ATV just put on the breaks?

JMEANS · Feb 3, 2013

So I am running Snow Leopard on a 4 year old Mac Tower with WD 3TB external of media for iTunes (Hardwired) ATV2 for over a year STRONG now. Finally filled it up and pulled the trigger on a WD 4TB external and with only a few movies on the 4TB so far the whole operation has now come to a crawl?!

As soon as I go on to Computer tab on the ATV screen the dial 'spins' on every step and with some films never playing... Its a little inconsistent but clearly now the computer is struggling or searching with the new hook-up.

Are there any ideas, tips as to why changing the media folder/destination in iTunes to accommodate this new drive would cause all this?

Honestly this sucks and I am so frustrated and hoping there is something that can be done to improve my setup. Thanks for any info or tips you may have.
JIM

chenks · Feb 3, 2013

you sure it's not a dodgy 4TB drive you have ?

JMEANS · Feb 3, 2013

Well here's the thing... Is it the new 4TB drive? I don't think so. For over a year the 3TB held all of the iTunes media so the destination drive in iTunes was set to that drive. So 99.9% of iTunes media is on it. Now add a new 4TB with only 4 movies on it and being the destination drive in iTunes options and I have this lag...

So in terms I can only guess, because the 3TB was all there was for so long now NOT being the DIRECT destination drive in the iTunes is that why the dial is searching and searching longer to find media?

chenks · Feb 3, 2013

well the only change to your system is the addition of the 4TB drive.
remove it and see if everything runs normally again.

you either haven't configured itunes correctly when adding it, or the drive is faulty.

JMEANS · Feb 3, 2013

Other than changing the destination drive to it what else configuration wise needs to be done?

chenks · Feb 3, 2013

JMEANS said:
Other than changing the destination drive to it what else configuration wise needs to be done?

depends what you did to "change the destination drive".
as i said, you need to rule out whether the 4TB is the cause of the problem by removing it and testing.

until you do that there is not much else anyone can suggest as the 4TB drive is the new addition to the system.

do that and come back with the results of the test.

mic j · Feb 3, 2013

Does iTunes itself (not the aTV) have any sluggishness when trying to access content on the drive?
Did you format the drive or did it come pre-formatted? Look at in in Disk Utility and verify it's formatting.

JMEANS · Feb 3, 2013

heres my situation guys, and i tried playing movies from both drives from itunes on my computer and some were fine some where a little hesitant i guess you could say.

Both WD drives are Mac OS journaled and for some reason i don't remember seeing that (dsk2s1) before under the WD3TB drive?

Another observation i will say is different is that in the Media Folder location window the extension is shorter for the WD4TB than the WD3TB use to have?

WD3TB had like four directories
/ ?????? / ?????? / ????? / ?????? /

mic j · Feb 3, 2013

JMEANS said:
heres my situation guys, and i tried playing movies from both drives from itunes on my computer and some were fine some where a little hesitant i guess you could say.

Both WD drives are Mac OS journaled and for some reason i don't remember seeing that (dsk2s1) before under the WD3TB drive?

Another observation i will say is different is that in the Media Folder location window the extension is shorter for the WD4TB than the WD3TB use to have?

WD3TB had like four directories
/ ?????? / ?????? / ????? / ?????? /

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So you are keeping your files on an external drive AND adding them to the iTunes copying them to the iTunes Media folder? Isn't that doubling the amount of drive space you are using? I keep mine externally and do not have that checked.

JMEANS · Feb 3, 2013

basically how i work it is after i handbreak a file it is on my desktop, after i meta tag it, I click on the file. it automatically copies to itunes and said drive. then i delete the desktop file, so in the end the only file left is the one that got copied to the external. so its checked but as you can see its only for temporary reasons. is that nuts? lol

other than that does everything look yo be in order?

chenks · Feb 3, 2013

yes but your itunes library used to reside on the 3TB drive, but you've now changed the location to the 4TB but, but all your previous data is still on the 3TB drive.

your library is probably trying to work out what the hell has happened and is now having to re-check the location of all your content.

have you tried using the "consolidate library" option?

as the 4TB drive is now your itunes library location, you should really consolidate it and have all the previous content moved to the 4TB drive, and that will leave you with an empty 3TB drive to use as you wish.

plus, your 3TB drive also appears to be your Time Machine backup drive.

mic j · Feb 3, 2013

JMEANS said:
basically how i work it is after i handbreak a file it is on my desktop, after i meta tag it, I click on the file. it automatically copies to itunes and said drive. then i delete the desktop file, so in the end the only file left is the one that got copied to the external. so its checked but as you can see its only for temporary reasons. is that nuts? lol

other than that does everything look yo be in order?

Sounds to me like you are doubling you files. One is saved to iTunes and the other to the external drive. Look at your iTunes media folder and see what the size of it is.

Here is my scheme: I transcode with HB and save it anywhere (I have a folder but it's irrelevant). I then copy the file to the external drive and delete the file on my MBP. Then go into iTunes and do a Add To Library. iTunes keeps track of where it added it from. No need to have a copy in the iTunes Media File.

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chenks said:
yes but your itunes library used to reside on the 3TB drive, but you've now changed the location to the 4TB but, but all your previous data is still on the 3TB drive.

your library is probably trying to work out what the hell has happened and is now having to re-check the location of all your content.

have you tried using the "consolidate library" option?

as the 4TB drive is now your itunes library location, you should really consolidate it and have all the previous content moved to the 4TB drive, and that will leave you with an empty 3TB drive to use as you wish.

plus, your 3TB drive also appears to be your Time Machine backup drive.

All excellent points!

