OS X :: Mac With Three Different Libraries - Difference?
Jun 13, 2010
I have used mac for some years now, and know the OS well, but there is something that always has confused me: There are three different libraries in OS X. the first is: Macintosh HD>Library - the second: Macintosh HD>User>Library - and i recently noticed a third: Macintosh HD>System>Library. The reason this annoys me is because, as everyone know, there's often programs asking you to delete files from the library etc. I know i could just search for the right directory but still... kind of annoying, and a bit confusing at times. So why do Mac OS X have three different libraries and what are the difference between them?
I have an iMac and just bought a Seagate 1T expernal hard drive. Currently most of my music is encoded AAC so I can keep it in the imac hard drive and be able to loaded in my iPod 30 Gig.Currently I have about 24 Gig in the library.Since I use my iTunes as music server for my home Hi-Fi systems using a wireless network and Squeezebox devices connected to my steroe system I would like to create a second library with just Apple Lossless files. I would like to use this library for my home listening but keep the current library in the iMac haddrive with the AAC files to sync them to my iPod.
I have multiple devices that I want to sync from my one Mac. I decided to go for the multiple library options under my one user account. I have created multiple libraries but the problem I'm finding is that if I buy a new book/app they get placed in finder for that device. Is that a way of keeping this clean and keeping all apps, books etc under the one library in Finder and all the different devices just reading from there?Â
Upon opening iTunes this morning, it took upon itself the job of "importing" something from I have no clue, labeled my library as "damaged", created a new one that had most of my stuff missing with no playlists, and now I can't import an old library or open any sort of iTunes library from anywhere.iTunes is version 10.6.1 (7)Is it some sort of version of iTunes that I can't run on OS 10.5? I'm waiting for the fall rollout to get a new machine, there is no reason to update my OS, it does everything I need now.I have a Time Machine backup. Do I need to download a completely new copy of iTunes and then try to restore out of Time Machine? Has Apple updated iTunes into yet another version that has no added value to me, yet I have to cope with all the advertising trash loaded into it (read: Genius, Ping)? How do I get my library back along with a version of iTunes that works?
I recently bought an iMac. I have used my iTunes libary on a PC for years to sync my iPhone and iPad. I am now getting married and would like to know if I can import a seperate iTunes account to the same desktop computer. I would like to be able to sync her iPad and iPhone from her account (mail calander, music, photos and movies as well as her contacts.) and sync my iPhone and iPad from my account. Is this possible or do you get one iTunes acocunt per computer?
so i finally upgraded from my Late 2006 iMac to a MacBook Pro, and i used my WD Passport 1tb drive to get my iTunes off and on the new macbook. except now my iPod Touch wants to sync wirelessly to both Macs (yes i copied the library file). is there any way to seperate the libraries??
I just got a base level mac pro. When I run compressor, it fills up the library in the ssd drive and crashes the machine when it runs out of disk space. Is there a solution for this?Â
we have just purchased a new IMac and this is our first mac, so we don't know much about them, my hubby and I have 2 pcs each with a separate itunes account, and we want to transfer both of our libraries onto the new mac and merge them together. We also want our individual playlists to transfer across to.
I have brought a new drive to put all the music on and I know I need to export the library, I'm just not sure if I can import two libraries and make them into one on the mac and if it will keep both our playlists.
I have decided to manage two iTunes libraries on a single user account by using the old "option key on launch" trick; one on my Macbook's HD and another on an external HD. However, is it possible to view and access both of the libraries in parallel, or at least switch quickly between them without having to quit iTunes and launch it again?
I am running out of space on my powerbook g4, and noticed that the libraries take up most of the space (other than my media). I have one library folder, Macintosh/Library, also one under Macintosh/System/Library, and lastly one under Macintosh/Users/(My user name)/Library. That seems like it's a little much, but I don't know, maybe I do need it. Is there a way to delete any of them, or maybe I can use an external hard drive along with my powerbook. I have a 500GB MyBook external hard drive, with a usb plug-in. Can I use that to use applications from and stuff like that? I don't know what I should do.
when I try to import one cd for my lossless folder (after telling itunes were that folder is and import setting is set for apple lossless) itunes ask if I want to keep the media organized in the itunes folder. If I say yes, some files from my aac folder is showing up in the lossless folder and versa?
Whenever I open ITunes, it gives me a message saying that my library is corrupt, and that it is creating a new library, the new library has nothing on it, so i must then copy all my music and movies back into ITunes. How can I stop ITunes from making more and more (damaged) libraries? I just want my old, "corrupted" one back!
I have Time Machine backups of two iPhoto Library files, one of which I've flawlessly copied to my new iMac, everything is in working order and awesome. Now I have an additional iPhoto Library from another computer that I'd like to add.
How should I go about doing this? I fear that if I simply drag-n-drop the Library file into iPhoto I'll get duplicates (the Original/Modified folders) and lose all the albums, etc.
