So, I've kept my trusty vintage 1997 Mac 9600 tower running in a corner of my home office as an iTunes music server for our home for years now. I've had it set up w/ Nullriver's Connect360 software to push the content to my central A/V setups Xbox which has worked great--until recent software updates. The 9600 has been running 10.3.x for some time via a workaround, but it's no go to run 10.4/Tiger, which seems to be the problem w/ the latest Connect360 version. So, it's FINALLY time to retire the old girl and move on.

My plan is to move things over to an old TiBook 667Mhz G4 laptop (hey, at least it was made this decade ;)) that is set up with Tiger, iLife '08, Connect360 and MediaLink (serves iApps to PS3)--all of which work flawlessly. Love that about Macs...they've got legs.

So, I've moved non-ACC iTunes libraries around before--I'm not an absolute novice. But the big question is how do I merge the iTunes copy-protected content that is on the laptop harddrive and the larger non-ACC library on an external. In the end, I'd like to have one master library on a 500GB external USB drive that could later float to, say, a Mac Mini some months down the road.

Thanks in advance for your advice/insights.

you can just copy both sets of files to the master USB drive...
make sure any new computer down the road is registered to your same iTunes account...

ken

But the big question is how do I merge the iTunes copy-protected content that is on the laptop harddrive and the larger non-ACC library on an external. In the end, I'd like to have one master library on a 500GB external USB drive that could later float to, say, a Mac Mini some months down the road.

Thanks in advance for your advice/insights.If I get you right, you think there is a problem combining protected AAC content with a generic library that isn't protected on an external drive?

If so, there is no problem combining the two kinds of libraries. iTunes even has a consolidate libraries function (under the Advanced menu). Just make sure that you select the external drive as your iTunes Music folder (Preferences-->Advanced-->General [set location]). Then consolidate. Make sure you have the "Copy Files" box checked, so the files are actually moved. Then your iTunes Library and iTunes Music Library.xml files will be updated in your master external drive iTunes Music Folder.

Then you can just move the drive to the new Mac(s). You should deauthorize the old Mac, and like Ken says authorize the new Mac. This is what allows the AAC protected files to be played once they have been transferred to a new Mac. Then set the iTunes Music Folder location again on the new(er) Mac to the external drive's iTunes Music Folder. And you'll be good to go.

Depending on how large your library is, you may or may not experience some sluggishness on your G4 under Tiger. Personally, I find my G4 667Mhz tower that I use as an iTunes server to be a real dog--using Tiger and iTunes 7.7. It's a large library (30k+ songs), and takes a bit to open, and I get a lot of beachballing. When I move the library to my Intel C2D MacBook to do a bunch of management, it flies. Then I move it back to the backroom G4 for network duty. You might think about a used Mac Mini or refurb as an upgrade path, eventually.

The only problem I see may be the version of iTunes you are using on the 9600. I don't know what the most current version of iTunes is for 10.3. You should upgrade to the newest version you can before you start this move, if possible.

Make sense?

You should deauthorize the old Mac, and like Ken says authorize the new Mac. This is what allows the AAC protected files to be played once they have been transferred to a new Mac.

My reading of this:

But the big question is how do I merge the iTunes copy-protected content that is on the laptop harddrive and the larger non-ACC library on an external

is that the protected files are on the "new" Mac already--on the TiBook's internal drive--and what shane wants to do is "move" them to an external drive, which will become the new location of his iTunes music folder, but will still be connected to that TiBook. So once he consolidates, that Mac should already be authorized to play those files.

My two questions are: does your TiBook have USB 2 or are you planning to use the card slot?

And once you get your master library set up on that 500GB external, how will you back it up?

chef- yes I read it that way too;
wildrock & I were referring to the future Mac Mini he was contemplating, after he gets this setup going...
I can second rock's experience with the G4 - works, but a bit sluggish;
and the backup issue that chef points out is dead-on; You might consider wildrock's suggestion about the mini now, and use what you have now for backup coverage...

I've been thrilled with Time Machine backing up to Time Capsule; That whole setup works like a champ...

ken

Thanks for all the pointers and suggetions. Everything said makes perfect sense.

To clarify--yes, I'm looking to move the content OFF the internal drive but still on the licensed iTunes machine, so the consolidate should work fine. I'd love to go ahead and get the Mini now, but I'm feeling like there are too many signs that we may see some kind of hardware upgrade by September that would irk me if I jumped in now. The Mini is WAY overdue for a refresh--or Apple may have a new hybrid product (Mini/TV combo) that would be a great HTPC solution. I just want to wait a bit and see what happens.

