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I have my iTunes Library on and external hard drive. I have a new computer and want to use iTunes and KEEP my files on the external drive.

My iTunes library is on an external hard drive, and I was able to access / add to the library from my windows laptop.

I now have a new laptop, and want to be able to KEEP the library on the external drive while being able to use iTunes from the new laptop.

I have selected "choose library" in iTunes, and have chosen the iTunes Library.itl file on the external drive.

My media populates in iTunes on the new laptop version of iTunes, but when I click on a song iTunes says that it cannot locate the song.

Your help is kindly appreciated!

Posted on Mar 5, 2015 8:54 AM

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27 replies

Mar 5, 2015 9:08 AM in response to Bigby1970

You need to make sure that all of your library (database, media, artwork, associated files) is on the external drive, ideally in this structure within an iTunes folder in the root of that drive.

User uploaded file

See turingtest2's notes on Make a split library portable for the steps that may be necessary to bring your library into this shape.


There are couple of likely causes for the "broken links" you're discovering:


  • even though your main library is on the external drive, some media may have been added on the old laptop (typically using drag-and-drop or File > Add Folder to Library...) such that the media was still sitting on the laptop's C: drive.
  • some or all of your media is on the external drive but is not within the "standard" folder layout - even though the media is there, iTunes may not be able to locate it correctly - especially if the drive letter of the external drive is different on the new machine compared to the new one.


Following tt2's user tip referenced above should resolve your problem. If not, post back a couple of details:


  1. The settings of the following items in Edit > Preferences > Advanced:
    User uploaded file
  2. On one of the songs that iTunes cannot file, right-click > Get Info - when iTunes asks if you want to locate the file click No (iTunes 12 has a bug such that you'll have to click No twice). Then select the File tab and report back the information shown for Location (in some cases you may need to scroll down or expand the editor window to display this):
    User uploaded file
    The "file://localhost/" prefix indicate that iTunes cannot find the file, the remaining path is the location that iTunes has stored in its database.

Mar 5, 2015 1:25 PM in response to Bigby1970

Thanks. Were the settings shown in your last screenshot in force when you added the song that's shown on being on the C: drive? It is also possible that at some point you ran iTunes with the external drive disconnected, in which case it will have defaulted to the library on the C: drive, or that you've run iTunes without explicitly selecting the library on the E: drive. To make sure the latter is the case, hold down SHIFT while starting iTunes, then when you get this prompt:

User uploaded file

click on Choose Library..., navigate to the location of your current iTunes Library.itl file, and click Open.


Part of your issue may that its not obvious where that current database file is located. The folder layout on your E: drive isn't the one that's most easily managed - so its possible that the database file could be in:


  • E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes
  • E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes\iTunes
  • E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes\iTunes 1


I suggest that a lot of your issues can be addressed by reshaping your library into the reliable "portable" layout as described in tt2's Make a split library portable user tip. Comparing your screenshot with the equivalent on my system (where I have a "well-formed" library on an external drive):

User uploaded file

where:


  • there is just one iTunes folder with everything used by iTunes inside it
  • all media is held within subfolders of the iTunes Media folder


The way you have yours set up, where the iTunes Media Folder location is set to E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes rather than E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes\iTunes Media is probably why some of your media is not being located correctly - the extent to which iTunes can correctly resolve locations is, to an extent, reliant on the folders for the different media kinds (Music, Audiobooks, etc.) being inside the iTunes Media media folder. One common misunderstanding (not helped at all by Apple's documentation!) is that the iTunes Media Folder location setting in Edit > Preferences > Advanced does not tell iTunes where to find anything; rather it determines where iTunes will put new additions to your Library, in conjunction with the Copy files to iTunes Media folder ... flag:

User uploaded file

I would definitely take the time to work through the steps to bring your library into the "portable" shape - there may be few remaining issues with broken links when that's complete but this will be much easier to fix if your library is in a more standard structure.

Mar 5, 2015 3:13 PM in response to Bigby1970

Frankly that looks like a bit of a mess. 😮


I suggest you start with the following steps. I've assumed that your active library file is currently at E:\Files\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl and that E:\Files\iTunes\iTunes Media holds the bulk of your media files. You would need to adjust these steps slightly if those assumptions are wrong.


