[Robert57]

low.pfl, many thanks for your superb, and very helpful review of your new OWC Mercury Elite HD. I am probably headed that route as well. I wonder if anyone has tried daisy-chaining, or "pointing" with an alias, two external hard drives such that iTunes and Slimserver (or SC 7) see them as one library database and one drive? Can we somehow connect two separate HD enclosures by firewire and have the Mac OSX/iTunes and SC 7 see them as one library? I figure that having two separate OWC  Mercury 1TB drives (each without a fan) would be preferable to having a RAID striped combo drive, which invariably has a fan, at least with G-RAID2 and OWC. The striping in the OWC 2 TB combo drive also means there is a risk of one drive failure wiping out the entire library on the two enclosed drives. Like low.pfl, I am also very concerned about reliabilty and noise and would be inclined to go with OWC. I'd also like to get up to a 2 TB capacity for my Slim library.

Thanks.

Rob

[Crimson]

Can we somehow connect two separate HD enclosures by firewire and have the Mac OSX/iTunes and SC 7 see them as one library?

WRT iTunes: Fill one drive up with tunes in the normal fashion. Once full, change the path to the second drive but do not consolidate. iTunes will then retain the paths for all tunes on the first drive and all rips will go to the second creating a single virtual library.

[Nels Ferre]

Would this same concept work on 2 USB drives on an iTunes for Windows setup?

I plan to change to a Macbook Pro at some point in the hopefully very distant future, but my hard drive may be full before that happens.

Thanks,
Nels

[low.pfile]

Can we somehow connect two separate HD enclosures by firewire and have the Mac OSX/iTunes and SC 7 see them as one library?

WRT iTunes: Fill one drive up with tunes in the normal fashion. Once full, change the path to the second drive but do not consolidate. iTunes will then retain the paths for all tunes on the first drive and all rips will go to the second creating a single virtual library.

While I had read online that the newer versions of iTunes have the feaature Crim mentions above, I was skeptical that is worked. I just connected a portable firewire drive to my OWC FW drive as a test. I simply went into iTunes preferences and selected the newly created (by me) iTunes folder as my iTunes Music folder location. I ripped a few songs and viola, my original songs and newly ripped songs are available in my Library. None of the feared exclamation marks!.

Now I do wonder what happens when one has to transfer a library spread across multiple external drives to a new computer which usually requires the Consolidate Library command? Oh well, we'll cross that bridge when it comes.

Bottom line to Rob is yes it works. Nels, while I would say that this same method should work on a Windows system I cannot say for sure (you mentioned the W word in the Apple circle?..... . The fact the drive is USB should have no impact in this working.

Enjoy your music

[Crimson]

Now I do wonder what happens when one has to transfer a library spread across multiple external drives to a new computer which usually requires the Consolidate Library command? Oh well, we'll cross that bridge when it comes.

You can transfer multiple drives. Hook up the first, point to it, add to library. Switch paths to the second and do the same without consolidating. All iTunes will do on the new computer is rebuild the library database file. You could then add a third larger drive and consolidate the two smaller drives to it.

Would this same concept work on 2 USB drives on an iTunes for Windows setup?

Yes. Just make sure you update to the latest version.

[low.pfile]

Now I do wonder what happens when one has to transfer a library spread across multiple external drives to a new computer which usually requires the Consolidate Library command? Oh well, we'll cross that bridge when it comes.

You can transfer multiple drives. Hook up the first, point to it, add to library. Switch paths to the second and do the same without consolidating. All iTunes will do on the new computer is rebuild the library database file. You could then add a third larger drive and consolidate the two smaller drives to it.

Sounds simple enough! Cool.
Thanks Crimson.

[Robert57]

Can we somehow connect two separate HD enclosures by firewire and have the Mac OSX/iTunes and SC 7 see them as one library?

WRT iTunes: Fill one drive up with tunes in the normal fashion. Once full, change the path to the second drive but do not consolidate. iTunes will then retain the paths for all tunes on the first drive and all rips will go to the second creating a single virtual library.

Thanks Crimson and low.pfile for the great news and field testing! I like the idea of having a couple quiet OWC drives connected by firewire to my Mac Mini, instead of a NAS. It's cool we can daisy chain drives as our library outstrips our first drive's capacity. I'll probably get a second striped 2 TB OWC combo drive as a back-up, but only power it up sporadically as I need to back up, to keep the drive noise down to a dull roar. I'm foggy on how iTunes and Slimserver knows to look into the first drive for our library after we change the path to the second drive for new rips. What would break the implied path to the first drive, a temporary removal of the drive?

Rob

[low.pfile]

I do the samething regarding not having my backup drive not connected until it backup day/time. My G5 is loud enough to drown it out anyway. with an mini or powerbook it would be extremely quiet. Using a macbook pro now and that is below whisper quiet.

