So is there a way to share my itunes library, and iphoto library with another user on panther with the ability for both to be "sychronized"?
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10.3 - Multiple Users, Centralized iPhoto Library & iTunes?
- Thread starter edwinedillonjr
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I dont think this is possible. At least on my iMac, it says Another User is Running iTunes, please ask that user to quit the application and try again later
Actually I'm just trying to share my iTunes and iPhoto library between local users via fast user switch, I know the application can't have multiple instances. There has to be an easy way.... I'll keep playing with it.
Let us know if you come up with a solution. I have been thinking about this for a while myself. It seems ridiculous that my girlfriend and I can't have the same photos and music on both our seperate accounts without actually going through the process of loading them all twice.
This is a huge one for me as well - and what's up with not being able to run the same apps on different accounts? Totally makes 'fast' user switching a pain.
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I spoke with a salesperson at the local Apple Store about sharing iTunes. He suggested moving the iTunes folder to the desktop. I gave that a try but all that it did was remove my music from the library. I assume that you can somehow tell iTunes (and presumable iPhotos) where the music folder is.
On another note (no pun intended), iTunes on my iMac shares libraries with iTunes on my wifes XP pro with no problems whatsoever.
On another note (no pun intended), iTunes on my iMac shares libraries with iTunes on my wifes XP pro with no problems whatsoever.
Sharing Libraries is easy...simply make an alias to one user's library (the full one) in the proper directory of the other users (eg iTunes Library in Music, iPhoto Library in Pictures, etc). It is important to make sure that all of your users have read & write permissions on the (original) directory/folder (and all those contained within) or else you will have errors. I have used this setup for about a year with no problems, and it seems to be working fine with Panther.
[edit] just realized that perhaps you meant that you wanted two libraries running simultaneously....in which case I have no idea how to do that...this only works if you want ONE library for both...sorry for any confusion [/edit]
[edit] just realized that perhaps you meant that you wanted two libraries running simultaneously....in which case I have no idea how to do that...this only works if you want ONE library for both...sorry for any confusion [/edit]
you need to move the library from your home directory into a public folder, eg on the HD. Create a folder called Tunes, and don't give any one user special permissions. This should allow everyone to play music files from the same library. Hope this helps.
As usual, MacOSXHints comes to the rescue:
(note I haven't tried or even read any of these hints, so check out the comments section to see if they work)
Share iPhoto libraries with multiple users on one machine
Share one iCal file between multiple users on one machine
Sharing everything with multiple users on one machine
edit: And how could I forget?:
Create a multiple user iTunes music library
(note I haven't tried or even read any of these hints, so check out the comments section to see if they work)
Share iPhoto libraries with multiple users on one machine
Share one iCal file between multiple users on one machine
Sharing everything with multiple users on one machine
edit: And how could I forget?:
Create a multiple user iTunes music library
Thanks for the suggestions, has anyone else tried any of these techniques with fast-user switching? Trying to figure out which is best.
Adding my 2¢
There seems to be several ways to get this done, but here is what I did. It works great, all users share one iTunes music library. The only thing not possible is running iTunes in multiple accounts at the same time.
My iTunes music is stored on a separate dirve, but this could just as easily be a separate partition or the Shared folder. You should also move the "iTunes Music Library" and "iTunes Music Library.xml" files to this *neutral* location. Make aliases of these two files and put them in each users Users/*name*/Music/iTunes folder. (Note: there will also be an iTunes Music folder in this location, but it should be empty. Now with each user, set the iTunes Music Folder Location (on the Preferences' Advanced tab) to your new shared location.
It works great! We're a family of six and everyone has separate accounts. Any one of us can rip, mix, and burn music and it is stored in one location.
There seems to be several ways to get this done, but here is what I did. It works great, all users share one iTunes music library. The only thing not possible is running iTunes in multiple accounts at the same time.
My iTunes music is stored on a separate dirve, but this could just as easily be a separate partition or the Shared folder. You should also move the "iTunes Music Library" and "iTunes Music Library.xml" files to this *neutral* location. Make aliases of these two files and put them in each users Users/*name*/Music/iTunes folder. (Note: there will also be an iTunes Music folder in this location, but it should be empty. Now with each user, set the iTunes Music Folder Location (on the Preferences' Advanced tab) to your new shared location.
It works great! We're a family of six and everyone has separate accounts. Any one of us can rip, mix, and burn music and it is stored in one location.
http://homepage.mac.com/bwebster/iphotolibrarymanager.html
This works very well on iPhoto for me. Something similar for iTunes would be nice.
This works very well on iPhoto for me. Something similar for iTunes would be nice.
yeah, i was about to suggest using the iPhoto Library manager. couple this with aliases to "neutral" locations accessible by all the account holders, it should work.
didn't know about only one instance of iTunes running at a time.. that could be annoying...
jxyama said:
Would you mind giving even more detailed information on exactly how this is done? I've been dying to get my wife completely set up with her own User Profile, but she wants access to the pictures and the music. I don't want to double up everything. I've downloaded the iPhoto Library Manager, I just can't figure out how to do the rest so her iPhoto Library will mirror mine. Thanks..