  1. Create a new empty iTunes folder at E:\iTunes
  2. Move the following items from E:\Files\iTunes into E:\iTunes
    Album Artwork (folder)
    iTunes Media (folder)
    iTunes Library.itl
    iTunes Library Extras.itdb
    iTunes Library Genius.itdb
    sentinel (hidden file)
  3. Start iTunes. It will ask you to choose or create a library. Browse to an open the library file at E:\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl.
  4. Check that the media folder listed under Edit > Preferences > Advanced is given as E:\iTunes\iTunes Media. Correct if needed, and if so close and then reopen iTunes.
  5. Attempt to play something that you know is located inside the active media folder. iTunes ought to be able to find this automatically. If not attempt to locate the track if that is given as an option, or try using Get Info on the same track and again use the locate option if presented. When you have located one track iTunes may offer to try to fix other broken links. If it does, let it, otherwise the first script below can help here too.



Regarding the other content still located down inside E:\Files\iTunes. These may unneeded duplicates or content that was misfiled when perhaps less than ideal choices were made regarding the shape of the library. A rough idea of which might suggest the best approach here. I have a script called FindTracks that can fix broken links (see this post for details), and another that could move files into the main media folder without creating duplicates (ConsolidateByMoving), or you could move all of the media files within this set of folders into E:\iTunes\iTunes Media\Automatically Add to iTunes and then use my DeDuper script to deduplicate the library and clean up the dead links.



tt2

Mar 5, 2015 3:56 PM in response to turingtest2

If the media that's in the various E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes\Media_Kind folders is currently being correctly located and will play, it may also be worth consolidating these to the existing E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes\iTunes Media folder structure before the steps that tt2 describes:


  • In Edit > Preferences > Advanced, change the iTunes Media Folder location to E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes\iTunes Media
  • Select File > Library > Organize Library... then when you get this prompt:
    User uploaded file
    check the Consolidate files box and, if not greyed-out, the Reorganize files ... box and then click OK.


The effectiveness of this will depend on how much of your media that's in the E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes\Media_Kind folders is correctly referenced by your library database - for the items that are that should reduce the amount of "manual" repair of broken links that may be necessary.

Mar 13, 2015 8:18 AM in response to hhgttg27

I'm back... thanks for the help so far. I followed the instructions of turingtest2, and was unable to see any music in my iTunes playlist. Then, I "pointed" iTunes to the iTunes1 folder and was able to see all of my songs. But, iTunes was unable to locate the files. I manually found one song, and it was able to play. iTunes did not apply the re-route to any more songs.

The "Music" folder has all my tunes in it, and they are intact. I would also like to add "Home Videos," "Tones," and "Books" to iTunes on my laptop. Again, my goal is to have all of my iTunes media that is on my external drive stay on the drive while being able to run iTunes from my laptop. I want the library to be stored on the external drive. Any suggestions? Thanks!!User uploaded file

Mar 13, 2015 8:53 AM in response to Bigby1970

Hi.


Is the library currently working or broken?


Try running the script iTunesInfo which should output something a bit like this:


User uploaded file


I'm interested in the values of the first four lines 2 through 5. Replace your username with <User> if it's in there. Also worth checking that Media Folder Location guessed at by the script agrees with Edit > Preferences > Advanced. If not, let me know what's in there too.


Finally, how big is the library and how much room do you have on the external drive? It may be easiest to let iTunes take charge of copying files into the correct place, but only if there is enough space for it to complete the task.


tt2

Mar 13, 2015 12:15 PM in response to turingtest2

I'll hopefully answer your last question which may help you with proceeding. Also - it may be relevant to add that I was using my entire Library on another Dell laptop through the external drive with no issue. Now, I have a new Dell laptop and find it strange that it's not more "plug and play."


I went to my Library and double-clicked on a song below. The song played fine, and it showed up in my Library along with the Cloud-stored songs. The next shot shows the path of the song. Hope this helps...

User uploaded file

User uploaded file

Mar 13, 2015 12:42 PM in response to Bigby1970

OK. So you have a working file at: E:\GXS Files\iTunes\Music\_32 Special\Goin' South\05 Hold On Loosely.mp3


What is the path to media folder under Edit > Preferences > Advanced?

My guess would be E:\GXS Files\iTunes, but I need to be sure.


What is the path to the active iTunes Library.itl file? If you're not sure the scripts iTunesInfo or iTunesITLPath should give you the answer, or you can shift-start-iTunes to get the choose or create a library option, click choose, and then work out which folder is currently being offered to you before cancelling to leave things as they are.

From what you said earlier it seems to be E:\GXS Files\iTunes\iTunes1\iTunes Library.itl, but again I need to be sure.

What do you see inside?

E:\GXS Files\iTunes\iTunes

E:\GXS Files\iTunes\iTunes1

E:\GXS Files\iTunes\iTunes Media

Are there more media files nested down inside there?

Are these connected to the library too?


tt2

I have my iTunes Library on and external hard drive. I have a new computer and want to use iTunes and KEEP my files on the external drive.

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