I am not an IT guy but the path thing is pretty easy. The path that iTunes looks for is something like driveAname/folderx/iTunes/Artist for the original location it looks for the driveBname/folderx/iTunes/Artist for the others. If driveA is missing it simple will not play that song(s). The iTunes Library and iTunes Music Library.xml files are the databases that stores all the paths(not sure which is which**). once they gets botched it gets very messy.

**from Apple:

iTunes Library (iTunes Library.itl in Windows)
This file is a database of the songs in your library and the playlists you've created. Some song-specific data is saved in this file. If you delete the file, iTunes creates a new, empty copy when you open the application, but any playlists, song ratings, comments, or other information you created is lost. The iTunes Library file is only used by iTunes.

iTunes Music Library.xml
This file contains some (but not all) of the same information stored in the iTunes Library file. The purpose of the iTunes Music Library.xml file is to make your music and playlists available to other applications on your computer. In Mac OS X other iLife applications (like iPhoto, iDVD, and iMovie) use this file to make it easier for you to add music from your iTunes library to your projects.


ed

[Crimson]

Can we somehow connect two separate HD enclosures by firewire and have the Mac OSX/iTunes and SC 7 see them as one library?

WRT iTunes: Fill one drive up with tunes in the normal fashion. Once full, change the path to the second drive but do not consolidate. iTunes will then retain the paths for all tunes on the first drive and all rips will go to the second creating a single virtual library.

Thanks Crimson and low.pfile for the great news and field testing! I like the idea of having a couple quiet OWC drives connected by firewire to my Mac Mini, instead of a NAS. It's cool we can daisy chain drives as our library outstrips our first drive's capacity. I'll probably get a second striped 2 TB OWC combo drive as a back-up, but only power it up sporadically as I need to back up, to keep the drive noise down to a dull roar. I'm foggy on how iTunes and Slimserver knows to look into the first drive for our library after we change the path to the second drive for new rips. What would break the implied path to the first drive, a temporary removal of the drive?

Rob

The way it works is: without consolidating, iTunes retains that portion of the library database that points to tunes on the first (or prior locations(s)) drive. If you consolidate to a new location (new folder, drive etc) the library database is over-written/updated with the new pointers. Key here is knowing when to consolidate and when not to. The only time one would want to consolidate is when moving files i.e. from a few smaller drives to a single large drive, or from multiple folders to a single folder. Also, iTunes by default retains a copy of the 'previous' library file (one iteration) when either changing the path or consolidating.

WRT breaking the implied path, simply starting iTunes with one (or more) HD's unmounted will not do this unless you were to modify the library file in any way (the simplest of which is to rip new tunes). So, while not having a particular drive mounted is not a big deal in and of itself, I tend to always check the default path when I need to rip newly purchased discs.

EDIT: Robert57 and low.pfile, I hope you don't mind but I split this topic since it turned into a constructive conversation regarding multiple external HD's and the inner workings of iTunes. 

[Robert57]

Thanks loads, guys. Awesome feedback. Crimson, I want to thank you especially for all your incredibly generous, helpful guidance on this circle. It is a wonderful resource and comfort to have this Mac-oriented expertise for our iTunes/ Slim libraries.

Rob

[Crimson]

Thanks loads, guys. Awesome feedback. Crimson, I want to thank you especially for all your incredibly generous, helpful guidance on this circle. It is a wonderful resource and comfort to have this Mac-oriented expertise for our iTunes/ Slim libraries.

Rob

Puhleeze! I am here to serve in any way I can.       

And a I big thumbs up to low.pfile! 

I only wish I could address the SB/SC side of things with a little more authority, but it's been quite a few years since I last played with one. You may want to check in with the Discless Circle: http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?board=133.0

[pardales]

I just bought a new HD and hooked it up to my powerbook. I dragged my iTunes music folder from my old HD over to the new drive -- I intend to use the new drive as my active drive and move the one I was using to back-up status. When I switched the path, through iTunes preferences, to the new drive it went through it usual routine of re-indexing (or whatever it is called). After that, when I selected a song to play it would not play. So, I did the old "drag and drop" of the iTunes folder into the Music icon in the upper left, which caused iTunes to commense populating my library with the music files from the new drive. Now I have two copies of everything in my library and the first of each copy has the shadow exclamation point next to it (because there is really only one file, but there are two entries in my iTunes menu). This is a pain to work with because I have to select a specific song to get the album to start playing.

How can I get rid of all the duplicates? Is this where I would consolidate?   

[low.pfile]

Pardales,

Sorry you should not have dragged and dropped. I would delete your items on the new drive and start over using this:

http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to-a-new-hard-drive/

I followed it. and it worked with about 400GB of music.

