Mac user needs advice on using SS on Mac and storing music on ReadyNAS NV+

[Carrera56]

I'm currently using SS on an iMac, which also bears my music library. I'd like to migrate the music files to my new ReadyNAS NV+ and access them through my Squeezeboxes.

I can't get the SS software to connect the the NAS. I've mounted the NAS on my desktop and moved some music into a couple of different folders on the NAS (/media/Music/ or /media/Music/iTunes/iTunes Folder), but I can't figure out what to put in the Slimserver/Server Settings/Music Folder box. After reading some seemingly relevant advice in these forums, I've tried many things, such as:

//ServerIPaddress/media/Music/iTunes/iTunes Folder
/ServerIPaddress/media/Music/iTunes/iTunes Folder
afp://ServerIPaddress/media/Music/iTunes/iTunes Folder

etc., etc.

I get the error message "New value for music folder rejected" because of "doesn't seem to be a valid directory".

Can someone tell me exactly what to put in the Slimserver/Server Settings/Music Folder box? The devil is in the details.

Also, any additional advice about migrating my iTunes library to the NAS would be appreciated. I'm not married to iTunes as an organizational tool, btw.

Thanks...

Will

[MelonMonkey]

Open a terminal window and drag the folder containing your music into that window. A full path will be displayed. Copy that path and paste it into your Slimserver config.

Alternately if you're using iTunes to also manage that music, tell Slimserver to use the iTunes xml (iTunes folder in the music folder of your current user) instead of pointing it to the music directly.

[Carrera56]

Open a terminal window and drag the folder containing your music into that window. A full path will be displayed. Copy that path and paste it into your Slimserver config.

The terminal trick rocks! Thanks, Bruno.

Alternately if you're using iTunes to also manage that music, tell Slimserver to use the iTunes xml (iTunes folder in the music folder of your current user) instead of pointing it to the music directly.

Didn't quite catch this. Slimserver offers the two radio buttons "Use iTunes" or "Do not use iTunes". I don't see anything about iTunes xml (whatever that is!?!).

Thanks again.

[MelonMonkey]

Just select "use iTunes" - I was providing TMI (too much information) by mentioning the xml.

Just to add more info... The xml is the data file that is produced by iTunes that Slimserver reads.

I've been meaning to blog about my iTunes setup but just haven't gotgten around to it. It accomplishes a few goals I've seen other people asking about. In the end it's a completely portable iTunes library on an external drive. You can hook it up to any computer running iTunes to browse and modify the library.

Adding the external library to Slimserver means you don't specify a path to the music in the Slimserver config itself. Instead you let Slimserver find the music through the iTunes library file. This allows you to continue to manage your music in iTunes and also lets Slim use your iTunes playlists.

While iTunes can look anywhere for its library (press and hold OPTION while launching iTunes to specify a new/different library location) Slimserver seems to always want it to live in the default location: ~/Music/iTunes

If you let iTunes keep its library in this default location then all you have to do is enable the iTunes option in Slimserver and do nothing else. It will "just work"

If, like me, you want your library DATA stored with the music istelf on an external (portable) drive then you have an additional step to do.

In this case you must make a link from the default location to the actual location where that data lives. To do that you make a symbolic link with the terminal like this:

1. Open terminal window
2. type (without quotes) "cd ~/music"
3. press RETURN
3. type "ln -s " (that's a space at the end, do NOT type return)
4. drag the iTunes folder (where the library lives) from your external drive to the terminal
5. type " iTunes"
6. press RETURN

The effect is that you have a line like this:

mycomputer: ln -s /volumes/externaldrive/somefolder/iTunes iTunes

That will create a link to the external drive and create that link as "iTunes" in the current (music) folder. Slimserver or anything else looking for the iTunes folder inside that default music folder will instead be pointed to the external drive. This is similar to an alias, but is at the BSD level and not just the Mac OS level (a normal alias won't work for Slimsever to find the folder).

I hope I haven't made matters more confusing for you. Again, only if you're interested in keeping the iTunes library data files on an external drive would you do this. The music can be on an external drive without any of these extra steps.

[MelonMonkey]

Actually, I also just noticed that Slimserver support specifying where the iTunes XML file is located directly without using the default location.

