Lee Farber

Q: Home sharing on iDevices not loading large library

I store my entire music library (3TB of ALAC files) on a Mac Mini connected to my Time Capsule. I can home share the library flawlessly on my laptop, but it absolutely refuses to load the library on my iPhone or iPad. I'm using all the latest software (iOS7, iTunes 11.1) with an iPhone 5 and iPad 3.

 

When I try to share my library, the circle starts to load, but never gets past halfway. I've tried EVERYTHING, i.e. signing out of home sharing and quitting iTunes, restarting the Mac Mini, restarting the iPhone, unplugging the Time Capsule and plugging it back in, and several other tips I've found around here and elsewhere online, but nothing seems to work!

 

I have other apps (such as Audiotap) that will do the trick, but they leave a gap between tracks, so I would prefer to get home sharing working properly. Thanks in advance for any help.

iPhone 5, iOS 7

Posted on Sep 19, 2013 10:44 PM

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Q: Home sharing on iDevices not loading large library

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  • by Getting Tired,Helpful

    Getting Tired Getting Tired Sep 27, 2013 9:09 AM in response to Lee Farber
    Level 1 (34 points)
    Sep 27, 2013 9:09 AM in response to Lee Farber

    Hello Lee,

     

    I have the exact same problem.  I have two iPads, one running iOS6 and the other iOS7. iOS6 is able to load the library as expected but not the iPad running on iOS7.  The problem has to do with the size of your library.

     

    Have a look at your "iTunes Music Libary.xml" and the "iTunes Library.xml" files on the machine running iTunes.  Most likely they are over 20MB in size.  Therein lies the problem.  Somehow the Music and Video app's both have problems parsing large xml files and in turn will timeout before completion. 

     

    You can easily test this. Sign on as a different user and create a new iTunes library, import a few items and start the Video/Music app on your iOS device. There is no need to restart, unplug etc. Home Sharing works as advertised when dealing with small libraries. By the way, the sorting problem is fixed in iOS7.

  • by Lee Farber,

    Lee Farber Lee Farber Sep 27, 2013 3:15 PM in response to Getting Tired
    Level 1 (6 points)
    Sep 27, 2013 3:15 PM in response to Getting Tired

    Thanks. Indeed, my itunes Library.xml file is 98mb! So, is there a workaround for this? As I said, my laptop can share the Mac Mini's 3TB library no problem, but none of my idevices can.

  • by seneca2013,

    seneca2013 seneca2013 Oct 25, 2013 5:19 PM in response to Getting Tired
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 25, 2013 5:19 PM in response to Getting Tired

    Hi

     

    I have this problem too. Is there a solution?

  • by Getting Tired,

    Getting Tired Getting Tired Mar 11, 2014 12:22 AM in response to Lee Farber
    Level 1 (34 points)
    Mar 11, 2014 12:22 AM in response to Lee Farber

    Hi,

     

    it seems the problem is rectified in the latest iOS 7.1 update. Large libraries are now loaded as expected.

    If you haven't yet update, I would recommend you do so. Just an educated guess, but I believe the table-space was increased on the iOS DB.

     

    Cheers.

  • by Lee Farber,

    Lee Farber Lee Farber Mar 11, 2014 7:38 AM in response to Getting Tired
    Level 1 (6 points)
    Mar 11, 2014 7:38 AM in response to Getting Tired

    Sadly, the problem still exists for me. All devices updated to iOS 7.1, and my Mac Mini has the latest iTunes version. My 3TB library only loads about an eighth of the circle on my iPad and iPhone before stalling. Very frustrating, especially considering a 3rd party app like Audiotap loads my library instantly!

  • by seneca2013,

    seneca2013 seneca2013 Mar 11, 2014 10:51 AM in response to Lee Farber
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 11, 2014 10:51 AM in response to Lee Farber

    I agree this latest update doesnt solve the problem. I guess home sharing just doesnt work properly. It must be simple to fix but apple dosent seem to care about this bug

  • by seneca2013,

    seneca2013 seneca2013 Mar 12, 2014 4:53 AM in response to Getting Tired
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 12, 2014 4:53 AM in response to Getting Tired

    Can you tell me where you got the evidence for this assertion "that large libraries are now loaded as expected"? Did you manage to get it to work?