There was one extra step I did but I have to find it. but read this first....

ed

[Crimson]

I just bought a new HD and hooked it up to my powerbook. I dragged my iTunes music folder from my old HD over to the new drive -- I intend to use the new drive as my active drive and move the one I was using to back-up status. When I switched the path, through iTunes preferences, to the new drive it went through it usual routine of re-indexing (or whatever it is called). After that, when I selected a song to play it would not play. So, I did the old "drag and drop" of the iTunes folder into the Music icon in the upper left, which caused iTunes to commense populating my library with the music files from the new drive. Now I have two copies of everything in my library and the first of each copy has the shadow exclamation point next to it (because there is really only one file, but there are two entries in my iTunes menu). This is a pain to work with because I have to select a specific song to get the album to start playing.

How can I get rid of all the duplicates? Is this where I would consolidate?   

Two things you can do:

1. Manually delete each non-existent copy (the one preceded with an exclamation point) in your music library.

OR

2. A quicker way is to delete ALL the songs in your library, but DO NOT move to trash when asked. Once done, click File -> Add to Library and point to the folder on your drive that contains all artist sub-folders, click OK. It'll re-index your library.

Two things to remember: Add to Library is used to add to, or rebuild, the library index file; Consolidate is used when you want to MOVE the actual files from one folder or drive to another.

Going forward, try not to drag and drop files/folders in iTunes.

[low.pfile]

Great save with #2 Crimson! That sounds like it will save Mr. Pardales some time.

[low.pfile]

Found it:
OK I wrote this up when I did my transfer (for my own notes and likely to post it somewhere but I was too uncertain of my properly noting all the steps) so..... [disclaimer] I did this process once and DO NOT GUARANTEE that it will work for every Mac using iTunes [/disclaimer] I used iTunes 7.6 on Powermac G5 Dual PPC/OS X v10.4.11 attached to an external Lacie 500GB  FW800 HD containing the music folder. The new drive is a 750GB FW400 OWC Mercury external drive.

And roll credits.....it is based on the iLounge.com link I mentioned above but I did note that there was a step missing, since I wanted to keep the database files on the new external drive as well. By default these are in your home folder (Users > yourhome > Music > iTunes)

iTunes Music and Library Files Transfer Process:

Here is the process I used to transfer my iTunes music from one external drive to another - which will be the new default location for the music library. My related iTunes preference settings for iTunes are as follows:
  -Keep iTunes Music folder organized: Yes
  -Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library: Yes

This process is helpful if you want to move your music/audio files and your library files to a larger/different drive. This would be useful if you were planning on using this iTunes music for multiple macs or changing to a different mac frequently. Of course Mac migration software should be able to take care of this as well.

1. Connect the new external hard drive to the computer.

2. Press Option key while opening the iTunes application to launch a "Choose iTunes Library" dialog box. Select "Create Library...". Then navigate to the new drive and "Select"

  > A new folder titled either iTunes (or iTunes #) will appear in the location you just selected.

  > This step immediately sets your library to the new drive as well as points your computer to the *new* iTunes library database file location, so it is necessary to manually select the original iTunes library database file just one last time. Steps 3 & 4 cover this.
 
3. Close iTunes.

4. Press/hold the Option key while opening the iTunes application to launch a library management dialog box. Select "Choose Library..." Then navigate to the folder which contains your iTunes library.xml file

5. From Menu bar under "Advanced" choose "Consolidate Library." Confirm the action by pressing the "Consolidate" button.

  > This step synchs your iTunes library file, iTunes library.xml file with your original copies and all the Artist/Album folders to the new location.
 
  > This takes some time depending, of course, on the amount of music in your library, your connection speed and drive speeds. (my copy of 300GB took approx 4 hours copying from a FW800 to FW400 drive.)



Simple iTunes Music Only Transfer Process:

Use this if you only want to move your music/audio files to a larger/different drive and plan on keeping your Mac computer for a while (since your iTunes database files will reside on the internal drive)

Note: Do not Drag and Drop your audio files to the new drive, even if you feel that is the Mac-cie way of doing things. iTunes will help you out with the process and keep it neat.

1. Connect the new external hard drive to the computer.

2. From Menu bar go to your iTunes preferences: iTunes> Preference > Advanced > General....

3. At the top, click the "Change" button. Then navigate to the desired hard drive and folder, or create a new folder(with New Folder button). Complete the dialog box confirmation. Click "OK" button to save new preferences.

4. From Menu bar choose "Advanced" then "Consolidate Library" Confirm the action by pressing the "Consolidate" button.

  -The audio files will now start copying to the new location (grab a beverage, walk the dog, but don't decide to listen to your favorite tune in iTunes!)

I confirm that this simple version works after testing it with a small 4GB iTunes library on my MacBook Pro and an portable external FW drive.

Hope this makes it easy for anyone trying this for the first time.

enjoy your music ~ed

[pardales]

Thanks, all. I am going to try Crimson's #2 suggestion when I get home later. 

later........worked like a charm.

[sabes]

really helpful thread; thanks to all.