Help with iTunes music on external drive

[Tdubb65]

I just got a used Mac mini and am running Yosemite. I decided I wanted all my music on an external drive (I have about 400 GB). I followed every instruction I can find on the Internet and nothing has worked. When I open iTunes i only see my purchased songs that have been pulled down from the cloud and any song that I have played during testing. I have found on my external drive where the purchased songs are residing and if I move a song there it will not show up in iTunes. It's driving me nuts! What do I do?

 

[PhiLLoW]

I have my music collection on an external USB 3.0 drive too. Works flawless.


Do you use itunes to manage your music? Is your itunes media folder on the external drive?

 

[Tdubb65]

I manually loaded the music to the external drive and then I used iTunes preferences to point to the location on my external drive. iTunes created the iTunes folder and media folder. It moved a copy of the purchased songs to the newly created music folder. But if I move a song to the folder it won't show up in iTunes.

 

[fisherking]

I manually loaded the music to the external drive and then I used iTunes preferences to point to the location on my external drive. iTunes created the iTunes folder and media folder. It moved a copy of the purchased songs to the newly created music folder. But if I move a song to the folder it won't show up in iTunes.

you need to import the songs INTO itunes window itself...and then the app will put the song in that folder.

 

[PhiLLoW]

ok. thanks for the information.


There is an "automatically add music to itunes" folder. What happens when you add some files to this folder. Does this files stay into your library?

What happens if you drag all files directly into itunes? Are the songs playable/ listed in the library?

 

[fisherking]

ok. thanks for the information.


There is an "automatically add music to itunes" folder. What happens when you add some files to this folder. Does this files stay into your library?

What happens if you drag all files directly into itunes? Are the songs playable/ listed in the library?

not sure if you should start over, itunes (and iphoto, for example) are very picky about this...

always drag your music into the itunes open window, and it will make a copy in the appropriate folder in your library (in this case, on your external drive). that's how it works, and how itunes keeps track of what's there. DON'T MESS WITH THE FOLDERS IN THE ITUNES MUSIC FOLDER. work thru the app...

 

[Tdubb65]

I figured it out just before the Super Bowl and with a couple beers in me. I just needed to use "add to library" file command. It solved my problem

 

[rhett7660]

Also, make sure your external drive is connected and seen before you fire up iTunes.