Sharing iTunes library on an Airport Disk between Mac & PC

[jpa.herron]

I've been trying to setup an external drive (connected to an AEBS) to share my iTunes library between two computers.

Computer A - MacBook Pro (bootcamped)
Computer B - Desktop

Both machines are connected to the AEBS by ethernet.

I've consolidated my library using iTunes on OSX. I've been following a tutorial that lets me share a library between OSX & Windows... apparently you need to create the library in OSX first, then add the .itl extension to the library file. Shift-clicking iTunes in OSX lets you select this 'new' library with the result that a new database (iTunes Library.itl.xml) is created.

Anyway, long story short, if the external drive is connected to the AEBS, OSX will find & open the library... no problems there. If I try connecting to the same library through Windows (on either machine), I get an error saying 'the iTunes application could not be opened. An unknown error occured (13005)'. However, if I connect the external drive directly to either machine running Windows (bypassing the AEBS), I'm able to open the library ok.

FWIW, the external drive is formatted as HFS (journaled), & each Windows machine has MacDrive installed... but there doesn't seem to be an issue in accessing the files through Windows. Opening the drive through Explorer lets me view & edit files, even when its connected to the AEBS.

I've even tried connecting other drives to the AEBS, one formatted as HFS & another as FAT32... the same result. iTunes won't even let me create a NEW library on either volume.

So it would seem the focus of the problem is the way in which Windows accesses the Airport disk. OSX can handle it ok, but Windows won't let me access or create an iTunes library on a shared volume... anyone else encountered this issue?

 

[jpa.herron]

Anyone?

 

[jpa.herron]

Problem solved... needed to downgrade the firmware of the AEBS connected to the external drive. The latest firmware update caused the problem... I'll be avoiding it until they get this issue resolved.

 

[JorisD]

Hi,

I seem to be more or less in the same situation :

iMac running 10.5
PC running Vista Ultimate 64bit
AEBS running latest firmware (7.4.1)
Both running latest version of iTunes (8.1.1)
USB disk connected to the AEBS
iTunes library moved to the shared USB disk from the iMac, then added the .itl extension to the iTunes Library file, and when I Shicft-Click to open iTunes on the PC, choosing the library on the shared USB-AEBS disk, I also get the unknown error 13005.

What firmware version of the AEBS are you running ? Is that version still available online somewhere ??

 

[michael.lauden]

if your collection isn't that large - why not just put a copy on both computers and avoid all this trouble?

i mean even my collection was about 50GB but for the most part you can fit that on your HD

 

[JorisD]

I'd like to avoid that option as long as possible, because that would mean I'd have to add every new album to multiple computers. Ideally, I'd like to be able to add music and related artwork from any computer, and see those changes reflected on all other iTunes instances on the other PC, wether they run OS X or Windows.

My library contains 61GB for about 7700 songs, and I think I'm at about 1/3 of my "physical" CD Library now (my cataloging software contains about 25000 songs...). Still have a long way to go