Where are the iTunes database files

Question

Where are the iTunes database files

All the family music is at present on an internal hard drive called Media 1 on my Mac Pro. I am going to transfer everything onto an EHD which will then be accessed from my wife's iMac (as she is now going to be in charge of all the music for streaming to our various outputs). That part is straightforward. What I need to know is: Where are the other essential files stored (album covers, database etc) and where should I put these on her iMac so that it will work with the EHD of music files?

Many thanks guys.

MacPro - 8Gb RAM, Mac OS X (10.6.4), 2 x 2.66

Posted on Jun 15, 2013 9:33 AM

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Answer 1

Jun 15, 2013 9:47 AM in response to Community User

By default, everything is in the iTunes folder in (user)/Music and you should copy this folder intact to the new drive - never mess with its contents.

Once done, boot iTunes while holding the option (alt) key down and at the prompt select the iTunes folder in its new location. This should then enable iTunes to read from that library.

If it's all OK you can delete the original. Note that you must always have the external disk running before you boot iTunes or it won't see it.

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Answer 2

Jun 15, 2013 10:08 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

Roger, thank you so much.

Question: When I did this before (ie when I moved all of iTunes out of 'Music' on my MacPro to the additional internal hard drive) it breaks down as follows: Media 1 (volume) One fiolder: iTunes, inside of which are all the folders containing the music files and all named with the artists. Within these files is called: iTunes Music. Inside this folder is Books, Downloads, Mobile Apps, Movies, Music, Podcasts, Tones. Inside the 'Music' folder seems to be many but not all of the music files which are also in the main body under 'iTunes'. What is this folder and does it need moving to my wife's iMac along with all the music files?

Could I be accessing the actual music files on 'Media 1' and the database files on my main HD? ie, do you think they could have got separated when I split the music files out to 'Media 1'?

Many thanks in advance.

C

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Answer 3

Jun 15, 2013 3:03 PM in response to Community User

It depends on how you have iTunes Preferences set. The default is that when you drag files into the Music list they are copied into the library (so now you have two copies). You can change this so that all the iTunes Library contains is a references to the files - effectively an alias. Obviously if you move the files, iTunes can't find them.

In your case, if your iTune/iTunes Music folder and the album folders inside it contain actual music files then the files outside the iTunes folder are duplicates and can be removed. If the files are simply references, and thus very small, then you can't remove the actual music files.

The quick test is to close iTunes and remove them temporarily. Then open iTunes and see whether your songs play. Scroll through the list looking for the small i in a circle sign to the left of the title which indicates it can't find the file. If you don't find any then you are safe to get rid of the duplicate files.

In doing all this do not tamper with anything in the iTunes folder.

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Answer 4

gehlker

Level 1

0 points

Jun 15, 2013 3:09 PM in response to Roger Wilmut1

Roger,

You are so helpful! I just found this support community and browsing around I have found answers to all my questions - mostly from you!

Thanks so much,

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