crankers24
Level 1
(0 points)
Q: No iTunes library files on external HD after export from old iMac - now what?!
I am downsizing from iMac to new Macbook Retina on which I can't keep my itunes media as not enough storage. Instead I plan to keep it all on an external hard drive and direct the new Macbook to access my iTunes library on there.
In moving my entires iTunes library from my old iMac (now sold) to the external HD, I followed the advice on this article to the letter. But now when I hold the Option key and open iTunes on the new machine, and tell it to choose new library location on the external HD, it says it cannot find any library files.
...and it's correct. When I use Finder to look at what's been copied to the external HD, I have all my media, but not of the .xml or .itl files.
So I'm now in the weird position that the new machine has the built in iTunes library files, and the external HD has all the media files, but the two aren't linked!
What to do? (To illustrate this, here's a screen grab of the two locations in Finder)
MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.1)
Limnos
Level 9
(54,635 points)
Unfortunately you used the wrong article. As it says, that moves just your media which is only part of a complete library. The rest of your library is all the other files and folders in the iTunes folder. The key one is library.itl If this did not get copied to your new computer it is completely lost. You'll just have to add those media files to an empty library. If this is what you think is the case, start iTunes with the option key held down. Create a new, blank library on the external drive (I presume that's where you want it). Go to the folder on the external holding all those media files and drag it to the Automatically Add To iTunes folder that's in the new iTunes folder just created to hold the new library. This will move (vs. copy) those files to the media folder in the library folder and also add them to iTunes. Now start remembering your playlists, ratings, etc.
In future always make sure this drive is on before starting iTunes or you will have to use the option key trick to select the library on the external.
If you think you have any copies of your old library.itl or library.xml files from the old computer, report back and we can provide different instructions.
This is how you should have moved things:
iTunes: How to move [or copy] your music [library] to a new computer [or another drive] - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527 - a somewhat bewildering and not always easily understandable set of options.
Quick answer if you use iTunes' default preferences settings: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its subfolders and files) intact to the other drive. Open iTunes and immediately hold down the Option (alt) key (shift on Windows), then guide it to the new location of the library.itl file in the moved iTunes folder.
This is what a complete library looks like:
What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management
What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html
iTunes 9 [and later]: Understanding iTunes Media Organization - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3847
Image of folder structure and explanation of different iTunes versions (turingtest2 post) - and
