iTunes and extrnal HDD libraries.

[VideoBeagle]

I have many many mp3s, organized and archived on an external hard drive.

What I would like is to have these MP3s show up in iTunes when the hard drive is hooked up, and preferably not when the drive isn't there, all while having the local library there as well.

Is this a possibility?

I've only begun researching this, and found ways of having the entire iTunes library be on a separate drive.
I'm wondering if maybe sym-links rather than aliases may get me there.

I could also set up an applescript to swap libraries, I guess, but I'd rather it all be automatic if possible.

Thoughts?

 

[GGJstudios]

Yes, it's simple to do. One method is to have one iTunes library, with your favorite music/movies stored on your internal drive, so it's available when you're mobile, with the remainder stored on an external drive.

How to split a single iTunes library over two or more media locations​

 

[VideoBeagle]

Wouldn't that method, with the red !'s when the drive isn't there, cause those tracks to be skipped next time the drive is plugged in and you're using like shuffle mode?

 

[GGJstudios]

Wouldn't that method, with the red !'s when the drive isn't there, cause those tracks to be skipped next time the drive is plugged in and you're using like shuffle mode?

When you're ready to plug in the external drive, quit iTunes, then attach the drive and make sure it's mounted properly, then launch iTunes. iTunes will automatically find those "missing" tracks.

 

[VideoBeagle]

When you're ready to plug in the external drive, quit iTunes, then attach the drive and make sure it's mounted properly, then launch iTunes. iTunes will automatically find those "missing" tracks.

Ahhh. Awesome to know! Thanks!

EDIT: And tested last night and worked just about as good as I could hope for. (I'd love it to show songs only when they're there, but that's more than it's capable of.)