Okay, so, I've tried this before and kinda just got so aggravated i just gave up...
Goal: have one itunes library, including xml/itl/music folder that 4 computers can read, write to, have iphones/ipods/ipads sync to, and play music off of.
I shall begin with what i have completed in my goal. I have a nas drive hooked up, on this drive lays the single xml/itl/music folder. I have iTunes, on all computers, pointing to the music folder as well as reading the .itl and .xml files.
I've gotten pretty far, but a few things are still pestering me.
1) My iMac refuses to keep my drive, where the music is stored, mounted. It will stay mounted for a few hours, but randomly it will not be mounted and then i have to close itunes and mount it and reopen it. Usually after this happens iTunes will parse the .itl and .xml files again with the ever so annoying "Updating iTunes Library" bar. This takes forever, usually up to two or three hours... I have the computer so it never goes to sleep and its screen just sleeps. How can I make sure this stays mounted no matter what?
and if I can't, how can I make it mount itself once it dismounts, or rather unmounts itself.
2) When I add or change something on one computer it saves the library file with those songs listed... When I switch to another computer it does the "Updating iTunes Library" deal for a few hours, and if i change anything, the rest of the computers do this... If the one itunes library file is changed, wouldn't that mean that the other computers wouldn't really need to Update the library again? I mean the library is saved, im just confused why it has to update the library so often. Is there anything I can do about this, or is that normal?
I have hunted for a sol'n but, I just can't find exactly the fix i'm looking for, or for any fix at all... Thanks so much in advanced for any help, and really anything is appreciated.
Goal: have one itunes library, including xml/itl/music folder that 4 computers can read, write to, have iphones/ipods/ipads sync to, and play music off of.
I shall begin with what i have completed in my goal. I have a nas drive hooked up, on this drive lays the single xml/itl/music folder. I have iTunes, on all computers, pointing to the music folder as well as reading the .itl and .xml files.
I've gotten pretty far, but a few things are still pestering me.
1) My iMac refuses to keep my drive, where the music is stored, mounted. It will stay mounted for a few hours, but randomly it will not be mounted and then i have to close itunes and mount it and reopen it. Usually after this happens iTunes will parse the .itl and .xml files again with the ever so annoying "Updating iTunes Library" bar. This takes forever, usually up to two or three hours... I have the computer so it never goes to sleep and its screen just sleeps. How can I make sure this stays mounted no matter what?
and if I can't, how can I make it mount itself once it dismounts, or rather unmounts itself.
2) When I add or change something on one computer it saves the library file with those songs listed... When I switch to another computer it does the "Updating iTunes Library" deal for a few hours, and if i change anything, the rest of the computers do this... If the one itunes library file is changed, wouldn't that mean that the other computers wouldn't really need to Update the library again? I mean the library is saved, im just confused why it has to update the library so often. Is there anything I can do about this, or is that normal?
I have hunted for a sol'n but, I just can't find exactly the fix i'm looking for, or for any fix at all... Thanks so much in advanced for any help, and really anything is appreciated.