iTunes software conflict

[macguytoo]

I have been an Apple / Mac person since 1988; an Apple IIe was my first brain box. Talk about "user friendly!" I never read the manual; and when I took a class to learn more about the Apple OS… there wasn't anything the instructor could show me. I wound up helping her - helping the others! The IIe wound up with a 20 Meg (laptop) HD and a 1 Meg memory card. Had a Mac II (SE?) next and then moved from there to an 8100 beige tower. Added 2 large drives & maxed the memory. About 2004, I found a G3 (not "blue & white"-- really aqua & milk) with 2 (small) drives, and the fastest processor Motorola could deliver (then); a 450MHz processor. Maxed the memory, added 2 better drives - a WD 120GB and a WD 80GB. Eventually, as I started filling up my 120 with music, I ran across a WD 320GB external; my music was automatically backed up onto the 320. The next hair-brained idea to cross my puny brain, was to back-up all my music folders (artists) onto 7 dual-layer DVD+R's, and one solitary DVD-R (4.7GB). Then trash all the folders but a few-- to gain some room. I was down to 16.5GB. Itz not just trashing the folders-- you must go into the list and remove the title/artist/time, etc., one-by-one, line-by-line! Each delete is a 3-step process.

The motivation for undertaking this process was to have all the music on the 320 external. Well… it IS, but… I left some music on the 120 internal. About 285 titles. When I opened the (iTunes) Music Library on the 320, what it showed me was the 285 titles ! on the internal!! This is NOT what I was prepared for! All the folders were present on the 320… but all I could look at was the 285 titles on the 120 internal. I TRIED a number of things, which all failed. Including installing a NEW iTunes 7.2 on the 320. THAT failed because… as it told me during the new install… "You cannot install iTunes on other than the "start-up disc!" Thatz the same stoopit mentality which caused me to close my iTunes account, bc you could NOT move iTunes to any other drive OR disc!

So, how do I get around this roadblock, and have my cake & eat it too? The idea was (was it really so brite??) to have 2 libraries-- with the new stuff being added to the internal - and automatically being added to the 320 ("My Book"); and IF I so-chose, clicking the icon for iTunes (-My Book) so I could see ALL the titles. And even play my stuff from the external.

One last note - about iTunes. There are no mp3 iTunes in my collection (reasons previously stated). The titles are ALL full-length ".aif / .aiff" files, like you will find on any music CD. The files are 10x larger, but easier for me to use when I burn custom compilations. It is always a challenge to see how close to 80 minutes of music I can get; so-far, I have managed to place 79:56 of music on a standard CD. ALL the poorly edited tracks were pared of all the wasteful silence-- there is 1 second of silence in the "head" of the track, and 1 second of silence in the tail. I have encountered some tracks (even in mp3) with up to 14 seconds of silence - in length. And the waste IS included in that runtime / length.

SORRY it had 2 B so lengthy; does anyone have any ideas? THX 4 the "listen."

[bendrucker]

I had a lot of trouble understanding this.

NEW iTunes 7.2

What? When were you trying this? 2007?

You cannot install iTunes on other than the "start-up disc!" Thatz the same stoopit mentality which caused me to close my iTunes account, bc you could NOT move iTunes to any other drive OR disc!

This just makes no sense at all. An iTunes account has nothing to do with this. And that is referring to the fact that you can't install iTunes itself on anything but the boot drive. Your iTunes library can be stored absolutely anywhere.

All your convoluted ideas about multiple libraries, etc. seem like a terrible idea. Why not get a 1TB drive (for a little over $100) and put all your content on there. That would take care of the problem, wouldn't it?

[macguytoo]

This just makes no sense at all. An iTunes account has nothing to do with this. And that is referring to the fact that you can't install iTunes itself on anything but the boot drive. Your iTunes library can be stored absolutely anywhere. SORRY for the long pause; YOU seem to have missed the fact that I stated I HAD an external HD; size, @ this point is irrelevant. It is a Western Digital 320GB "My Book," A 1 TB external would not satisfy the the solution. I am PREVENTED by the software ("iTunes , v7.1) from installing it on other than a BOOT/START-UP volume; It sez, & I quote… "! You cannot install this software, on this volume (the 320GB external HD). This software may ONLY be installed onto the start-up volume." AND, when I do click on the iTunes Library ICON for my 320 external, I am taken DIRECTLY BACK to the remainder of the library on the START-UP VOLUME. The ISSUE IS that the LIBRARY WINDOW– with the TITLE, ARTIST, TIME, SOURCE, etc, will not open for what is on the external drive. ALL the original folders are installed / stored on the external. Therefore, I SHOULD be able to look at, and play from the external drive. NOW, do you understand?

All your convoluted ideas (to you) about multiple libraries, etc. seem like a terrible idea. MY choice. Why not get a 1TB drive (for a little over $100) and put all your content on there. That would take care of the problem, wouldn't it? NO, it would NOT. Read the above quote. I have attempted to include a PDF here, so you could read for yourself what it repeatedly keeps telling me.

[bendrucker]

Either your explanation still makes no sense or you still don't get it.

You cannot install iTunes on anything but your boot volume.

End of story.

[JeremyK]

Okay... Lets all just take a breather here...

@bendrucker, I think I can provide a little more detail than that. As follows

@macguytoo, iTunes absolutely hates multi-libraries, and external drives. The reason is because if you remove your external, iTunes cannot locate the music files.

The reason you cannot install iTunes to the external is because it doesn't have an operating system installed on it, nor has it got the right one (Mac OS) because it is not formatted for Mac (HFS+)

If you want to have multiple libraries, you will have to format your external to HFS+ (Or in Disk Utility, Mac OS Extended (Journaled), then install the same OS that you are using (IE, if you are using Leopard, you can have an older one such as Tiger, but you cannot have Snow Leopard on it, for instance.

Mac will now recognize your drive as being another boot drive. You can now install iTunes onto that drive, although it comes included.

PS: I know this will mean you will lose your music files, but there is a way that you can rent external hard drives, so rent one, copy & paste, then paste onto your new drive.

[philbowell]

I'm going to attempt to help here but I must establish two points.

1. iTunes does not like multiple libraries. It is always best to have everything in one library.

2. iTunes the APP can not be installed on anything other than the startup/boot disc. However, you can store the files (music/video whatever) on another drive.

I don't quite understand why you want to install iTunes on an external hard drive, but I do understand you have run out of space on your internal drive and wish to make space. The best thing to do here is move all of your iTunes media files onto the external hard drive.

Once this is done install iTunes. This must be installed on the startup disc. Once installed hold down the option (alt) key and open iTunes. This will allow you to choose the location of your iTunes library. Point this to your external drive and it should open up being able to see all the media on the external drive.

You must always make sure the external drive is connected to your Mac when you launch iTunes and any new media you add to iTunes will appear on the external drive and not your internal one.

[bendrucker]

Maybe this will make it more clear:

iTunes is about 160 MB or so if I am recalling correctly. Installing it on an external drive is a hassle, a waste of money, and will get you a negligible amount of space back.

Files shown in iTunes, however, can be stored anywhere.