To do this you go to Slimserver's iTunes settings page and then use the same trick I mentioned in my first message to insert the desired path to the XML file in there.

Just put the path of the iTunes folder that holds the xml data into the text box labeled "ITUNES MUSIC FOLDER"

The setting above it also allows you to specify the path directly to the XML file instead of the folder. Not sure why you'd bother with that instead of using only the folder as above.

[Calodoucas]

Hi,

Your tip using Terminal sound perfect for my needs. Until now I've been exporting my iTunes library xml file to my NAS and doing find and replace to change the route. This works really well but is a bit of a pain as I need to re-export everytime I add new music.

Your solution sounds neater.

What is the impact if my computer is off, which it often is, and I acces my music on the NAS via SB? Will SS automatically recognise the fact that the iTunes XML file is stored on the NAS or will I still need to add the route manually.

Also, what do I do if I need to change the location of my iTunes library back to my computer?

Many thanks.

[MelonMonkey]

Hi,
What is the impact if my computer is off, which it often is, and I acces my music on the NAS via SB?

Your computer can't be off. That's where you're running Slimserver. The tips I mentioned require both the computer (to run Slimserver) and the NAS (to hold the music files).

Will SS automatically recognise the fact that the iTunes XML file is stored on the NAS or will I still need to add the route manually.

I think the best solution (of the tips I wrote above) is what I added in the last message. In Slimserver, include the path to the iTunes music folder that you've got stored on the NAS along with the music. What I didn't tell you was how to make that folder.

In case you haven't done that yet, turn off the advanced option in iTunes that lets it move files automatically to your library. Also turn off the option that lets it manage your music folders (they're one above the other).

Add all your music to iTunes and when it's all in there, quit iTunes.

Now just copy your iTunes folder from ~/music to your NAS somewhere. (~ is your user folder)

Once that's done, delete the original.

The next time you start iTunes it will make a new iTunes folder and a blank library. Quit iTunes again.

You can think of this as your local/scratch/temp/whatever music library if you want. I keep one like this (in a different folder - see next step) to add tracks to temporarily only one or two albums at a tim e so I can easily fix their tags before they get added to the master library (the one you'd have on the NAS)

Also, what do I do if I need to change the location of my iTunes library back to my computer?

Hold down the OPTION key on your keyboard and start iTunes. Continue to hold option until a window pops up. It will ask you where it should locate your music library. you can pick an existing library or tell it to make a new one wherever you want. Any time you want to shuffle between libraries, just do this and pick the library you want. When you quit iTunes it remember the current location for next time. I normally leave mine pointing to the external volume where I keep my music obviously.

[wcburnette]

I'm looking for help with my slow mac mini response with Slim.

Have approx 33,000 songs on external drive. When I access playlists, mini bogs down for about 5 minutes before it begins to play or will do anything. Worked ok when I interrupted slim scan before it was complete(i.e. with a smaller library. This has been a problem for a long time but not very mac savvy to fix.

have "use itunes" selected. Do i need to arrange aliases to make this work better or other ideas?

thanks

WB
mac PPC mini 512
slim 6.5.1

[ezrock]

MelonMonkey,

It seems like you would know the answer to my question. Thanks in advance, whether you do or not.

I have a Linux server called 'music' that exports /pub/ via NFS. /pub/iTunesAtHome contains my iTunes Library. My Mac, running iTunes mounts /pub and I have it set to use the path to the mounted share as the iTunes Music Library.
This works great for me. I have a lot more room on that Linux server ('music') than I do on my Mac, and NFS seems to work fast enough. However, I'm having some slimserver issues. (I have been a long time user of Slimserver, I'd say maybe 3 or 4 years now, I love it.)

Slimserver 6.3.0 is running on 'music' and I can't figure out what settings I should use for it. The way I have it now, I have none of Slimserver's 'iTunes' settings set, I just set 'Server Settings' > 'Music Folder' to /pub/iTunesAtHome/iTunes Music. When I do this, though, I get two entries in Slimserver for most songs:
05 Candy.mp3 and ._05 Candy.mp3 for example. I also don't have the cool iTunes integration that many normally-setup Mac users get to benefit from.

Any advice? If you ever create that blog, I'll be interested.