iTunes music files on External Drive with everything else on MBA SSD?
Need Answer
I have a 2013 MacBook Air. I have an iPhone. I'd love to have my iPhone apps and podcast files stored on the SSD of the MBA so that I can sync my iPhone to the MBA without having my external drive, with all my music files, plugged into the MBA. Is there a way to have the location of my iTunes library on the SSD, but have all the music files on the external drive and then use Tunespan to move just the music I want onto the SSD?
The same question
Absolutely, that sounds like exactly what TuneSpan is made for...
It will be very straightforward if everything is starting on the SSD already... is that the case? If so, you will just need to open up TuneSpan, select your music tracks, select the location on your external drive, and click Span.
Or do you have your whole library already on the external drive? If so, that is a more complex process that will need some manual effort, TuneSpan is not made to move your actual library files around, just the media files within a library.
Let me know where you're starting from, and I can give you some tips on how to proceed.
Absolutely, that sounds like exactly what TuneSpan is made for...
It will be very straightforward if everything is starting on the SSD already... is that the case? If so, you will just need to open up TuneSpan, select your music tracks, select the location on your external drive, and click Span.
Or do you have your whole library already on the external drive? If so, that is a more complex process that will need some manual effort, TuneSpan is not made to move your actual library files around, just the media files within a library.
Let me know where you're starting from, and I can give you some tips on how to proceed.
The whole library is on the external drive, since I have about 300 gb of music and a 128 gb SSD. Since I run iTunes mostly with the external detached, there are some other files (e.g. some of my podcasts, iOs apps) on the SSD but most are on the external drive.
Thanks.
The whole library is on the external drive, since I have about 300 gb of music and a 128 gb SSD. Since I run iTunes mostly with the external detached, there are some other files (e.g. some of my podcasts, iOs apps) on the SSD but most are on the external drive.
Thanks.
That makes this fairly tricky.
The key is that you need your iTunes Library files (the ITL and XML files) to be on your computer so the library can be loaded regardless of where your media files are.
If you were to move any files to your internal drive now, it would be useless because you couldn't load the library without the external drive plugged in.
The other issue is that TuneSpan can't span Mobile Apps. This is a limitation imposed by Apple that I can't do anything about.
So, to get your library setup the way you want, it will take some manual work on your part, without TuneSpan.
I'm busy now, but I can try to get back to you later on with some advice. It is possible to migrate your library and some of your files (the apps and podcasts) to your internal drive while leaving the rest on the external. But, it's not really an intuitive process through iTunes and will require you to move some files manually through the Finder.
I'll have to think about it a brush up on the info I've written to people in the past, but each users setup and desired outcome is a bit different with its own complexities. The fact that you have some files already on the internal drive may make things a bit more confusing, we'll see.
That makes this fairly tricky.
The key is that you need your iTunes Library files (the ITL and XML files) to be on your computer so the library can be loaded regardless of where your media files are.
If you were to move any files to your internal drive now, it would be useless because you couldn't load the library without the external drive plugged in.
The other issue is that TuneSpan can't span Mobile Apps. This is a limitation imposed by Apple that I can't do anything about.
So, to get your library setup the way you want, it will take some manual work on your part, without TuneSpan.
I'm busy now, but I can try to get back to you later on with some advice. It is possible to migrate your library and some of your files (the apps and podcasts) to your internal drive while leaving the rest on the external. But, it's not really an intuitive process through iTunes and will require you to move some files manually through the Finder.
I'll have to think about it a brush up on the info I've written to people in the past, but each users setup and desired outcome is a bit different with its own complexities. The fact that you have some files already on the internal drive may make things a bit more confusing, we'll see.
No rush. Thanks.
No rush. Thanks.
When I do get some time to think about this further, it'll help to have a bit of extra information from you...
First off, is your iTunes Library on the external drive backed up any place, or is that the only copy?
And then to make it easier to explain what needs to be moved where...
What is the current path to your library on the external drive? Library files path, as well as iTunes Media folder path?
What is the path that you want your library to be at on the internal drive?
