Consolidating spanned media to single external drive & moving it to new Mac
Need Answer
I've used TuneSpan to place over 1tb of media across two 1-tb drives in my HTPC mac mini running Mavericks and iTunes 12.
Most of the media is in iTunes in the primary drive; the rest is on the second internal drive in a Spanning Media folder.
I want to consolidate all this onto a single, empty thunderbolt-connected 2-tb drive, and then connect the 2-tb drive to new Mac that is running a clean install of Yosemite.
On the new mac, I want this 2-tb drive to be my main iTunes library. What steps do I need to follow to accomplish the above in the least painful way?
I've never moved an iTunes library before, when spanning was involved, so I'm rather confused. Any help greatly appreciated! BTW TuneSpan is GREAT!
The same question
Are you thinking that you'll want your actual iTunes Library files on the 2TB drive? Or you just want your media on the 2TB and you want the iTunes Library files local to the new Mac?
Are you wanting to be able to plug the 2TB drive into different Macs and be able to access the same library from either Mac?
Depending on your answers to these questions, I can give you some advice from my perceptive.
But, moving iTunes Libraries between Macs is not something TuneSpan was made to help with. So, I can only help with the general concept of how to achieve the end setup that you're looking for.
I'm sure you can find some good tutorials online to move your iTunes Library between Macs though. It really just depends on what exactly you want your setup to look like in the end.
Are you thinking that you'll want your actual iTunes Library files on the 2TB drive? Or you just want your media on the 2TB and you want the iTunes Library files local to the new Mac?
Are you wanting to be able to plug the 2TB drive into different Macs and be able to access the same library from either Mac?
Depending on your answers to these questions, I can give you some advice from my perceptive.
But, moving iTunes Libraries between Macs is not something TuneSpan was made to help with. So, I can only help with the general concept of how to achieve the end setup that you're looking for.
I'm sure you can find some good tutorials online to move your iTunes Library between Macs though. It really just depends on what exactly you want your setup to look like in the end.
I'd like my actual iTunes Library files on the 2TB drive.
My goal is to install the 2TB drive as the second internal drive in my "new" Mac running Yosemite. The new Mac would always use its primary drive as the startup drive.
I am not wanting to plug the 2TB drive into different Macs, except during the process of getting my media from my current HTPC mac mini to the new Mac, which will become my new HTPC, in addition to being used as a "regular" computer.
The currently empty 2TB drive is in a thunderbolt dock, for easy removal.
My reason for putting the actual iTunes Library files on the 2TB drive is because I purchase TV shows and movies from the iTunes store - and these appear to be happier when they reside in the iTunes Library and not spanned.
(Just FYI, my "new" mac is the 2012 MacBookPro, non-retina, with a 2TB Samsung/Seagate 2.5 HD as the primary drive. The second 2TB drive will replace the DVD drive using an OWC Data Doubler kit. The computer will be stationary in my house - and not used on my lap! I chose it because it can survive a 5-hour power outage and because it is easier to work on internally than the Mac Mini.) Again, thanks for a great product ... and for your fast reply!
I'd like my actual iTunes Library files on the 2TB drive.
My goal is to install the 2TB drive as the second internal drive in my "new" Mac running Yosemite. The new Mac would always use its primary drive as the startup drive.
I am not wanting to plug the 2TB drive into different Macs, except during the process of getting my media from my current HTPC mac mini to the new Mac, which will become my new HTPC, in addition to being used as a "regular" computer.
The currently empty 2TB drive is in a thunderbolt dock, for easy removal.
My reason for putting the actual iTunes Library files on the 2TB drive is because I purchase TV shows and movies from the iTunes store - and these appear to be happier when they reside in the iTunes Library and not spanned.
(Just FYI, my "new" mac is the 2012 MacBookPro, non-retina, with a 2TB Samsung/Seagate 2.5 HD as the primary drive. The second 2TB drive will replace the DVD drive using an OWC Data Doubler kit. The computer will be stationary in my house - and not used on my lap! I chose it because it can survive a 5-hour power outage and because it is easier to work on internally than the Mac Mini.) Again, thanks for a great product ... and for your fast reply!
I see. Well, TuneSpan won't really be able to help you fully achieve this setup.
Moving your iTunes Library files can be a tricky process. But, there are guides you can find online.
Since you want to move EVERYTHING, I would suggest just using iTunes' Consolidate Library feature to move all your media to the new drive. It should move everything for you, including the few files types that TuneSpan can't span, like Mobile Apps, iTunes Extras, etc.
The only catch with the Consolidate Library feature in iTunes is that it doesn't clean up after itself. So, if your media is spread out, you'll have to deleted it manually from where ever it is after the consolidation. If that seems like it would be tedious because of how it's spanned, you could span everything to the 2TB and then use the Consolidate Library feature so that you know exactly where everything was and then will be. But, that is all just to move your media files, not your library files.
Moving the actual iTunes Library files is something that I don't want to give you bad advice on, so I would suggest looking up some trustworthy looking tutorial on the process. Having used TuneSpan shouldn't throw a wrench in anything, but if the instructions aren't making sense, let me know what you're following and I can see if I can give any extra info.
I see. Well, TuneSpan won't really be able to help you fully achieve this setup.
Moving your iTunes Library files can be a tricky process. But, there are guides you can find online.
Since you want to move EVERYTHING, I would suggest just using iTunes' Consolidate Library feature to move all your media to the new drive. It should move everything for you, including the few files types that TuneSpan can't span, like Mobile Apps, iTunes Extras, etc.
The only catch with the Consolidate Library feature in iTunes is that it doesn't clean up after itself. So, if your media is spread out, you'll have to deleted it manually from where ever it is after the consolidation. If that seems like it would be tedious because of how it's spanned, you could span everything to the 2TB and then use the Consolidate Library feature so that you know exactly where everything was and then will be. But, that is all just to move your media files, not your library files.
Moving the actual iTunes Library files is something that I don't want to give you bad advice on, so I would suggest looking up some trustworthy looking tutorial on the process. Having used TuneSpan shouldn't throw a wrench in anything, but if the instructions aren't making sense, let me know what you're following and I can see if I can give any extra info.
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