iTunes Music Folder

[CommonMan]

I think that whenever I added a song to my iTunes library, iTunes was copying the file to the iTunes music folder which appears to be located on my primary HD.
This is a problem since this seems to be duplicating my music files. I had set up my iTunes to use a music folder on a large external HD because my primary HD is very limited. I have now unchecked the box that is located in the advance box under iTunes Preferences. This is the box that is next to "copy files to iTunes music folder when adding to Library." Now I would like to delete all the music files that were duplicated when I was adding to my iTunes library and had the box checked. I am scared to delete the folder I think is the right one. How can I be sure I am deleting the right folder? I think it's a folder in ~/music/iTunes but I'm not sure. Can anyone re-assure me on this?

 

[mad jew]

iTunes will default back to the Music folder on your internal drive if there is a connection problem (unplugged) with the external hard drive when iTunes opens. I think the cleanest solution is to recheck the option to let iTunes manage your files, make sure the appropriate folder is selected, use the Consolidate Library option from the Advanced menu, check that the folder you selected is nice and full of music and then delete any other music file you want to. Remember that the iTunes Library data files will still be kept on the Music folder in your internal drive no matter what. Don't delete these two files since they hold your library info.

 

[CommonMan]

iTunes will default back to the Music folder on your internal drive if there is a connection problem (unplugged) with the external hard drive when iTunes opens. I think the cleanest solution is to recheck the option to let iTunes manage your files, make sure the appropriate folder is selected, use the Consolidate Library option from the Advanced menu, check that the folder you selected is nice and full of music and then delete any other music file you want to. Remember that the iTunes Library data files will still be kept on the Music folder in your internal drive no matter what. Don't delete these two files since they hold your library info.

I don't think there has been a connection problem with the external HD. I'm not sure what you mean by "checking the option to let iTunes manage your file." I just don't want iTunes to make duplicates of files I put in the library from my storage folder. You mention that the iTunes Library data files will still be kept on the internal drive no matter what. That's OK as long as those data files are not the music files that I am playing on iTunes. I appreciate your attention to my question but I don't feel any clearer about the whole thing. Maybe I just don't get it. Maybe I need to goof around with this OS and itunes more before I jump to any conclusions. All I know is that iTunes is causing my internal HD memory space to be eaten up like crazy and I need to stop it.

 

[mad jew]

Okay, sorry for being unclear. You can opt to have iTunes manage your files (store them in certain folders) or you can opt to have iTunes keep your current file structure. I believe it's easier to just let iTunes do what it likes since it makes eventual migration of the library (to a new machine or as a backup) much much easier.

If you let iTunes manage your file structure (an option in the iTunes Preferences), then when you add a song to your library, it will copy that song file to the appropriate place in its own set of folders. The original song file will remain where it is, untouched.

Assuming your external is always connected and mounted when you open iTunes, then select a location on the external drive to save your music. Now, head to the Advanced pane of iTunes' Preferences and click Change to select this location. Make sure Keep iTunes Music Folder Organised and Copy Files To Music Folder are both checked. Press okay and once you're back in iTunes, select Consolidate Library from the Advanced menu. This will move all your music to the selected location on your external drive.

Now, go to the Music folder in Finder and in the iTunes folder, feel free to drag the folder named iTunes Music to the Trash. If you don't feel comfortable about deleting it just yet, then leave it in the Trash and reopen iTunes. Play some tracks, does it still work? If so, then you can probably now safely Empty The Trash. From henceforth, any song added to iTunes will be stored on the external drive in a set folder structure by iTunes. If the folder was originally elsewhere on your computer, then a copy will be made, leaving the original untouched. If you start iTunes with the external drive disconnected or unmounted, then iTunes will revert back to the default iTunes Music folder on your internal drive. By the sounds of things, this won't be a problem.

Hopefully that clears things up a tad.