Where are the Mobile Apps and Podcasts located that are already on the internal drive? These are still listed within the same library that exists on the external drive, correct? Or do you have multiple iTunes Libraries?
When I do get some time to think about this further, it'll help to have a bit of extra information from you...
First off, is your iTunes Library on the external drive backed up any place, or is that the only copy?
And then to make it easier to explain what needs to be moved where...
What is the current path to your library on the external drive? Library files path, as well as iTunes Media folder path?
What is the path that you want your library to be at on the internal drive?
Where are the Mobile Apps and Podcasts located that are already on the internal drive? These are still listed within the same library that exists on the external drive, correct? Or do you have multiple iTunes Libraries?
I have the both the SSD and the external drive backed up.
The External drive path is:
/Volumes/Nick's Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music
The SSD drive path is:
/Users/nickcarver/Music/iTunes
The library files are on the SSD in the path immediately above.
Some of the Mobile Apps and podcasts are on the external and some on the SSD.
I have the both the SSD and the external drive backed up.
The External drive path is:
/Volumes/Nick's Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music
The SSD drive path is:
/Users/nickcarver/Music/iTunes
The library files are on the SSD in the path immediately above.
Some of the Mobile Apps and podcasts are on the external and some on the SSD.
More info:
On Wednesday I updated to the new version of iTunes. Last night I couldn't add anything to my library. If I dragged it and dropped it, or used the menu, the file wouldn't go into the library. So I checked Preferences/Advance, and the box for iTunes Media folder location was blank! So, I attached the external drive and chose the path I gave you in the previous message.
Just now I looked at Preferences/Advanced and the iTunes Media folder location is the iTunes Media folder on the SSD. The External drive is attached, but it hasn't been continuously since I set the location last night.
Is this normal?
More info:
On Wednesday I updated to the new version of iTunes. Last night I couldn't add anything to my library. If I dragged it and dropped it, or used the menu, the file wouldn't go into the library. So I checked Preferences/Advance, and the box for iTunes Media folder location was blank! So, I attached the external drive and chose the path I gave you in the previous message.
Just now I looked at Preferences/Advanced and the iTunes Media folder location is the iTunes Media folder on the SSD. The External drive is attached, but it hasn't been continuously since I set the location last night.
Is this normal?
I'm not sure if that's normal. It sounds like iTunes 11.1 may have changed things.
So your iTunes Library files are on your internal drive? Just your media is on the external? I guess I misunderstood before, I thought you were saying your library files are also on the external. The Library files being on the internal drive will makes things easier to do the transition your looking to do, so that's good.
It does make sense that iTunes may reset the default iTunes Media folder location when the current one is not available. But, I'm not sure about that, I keep my iTunes Media folder location as the default one on my internal drive, so I would have to do some testing to see if I'm seeing the same behavior as you on my system.
Sorry I can't give you any definitive answer at this point.
I'm not sure if that's normal. It sounds like iTunes 11.1 may have changed things.
So your iTunes Library files are on your internal drive? Just your media is on the external? I guess I misunderstood before, I thought you were saying your library files are also on the external. The Library files being on the internal drive will makes things easier to do the transition your looking to do, so that's good.
It does make sense that iTunes may reset the default iTunes Media folder location when the current one is not available. But, I'm not sure about that, I keep my iTunes Media folder location as the default one on my internal drive, so I would have to do some testing to see if I'm seeing the same behavior as you on my system.
Sorry I can't give you any definitive answer at this point.
I believe this old info should help you achieve what you're trying to do.
Give it a read over and let me know if it makes sense:
https://getsatisfaction.com/randomapp...
I believe this old info should help you achieve what you're trying to do.
Give it a read over and let me know if it makes sense:
https://getsatisfaction.com/randomapp...
Crazy, but this is the post I used when I first set up Tunespan, but I went ahead and set the external as the location of the media files, rather than the internal drive.
So, I set it back to the internal and everything seems fine.
Thanks for your help and a great product.
Crazy, but this is the post I used when I first set up Tunespan, but I went ahead and set the external as the location of the media files, rather than the internal drive.
So, I set it back to the internal and everything seems fine.
Thanks for your help and a great product.
Replies have been locked on this page!