Moving iTunes Music from Mac to Mac

[sethwerkheiser]

I just bought a new iBook, and would like to transfer all the music on my old iBook (now my wifes ) to to the new one. Should I use an ethernet cable to do this? Will all the ratings and play counts be imported? I hope to do this tonite - it's been almost a week with no music! heh...

 

[wrldwzrd89]

I just bought a new iBook, and would like to transfer all the music on my old iBook (now my wifes ) to to the new one. Should I use an ethernet cable to do this? Will all the ratings and play counts be imported? I hope to do this tonite - it's been almost a week with no music! heh...

An ethernet cable will certainly work...you just need to make sure you copy the ENTIRE iTunes folder in your Music folder, including the iTunes Music Library files, the iTunes Music folder, and all the folders/files inside if you want your ratings/tags/play counts/etc. transferred along with your music. The nice thing about new Macs is that they have auto-sensing Ethernet cards, so that it doesn't matter whether you're using a regular Ethernet cable or a crossover cable when doing computer-to-computer (with no hub/router/switch/etc.) transfers (also known as direct-connect).

 

[jxyama]

do you have a firewire cable? firewire target disk mode is another option.

like wrldwzrd said, make sure to copy the entire iTunes folder...

 

[sethwerkheiser]

Whole folder. Okay. I think I can handle that
Thanks for the info, gang.

 

[sethwerkheiser]

Hmmmm.. minor problem...

Well, I finally moved my entire iTunes folder over... it was something like 5.7GB, and it went in like 13 minutes. I moved the folder using Finder, dragging and dropping the iTunes folder from the "networked" old iBook to the new iBook.

HOWEVER....

Now when I try to open iTunes I get this error

The iTunes 4 Music Library file is locked, on a locked disk, or you do not have permission for this file.​

What does this mean? I 'right click' to Get Info, and the files are on my computer. If I try double clicking on one of the music files in the iTunes folder I get the same error. And now, pooey, iTunes won't open at all!

What'd I do wrong? Did this happen because I didn't use the Import function? or Add to Playlist in iTunes? Please help, since I just called AppleCare and well, they're closed at this hour on a saturday night... hehe

 

[ingenious]

Well, I finally moved my entire iTunes folder over... it was something like 5.7GB, and it went in like 13 minutes. I moved the folder using Finder, dragging and dropping the iTunes folder from the "networked" old iBook to the new iBook.

HOWEVER....

Now when I try to open iTunes I get this error

The iTunes 4 Music Library file is locked, on a locked disk, or you do not have permission for this file.​

What does this mean? I 'right click' to Get Info, and the files are on my computer. If I try double clicking on one of the music files in the iTunes folder I get the same error. And now, pooey, iTunes won't open at all!

What'd I do wrong? Did this happen because I didn't use the Import function? or Add to Playlist in iTunes? Please help, since I just called AppleCare and well, they're closed at this hour on a saturday night... hehe

Under "Get Info," who did it say the files belong to? You should've done "Get Info" for every file. If they aren't owned by you according to the computer, then unlock Get Info and make it to where you can read and write. See if that works. If not, repair permissions.

 

[wide]

I have a similar question, only I want to transfer my music from my PC to my Mac. How would I do this with my ethernet cable? I am unfamiliar with transfers like that so any information would be greatly appreciated.

 

[sethwerkheiser]

I have a similar question, only I want to transfer my music from my PC to my Mac. How would I do this with my ethernet cable? I am unfamiliar with transfers like that so any information would be greatly appreciated.

From my experiance of trying to move files from a PC to Mac, is just burn CD's and move em that way. Haha... like, for some reason my Compaq doesnt want to play nice, and whenever I have the ethernet cable plugged in it always says it's not plugged in... and lots of other nasty stuff. While I know my response hasn't helped really (sorry!) I'm just relating how I ended up moving a lot of music that way

 

[rikers_mailbox]

I have a similar question, only I want to transfer my music from my PC to my Mac. How would I do this with my ethernet cable? I am unfamiliar with transfers like that so any information would be greatly appreciated.

