Carl Isackson

Q: changing music library from broken external to a second external

My itunes library is(was?) housed in an Iomega external drive.  It's on the fritz...dunno what's up.  I back that drive up every couple of weeks to another external drive...a Seagate. Not the library per se, but all the band folders.  So, all the songs (except those since my last backup) that are in my  screwed-up Iomega are also in my Seagate # 2 external.

 

If I go into iTunes preferences now, it says my iTunes media folder location is : /Users/xxxxx/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media

 

If I recall correctly, it said it was in the Iomega when the Iomega was functioning.

 

I have a feeling this isn't as simple as changing the iTunes media folder location in iTunes preferences to the Seagate drive.

Will iTunes magically recognize all my songs and from that point forward will all new songs go to the Seagate?

 

In the Seagate, songs are are housed in an "iTunes Media" folder.  If I recall correctly, that was the name of the Iomega folder, too.

Posted on Oct 3, 2014 4:06 PM

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Q: changing music library from broken external to a second external

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  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Oct 3, 2014 9:36 PM in response to Carl Isackson
    Level 9 (54,277 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 3, 2014 9:36 PM in response to Carl Isackson

    All preferences does is tell iTunes where to start storing media from that point on.  It doesn't actively update your media information in iTunes.

     

    Now you say your library was housed on the iomega.  Do you really mean that?  A library is everything in the iTunes folder including the all-important iTunes Library.itl file.  The .itl file contains all the information about tracks you have entered into the iTunes database, where they are located, your playlists, ratings, play count, etc.  If you had that on your internal drive (your "library" wasn't really on the external, only media) it may be possible to re-link the references to the actual files.  If your iTunes is no longer using that and all you are seeing right now is a blank iTunes window then you are back to building your library from scratch.  Oh, you still have the media and can add that, but all else is lost.

     

    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

  • by Carl Isackson,

    Carl Isackson Carl Isackson Oct 9, 2014 2:30 PM in response to Limnos
    Level 1 (9 points)
    iTunes
    Oct 9, 2014 2:30 PM in response to Limnos

    You're right.  In the music folder via the finder is an "iTunes" folder containing "iTunes Music Library.xml", "iTunes Library.itl", and "iTunes Library Extras.itdb."  When I upload songs, they're designated to go to my iomega external drive via the "iTunes Media Folder Location" in iTunes preferences.

     

    The iomega is behaving strangely, coming and going from the desktop at whim.  Every hour or so I'll get an alert that the external drive was improperly shut down, and it's gone for awhile.  Then it reappears.  I've tried different connection cables with the same result.

     

    So, I'd like to move my library (all the files/folders/whatever related to my song library that require moving) to a different external drive.

    I have two external drive options, one "empty", the other with a full backup of the artist folders (the "media"?) that are currently on the iomega.  I suspect most people don't have a full backup (33,000 songs), but I'm stating that in case it can make the transfer simpler.

    Is there a simple way to make the iMac think the back-up external is now the iomega?  Or is it simpler/safer to start with a fresh external drive?

     

    Thanks.