[mcgsxr]

I dipped my toe into the Apple pool around a year ago, when I picked up an old Mini.  It has an onboard 80GB drive, the Superdrive, Bluetooth and wifi.  I have attached a pic of the specs below.  It is running Mac OSX 10.4.11.  Not sure if the old beast can be updated with a newer OS that might help?



Since, the family has bought a bunch of iOS devices, and I continue to want to use a server (I used to use a Bolder modded Logitech SB3 with a PC stashed away from the listening area.

There is one Gen 3 iTouch, one iPhone 4s, and 2nd Gen iPad around the house now.  But I remain the sole user of the Mini.

It lives down in the basement pool room, and is currently connected to a 1TB drive for my music collection (has been converted from FLAC to ALAC).  I am using a Ha Info usb converter to connect to my receiver with a toslink.

I have a wireless mouse attached to the Mini, but no keyboard - that part of the wireless desktop died.  I have access to a usb keyboard, but don't want to use that much, as it really clutters up the stereo space to have a keyboard around.  I am happy to connect one to go through a setup to get the system doing what I want, but longer term don't want one attached.  I do have a monitor attached, it is mounted on a bookshelf near the system, so I am not running headless.

The system is not for critical listening, it is for playing tunes in the basement while playing pool, or working down there.  It is an old JVC ES-1 receiver, a pair of Mirage Omni 60 standmounts, and a DIY sub.

I have not been able to successfully get iTunes up and running on the Mini, with my external drive full of music.

I wish I could use Slimserver type server s/w and iPeng, but another issue is that Logitech Server s/w cannot be sent over the USB connection.  This is well documented in the Slimserver forums.

So, I am using Play (a free iTunes alternative).  It is not good for building playlists, and is not easy to control remotely with any App I have found.

What I want:

1 - to use my stored 1TB of music
2 - to use my Ha Info usb converter to connect the Mini to the receiver - ie not looking to buy a streaming device
3 - a free solution!  Go figure, I want to contain the costs
4 - a remote app that can control whatever s/w the music is being controlled by with the Mini.  I expect to use the iTouch for this.  I already own iPeng and Touchpad for it.

Ideas?

[avta]

I have a similar Mac and determined it was not suitable for use as a server. It will not allow for use of most newer software players as they require Intel processors and more recent versions of OSX. In addition the headphone out jack is likely not a digital output so you would be limited there as well.

[roscoeiii]

You would need an Intel Mac Mini to take advantage of the latest software and OS.

I might have one kicking around here. It would probably need the RAM upgraded to run the newest OSX and run the more recent software, but otherwise it would be a cheap and useable solution since it is an Intel Mac. G4 is no longer being written for at all it seems.

PM me if you'd be interested.

[mcgsxr]

I will explore options as they come up.

As an update, I spent the last couple of hours monkeying around, and it is for sure an iTunes issue.

I now have the Mac using iTunes playing through the stereo.  My app called Touchpad (acts as a wifi mouse and keyboard) can control volume and track forward and back.

Now all I need to do is get iTunes to recognize all 800GB of music rather than the 5GB it sees.  My library is on an external drive.

thanks for the help guys, sorry I was off the mark in truly describing the issue.

[WC]

Which version of iTunes are you using?

On the version I use (not sure which one) you go to the preferences and select the advanced tab. Select the folder that your music is in. It will then rebuild your library.

[mcgsxr]

I am using iTunes 4.8.

I can see where to specify my library.  And it is specified as the external drive.  But not all of the music on the drive is IN the library in iTunes.

Odd.

[srb]

iTunes does not monitor library locations like many other players.  The external drive folder that you have set as the media folder location will be where all newly added songs and rips will go, but the iTunes database doesn't know about the existing music on the external drive.
 
The 5GB of music that you do see is likely stored on the internal Mac drive (or are on the external drive and were added after you set the location).  You will need to Add the songs on the external drive to the library.  Normally this would double the storage size if you have "Copy files to iTunes media folder when adding to library" checked, and then the library would need to be Consolidated to remove duplicates.
 
I think if you uncheck "Copy files to iTunes media folder when adding to library" and add or drag all of the files into iTunes, then the database will use the existing storage location and won't duplicate.  Then afterwards you can recheck the "Copy files ...." box so that future downloads and rips will be copied to the external drive.
 
Steve

[mcgsxr]

OK, now I think we are getting somewhere.

I was thinking that iTunes was like Logitech's Server s/w and would read the music from the external drive.

I will play around with what you suggest, and hopefully I don't need to actually copy the music in order to recognize it.

[Crimson]

Not sure where its located in your version of iTunes, but after you have changed the library location to point to your external HD, choose 'Add to Library, and then point to the same directory. It will index your songs with no copying or moving.

[mcgsxr]

This last advice looks promising.  I added as instructed, and the he is chugging away, and it appears to be adding music.

I had to add the folders inside my music folder, not just the main folder.

Way different than Slimserver software.

I will advise, and many thanks!

[mcgsxr]

Bingo.  Thanks all!

[srb]

I had thought that it might be a possiblity that if "Copy files to iTunes media folder when adding to library" was enabled it might try to write a duplicate (2) folder in the same location, but I just tried it and that's obviously not the case, so checked or unchecked, you get the same results.
 
Steve