itunes on external hard drive and i have new mac

Go into preferences in iTunes and add the extrenal hard drive address as the default location.

Don't change preferences unless you kept the actual library file on your internal drive and just media on the external in the past, and you have moved that library file to your new computer.

Hold down the option key while starting iTunes, then guide it to the location of hte library file (library.itl) on the external drive.

If you only use this external drive for data files, highlight the drive in Finder. Command+I or File > Get Info. At the bottom of the information window (you may have to click a disclosure triangle) is an option to ignore ownership on this volume.

Hi,

So i have done a lot of this, whenever I switched to a new computer, hard drive, etc.

What it sounds like you're trying to do is keep your iTunes media on an external hard drive, and to be able to run iTunes, as you have, and then to ultimately sync with your iPod.

Read these directions before actually doing anything, just so you can do this right. I've messed things up before, it can get ugly...

That being said, here's what you've gotta do if you're running on a Mac:

1. Have all your music on the external hard drive. It should be organized in folders the way iTunes set it up
   • The folders should be organized something like this:

     iTunes Media (Top folder, everything is inside of this folder)

     • Audiobooks
     • Automatically Add To iTunes
     • Books
     • Downloads
     • iPod Games
     • iTunes U
     • Mobile Applications
     • Music
     • Podcasts
     • Ringtones
     • TV Shows
     • Voice Memos
   • Those folders are what I have in my 'iTunes Media' folder on my external hard drive. You don't necessarily need to have all of these folders. (I happen to just have a lot of things in my iTunes.)
2. Finding your iTunes Library Files

   The way iTunes works is there are two parts to make what you see in iTunes work right. There's your media (songs, video, iPod games and Apps, etc) and there are your library files. They tell iTunes what your playlists are, where your 'iTunes Media' folder is located, and a lot of other important things. Here is how to find the iTunes Library files (there will probably be more than one!)

   • Look in (yourusername)/Music/iTunes
   • There will be a few things in here:
     • Album Artwork (It's a folder)
     • iTunes Library Extras.itdb
     • iTunes Library Genius.itdb
     • Itunes Library.itl
     • iTunes Media (a folder)
     • iTunes Music Library Backup.xml (this file might or might not be here. If there is no file with this name, it's okay.)
     • iTunes Music Library.xml
     • Some "temp" files (maybe, maybe not -- they are not important for this)
   • Anything in the list that is BOLDED needs to be placed in (yourusername)/Music/iTunes

     If you copied these files to your external hard drive, you will need to copy them back onto your internal hard drive. These library files do not need to be in the same place as your iTunes Media folder.

3. Telling iTunes Where Your Music Is

   Now that your iTunes Media folder is on your external drive, and your Library Files are in place in "(yourusername)/Music/iTunes", we need to open iTunes.

   • On the top bar of the screen, go to iTunes>Preferences.
   • In preferences, go to the farthest right tab, titled "Advanced" with a picture of a gear.
   • The top section says "iTunes Media Folder location" and underneath that you see a filepath ending in the 'iTunes Media" folder.
     • This path is probably wrong, not leading you through the external hard drive.
     • If it is incorrect:
       • Click "change" on the right and then locate the folder in the prompt that shows up. Once the "iTunes Media" folder on your external hard drive is highlighted blue, click "Open" in the bottom right corner of the window.
       • Give iTunes a moment or two (depending on the size of your library) to re-locate all of your songs. Voila!
     • If it is correct:

       Do nothing!

     • While you're in the advanced section, let's check to make sure you have a few important 'housekeeping' things checked off:
       • "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" (CHECK THIS BOX!)
       • "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" (CHECK THIS BOX!)
4. At this point, iTunes should be all ready to go. Before I get into any troubleshooting, note a few things:
   • If you ever unplug/disconnect the external hard drive from the computer, you must first make sure that iTunes is NOT running.
   • Also, if the hard drive is unplugged and you open up iTunes, all of your songs will have little ⚠ symbols next to them. Until you plug/reconnect the hard drive, the songs will stay like this and will be missing.
5. TROUBLESHOOTING:

   Not having permission to access the external hard drive:

   • In Finder (or on your desktop), right-click the external hard drive (if you don't have right-click, control-click will also work).
   • Click on "Get Info"
   • A thin, tall window will appear on the screen.
     • Part One:
       • In the "General" section, make sure that "Locked" is unchecked. If it IS checked, uncheck it.
     • Part Two:
       • We are now focusing on the very bottom of the window, where it says "Sharing & Permissions"/
       • In the bottom right corner of the window there is a small padlock icon. Click it. When asked for an administrator password, type it in, and click "Ok".
       • You will now notice that the bottom section of the 'get info' window is not greyed out anymore. Make sure your user name (it says in parentheses "(Me)" so there is no going wrong here) has "Read & Write" privileges.
         • If not, click on whichever privilege you currently have, and a drop-down menu will appear. Click on "Read & Write".

If you have any other issues, I will add them to the troubleshooting list to help you out. Hope this was helpful!

Excellent detail. Thanks for writing.

Drumsticx1020,

If I sync my iphone through my laptop to the external iTunes Media folder...and my wife syncs her iphone through her laptop to the same external iTunes Media folder, how do we avoid having the same mobile applications on our phones? Or do the libraries from each laptop handle that automatically?

iTunes will see each Device as a separte item. What is on one Device is not on the other unless you tell iTunes.

I sync multiple Devices (iPod Shuffle, iPod Photo, iPod Touch x2, iPhone x3) - each item has different profiles.

MJ

Thanks, Mike. Next question - I have over 11,000 songs in iTunes and decided that rather than moving them, I would edit the folders on my external hard drive, deleting duplicates, etc. I then deleted all the files from my music library in iTunes, but saved the files. Then I went to "File>Add to Library" and selected my "iTunes Media" older - which is inside a folder named "iTunes" shown below:

> iTunes

> iTunes Media

> Automatically Add to iTunes

> Books

> Downloads

> Mobile Applications

> Music

> Podcasts

It took the system many hours to add the files to the library, but all seemed to be going well. However, when I played certain tracks or when I tried to "Add to Library" again, iTunes started moving the files around. Orginally, I had all the music files located in a folder named "Music," which you can see above. iTunes took some of the files and moved them out from under "Music" and placed them under "iTunes Media." I haven't figured out the pattern for this placement because it went so far as to move only one song from an albumn. So it created a folder called "10,000 Maniacs" and one under it called "Out Time in Eden" and then put one song from the albumn titled "Eden" in that folder structure directly under "iTunes Media." It left a folder named "10,000 Maniacs" with a folder for "Our Time in Eden" with the other 9 songs under the "Music" folder...which is where they all started. Also, when I "Get Info" from the track inside of iTunes, it shows me the Eden song is where it started...and the other songs have been moved one layer out to be directly under iTunes Media. I have attached snapshots to show various information.

Any suggestions on how to get the files in iTunes to stay where I put them would be great. This came up because I was importing a new CD to iTunes and it placed the new albumn out at the iTunes Media level again. I was under the impression the innate hierarchy of iTunes placed tracks imported through iTunes in the Music folder...but that isn't how it is working. Thanks.

I am running Lion and iTunes 10.6.1.

See this post. Looks like iTunes is trying to use the old school layout and "correcting" tracks as it plays them.

tt2

Suggest that you post a new topic as your current question is off topic from the OP.

MJ

Drumstix 1020 Great set of instructions! I have moved my itunes that is kept on a external drive but always had to reset the whole itunes back up play lists, etc. With your move it was like I never switched computers! Thank You!!!