NAS Issues

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NAS Issues

I have searched to exhaustion for a solution, but can't seem to find it.

My situation:

I have a NAS (Netgear ReadyNas104) setup in my home. I have my ENTIRE iTunes library on it. The .itl, the .itdb, .xml, all the way down to every piece of media I have. I believe the NAS is setup correctly to run as an iTunes server, I've run through several Netgear walkthroughs on that bit.

My problem: the Mac that I set it up with works fine. Library is perfectly up to date, can make updates to any piece of media, everything is kosher.

On the second Mac that I am trying to use that library for, a couple things happen:

Every time I open iTunes, I am asked to "Choose Library"
Every time I choose the .itl up on the NAS, it, for some reason, pulls down an old library. Not everything is as up to date as on my other computer. This is the library filled in the "This Computer" spot. I can select "iTunes Library" which then does pull all up-to-date information down, but then I can't edit any of the items.

I have already checked file locations and things of that nature that appear on one Mac but not the other. The locations show the media files are located on the NAS, as are the rest. If I maneuver through Finder I can still play the media files.

Any ideas would be awesome.

MacBook Pro (15-inch Mid 2010), OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Sep 4, 2015 5:26 PM

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Answer 1

zwilson5 Author

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Sep 4, 2015 8:30 PM in response to zwilson5

I've also realized that this prevents me from streaming most of my media through my Apple TV unless my other computer is connected.

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Answer 2

Drew Reece

Level 6

10,660 points

Sep 9, 2015 2:20 PM in response to zwilson5

iTunes can lock a library file, so if you try to edit a library from multiple machines one may not be able to make changes to the files on the sharepoint.

NAS's also have their own system of file locking on shared items, so you can get into fights when one library is left in use on the other Mac.

The iTunes library is not intended for multiuser access on a NAS.

Apple made 'Home sharing' to allow you to share media from local Macs to other machines, investigate that if you want to make it actually work, but that is intended for importing from, not editing one library.

https://www.apple.com/support/homesharing/getstarted/

I dare say others will have ways to make NAS storage work across multiple machines, but it is not a configuration Apple explicitly supports, I think you also need to have the .itl & .xml on the local disk too, otherwise it gets replaced when you open iTunes whilst off the network (or if the file is locked & inaccessible etc).

You could use the NAS to share the library to other devices, but that generally means you use one Mac to manage that library & the NAS's inbuilt media server is responsible for the sharing, not iTunes.

Hopefully someone can tell me I am totally wrong & give you a simple fix, I'm not terribly experienced with this but every time I have looked at this type of iTunes setup it has been littered with issues & potential for failure, you'll find lots of posts around if you search.

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Answer 3

Limnos

Level 10

411,265 points

Sep 9, 2015 2:20 PM in response to zwilson5

When answering NAS issues here rule #1 is nothing has to be normal. That's the way it is with NAS and iTunes. They just are not designed to work with each other.

Your problem #1 is standard when the volume on which the library file is located cannot be found. This could be as simple as the drive sleeping, or could be as esoteric as something strange is happening with the NAS network addressing. If this was a hard drive I'd say the first, but once you mention NAS I start dreaming up all kinds of strange ideas and the thing is if you read past NAS issue posts here that is a perfectly valid mindset. 🙂

As for #2 it really sounds like you are not selecting the correct .itl file. I'd almost say you were selecting some relic version on your internal drive.

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Answer 4

zwilson5 Author

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Sep 9, 2015 2:16 PM in response to Drew Reece

Appreciate both the responses.

I don't think a simple fix exists, I've been finding quite a bit of what you highlighted - that I'm attempting something that iTunes just isn't built for. I think I'm going to play around with some different setups using third party software, see if that gets me anywhere.

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Answer 5

zwilson5 Author

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Sep 9, 2015 2:20 PM in response to Limnos

Limnos, one comment on point 2:

I'm not really sure how I could be grabbing an outdated version of the .itl. The .itl I just now tried to import was updated September 4, 2015 (which was the last day I made media updates). Same issue persists.... but that's not a huge deal. As noted in my other reply, I think I'm going to try third party media services to see if those better fit my needs.

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