Addouk

Q: i have moved all of my music from my laptop to a portable hard drive...need help :( cant play music

Hi all,

 

I moved all my music from my laptop to a portable hard drive, my hope was that i could just plug and play into my mabook air not the case...

 

I was wondering if anyone could help with the following, in a perfect world i would love to be able to keep the music on my drive (there is about 500 gb worth) and then when i want to play through mac to apple tv be able to just plug into mac and then be good to go, or if poss for itunes to be able to recognise the music on my portable drive...and for me then to play through itunes without adding it (as there wouldnt be enough space)...and to also have the capability to plug the drive into my windows comp and be able to also still play from there.

 

I dont know if any of this is poss...it all seems really complicated to me...and i am new to mac.

 

If anyone thinks they could help please get in touch!

 

my main goal is to be able to play my music through apple tv to the surround system in the house, and to be able to play music through my mac if poss, doesnt have to be itunes so long as i can air play or even better select through apple tv.

 

thanks so much in advance to anyone who can help me out

 

 

p.s. i tried this...didnt work, unless i am doing it wrong

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449

MacBook Air, OS X Mavericks (10.9.1)

Posted on Feb 15, 2014 9:45 AM

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Q: i have moved all of my music from my laptop to a portable hard drive...need help :( cant play music

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Feb 15, 2014 9:51 AM in response to Addouk
    Level 9 (54,543 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 15, 2014 9:51 AM in response to Addouk

    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 iTunes Library.itl file in the moved iTunes folder.
     
    For the record there's this reference for iTunes 11 but it really doesn't strike me as having the specifics you need. iTunes 11 for Mac: Move your library to another computer - http://support.apple.com/kb/PH12168 
     
    Windows users see tip at: https://discussions.apple.com/message/18879381

     

    If you put it in the default location of Macintosh HD > Users > *User Name* > Music  then you don't even need to start with the option key held down, iTunes will automatically look for it there.  (Make sure there isn't anything already in the iTunes folder there that you want to keep since you will be replacing it with the one you are moving.)


    Do not confuse (as you did) moving your whole folder and library with moving just media files as in

     

    iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449

  • by Addouk,

    Addouk Addouk Feb 15, 2014 9:57 AM in response to Limnos
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iCloud
    Feb 15, 2014 9:57 AM in response to Limnos

    thank you, i will try to absorb all of that, its so complicated isnt it...well for me anyways lol

     

    can i ask, is it too late now that i have already copied the music? all i did was select all the music folders and copy them to my portable drive...my laptop was then factory reset ...would i need to add all music to my laptop with enough space then start the move from scratch to then get my mac to recognise the location on the removeable drivE?

  • by Chris CA,

    Chris CA Chris CA Feb 15, 2014 10:26 AM in response to Addouk
    Level 9 (79,653 points)
    iTunes
    Feb 15, 2014 10:26 AM in response to Addouk

    Addouk wrote:

     

    ...my laptop was then factory reset ...

    You mean you erased it and reinstalled everything?

  • by Limnos,Helpful

    Limnos Limnos Feb 15, 2014 11:29 AM in response to Addouk
    Level 9 (54,543 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 15, 2014 11:29 AM in response to Addouk

    A complete library consists of, 1) media files, 2) a series of library files and folders which are also in the iTunes folder.  The second include the main database file, library.itl.  This file contains all the information about what is in your collection, ratings, playcount, playlists, etc.  It's the difference between a city library all nicely organized and cataloged in a building, and simply having a pile of books in an empty lot.  It sounds to me like you copied all your media to the external drive but left the rest of the library on the internal drive which has now been wiped.  All you have now is a collection of media files but the iTunes structure is gone.  You will have to start over again, but at least you have your media. 

     

    Look around your drive.  Do a Spotlight search for .library.itl.  If this file is gone then you truly have nothing left of the iTunes structure.  In that case I would suggest you:

     

    Hold down the option/alt key while starting iTunes.  Create a new library and locate it on the external drive.  Drag all your media files to the "Automatically Add To iTunes" folder in the iTunes folder you just created on the external drive.  This will make a new library and put the files you are adding in their correct location.  Make sure this external drive is always on before you start iTunes in the future or iTunes will create a new blank library oon your internal drive.  If that happens simply quite and start iTunes with the option key again and point it back to the external drive library.

  • by Addouk,

    Addouk Addouk Feb 15, 2014 4:26 PM in response to Chris CA
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iCloud
    Feb 15, 2014 4:26 PM in response to Chris CA

    yeah Chris, i had to reinstall everything on my mac from factory reset, but luckily had back ups...i never have had my music collection on the macbook air as the storage is only 64gb which is why i have the portable 1tb drive with all my music on, i originally had this on my sony vaio laptop which has a 1tb drive also, but i purchased apple tv this wk and wanted to be able to air play or use apple tv to browse my itunes so moved all the music folders to the protable drive...

     

    i didnt export itunes, just moved the folders...

     

    am going to try what Limnos explaied to me to see if that works...need it to do it both on my mac and on my vaio

     

    thanks so much for being so kind to help me

  • by Limnos,Solvedanswer

    Limnos Limnos Feb 15, 2014 8:16 PM in response to Addouk
    Level 9 (54,543 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 15, 2014 8:16 PM in response to Addouk

    We need to know exactly what you copied.  If you only copied the album folders inside the media folder then you are missing the files that structured iTunes.

     

    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

     

    Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391

  • by Addouk,

    Addouk Addouk Feb 16, 2014 8:12 AM in response to Addouk
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iCloud
    Feb 16, 2014 8:12 AM in response to Addouk

    ok so i have managed to get all the music on the removeable drive to sync with itunes on windows...if the drive is plugged in to the windows comp i can use itunes to play and select music...but its not stored on the system, is on a removeable drive..

     

    i tried to do this on mac and am not getting any luck, its saying it cant find an itunes library file

     

    i tried pluggin back into windows laptop and its def still working.

     

    can anyone please give me a step by step guide? I have spent the last few hours changing titles and art in the windows itunes and am hoping i wont have to start from scratch with mac

     

    please help me out...thanks so much

  • by Limnos,Helpful

    Limnos Limnos Feb 16, 2014 9:04 AM in response to Addouk
    Level 9 (54,543 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 16, 2014 9:04 AM in response to Addouk

    That says to me you have a library file on your windows computer. It is not on the hard drive.  Copy the iTunes folder from the windows computer to the external drive, start iTunes on the Mac with the option key held down and guide it to the library file on the external drive.

  • by Addouk,

    Addouk Addouk Feb 16, 2014 11:58 AM in response to Limnos
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iCloud
    Feb 16, 2014 11:58 AM in response to Limnos

    Fab thank you...i will give this a go will post how i get on

  • by Addouk,

    Addouk Addouk Feb 16, 2014 1:04 PM in response to Limnos
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iCloud
    Feb 16, 2014 1:04 PM in response to Limnos

    Limnos you are a star!!! u have solved my issues totally...thank you

  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Feb 16, 2014 6:14 PM in response to Addouk
    Level 9 (54,543 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 16, 2014 6:14 PM in response to Addouk

    You're welcome.