Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

LarsCA · May 17, 2006, 10:03 AM

I need to free up space on my Powerbook. I have about 40GB worth of music and photos on it. What I'd like to do is to move all that to an external hard drive, yet when I open up either of the programs have them look at the external hard drive for the files rather than telling me there is no media available for the programs.

With other programs, like Final Cut Pro, you can put it in the prefernces that the "scratch disc" is an external hard drive. Can I do something similar with iTunes and iPhoto?

SpaceMonkey · May 17, 2006, 10:15 AM

For iTunes: in the preferences, go to the "Advanced" tab. There is an option to change the location of your Music Folder. Just set it as a folder on your external drive. If you have the options checked for iTunes to organize your Music Folder for you, then it will copy all of the files over to the external drive automatically.

Not sure about iPhoto, though.

tooki · May 17, 2006, 11:33 AM

iPhoto:

1. Just move the library. When iPhoto can't find it, it'll ask where it is. OR
2. Use iPhoto Library Manager to set the location.

tooki

LarsCA · May 17, 2006, 11:56 AM

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkey

For iTunes: in the preferences, go to the "Advanced" tab. There is an option to change the location of your Music Folder. Just set it as a folder on your external drive. If you have the options checked for iTunes to organize your Music Folder for you, then it will copy all of the files over to the external drive automatically.

Not sure about iPhoto, though.

Thanks. I could have read through the preference pane myself to find it, but of course I missed it. Thanks for not making fun of my temporary (I hope) lapse of IQ-drop.

LarsCA · May 17, 2006, 11:57 AM

Originally Posted by tooki

iPhoto:

1. Just move the library. When iPhoto can't find it, it'll ask where it is. OR
2. Use iPhoto Library Manager to set the location.

tooki

Thanks. That was easy and painless. I appreciate it, and I appreciate that all of a sudden my laptop has 45GB available space! Time to install some new programs...

LarsCA · May 17, 2006, 12:07 PM

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkey

For iTunes: in the preferences, go to the "Advanced" tab. There is an option to change the location of your Music Folder. Just set it as a folder on your external drive. If you have the options checked for iTunes to organize your Music Folder for you, then it will copy all of the files over to the external drive automatically.

Not sure about iPhoto, though.

OK, so it wasn't as easy as it sounded. I moved the iTunes library to the external HD, then set the preferences to look for it on there. However, no songs show up in the program. I can import the .xml file and all of a sudden I have playlists and songs available again, but they're imported back onto my laptop. Am I missing something?

SpaceMonkey · May 17, 2006, 04:25 PM

Originally Posted by LarsCA

OK, so it wasn't as easy as it sounded. I moved the iTunes library to the external HD, then set the preferences to look for it on there. However, no songs show up in the program. I can import the .xml file and all of a sudden I have playlists and songs available again, but they're imported back onto my laptop. Am I missing something?

If the "keep Music Folder organized" and "copy to Music Folder" preferences are selected, simply changing the location of the Music Folder without moving any of the files yourself should prompt iTunes to automatically move the files. Don't touch the .xml or Library files. It's more convenient if those stay on your internal hard drive.

If those options are unchecked, then move the Library folder (again, not the .xml or Library files) to the external drive yourself. iTunes should adjust its internal links to the files automatically. Then just change the Music Folder location in the iTunes Preferences to match the new location.

Let us know if you need more help.

sonam · May 26, 2006, 10:16 PM

Well, I could certainly use some help. My entire iTunes library is on an external RAID volume. When I open iTunes on my Powerbook it opens up blank in spite of an alias pointing to the external volume and the correct path set in preferences. I seem to be missing something

Thanks in advance for any help.

tomscott · May 29, 2006, 08:42 AM

I registered here for the first time exactly for this question but one step further...if I move iPhoto and iTunes to an external drive to save space on my (currently dead but hopefully soon fixed) iBook, will I still be able to sync my iPod with the external drive?

thanks, diane

icruise · May 29, 2006, 01:37 PM

Originally Posted by dara1960

I registered here for the first time exactly for this question but one step further...if I move iPhoto and iTunes to an external drive to save space on my (currently dead but hopefully soon fixed) iBook, will I still be able to sync my iPod with the external drive?

Yes.

tomscott · May 29, 2006, 01:50 PM

Originally Posted by Icruise

Yes.

cool, thanks - and will this happen automatically or do i have to do something on the iPod...just am afraid of losing everything!

sonam · May 29, 2006, 09:39 PM

I've got iTunes working more or less correctly with the Library stored on an external RAID volume. The remaining problem is that I cannot import CD's. I'm using an esata card on a Powerbook G4.

Suggestions anyone ??

Cadaver · May 29, 2006, 10:28 PM

Originally Posted by sonam

I've got iTunes working more or less correctly with the Library stored on an external RAID volume. The remaining problem is that I cannot import CD's. I'm using an esata card on a Powerbook G4.

Suggestions anyone ??

Exactly what problem are you having?

sonam · May 30, 2006, 10:05 AM

Import process begins but just hangs. I end up doing a force quit. On the other hand I can use Senuti to copy from the iPod to my external iTunes Library. I also tried using Max to import and was unable to do so when specifying "Add files to iTunes Library" - a local save to directory worked fine.

Thanks !