Mike__81
Level 1
(0 points)
Q: Moving I tunes media folder to external hard drive
I have followed a guide that was put on the forums for this and it temporarily worked however, every time I disconnect the external hard drive and open I tunes to see if it has worked it seems to create another I tunes media folder, is their something I am missing?? Or does it create a new one every time I tunes is opened. (the guide explained that when you have selected a new location in the advanced preferences you can delete the I tunes media file from your old hard drive, as the location of the file has been changed I expected it not to open properly when I disconnected the new external hard drive, but it did and created a new I tunes media file in the old location, so checked preferences again to see the location and it has reverted to what it was in the first place! Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!!
iPhone 4, iOS 5.1.1
turingtest2
Level 10
(85,368 points)
Stefaan is partially correct. The process you followed will have created a split library, that is the library database on your internal drive with the media folder on the external. If you fire up such a library when the external drive is not connected iTunes automatically creates a new media folder in the default location, i.e. as iTunes Media inside the library folder. Even if you subsequently connect the external drive iTunes will continue to use this new media folder for all new content until you change the location again via preferences.
To avoid such problems it is much easier to simply move the entire iTunes folder to the external drive, then use the shift-start-iTunes method to select the library. When a library has been relocated in this fashion, and you start iTunes with the external disconnected, iTunes complains that it can't find the library and asks you to choose or create one. At this point you can cancel, connect the drive and then start iTunes as normal.
If you want to make things easy in future, at the cost of a little effort now, read on...
Make a split library portable
Here are the typical layouts for the iTunes folders:
In the layout above, with the media folder (everything in the red box) inside the library folder, the library is considered to be portable. A portable library can be moved from one path to another without breaking the links between the library and the media and being self-contained is much easier to backup (You do backup, don't you?).
You can rearrange things to make a split library portable by taking a number of small steps which don't break the library.
Before you start any media files that are outside of the media folder will need to be consolidated. If the library is in the old style layout then it should ideally be be upgraded to iTunes Media Organization (Library > Organize Library > Rearrange files in the folder <Media Folder>) to ensure that iPod Games, Mobile Applications etc. are brought inside the media folder.
The basic non-fatal manipulations are:
- You can connect to an alternate set of library files by holding down Shift (Win) or Option (Mac) when starting iTunes.
- You can move the library files to a new location as long as the media stays put.
- You can move the library files and the media together if the media folder is a direct subfolder of the library folder.
- If you have already moved/copied the media content from a subfolder of the library folder to a different location then you only need to copy the library files for it to appear as if you have moved the entire library in the way allowed above. I.e. just copy the library files into the parent folder of the media folder.
- You can rename the media folder to iTunes Media (if it isn't already) if the media folder is inside the library folder.
- iTunes uses the name of the folder holding the library files as the window title. Having made a library "portable" you may need to take a final step of renaming the library folder to iTunes or, if the library files have ended up at the root of a drive, moving all of the library files and content folders into a new folder called iTunes.
After each change you need to open, test and close the relevant library before attempting another change. If a change broke the library, undo it or revert to using the previous set of library files.
In essence all you need to do to make your library portable is copy the library files into the parent folder of the media folder on the external/secondary drive and use the hold-down-shift/option-when-starting-iTunes method to connect to it. Other manipulations may be required to normalize the library so that the library and media folders have standard names.
tt2
