Dobrow1960 Author

Level 1

8 points

How to use old iTunes library from external hard drive on new MacBook Air

I'm somewhat stuck with using iTunes on my new MacBook Air. I currently run iTunes on a mid-2011 iMac using a 2TB G-Drive external hard drive as the source for music files. The G-Drive contains approximately 835 gigs of iTunes files-my entire iTunes library. The setup is basically acting as a music server-the iTunes app organizes my iTunes outward facing library and the G-Drive provides the data. Works flawlessly, including having new music that I download from CDs going directly to the G-Drive for playback through iTunes.

Regarding the media folder location of iTunes on my iMac, when I right click on any tune in the iTunes app, the location will show the G-Drive (e.g., /Volumes/ITUNES G DRIVE/Music/Grateful Dead/5_14_78 Providence Civic Center, Providence, RI (30 Trips Around The Sun-Disc 3)/30-03 Around And Around.m4a). When I check iTunes Preferences>Advanced, there is no folder location shown in the iTunes Media Folder Location. I know that iTunes is looking at the G-Drive as the iTunes Media Folder but I don't know where it's located other than on the G-Drive.

I would like to replicate this dynamic on my new MacBook Air. I used Apple Migration Assistant to bring over files from my old computer to the new MacBook. After migration, I confirmed that iTunes app library structure (outward facing iTunes arranged by playlist, artist, genre, etc.) migrated over flawlessly. Of course, no iTunes media data were migrated as none exists on my iMac's internal hard drive. My next step involved transferring the old G-Drive data to a new G-Drive capable of connecting to the MacBook (the old G-Drive only has Firewire 800 or mini-USB connections that don't work with the new MacBook even with after market connectors). So I purchased a new USB-C 2TB G-Drive at the Apple Store, connected it to the old iMac, created an iTunes Media Folder on the new G-Drive, and downloaded a playlist to the new iTunes Media Folder to test on the new MacBook.

To setup playback on my new MacBook, I connected the new G-Drive to the new MacBook and changed the iTunes Preferences>Advanced iTunes Media folder location to /Volume/G-DRIVE 2019/iTunes Media. When I attempt to play a song on the new MacBook (Chet Baker's You're My Thrill) that I know is in the new media folder, I get a message the "song could not be used because he original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" When I right click on the song that won't play, the file location shows file:///Music/Chet Baker/Let's Get Lost/03 You're My Thrill.m4a. If I locate the song on the new G-Drive, it will play and then shows its location as /Volume/G-DRIVE 2019/iTunes Media/Music/Chet Baker/Let's Get Lost/03 You're My Thrill.m4a. So, how do I get iTunes on my new MacBook' to see and use the new iTunes media folder that I created on the external hard drive as it's source for audio playback like on my old iMac?

MacBook Air 13", macOS 10.14

Posted on May 2, 2019 3:33 PM

Top-ranking reply

turingtest2

Level 10

278,187 points

Posted on May 12, 2019 3:55 AM

To select a different iTunes library on a Mac you click the icon to launch iTunes and immediately press and hold down the alt/option key. Keep holding until asked to choose or create a library. Click choose and browse to the new location, select and open the iTunes Library.itl file within.

It may be easiest to wipe the new copy of the library that you have made and start over. If you begin with the working library on the old computer and an empty new drive you should close iTunes, make a folder called iTunes on the new drive, copy the five library files (iTunes Library.itl, iTunes Library.xml {if present}, iTunes Library Extras.itdb, iTunes Library Genius.itdb, sentinel {hidden, don't worry if you cannot find it}) and the Album Artwork folder into this new iTunes folder then option-start-iTunes to connect to the new copy. Check that iTunes is able to play your content. Now go to iTunes > Preferences > Advanced and click the restore button if needed so that the media folder becomes /Volumes/G-DRIVE 2019/iTunes/iTunes Media. When you click OK iTunes may offer to consolidate the library, in which case go ahead, otherwise use File > Library > Organize Library and tick the available options from rearrange files and consolidate files, then click OK. When the copying is complete the iTunes folder in this drive will be a self-contained portable library that you can use on your new computer.

One last thing to check before you start is to make sure that you're copying the active set of library files, and not old copies that might have been made in the past when you moved the media to the external drive. Check the last modified date of the .itl file that you're about to copy to the new drive. If it isn't current then using the option-start-iTunes method to launch iTunes and clicking choose should show you the location of the active library file as a starting point. You can then cancel and start copying.

tt2

View in context

Similar questions

24 replies

turingtest2

Level 10

278,187 points

May 14, 2019 2:04 AM in response to Dobrow1960

You're welcome. 🙂

tt2

turingtest2

Level 10

278,187 points

May 29, 2019 10:52 PM in response to Dobrow1960

I'm afraid I don't know why that isn't working.

tt2

turingtest2

Level 10

278,187 points

May 3, 2019 9:55 AM in response to Dobrow1960

1) is a mystery, I don't recall ever seeing or reading about that situation. Could you perhaps post a screenshot? If you use Get Info (cmd+i) on a recent import to the library the media folder can probably be deduced from the path. Typically this will be <Media Folder>/Music/<Album Artist>/<Album/## <Name>.<Ext> although for older libraries the Music folder might not be there.