So, one remaining question with regards to consolidation--is there an option to overwrite or ignore duplicate titles/albums/tracks during the process. I have lots of titles on the external library that I would want to consolidate that are already on or even originated on the TiBook as AAC purchases and wouldn't want to duplicate said tracks/media.

Sorry, guess this stuff is quite fundamental. I've moved libraries but never merged/moved purchased content onto other volumes and don't want to lose anything, including coverflow art. Y'know?

If any one of the machines has ALL of the music available in its library then all you need to do is hooked up the external drive and tell iTunes you want to move where the music is stored. It'll then ask if you want to migrate all of your music. If you click yes then it will (slowly since you don't have USB2) move the files to the external drive. You can then deauthorize the old machine if you don't plan on using it for playing your purchased music.

You should also be able to copy the iTunes folder from our Music directory to the new machine, just copy it directly over and startup iTunes. On the new machine, attempt to play a purchased song and you'll be asked for your username/password which will authorize the machine for all of the songs. Album art is stored in the file of purchased songs and any m4a files, but mp3 files are stored differently. If you loose any of them there is a tool that will go get them again automatically. I think it is on the advanced menu.

So, one remaining question with regards to consolidation--is there an option to overwrite or ignore duplicate titles/albums/tracks during the process. I have lots of titles on the external library that I would want to consolidate that are already on or even originated on the TiBook as AAC purchases and wouldn't want to duplicate said tracks/media.



I've found when doing similar merging that it works better to go ahead and let it dup those tracks. It's easy to locate them using iTunes and then delete what you don't want; I know it's a little more tedious, but it's a one time affair and insures against losing other things like artwork etc.

Not a bad idea to hold off for next mini-atv iteration; Although if you get itchy, a refurb or used is easy to re-sell or use as that backup later...

ken

If any one of the machines has ALL of the music available in its library then all you need to do is hooked up the external drive and tell iTunes you want to move where the music is stored. It'll then ask if you want to migrate all of your music. If you click yes then it will (slowly since you don't have USB2) move the files to the external drive. You can then deauthorize the old machine if you don't plan on using it for playing your purchased music.

You should also be able to copy the iTunes folder from our Music directory to the new machine, just copy it directly over and startup iTunes. On the new machine, attempt to play a purchased song and you'll be asked for your username/password which will authorize the machine for all of the songs. Album art is stored in the file of purchased songs and any m4a files, but mp3 files are stored differently. If you loose any of them there is a tool that will go get them again automatically. I think it is on the advanced menu.

I do have a USB2 PC card. That will speed things up. Besides migrating the music, I plan on using this port w/ a couple of USB2-equipped drives to play back MPEG-2 HD recordings out via firewire through my D-VHS deck once the laptop is in my main A/V rack.

So, just to be clear--should I let the app do the migration, or just copy my files off the internal HDD to the external music folder/HDD and let the finder replace the dupe tracks w/ those that have cover metadata etc.?

Do it the right way and you won't have any problem. If you don't completely understand the steps, read through these:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449?viewlocale=en_US

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

http://www.macworld.com/article/46248/2005/08/shiftitunes.html

So, just to be clear--should I let the app do the migration, or just copy my files off the internal HDD to the external music folder/HDD and let the finder replace the dupe tracks w/ those that have cover metadata etc.?

Either way will work;
iTunes Consolidate:
I haven't used the Consolidate function in iTunes for a long time; But if it still behaves the same, it will dupe those tracks even with the same names because they are different file types. However, the advantage is you can verify in iTunes which file has the artwork before deleting;

Finder Copy:
If you know for sure which files you want to delete - this should work fine; Then once copied; Rebuild your iTunes XML Library ('Add To Library...');

A note of caution:
In whatever method used - make sure the iTunes-Preferences-Advanced settings are consistent with what you want iTunes to do at the time. As Wildrock mentioned - for consolidate, have the 'Copy Files' on;
However if you already have the files in place AND have the 'Keep Organized' checked AND have 'Copy Files' checked: I've had problems with iTunes doubling all the files when they are in the Master Folder but not in the right place. You might want to test each method with say 1 album to make sure you have the right process to get the expected result...

ken

edit: whoops cross-posted ; those are great instructions chefklc linked you with... that should cover the issues I raised as well...