Reorganizing Existing Media with TuneSpan
Thanks for a great application. I've only spent a few hours playing with TuneSpan since purchasing this morning, but I have very few apps that appear as complete and frankly, just beautiful to work with. I would appreciate validation or a different recommendation how to proceed with the following, as moving, backing-up, and restoring 6TB of iTunes data is an all-day affair even with Thunderbolt 2 speeds. :0
I presently have the following:
- External Drive HD1 containing my iTunes Library and Media Folders, with iTunes managing all file organization
- SSD with OS X
- A New External Drive, called HD2 on-the-way
My objective using TuneSpan is:
- HD1 has all Music, AudioBooks, Podcasts Media (1+TB, but I about to start re-rippping 800+ CDs to lossless, which will consume 5-6TB in Music alone)
- HD2 will have Movies & TV Shows Media (4+TB and growing)
- SSD to receive all remaining Media files, including iTunes .itl & .xml files (I want to be able to do searches and basic updating on SSD-only)
My SSD with OS X only has 200GB or so free, so I cannot move my existing media folder of 5+TB first to the SSD, then span from there.
My thoughts having read online TuneSpan documentation and many forum threads, so I wind up with the most organized library and media is to:
1. Backup everything again of course
2. Turn-off iTunes Match & Automatic downloads just in case
3. Create a new iTunes Library on the SSD (including a default, empty Media folder structure)
4. Copy existing HD1 iTunes Library .itl & .xml files over the SSD default versions (preserve years of ratings & play counts)
5. Copy existing HD1 /Album Artwork , /Mobile Applications , /Tones over the SSD default versions (TuneSpan can't help with these, and I don't have any iPod Games to worry with)
6. Use TuneSpan to mark all Music, Audiobooks, Podcasts, Movies, TV Shows & Home Videos left on HD1, then Force Span (to mark them as being in the correct location)
7. Use TuneSpan to span the Movies & TV Shows over to their new location on HD2
8. Remove the remnants of iTunes non-Media folders and files (/Album Artwork, .itdb, .itl, .xml, etc.) which are not now connected with the iTunes Library, assisted by TuneSpan, running from the SSD
...and in theory I'm done.
Thoughts are appreciated!
The same question
There is no need to now respond to this. I have gone ahead and moved my library to my SSD, reconnected things, and am in process of spanning 4TB worth of movies over to my new drive. Everything is going well thus far. I did run into an application crash, and sent that report in with notes as to what I was doing. Other than that, THANK YOU for a wonderful app. I have also written a 5-star review for you as well. Bert
There is no need to now respond to this. I have gone ahead and moved my library to my SSD, reconnected things, and am in process of spanning 4TB worth of movies over to my new drive. Everything is going well thus far. I did run into an application crash, and sent that report in with notes as to what I was doing. Other than that, THANK YOU for a wonderful app. I have also written a 5-star review for you as well. Bert
Thanks for getting in touch. I'm so sorry I couldn't respond in time, I've been busy the past few days.
But, I'm very glad to hear that you're on the right track :-)
The trickiest part is moving the iTunes Library (.itl is the only one that really matters, the .xml will be recreated automatically by iTunes). But it sounds like you've done your research. If you've got that part done and the library is finding all of your media than the rest should be easy.
So, were you able to get your migrated iTunes Library to find all your local Mobile Apps, Tones that you moved over while still finding the external media properly?
If so, then just using TuneSpan normally to move your video files over should be pretty straight forward.
Also, I'm sorry to hear you've had a crash. I'll be sure to look into that, thanks so much for sending the report.
Finally, thank you so much for the amazing review! It really means a lot to me!
I'll be here to help if you happen to run into any issue or have any new questions. Hopefully I should be able to get back to you more quickly next time :-)
Thanks for getting in touch. I'm so sorry I couldn't respond in time, I've been busy the past few days.
But, I'm very glad to hear that you're on the right track :-)
The trickiest part is moving the iTunes Library (.itl is the only one that really matters, the .xml will be recreated automatically by iTunes). But it sounds like you've done your research. If you've got that part done and the library is finding all of your media than the rest should be easy.
So, were you able to get your migrated iTunes Library to find all your local Mobile Apps, Tones that you moved over while still finding the external media properly?
If so, then just using TuneSpan normally to move your video files over should be pretty straight forward.
Also, I'm sorry to hear you've had a crash. I'll be sure to look into that, thanks so much for sending the report.
Finally, thank you so much for the amazing review! It really means a lot to me!
I'll be here to help if you happen to run into any issue or have any new questions. Hopefully I should be able to get back to you more quickly next time :-)
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