iTunes can't find iTunes library on Time Capsule after sitting a "while"

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iTunes can't find iTunes library on Time Capsule after sitting a "while"

Every time I start up my iMac and i choose iTunes, it comes up with a dialog that says it can't find an iTunes library. My iTunes library is on an external hard drive connected directly to my Time Capsule .. connection to Time Capsule (and every computer in the house) is via a hard wired RJ45 network, NOT wireless. connection from hard drive to capsule is standard USB.

Once I choose the timecapsule and navigate to the folder with the itunes library, all is well.. but if i shut down itunes and come back later, i have to go through the whole dance again.

To me, it acts like the external drive "went to sleep", but i'm pretty sure that's not the case. Nor can i find any place in Mac OS/X to control that other than the power settings, and all my hardware is set to NOT sleep.

The other odd thing is that I have a fairly extensive set of Sonos music servers around the house which access that same music drive on that same time capsule.. and it NEVER loses access to anything... could be because Sonos doesn't use the iTunes library to access the music.

anyway, if anyone has a clue on how i can get this to STOP losing the connection to my itunes library, i'd be thrilled.

thanks, and happy thanksgiving.
dc

iMac I7 (27"), Macbook Pro, MacMini, Mac OS X (10.6.3)

Posted on Nov 25, 2010 9:40 AM

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Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

148,339 points

Nov 25, 2010 12:44 PM in response to DennisCo

To me, it acts like the external drive "went to sleep", but i'm pretty sure that's not the case. Nor can i find any place in Mac OS/X to control that other than the power settings, and all my hardware is set to NOT sleep.

Chances are pretty good that the "sleep" function for this drive is built-in as part of the drive's firmware and you will have little or no control over it. Most drives do incorporate this "feature."

The other odd thing is that I have a fairly extensive set of Sonos music servers around the house which access that same music drive on that same time capsule.. and it NEVER loses access to anything... could be because Sonos doesn't use the iTunes library to access the music.

As you probably are already aware, iTunes is basically composed of two parts: 1) the iTunes Library, and 2) the iTunes Media. Typically these are both stored within the user's Music folder, but they can be in totally separate locations.

I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think Sonos relies on the iTunes application, but instead, will access media files directly ... in this case, the iTunes Media files located on the hard drive connected to the TC.

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