Manually manage music on 2 different computers

Feet1stmusic wrote:

I own both systems and should be allowed to sync my iPhone with multiple computers with ease

Fixed that for you.

You cannot do this.

Suggestions here -> http://www.apple.com/feedback/

Another approach to making your work computer the "home" library for your device is outined in Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.

tt2

Chris CA wrote:

Feet1stmusic wrote:

I own both systems and should be allowed to sync my iPhone with multiple computers with ease

Fixed that for you.

You cannot do this.

Well you can, as long as you're only using one library. 😉

I routinely sync from two different machines.

tt2

Jizzlets, That is exactly what I want to do. Thankyou!!!

@Jizzlets, That did not work @TT2 I will attempt your method tomorrow when I am back at work

Thanks !

-Lee

My situation is a bit different. I check out digital editions of audiobooks form my local library. Some are in WMA format and thus must come in via Windows, using the Windows-based OverDrive client.

I do that using a Windows VM (via VMWare fusion). I really only have need for a single library (the one on my Mac, shared with the Windows VM). And all I really want to do is transfer the WMA files, using OverDrive, to my iPhone.

And now I have a way to do that. Brilliant!

Now, if only I didn't have to make that extra hop via Windows!

"If you don't want to sync your library between machines on a regular basis just copy the iTunes Library.itl file from the current "home" machine to any other you want to use, then clean out the library entires and import the local content you have on that box."

Excellent solution, thanx. I am now able to manually manage the music on my iPhone and grab music from two music libraries on my home and work computers that have different content.

MikTheFish

"dumber than a box of hair"

You're welcome. 🙂

tt2

I'm guessing this has changed with either iOS6 or, more likely, iTunes 11. I don't have an "iTunes Library.itl" file on my home computer with iTunes 11, though there are dated older versions with the .itl extension in the "previous iTunes Libraries" folder. The last one is dated about the time I updated to iTunes 11. Any suggestions?

There should be one there, unless you've previously moved it to a new location and are now using the new copy...

tt2

"If you don't want to sync your library between machines on a regular basis just copy the iTunes Library.itl file from the current "home" machine to any other you want to use, then clean out the library entires and import the local content you have on that box."

What does "clean out the library entires and import the local content you have on that box" mean?

Does there remain no way to simply manage one's own music on two different computers and pick and choose what songs we want on what devices. Songs we OWN and devices we OWN. We still have to do end-around solutions to side-step Apple's collusion with the music industry?

If you copy the library file only from one machine (the one the device is currently associated with) to another then when you open the library it will contain links to all the media that was left behind on the first machine. Delete these broken links, import locally held content, and you're good to manually manage content on the device from either computer.

I've just checked the latest update to HT1535 - Managing content manually on iPhone, iPad, and iPod (18th Sep) which states:

When manually managing content, you can add content from multiple libraries to your iPod or iPad. Even when manually managing music, some content may be available from only one library at time. This includes all content on iPhone and video content on iPod and iPad.

So the issue still exists. The workaround should continue to work, though personally, if you really want the flexibility of syncing from multiple locations, I'd still recommend you make a portable copy of the library and work with that. An alternative, presumably, thought I've not tested it, would be to subscribe to iTunes match which should in principle allow content loaded up from your "main" library to be downloaded to any other or your devices, on demand.

tt2

I have different content on Computer A, Computer B, and my iPhone. None of them have the exact same content. And I don't want them to. I just want to be able to add or delete from the iPhone regardless of what computer I have. And I want to be able to add brand new stuff I download, such as a podcast or MP3 from the web. But it doesn't sound like that's possible? Because you are saying the computers must have the same "library file"?

As crappy as it is having to copy the library file, at least it is a solution that works. Just copy that iTunes Library.itl file from the working computer to the one you are having problems with. Replace the old one on the computer you are having the issue. Then when you open iTunes you can move your music around. I know this is stupid and ***** but at least we can do it. Very odd of apple, it really goes against every other media across all devices theme they have.