  • by Getting Tired,

    Getting Tired Getting Tired Mar 12, 2014 11:10 PM in response to Lee Farber
    Level 1 (34 points)
    Mar 12, 2014 11:10 PM in response to Lee Farber

    Strange, it's working on my iPad 3, iPhone4s and iPhone5s. But it takes approx 5 minutes to load.

     

    > Can you tell me where you got the evidence for this assertion "that large libraries are now loaded as expected"?

     

    Did you read my original post? You need evidence? Test it yourself. Again, see my original post.

  • by seneca2013,

    seneca2013 seneca2013 Mar 13, 2014 3:34 AM in response to Getting Tired
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 13, 2014 3:34 AM in response to Getting Tired

    I am sorry if the way I expressed myself upset you.

     

    Your post said "it seems the problem is rectified". When I read this I dont understand that to mean that it "is" rectified. People often say on this forum something seems to be ok when they have heard that it is ok rather than than they have tried it and it works.

     

    I have tried now several times to get this to work and my experience is the same as Lee Farber, it doesnt work however long you leave it.

     

    I see that Lee has a 3 Tb libary and mine is somewhere over 2 TB. What size library do you have? Perhaps there are still upper limits causing problems.

  • by owmyheadhurts,

    owmyheadhurts owmyheadhurts Mar 13, 2014 2:10 PM in response to Lee Farber
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Mar 13, 2014 2:10 PM in response to Lee Farber

    My libray.xml is 58MB. On my iPad and iPhone it takes about 20 minutes to load the Music and Video apps first time and about 10 minutes each time I open the apps thereafter.

     

    It's so frustrating.

     

    I have turned off Home Sharing on all devices and Mac, quit all applications and shut down everythng, rebooted AirPort Extreme, and turned everything back on and started up Home Sharing.

     

    Same performance. I'm using all the latest Apple devices and AirPort. Mac is 2011. Everything is up to date software and firmware-wise.

     

    I sure wish they would fix this.

  • by seneca2013,

    seneca2013 seneca2013 Mar 13, 2014 2:57 PM in response to owmyheadhurts
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 13, 2014 2:57 PM in response to owmyheadhurts

    My library.xml is 348.6 mb which I guess explains why it wont load at all.

     

    I dont think Apple cares about itunes or home sharing.

  • by KongoOtto,

    KongoOtto KongoOtto Mar 19, 2014 3:15 AM in response to Lee Farber
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 19, 2014 3:15 AM in response to Lee Farber

    Same thing here. Since the upgrade from 7.0.6 to 7.1 loading the home sharing music library takes ages. On my iPod with iOS 6.x it is still very fast. I tested this with iTunes on my Mac and on a Windows PC. Same behaviour. My xml file is about 30Mb.

     

    This was the status as I first realized the problem.

    iPhone 4S with 7.1 - slow

    iPad 3 with with 7.1 - slow

    iPhone 5 with 7.0.6 - fast

    iPod with 6.x fast

     

    To make sure is is related to iOS I upated the 5S iPhone also. Bad idea. . Now it is like this:

    iPhone 4S with 7.1 - slow

    iPad 3 with with 7.1 - slow

    iPhone 5 with 7.1 - slow

    iPod with 6.x fast

     

    Waitung for the next update...

  • by Mantula_Enormous,

    Mantula_Enormous Mantula_Enormous Mar 21, 2014 3:35 PM in response to Lee Farber
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 21, 2014 3:35 PM in response to Lee Farber

    Updating to iOS 7.1 fixed my large share not loading.  My .xml is 58 MB.  Thanks,  Getting Tired.

  • by KongoOtto,

    KongoOtto KongoOtto Mar 22, 2014 12:29 AM in response to Mantula_Enormous
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 22, 2014 12:29 AM in response to Mantula_Enormous

    @Mantula_Enormous: How long does it take to load the library now? In my case - see post above - it is 2 sec. with iOS 6 an appr. 2 min. with 7.1

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