iTunes libraries

[pugple]

I currently have an ibook g4 that is slowly running out of space to keep my itunes library. I was thinking of keeping the music portion on the ibook and the tv shows/movies on an external harddrive. So far, this would be easy. However, I have an iphone that I like to put both music AND movies on occasionally and I think syncing with multiple libraries would screw it up. What would be the best options to have music on the main ibook hd, movies/tv on an external, and be able to keep it all together for the iphone?

I was thinking perhaps 3 libraries. One for music that is kept on the ibook, one for movies that is kept on an external, and the last would be the iphones library which combines the two? Is that at all possible?

 

[killmoms]

Or just turn off the "copy items to iTunes Music folder" option in preferences and keep your files wherever you want them. This does mean, of course, that you'll have to remove them from the library, move the files, and then re-add them, but still.

 

[pugple]

Haha, feel like i'm trying to reinvent the wheel.

I don't always have the external connected to my ibook, will that freak iTunes out?

 

[tMac85]

i am having your same problem. Its a pain in the __ !

 

[pugple]

Yeah, it's a huge pain to manage.

 

[amanda kathryn]

i'm not a big computer person, so please forgive me if this suggestion is somehow wrong, but why not just put it all on an external HD to keep it all together?

 

[icecold0913]

you should keep your library on one hd, external or internal, if possible.

 

[pugple]

Well the problem is I don't bring my external with me everywhere and I'd like to be able to play music from just the ibook itself.

 

[killmoms]

Haha, feel like i'm trying to reinvent the wheel.

I don't always have the external connected to my ibook, will that freak iTunes out?

As long as your iTunes Music library is set to reside on the internal drive, no, it won't. Look at it this way, you'll keep your music in the iTunes Music folder on your internal drive, and your iTunes library will always be set to that folder. Then, remove your movies/tv shows/stuff you want on the external from the library by deleting them in iTunes (but telling it to not move the files to the Trash). Move those files to a folder on your external.

Then, and here's the crucial part, you'll turn off "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library" in iTunes' Preferences (under Advanced). Then when you re-add those items, instead of copying the files back to your internal (what you're trying to avoid), iTunes will simply point to the files on your external. This way, iTunes will never freak out about the library or the location of your music folder when you have the external disconnected, and it'll play your music fine, it'll just return an error (can't find the file!) if you try to play a movie/tv show/whatever that is on the external and it's not connected. And when you reconnect it and try to play that file, it'll play fine.

 

[tderemigis]

im interested in doing something similar, as i have been ripping movies and have several hundred now. I might be able to get all the movies, tv shows, and music to fit on the internal drive, but i eventually would inevitably expand past that.

my question is if i leave the movies an an external like you say, and i edit the information about the movie (genre, artwork, etc.), will these aspects be written to the file itself, or just be something that only this itunes library will recognize?