I keep my iTunes library on my MBP and just use the external drive for storage allowing iTunes to keep track of file location, in which case it wouldn't matter how many drives I have going for storage.

JMEANS · Feb 3, 2013

OMG my iTunes media folder on the original 3TB is ONLY 1.27GB?!! but the drive as a whole is almost full?!! I have been copying!!! But where too? i open the movies folder on the 3TB and in each film folder there is only the one physical file? where are the copies on this drive that are eating up the other half?

this IS nuts?!! i apparently have more space than i thought... (i think)

HELP HELP ha ha

UPDATE: I forgot to mention i also have my TIME MACHINE on this 3TB too, trying to get the size of the "backups' folder now... taking forever... calculating size...

chenks · Feb 3, 2013

JMEANS said:
OMG my iTunes media folder on the original 3TB is ONLY 1.27GB?!! but the drive as a whole is almost full?!! I have been copying!!! But where too? i open the movies folder on the 3TB and in each film folder there is only the one physical file? where are the copies on this drive that are eating up the other half?

this IS nuts?!! i apparently have more space than i thought... (i think)

HELP HELP ha ha

as i said, the 3TB is also your time machine backup drive.
how much space is the backup using? and is it also backing up your itunes media folder?

JMEANS · Feb 3, 2013

UPDATE: I forgot to mention i also have my TIME MACHINE on this 3TB too, trying to get the size of the "backups' folder now... taking forever... calculating size...

was under the impression it wasn't backing up the media files on the 3TB itself just what was on the computers main drive.

still calculating...

----------

Can't get a reading of the backup size says still calculating...

and the only folder included in each dated folder is MACINTOSH HD so Time Machine is only backing up my computer and not the files on the 3TB itself.

I guess its possible that the backups is what is taking up all the extra room on the 3TB

mic j · Feb 3, 2013

JMEANS said:
UPDATE: I forgot to mention i also have my TIME MACHINE on this 3TB too, trying to get the size of the "backups' folder now... taking forever... calculating size...

was under the impression it wasn't backing up the media files on the 3TB itself just what was on the computers main drive.

still calculating...

----------

Can't get a reading of the backup size says still calculating...

and the only folder included in each dated folder is MACINTOSH HD so Time Machine is only backing up my computer and not the files on the 3TB itself.

I guess its possible that the backups is what is taking up all the extra room on the 3TB

Your TM will fill the drive. Best to partition the drive if you are using it for both storage and backup. But, I am curious as to how your TM got so large. Have you been having it back up for a few years? I keep mine a a 1TB external but do not backup any movies. After 3 months, it's only 7GB. And keep in mind when designating disk space for TM, do your really need to go back over a couple months?

JMEANS · Feb 3, 2013

i hear ya mic j on the TM using so much space for just the main HD, weeks, months etc. but i couldn't find an option anywhere to limit the amount of backups. as of now its as far back as Oct 2012. and i never did partition (i don't think) and it would be too late to do now anyway. but if there is an option to limit the back up please point me to it! thanks

mic j · Feb 3, 2013

JMEANS said:
i hear ya mic j on the TM using so much space for just the main HD, weeks, months etc. but i couldn't find an option anywhere to limit the amount of backups. as of now its as far back as Oct 2012. and i never did partition (i don't think) and it would be too late to do now anyway. but if there is an option to limit the back up please point me to it! thanks

No option to limit. It is designed to fill wherever it is located. Why don't you move all of your videos onto the 4TB. Erase the 3 TB and partition it into maybe a 1TB and 2TB partition. Then start TM backup anew?

JMEANS · Feb 3, 2013

That makes sense, mic j, thanks for your patience on my situation. Seems we are drifting backwards on my problem, but looks like I was doomed from the start not partitioning.

As far as my sluggishness, other than the 'checked' copy thing does everything look ok?

I only ask because I did not get an OK on how things were formatted and the iTunes Media folder window with correct extension layout.

Thanks

and what is this 'consolidate library' option? thought iTunes could remember over various drives no problem?

mic j · Feb 3, 2013

JMEANS said:
That makes sense, mic j, thanks for your patience on my situation. Seems we are drifting backwards on my problem, but looks like I was doomed from the start not partitioning.

As far as my sluggishness, other than the 'checked' copy thing does everything look ok?

I only ask because I did not get an OK on how things were formatted and the iTunes Media folder window with correct extension layout.

Thanks

and what is this 'consolidate library' option? thought iTunes could remember over various drives no problem?

If you have multiple iTunes libraries, you can consolidate them into a single one. Right, Chenks? Never done it so not 100% sure. Your drives are formatted fine. Your goal is to get a dedicated drive (or partition for TM) not so large to be wasteful. Then have a single iTunes library located somewhere (I do it on my MBP because it's a little faster) but on an external drive is ok too, Then get all your movies located on an external drive. It doesn't matter if they are different drives but if you have the space on a single, it's cleaner that way. After doing that, go into iTunes, delete your files and add them all back in using Add to Library. iTunes will then know where the files are located. Good luck.

JMEANS · Feb 3, 2013

That's mic j sounds like a plan i will be putting into action soon!

As far as i know CHENKS i have 1 iTunes library but its over two drives. if there is a way to check that i have 2 or more library's 'confusing the computer' how would i find out?

The way it stands now is i have 1 iTunes Media folder on my 3TB (now full) that contains all my media with only a few movies on the new 4TB.

As far as i knew I can't consolidate all my media to one Library / Media folder if it were spread out over 2 or more drives. But if i am misunderstanding your advice CHENKS please let me know when you can.

thanks to both of you for the help , have a Happy Super Bowl
JIM

ATV just put on the breaks?

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