Switching Users and iTunes

Question

Switching Users and iTunes

We have a problem with iTunes when we switch users. We both (only 2 users) have full admin rights and no password required. Both iTunes use the same media source, have the same library name, have sharing turned on, are configured the same exactly. The problem is that for one user (me, actually) all of the music, playlists, apps, etc are as they should be. Switch to the other user (my wife), open iTunes, and no music, playlists, etc. What can we do so that we both have the same iTunes?

Bob and Dianna

iMac 27", Mac OS X (10.6.6), 8 Gb RAM 2Tb HD 2Tb Time Machine

Posted on Apr 14, 2011 6:07 PM

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Answer 1

Chris CA

Level 10

82,434 points

Apr 14, 2011 7:26 PM in response to Pisces-Aquarius

Move your /Music/iTunes folder to /Users/Shared/ folder.
Hold Option and launch iTunes.
Select *Choose library* and select the iTunes folder in /Users/Shared/.
Quit iTunes.
Have your wife log into her account.
Hold Option and launch iTunes.
Select *Choose library* and select the iTunes folder in /Users/Shared/.
Quit iTunes.

That's it.
Only one user can be logged into iTunes at a time so if you are using Fast User switching and the other user wants to open iTunes, you must quit iTunes before switching users.

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Answer 2

Apr 14, 2011 8:04 PM in response to Chris CA

Chris-

The advice sounded good, so I did as suggested. I moved my iTunes to users\shared, selected it as the library, and everything was o.k. for me. I then switched users to Dianna, opened iTunes with option, selected the shared iTunes, and got an error message that either the fie is locked, or Dianna does not have rights to that library. Now what?

Bob and Dianna in Portland

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Answer 3

Chris CA

Level 10

82,434 points

Apr 14, 2011 8:21 PM in response to Pisces-Aquarius

Did you quit iTunes in your use account before switching users?

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Answer 4

Apr 14, 2011 9:32 PM in response to Chris CA

Chris-

Yes, I did quit iTunes before switching users. I have sharing checked (the first 6) for both users.

Bob

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Answer 5

Chris CA

Level 10

82,434 points

Apr 14, 2011 11:09 PM in response to Pisces-Aquarius

I have sharing checked (the first 6) for both users.

What is this?
In iTunes prefs?
That is for sharing playlists in iTunes to other computers. It's not relevant here.

Quit iTunes.
Open a Finder window and go to /Users/Shared/.
Right click the iTunes folder and get info.
Scroll to the bottom and make sure Everyone has *Read & Write*.
Click the gear icon and select *Apply to enclosed items*.
This should fix it.

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Answer 6

Apr 15, 2011 5:16 PM in response to Chris CA

Chris-

Thanks for your patience. Your last suggestion worked. In addition to adding every user to the bottom list, I also checked the shared drive box near the top of that dialog box. Then I Option/iTunes, chose the shared library, and iTunes came up on Dianna's side as well. I also applied the directory sharing to the parent of iTunes, namely shared. I suppose that if I had changed the shared directory rights then iTunes would inherit those rights.

Thanks again. These forums are great.

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