Hi everyone,
I have owned a Powerbook G4 since 2003, and the logic board has been suffering a slow death, so I decided to buy a 13" MacBook Pro.
Now, the way I have been running my iTunes up until now is as follows:
I have an iTunes folder on my Powerbook, containing a library file (5.1MB) and 36GB of files in an iTunes Music folder, as well as the other folders (Album Artwork, iPod Games, Mobile Apps, Previous iTunes Libraries, and the Genius, Library Extras and Library.xml files).
Attached to the Powerbook is a LaCie portable drive, with another library file (6.4MB) and 70GB in an iTunes Music folder.
Now this may seem messy,
but the two library files have been working seamlessly together. As far as I can see, iTunes considers them ONE library, except that when the LaCie isn't plugged in and I start up iTunes, the files hosted on it get the exclamation mark next to them and I can't play them (pretty obvious).
I should mention a couple of things:
1) In Prefs>Advanced>iTunes Media Folder location, only LaCie/Music/iTunes Music is listed. No sign of the iTunes Music folder located on my Powerbook. How does iTUnes know that the rest is in my Powerbook>iTunes>iTunes Music folder? Go figure.
2) I do NOT have "Keep iTunes Media Folder organized" checked (because in the past it seemed to screw up the way my library is ordered, especially compilations with more than one artist).
3) I have never tried to go in File>Library>Organize Library to "Consolidate Library" or "Upgrade to iTunes Media Organization".
4) I have an iPhone linked to iTunes on my Powerbook, so I'm gonna need to transfer all the necessary files over into the new iTunes.
So here's what I want to do: my new Macbook Pro's HD is too small to receive a 100+GB music library, so I ordered a 1TB external hard drive (let's call it "1TBHD") to hook up to my router, host my media and backups and serve them wirelessly in my home .
Problem: I've seen several tutorials on migrating an iTunes library to a new computer, but how do I go about doing that when my library is split between two drives? Here's the way I would do it, based on what I've read:
Preparation: Powerbook hooked up to LaCie drive, MBP hooked up to 1TBHD, and a local network between the two via ethernet cable.
1. Point my MBP's instance of iTunes to 1TBHD>iTunes Music
2. Move the library files from Powerbook and LaCie to the MBP, in User>iTunes
3. On my MBP, Consolidate the library (was recommended here)
This is where I'm unsure as to what will happen: as I understand it, at this point the MBP instance of iTunes should be gathering all the files referenced in the library files into the designated folder on 1TBHD. But is it actually taking the files OUT of Powerbook and Lacie, or just making copies, or just creating a path to Powerbook and Lacie Music folders, in which case the files won't be available to play unless Powerbook and LaCie are networked with MBP?? Do I need to actually drag the iTunes Music folders out of Powerbook and LaCie onto the 1TBHD? And if so, how do I go about merging them, since I will now have enough room to keep it all in one place?
I would be eternally grateful if someone could give me step-by-step procedure on how to move all of this to the 1TB hard drive while keeping my library organized as it is now...
Thanks!!
I have owned a Powerbook G4 since 2003, and the logic board has been suffering a slow death, so I decided to buy a 13" MacBook Pro.
Now, the way I have been running my iTunes up until now is as follows:
I have an iTunes folder on my Powerbook, containing a library file (5.1MB) and 36GB of files in an iTunes Music folder, as well as the other folders (Album Artwork, iPod Games, Mobile Apps, Previous iTunes Libraries, and the Genius, Library Extras and Library.xml files).
Attached to the Powerbook is a LaCie portable drive, with another library file (6.4MB) and 70GB in an iTunes Music folder.
Now this may seem messy,
but the two library files have been working seamlessly together. As far as I can see, iTunes considers them ONE library, except that when the LaCie isn't plugged in and I start up iTunes, the files hosted on it get the exclamation mark next to them and I can't play them (pretty obvious).I should mention a couple of things:
1) In Prefs>Advanced>iTunes Media Folder location, only LaCie/Music/iTunes Music is listed. No sign of the iTunes Music folder located on my Powerbook. How does iTUnes know that the rest is in my Powerbook>iTunes>iTunes Music folder? Go figure.
2) I do NOT have "Keep iTunes Media Folder organized" checked (because in the past it seemed to screw up the way my library is ordered, especially compilations with more than one artist).
3) I have never tried to go in File>Library>Organize Library to "Consolidate Library" or "Upgrade to iTunes Media Organization".
4) I have an iPhone linked to iTunes on my Powerbook, so I'm gonna need to transfer all the necessary files over into the new iTunes.
So here's what I want to do: my new Macbook Pro's HD is too small to receive a 100+GB music library, so I ordered a 1TB external hard drive (let's call it "1TBHD") to hook up to my router, host my media and backups and serve them wirelessly in my home .
Problem: I've seen several tutorials on migrating an iTunes library to a new computer, but how do I go about doing that when my library is split between two drives? Here's the way I would do it, based on what I've read:
Preparation: Powerbook hooked up to LaCie drive, MBP hooked up to 1TBHD, and a local network between the two via ethernet cable.
1. Point my MBP's instance of iTunes to 1TBHD>iTunes Music
2. Move the library files from Powerbook and LaCie to the MBP, in User>iTunes
3. On my MBP, Consolidate the library (was recommended here)
This is where I'm unsure as to what will happen: as I understand it, at this point the MBP instance of iTunes should be gathering all the files referenced in the library files into the designated folder on 1TBHD. But is it actually taking the files OUT of Powerbook and Lacie, or just making copies, or just creating a path to Powerbook and Lacie Music folders, in which case the files won't be available to play unless Powerbook and LaCie are networked with MBP??
Do I need to actually drag the iTunes Music folders out of Powerbook and LaCie onto the 1TBHD? And if so, how do I go about merging them, since I will now have enough room to keep it all in one place?I would be eternally grateful if someone could give me step-by-step procedure on how to move all of this to the 1TB hard drive while keeping my library organized as it is now...
Thanks!!