I know how to set up separate iTunes libraries (hold down Option before selecting the iTunes icon).However, I don't know how to select each separate library I need to access.When I click on the iTunes icon in the dock only one library comes up.
I need to merge 2 iTunes libraries. I have a large iTunes library on a WD 2TB external hard drive from a older computer in which iTunes would play items off the external HD and no iTunes item save on the internal HD. The library consists of music, movies, shows, books, apps, etc. I just recently bought a used 1st gen MacBook Air and without thinking transferred purchases from my iPhone and started syncing with the Air before I thought about the older library on the external HD. Now I have a new, small library on the Air's internal HD and the older, larger library on the external drive.
What I'd like to do is merge the smaller into the larger one and keep the library on the external HD and iTunes read everything from the external HD. With merging the 2 libraries, will it transfer my iPhone stuff as well? (backups, apps, info, etc.) Also, now that my iPhone is synced my Air and no longer synced through my older library, will I have to re-sync it again when the 2 are merged or will it automatically recognize it as already synced to newly merged library? Currently running OS 10.6.8 and iTunes 10.5.2.
How can I set up itunes so that two users on the same laptop can each access separate itunes accounts and libraries?Â
My fiancee and I use the same laptop, but both have apple accounts and use ITunes. How can we both access our separate libraries from the same computer?Â
I have two logons on our Imac. One that we previously uesd for our daughter and one that my wife an I use. There is an Itunes libary under each logon on the same computer. My daughter no longer uses the logon, she now has her own computer. We would like to combine the two libraries already on the same computer into one itunes library. Is there an easy way to combine them into one?
I have an iMac in one room and a Mac Mini in another. Each is set up independantly and I unfortunately gave the same iTunes Library name to both libraries, which is now making it impossible for me to use my iPhone as a remote to both libraries. I prefer to have 2 different libraries. Can I rename one library and if so, how?Â
I'm setting up daughter new MacBook Pro, migrating data from her old white MacBook. We used Migration Assistant to import her apps and documents from the old laptop. Now she has two user accounts: the one she initially set up on the new MacBook Pro, and the old account we brought over from the old machine. And there are iTunes libraries in each of these user accounts -- I believe they're both set up under the same iTunes account. Â
In addition to the two OS X libraries, there's her iPhone, which was synced with the old white MacBook account. Â
So... what's the best way to merge them all into one (duplicate-free) iTunes library on the new MacBook Pro, and switch the iPhone to sync with the new machine?
I currently have a MacPro and a Mac book Air both with iTunes libraries. The musics, Tv shows and movies are stored on my external drive connected to my router. My main iTunes library is on my MacPro, but I want to ensure that that my library on my Macbook Air is automatically updated when i add contact to my external drive and MacPro iTunes library without physically copying the content on to my macbook air.
I'm looking for something like syncOTunes but for iPhoto. My wife and I each have our own mac, and just like our music libraries, we end up with very different iPhoto libraries. From a simple "backup" perspective it would be nice to sync the two up now and then a la syncOTunes.
I hav a MBP w/ both Snow Leopard & Windows 7 64-bit via BootCamp. i wanna be able to access (read/write but if not, read only access is acceptable) my iTunes content (music, videos, apps, etc), which is on my Mac partition, from my Windows side without having to create a separate, periodically updated copy of my contents on my Windows partition, which is what some of the solutions I read hav u do. (I don't like having to waste space unnecessarily)
Basically, I would like to be able to sync my iPhone to my iTunes content on my computer from either OS and have all the content be current and in sync (for my 3 platforms: Mac, Windows, & iPhone) regardless of which side I am accessing it from. I wouldnt wanna hav to log onto my Mac side just so i can sync a song i downloaded on my iPhone to the library on the computer; i would like to be able to do this from my Windows side as well. Finally, is there a way to do all this without the use of an external drive?
I have a Mac Pro desktop and a Macbook with (mostly) duplicate music on. But there is some music I only have on one or the other. Most uploaded from CDs and some bought from itunes, Amazon etc. Each has about 20GB each but as I said it's mostly the same. I want to do a complete clean re-install on the Macbook and then not take up its HD space with music, just use Home Sharing via the desktop/airtunes. Apart from literally going alphabetically through both, is there a neat way of comparing, to make sure that when I clean off the Macbook I don't miss something that isn't on the pro?
I just opened my ~/music/iTunes folder and in the iTunes folder there was a folder named 'previous iTunes Libraries' that folder existed of two iTunes Library Data files. My question now is can I just delete that folder or is it essential to have iTunes function properly?
I've been searching the forums and web looking for info on how to / best way to sync iTunes libraries (including playlists, ratings, and play counts). I've found several programs including TuneRanger, SuperSync, Syncopation and some others (links below). The general consensus seems to be that they all suck. (TuneRanger seems to do exactly what I want, but doesn't appear to have a free trial period.) [URL]
