room if needed.
I use a backup drive about double the size of my drive to be backed up, so I would guess it will never get to the point where deleted files being replaced by new ones being backed fill up that drive to the point where backups actually have to get deleted.

Backup and restoring itunes library from external hard drive?

is there a way to backup and restore my itunes library to external hard drive and not through the internal itunes backup utility cos i have over 20gbs of music and i want to keep my album art and renamed songs etc. because i will be reformating my pc and dont want to go through painful task of manually adding stuff again.

Try this...
*Fast backup for iTunes library (Windows Only)*
Grab SyncToy 2.0, a free tool from MS. Use it to create a backup copy of your iTunes library & any other media folders onto another hard drive or network share. After making the initial backup copy use SyncToy to periodically synchronise the backup copy with your library and only the changed files will be copied saving lots of time.
When the time comes to reformat your PC, do a final sync, then open iTunes & deauthorise the PC, reformat & rebuild Windows, copy the backup folders back to the same location as they were previously, install iTunes and it should all work perfectly.
tt2

How to access a PC formatted external hard drive

I am trying to access a PC formatted external hard drive, however when I attempt to mount it I get a message saying the drive is not recongnized and if I want ti initialize, which i believe if I execute will remove the files I am trying access..Is there a way to access the files on the external hard drive...it is a avi file i need to edit..

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/26288/ntfs-for-mac-os-x
http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/
Paragon also has a program (suite) that will convert NTFS <=> HFS+ without data loss (but have backup never use something wo one!)
And Pargon has kept up with Lion while others have not or have stopped development and works best with PC drive cases with low overhead and fast reliable copy operation.
The demo is also fully functional for 30 days.

Need help using music library on external hard drive

Here is my scenario. I am hoping some one can help me as I have been having a heck of time trying to figure this out. I am what you would call newbie to Mac(I just purchased macBook) so bear with me).
I have a iTunes library on an external hard drive that was created using Windows PC machine. I now would like to use the same library on my Mac. How can I get the Mac to connect to the iTunes Music on the external hard drive?
This is what I have done so far. I have been able to network the Mac with my current network so it does see the external hard drive.
BTW, I would like to achieve this without having iTunes open on Windows machine. I know about the sharing option in iTunes but I have discovered that it only works if I have iTunes open on the Windows machine. This may not always be the case so this is why i am hoping their is an alternative to get the mac to connect to the library on the external hard drive.
I look forward to help on this one.
...Bruce

Maybe I did not explain myself clearly. All I want to do is be able to listen to the music in my itunes library on external hard drive on my new MacBook. I am thinking all I will have to do is create the itunes database file on my Mac using the music in my library(on external HD).

I cant access my Aperture library on external hard drive

I put my Aperture library on an external hard drive and was able to access it for some time.
I have now tried to access it today after several months of not trying and I keep getting this message:-
"Aperture cannot switch to the selected library because the file system of the library’s volume is not supported."
How can I get this resolved, I have over 4000 images and they are only on that external drive.
I hope someone can help me
Thanks in advance
Jason

What is the format of the volume the library is on? Select the volume in Finder and do a File->Get Info
If the file system is really unsupported then you might be able to copy the library off that volume onto a OS Extended volume and open it then.

Accessing old Iphoto library on external hard drive in new iphoto

We recently bought a new macbook pro with iphoto 9.5.1. Previously, we had a 2008 macbook and had transferred the very large iphoto library onto our Toshiba external harddrive. After downloading Tuxera NTFS to be able to use the external hard drive on this computer, I tried to open the iphoto library. It said that the photos needed to be upgraded to be usable on the new iphoto. So I downloaded the iphoto upgrader. When running it, it says the iphoto library selected (the one on the external hard drive) does not need to be updated. When I try to open it through iphoto, it says that it needs to update and starts the process. Within a minute is says that some of the permissions on the library are incorrect and asks if I want to repair it. After clicking to repair it, iphoto stops responding and we have to force quit to stop it. Any ideas on how to access the library? I have over 20,000 pictures in that library and would like to be able to access them on a regular basis.

fter downloading Tuxera NTFS to be able to use the external hard drive on this computer,
An iPhoto library MUST be on a volume formatted OS X Extended (journaled) in order to be used from there. So your NTFS server won't work. You'll need another external hard drive formatted as I described:
There is just no way to make it work on your drive as it is configured now.
OT

Remote Storage/Access of Library on External Hard Drive

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