2) You would do this on the external drive. Do you know the path to the current iTunes Library.itl file that iTunes opens when you run it? If you open and close iTunes the modification date will be updated, so if there are several to choose from it should be clear which is the correct file. I would move the folder containing this file to root of the drive, renaming the folder to iTunes if necessary (e.g. if the active file were in a Previous iTunes Libraries folder), then move iTunes Media inside iTunes, option-start iTunes to connect to <Volume>/iTunes/iTunes Library.itl, use iTunes > Preferences > Advanced to change the media folder to <Volume>/iTunes/iTunes Media if needed, and then attempt to fix broken links.

tt2

turingtest2

Level 10

278,187 points

May 10, 2019 2:51 AM in response to Dobrow1960

The second image tells me that the media folder should be set to /Volumes/ITUNES G DRIVE. You should be able to make this change now. iTunes may offer to consolidate media to the new location although that shouldn't be necessary since all of the media (presumably) is already there. Where is your iTunes Library.itl file? Once you've made this change on the old computer you should be able to use the drive and library database on the new computer provided you also set the media folder to /Volumes/ITUNES G DRIVE again.

If less than 50% of the drive is in use I would copy the active library files into /Volumes/ITUNES G DRIVE/iTunes, option-start-iTunes to connect to that copy of the database, reset the media folder to /Volumes/ITUNES G DRIVE/iTunes/iTunes Media and then consolidate. You would then be free to change the volume name if you wished, and the library in the iTunes folder would open reliably on any computer running the same build of iTunes.

tt2

Dobrow1960 Author

Level 1

8 points

May 12, 2019 11:48 PM in response to turingtest2

Yes, the dialog is stretching a bit-sorry for not being clearer with the question. I went ahead and clicked "YES"; the file updated for about 30 seconds with lots of sub-files uploading during that time. I imagine this organized certain files outside the media folder into the folder. I confirmed content still plays through iTunes on the Old Mac.

While this is all good, I think I still have to copy all of the 835 gigs of music that are still sitting on the old G-Drive. These are the audio files iTunes on the Old Mac is using to play content. These files aren't on the the new G-DRIVE 2019 yet so I don't think I can use the drive in its current shape as a self-contained portable library. I've been wondering where in this process I needed to this (I've avoided it until now because of how long the process will likely take) and sorry if I gave the impression that I had already copied over these files to the new drive.

Right now, these files are sitting in a folder called "Music" on the old G-Drive

Should I do the same on the new G-DRIVE 2019? If not, is there another folder I should use to I copy over these audio files? Perhaps iTunes/iTunes Media?

Dobrow1960 Author

Level 1

8 points

May 28, 2019 7:53 PM in response to turingtest2

Hi-

Thanks for the link for this fix. As you saw from the previous post, I think all the security permissions are correct for the folders. However, I don't think the Multiple tags (MP3 files only) remedy is going to work given that every audio file I have in iTunes is Apple Lossless. Also, I was a little unsure from the directions on how to apply File > Convert > Convert ID3 Tags... > None and then File > Convert > Convert ID3 Tags... > v2.3 to build a fresh tag. Is this done on a song by song basis? If not, how does this work for all my music in iTunes? Here are screen shots of what came up after I followed the instruction. First is with no audio track selected

Then with an audio track selected

I confirmed that this track is Apple Lossless and my import setting is Apple Lossless Encoder. I've also confirmed that the iTunes folder location is correct and that iTunes plays audio tracks.

So, I can't help thinking this is all related to the multiple steps I took to create the portable iTunes library for my new MacBook. I'm going to experiment and bring over the external hard drive from the MacBook and connect it as my iTunes library on the iMac. Then I'm going to try to import a CD and see what happens.

Dobrow1960 Author

Level 1

8 points

May 28, 2019 8:15 PM in response to Dobrow1960

Well, it appears I can't use the iTunes library I created onto my new external hard drive as the library on the old iMac because this new library has somehow been updated/created by a more recent version of iTunes than is available on the old iMac. Here's the message that comes up on the old iMac when I try to choose a new iTunes library

Here's the MacOS I'm currently using

And finally, the iTunes version currently on the old iMac

This is an old machine, so I don't think there are any OS updates available right now, at least none at the App Store or showing through About This Mac under the Apple logo upper left corner. Next, I'll confirm permissions for iTunes folders on my new MacBook just to confirm its setup correctly. Any other thoughts on additional remedies for my old iMac? Just seems strange to me that after uploading thousands of CDs into iTunes over 8 years on this machine it just suddenly stops working, freezing my music library at a point in time.

Dobrow1960 Author

Level 1

8 points

May 31, 2019 12:59 PM in response to turingtest2

Thanks again for your help. I'm going to try the CD reader approach for my new MacBook to confirm that iTunes works on that machine. Then more decisions on how to ultimately manage my music library...

turingtest2

Level 10

278,187 points

May 29, 2019 4:09 AM in response to Dobrow1960

See Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash - Apple Community for a way to restore a compatible version of the library database that can be opened by iTunes on the older OS.

tt2

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

How to use old iTunes library from external hard drive on new MacBook Air