A quick-and-dirty way would be to tranfer the files via AOL IM. That requires no knowlege about connecting computers together, rather the computers just need to be on the internet. You'll need two screen names, of course. . but it's really easy to transfer files between PCs and MACs this way.

Not as fast as real ethernet, but no setup time.
-rik

 

[wrldwzrd89]

I have a similar question, only I want to transfer my music from my PC to my Mac. How would I do this with my ethernet cable? I am unfamiliar with transfers like that so any information would be greatly appreciated.

The nice thing about modern Macs is that they have auto-sensing network interface cards, which means it won't matter whether you use a crossover Ethernet cable or a regular Ethernet cable. You have two choices as far as transferring the files: 1. Set up sharing on the Windows machine, then have the Mac connect to it. 2. Set up Windows sharing on the Mac, then have the Windows machine connect to it. Which option you choose depends on which interface you're more familiar with. For #1: On the Windows machine, set up the folder with your music in it as a shared folder (this is done from Properties). What you do on the Mac depends on which Mac OS you have. If you have Mac OS X 10.0 - 10.2, choose Connect to Server from to Go menu and navigate to the Windows machine. If you have Mac OS X 10.3, click the Network icon in your sidebar (if it isn't there, enable it in Finder Preferences) and browse for your Windows machine. Once you're connected, copy the files on the Windows machine to your Mac by dragging them to where you want them to go (or dragging the entire folder, if you want everything). If you chose #2, go into System Preferences on your Mac, and visit the Sharing pane. Enable Windows File Sharing by clicking its checkbox. (Make sure that "Allow logins from Windows" is checked in your account settings if you're using Mac OS X 10.2 or earlier.) Once that's done, go into Network Neighborhood on your Windows machine and look for your Mac. Once you've found it, log in with your Mac username and password to establish a connection. You will be taken to your Mac's home folder - simply drag the music from your Windows machine to the location in your home folder that you want it to go (or copy it and paste it in the correct location).

 

[redAPPLE]

Well, I finally moved my entire iTunes folder over... it was something like 5.7GB, and it went in like 13 minutes. I moved the folder using Finder, dragging and dropping the iTunes folder from the "networked" old iBook to the new iBook.

HOWEVER....

Now when I try to open iTunes I get this error

The iTunes 4 Music Library file is locked, on a locked disk, or you do not have permission for this file.​

What does this mean? I 'right click' to Get Info, and the files are on my computer. If I try double clicking on one of the music files in the iTunes folder I get the same error. And now, pooey, iTunes won't open at all!

What'd I do wrong? Did this happen because I didn't use the Import function? or Add to Playlist in iTunes? Please help, since I just called AppleCare and well, they're closed at this hour on a saturday night... hehe

this is what i usually do.

1) transfer music from one mac to the other.

2) in the new mac delete (or move) the files itunes 4 music library, "itunes music" folder & "itunes music.xml".

3) restart.

4) open the transferred music folder (let us say, it is on the desktop).

5) open itunes.

6) drag your music folder to the itunes library icon. it should copy the music files.

one disadvantage (maybe) is, you would lose the play count...

after that, try transferring the old .xml file back.

 

[neoelectronaut]

My quick & dirty guide to moving MP3s from your PC to your Mac.

Quite simple....well, I think it is at least.

Leave all of your MP3s where they are for now, and when you get your Mac laptop (Congratulations, by the way, Macs rock) network the two computers with a little cat5 cable.

On your windows machine, go to start>find, then type *.mp3. This will bring up all the MP3s on that machine.

Hit Ctrl+A to select all and copy them into a new folder (say...on the desktop)

Now, make that folder shared, and access it with your Mac laptop.

From here, open up iTunes, go to File> Add to library, and select all of the Mp3s that are in said folder.

Does that make sense...at all?

 

[sethwerkheiser]

Well, I just did the Get Info thing, and made the folder Read & Write for me. When I booted up iTunes though, only like 3 of my 5GB of muisc was available. Seems I didn't Index all the tracks. So I went Get Info > Index and let it go for my 2000+ tracks, and well, now it worked.

 

[nylon]

Can you move your itunes library from PC to MAC and maintain all the details i.e. ratings, number of times played, last time played etc.