 

[CommonMan]

Thanks

Thanks MJ!
I'm going to have to print out your reply and work through it. I hoping that what I think I am realizing is not true and that is: No matter how I configure things, if I want to have a multitude of songs ready to play in i-Tunes, I'm going to run out of HD memory. The reason being, I have an old Mac that has only a 6gb internal HD. I tried to get around the limitations of the HD by setting up the external 120 gig HD. However, my internal HD just keeps filling up. I'm thinking that Panther uses us a heck of a lot of the internal HD. I wonder if I need all the stuff on Panther. But, I don't like fooling around with an Operating System. I know - I should just quite whinning and work through this. On another note, why is it that on this forum, when I look into my user CP, I don't always find the threads in which I am involved?

 

[CommonMan]

One More Thing

MJ, you state that "when you add a song to your library, it will copy that song file to the appropriate place in it's own set of folders."

I do not want it to copy the song file. Is there anyway I can tell it NOT to copy a song added to my library? I thought that by NOT checking the "Copy File TOo Music Folder, " I could avoid this.

You see, I already have back-ups of all these song files.

I'm still confused because in your directions you say to check the box to copy files to the music folder but then later, you say that "any song added to iTunes will be stored on the external dirve ina set folder structure by iTunes."

The thing is, I already have all the music files on the external HD. What I want is for iTunes to draw from the pool of music on the external HD.

I hope I'm not being too thick headed.

 

[theBB]

I do not want it to copy the song file. Is there anyway I can tell it NOT to copy a song added to my library? I thought that by NOT checking the "Copy File TOo Music Folder, " I could avoid this.

Yes, as long as that box is unchecked no copying will take place.

I think he is trying to tell you how to migrate your existing iTunes library, which has been on your local hardrive to the external one. If you are unsure about which songs have been copied and which ones are not, you can follow those steps move the whole library to a new location painlessly: 1) Change your library location through the iTunes preferences by selecting a new folder in your external 2) check the box that says "consolidate library". iTunes will copy all of your Library to the new location. Now you can delete your possibly incomplete old backup folders. That's your first option. (I am not sure if iTunes will delete the ones in the old library folder in your local drive, but it probably would.)

Your second option is the one that you are heading towards. Keep the library location at its default place, but uncheck "copy songs when added to library" box. Great, now if you add another song, no copying will take place. However, iTunes will look for the songs you have added before (and copied over) in the internal harddisk. You have to delete and re-add them if you need to free up space in your local harddisk. Hence, the beauty of the first method.

 

[mad jew]

Yeah, theBB is right. I was just getting you to migrate your library and consolidate it in the one spot so you don't lose any songs.

 

[uptotibet]

problems with remote deletion of files

hi-

i have done all of this before with my computer using tiger. the problem i alwasy run into is that it is not possible to hard-delete a file from a library that is handled remotely. does anyone know about this or have a solution for it? i would like to delete music quickly when i'm sifting through large folders and not have to go back onto the remote hard drive and manually find the files plus delete them.


db

 

[mad jew]

Are you trying to delete them via iTunes? I haven't tried this, but for libraries stored on a connected drive you can hold OPTION-DELETE over a file you want removed and even if it's in a playlist, it should ask you if you'd like to remove the file from the drive. Also, you can press COMMAND-R on a highlighted song to reveal it in Finder, and then delete it from there if you like. Sorry I can't be more helpful but I'm not 100% sure I understand what you're wanting.

 

[CommonMan]

Yeah, theBB is right. I was just getting you to migrate your library and consolidate it in the one spot so you don't lose any songs.

MJ and BB,

Thank you both for the advice. I think this is what your suggesting: migrate the iTunes library to the external HD. This will solve the problem of using up space on the internal HD because when a song is added to iTunes (from whatever source), that file will be stored on the external HD. As it is now, any song I add to iTunes for purposes of playing music at home or loading up my iPod, suddenly becomes present on the internal HD. By migrating the iTunes library, this (I think you are saying) won't happen anymore.

Let me also explain that I have thousands of songs already on the external HD. It has been tedious to use iTunes because, as it is now, I must go to a song on the external HD and click on it. Then, it will begin to play and appear on iTunes. At this point, it existes in the iTunes library and takes up space on the internal HD. But, since it is now in the iTunes library, it can be transferred to a song list or put onto my iPod.

 

[mad jew]

Yep, that's exactly what we're saying.