Not understanding iTunes

[soLoredd]

Ok, I am unsure of how this would work - I need help.

I would like to keep my iTunes music on an external drive connected to my Mac Mini and be able to access the music from my MacBook. I understand that I can simply share the library and stream it but my big road block is this: what happens if I download music on my MacBook? How do I get that music into the library on the Mini? I'd appreciate any help or even suggestions on making this work with somewhat simplicity.

Thanks.

 

[jmann]

Ok, I am unsure of how this would work - I need help.

I would like to keep my iTunes music on an external drive connected to my Mac Mini and be able to access the music from my MacBook. I understand that I can simply share the library and stream it but my big road block is this: what happens if I download music on my MacBook? How do I get that music into the library on the Mini? I'd appreciate any help or even suggestions on making this work with somewhat simplicity.

Thanks.

Since you and the mini are on the same network. If you download music, you can drag it into the itunes library on the mini and that might work. Or if you are on the mini you can just take the music off the hard drive of the macbook over the network somewhat easily.

 

[GimmeSlack12]

Your Mini I am assuming is a shared drive that you'll always be connected to? So all you have to do is (on your MB) connect to the Mini and copy the iTunes Library file (usually in the Music>iTunes folder) to your MB's Music>iTunes folder and replace its iTunes Library file (so that the MB has the Mini's iTunes Library now).

Then on your MB tell iTunes where the music library is on the Mini (File>Prefs>Advanced).

While in the Advanced prefs check the "Copy Files to iTunes Library...". Now when you add music to your MB's iTunes it should copy the music file over to the Mini.

EDIT: Any music you add from your MB will not show up in your Mini's iTunes Library because the two libraries are different, you just used a copy of the Mini Library for your MB. But from this point on they are two separate libraries though all music will be stored on the Mini. If you want both libraries to be synced then you'll have to figure a way out to keep the most recently updated library on both computers which I have semi-solutions for that but overall its a bit of a pain.

 

[soLoredd]

Thank you for both replies. Both suggestions are workable for me and I will try them both and post back.

One thought I have: since I'll be using one iTunes account for this, is it possible to do as Slack said and have an exact copy on both the Mini and MBP, then use an iPod to sync first with the MBP to get any new music, then sync it with the Mini?

 

[soLoredd]

Well, after messing with this for the day, and upgrading from Tiger to Leopard on the Mini in the process, I decided to go a different route. No matter what I tried, I kept running into walls trying to get things to work, especially when it came to syncing my iPod and iPhone.

So, I decided to keep two libraries - one on the Mini, one on the MBP - and then use the app Syncopation to automate the library syncing process. I could not find a way to do it without the app, rsync would not work for me. This is fine, though, as Syncopation works incredibly well and is very easy to sync from one device to the other and vice versa, all with one click.

Hopefully this will help others out in the same situation. This will also sync playlists, ratings, and other metadata and allow you to omit movies, TV shows or whatever else.