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macgoodnight

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 18, 2007
22
0
How do i stream my external hardrive to my Apple TV without loading the movies on my computer
 

powerbook911

macrumors 68040
Mar 15, 2005
3,999
379
How do i stream my external hardrive to my Apple TV without loading the movies on my computer

Good question. The files you want to add to iTunes that are on the external hard drive, drag to itunes while holding down "option." Make sure you keep holding option for a couple seconds after releasing the mouse. Then the files stay on the external drive, and when you stream to Apple TV they will feed right off it through iTunes.
 

sandman42

macrumors 6502a
Oct 23, 2003
959
59
Seattle
Good question. The files you want to add to iTunes that are on the external hard drive, drag to itunes while holding down "option." Make sure you keep holding option for a couple seconds after releasing the mouse. Then the files stay on the external drive, and when you stream to Apple TV they will feed right off it through iTunes.

Though it's probably worth pointing out that the files will only play if they're encoded in one of the formats that is compatible with the :apple:TV. See the specs here for the compatible file types.
 

peeaanuut

macrumors 65816
Sep 10, 2007
1,048
1
Southern California
if I have iTunes set to manage and copy my files, will the Option-Drag method bypass those setting just for those files being dragged? Might be good to put my vidoes on drive and my music on another. Thoughts?
 

MikieMikie

macrumors 6502a
Aug 7, 2007
705
0
Newton, MA
if I have iTunes set to manage and copy my files, will the Option-Drag method bypass those setting just for those files being dragged? Might be good to put my vidoes on drive and my music on another. Thoughts?

I have 3 externals: 1 for iTunes & iPhoto, 1 for films & tv, 1 for Time Machine BU.

Since I am using my wife's MBP to run this whole thing, and it has limited capacity, I tried to move all media off the main drive. This will also be useful for when I bite the bullet and buy a Mac Pro. (Handbrake at between 90 and 100 fps for AppleTV preset! Of course, I will be using it for work, too.) I won't have to copy the media libraries -- just plug in the drives.

The Option-Drag method ignores the preference setting.

-- Mikie
 
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