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Mac Mini, WD Ext Drive, Windows, iTunes

wjlapier

Member
Not sure how to write this in the subject line. I'm new Mac, purchased a used Mac Mini. I have my complete iTunes library on an external drive. I assume the drive was formatted for Windows. Anyway I can get iTunes in the Mac Mini to recognize the content of the external drive? I"d prefer to have iTunes read from the external drive--more content than the Mac Mini can contain.

Hope there is a solution!

Bill
 

bradhusick

Active member
Bill,
In iTunes Preferences, select "Advanced" then change the location of the media folder to your external drive.
 
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luke_28

Guest
Can the Mac see the drive ? If not, it is likely formated ntfs and I don't know that there is a solution. If it is formatted fat32 then the mac should see it.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Can the Mac see the drive ? If not, it is likely formated ntfs and I don't know that there is a solution. If it is formatted fat32 then the mac should see it.
Mac OS X can read NTFS volumes but cannot write to them. So iTunes can see music files on an external NTFS volume but cannot add to the library or otherwise write any necessary metadata on that volume.

The solution is to copy the files onto another hard drive (formatted either "Mac OS Extended (journaled)" or "ExFAT"), then reformat the original volume (again one of the two file system types). Format the externals for ExFAT if you want Windows to continue to be able to read/write from it as well as Mac OS X, otherwise stick with "Mac OS Extended (journaled)".
 

wjlapier

Member
Can the Mac see the drive ? If not, it is likely formated ntfs and I don't know that there is a solution. If it is formatted fat32 then the mac should see it.
The external drive is formatted NTFS.

My complete CD collection and alot of movies and tv shows are on that drive--200gb worth.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
A 1T external drive with enclosure is barely $150 these days. You want a backup of that data anyway!
 
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luke_28

Guest
Mac OS X can read NTFS volumes but cannot write to them. So iTunes can see music files on an external NTFS volume but cannot add to the library or otherwise write any necessary metadata on that volume.

The solution is to copy the files onto another hard drive (formatted either "Mac OS Extended (journaled)" or "ExFAT"), then reformat the original volume (again one of the two file system types). Format the externals for ExFAT if you want Windows to continue to be able to read/write from it as well as Mac OS X, otherwise stick with "Mac OS Extended (journaled)".
Thanks for the info Godfrey !
 

wjlapier

Member
A 1T external drive with enclosure is barely $150 these days. You want a backup of that data anyway!
Thank you for the info on different formats. I formatted exFAT and got all my tunes and video on my mac mini via an external HD. Took a while but all is working fine.
 

wjlapier

Member
Since I got this thing working pretty good, I read about the Time Capsule. Can anyone tell me if I could easily copy my itunes stuff ( from the Passport HD ) over to the time capsule and then direct itunes to it? There is a 1TB version used I might be interested in.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Since I got this thing working pretty good, I read about the Time Capsule. Can anyone tell me if I could easily copy my itunes stuff ( from the Passport HD ) over to the time capsule and then direct itunes to it? There is a 1TB version used I might be interested in.
I'd recommend against it. Time Capsule is designed to be primarily a wireless backup storage device, not a networked file system for regular use. it can probably work as one, but in addition to this not being its primary function you are also embedding a storage device with your wireless base station ... failure of either will make access to your data difficult. It's a nice idea for simplicity and convenience, but not the sort of solution that makes me very comfortable.

A better solution, if you want a wireless storage repository, is an Apple Airport Extreme with an attached hard drive for storage. That way, at least if your drive or the base station goes down, you have the other half of the system still operating properly.
 

wjlapier

Member
OK, I have another question or problem. When viewing images in a folder I can't seem to use the back forward button to go to the next photo. I have to close the viewing window and click on the next photo to view it, and do the same to view the next photo--if you understand what I mean.

Liking the Apple computers so much I bought a Macbook! My kids love the wireless peripherals for the Mac Mini.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
OK, I have another question or problem. When viewing images in a folder I can't seem to use the back forward button to go to the next photo. I have to close the viewing window and click on the next photo to view it, and do the same to view the next photo--if you understand what I mean.
Depends how you have elected to view them. The quick way I recommend:

- select all the images in the folder
- hit the space bar

now the arrows and arrow keys allow you to traverse the images.

ESC or clicking the close button gets you out.
 

wjlapier

Member
Godfrey, Thank you. It's still odd that you can't use the buttons when you open a folder. They exist, but can't be used.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Godfrey, Thank you. It's still odd that you can't use the buttons when you open a folder. They exist, but can't be used.
The buttons on folder window toolbars are for traversing the folder history, not selecting items in the folder.

You can, however, if you have a Finder window open on a folder, choose View > Cover Flow... display mode (Command-4 shortcut) and then the Left-Up and Right-Down keys let you walk through the images. The images are presented carousel fashion so clicking on the next or last will also change the file selection.
 
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