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Dr Kevorkian94

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jun 9, 2009
2,175
76
SI, NY
I have an external drive that i use for time machine ( 1TB) and small storage, i would like to set it up for my iTunes library as well.

Background:

My external drive is connected to my Airpot Extreme and it partitioned in 2 (one for time machine and like 20g of just plain storage). When I need to access it it comes up in the finder under shared and most of the time i have to click connect and put in a password (for some reason i feel that will be a problem for using it with iTunes). My iTunes library is getting huge like 97g, and id rather not have that on the computer.

Im assuming i have to erase the drive before i can reformat, that is not problem as i can fit what is there on my computer temporally. I want to set it up for storage, time machine and iTunes. I know i probably can't just move the iTunes folder and expect iTunes to know where it its (especially because the drive isn't always connected until i put the password in).

So this is my little dilemma
 

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,541
942
Im assuming i have to erase the drive before i can reformat
The reformatting will erase the drive in the process.
I know i probably can't just move the iTunes folder and expect iTunes to know where it its (especially because the drive isn't always connected until i put the password in).
It depends on how you have/want your iTunes set up. In iTunes > Preferences > Advanced, you can select which folder to use for your iTunes Media folder. You can easily point that to a folder on the external drive, where your music files are located. iTunes also has library files, which should be located there, as well. Finally, you need to make sure the external drive is mounted (with the password entered, if required) before you launch iTunes. If you launch iTunes before the drive is mounted, iTunes won't be able to find your music.

As an alternative, you can elect to split your library between your internal and external drive. I do this with mine, as it won't all fit on my internal drive. I keep the music I listen to most often on the internal, and store the remainder on an external. It's all in the same library, so I can see what music I have, even though I wouldn't be able to play what's on the external when that drive isn't mounted.
 

Dr Kevorkian94

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jun 9, 2009
2,175
76
SI, NY
ah ok Thanks so much, one last question is there setting even a command or script that will automatically connect as soon as iTunes is opened?
 

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,541
942
ah ok Thanks so much, one last question is there setting even a command or script that will automatically connect as soon as iTunes is opened?
Well, it would have to connect the drive before iTunes opens, rather than "as soon as". I'm sure you could set up a script to mount the drive, then launch iTunes if the mount was successful. Or a script that would check to see if the drive was mounted and if so, launch iTunes, if not, don't launch iTunes.
 
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