Sharing an iTunes library between two computers?

[Feek]

I want to be able to use the iTunes library on my main Mac from the laptop, I don't mean the 'Share my library on the local network' option, I mean proper sharing.

So this is what I've done.

Created a shared folder on the Mac Pro which is my iTunes directory.

On the laptop, I've used 'connect to server' to mount the share, and then I dragged the shared drive to my users Login items to ensure it's mounted each time I boot the laptop.

I then opened iTunes while holding down the Option key, this allowed me to select the library and it works, I can access the library on the Mac Pro perfectly.

However, I have a problem.

The screen on my Mac Pro is much larger than that on the laptop. Hence when I open iTunes, I can only see part of it!

Is there a way to do the above but have both copies of iTunes running with their own independent window sizes and positions?

 

[Feek]

Nobody? It makes me sad that nobody knows :sad:

 

[Spyhop]

Seems weird that any window configuration would be stored in the library file.

I'd like to do this too, but it's always going to be some kind of hack because I doubt there's any built-in mechanism to detect and merge changes being made to the same file by two instances of iTunes.

 

[Vonhelmet]

You can do this sort of thing with two users on one Mac. Not sure how well it would work out with two Macs, though if you were sure they'd not be accessing it at the same time then it might work...

Will they be doing that?

 

[Feek]

There's a good chance that both machines would be on at the same time with iTunes open, yes.

 

[Vonhelmet]

Hmmm. That could be tricky then. I've got things set up on my solitary Mac so that two user accounts use the same library, which works by just sticking the music and files in a mutually accessible area and placing aliases to that location in each home directory.

I guess you couldn't do that with multiple computers, as you could conceivably have two computers accessing it which will result in file locks and so on.

Is there any chance that, say, only one computer would actually be changing the library, while the other just accesses it for the purposes of playing back music? Like one does all the buying, ripping, arranging, etc? Just wondering if you could set it to read only for one of the computers. Even then I'm not sure it would work as it might be unhappy about not being able to update play counts etc.

 

[Feek]

I think I have a solution.

The main machine with the library on an internal drive is working as normal, organising and storing the music.

On the laptop, I've unticked the two boxes to organise the library and copy files. I then opened a new empty library and have dragged the files in from the shared directory.

So I'm accessing the remote music. If I add anything to the library on the main Mac I just need to rescan the library on the laptop for the files to appear.

It means each machine has it's own playlists and play counts, but that's fine. The music is shared between them properly.

At least, that's how I think it'll work, I'm currently scanning the library on the laptop for the first time I see no reason why it won't work.

 

[TALON1973]

why dint u just copy the whoel file onto a portable hd and transfer teh files over to the other pc ?

 

[Feek]

1) The iTunes library on the Mac Pro is nearly 600Gb, thhe hard drive on the Macbook Pro is 320Gb
2) Why duplicate when one can share?

 

[Vonhelmet]

I think I have a solution.

The main machine with the library on an internal drive is working as normal, organising and storing the music.

On the laptop, I've unticked the two boxes to organise the library and copy files. I then opened a new empty library and have dragged the files in from the shared directory.

So I'm accessing the remote music. If I add anything to the library on the main Mac I just need to rescan the library on the laptop for the files to appear.

It means each machine has it's own playlists and play counts, but that's fine. The music is shared between them properly.

At least, that's how I think it'll work, I'm currently scanning the library on the laptop for the first time I see no reason why it won't work.

You might be able to use some Applescript to automatically rescan it each time you log on.

 

[FreeStream]

1) The iTunes library on the Mac Pro is nearly 600Gb, thhe hard drive on the Macbook Pro is 320Gb
2) Why duplicate when one can share?

What do you do when you are away from home?

Use the iPod?

Im in the same situation here although my library is only ~10Gb!

Im not quite sure on how im going to "sync" my bookmarks/safari history/iTunes between each machine

Seems this two computer setup is rather difficult

 

[Vonhelmet]

Im not quite sure on how im going to "sync" my bookmarks/safari history/iTunes between each machine

Seems this two computer setup is rather difficult

Mobileme subscription?

I've honestly no idea if the above will work.

 

[Feek]

Firefox is my main browser, I sync bookmarks from Firefox to Safari using Foxmarks. Safari then syncs bookmarks to the mobileme cloud so they're picked up on the laptop and I also have Firefox on the lappy which also has the Foxmarks extension installed so it gets them that way.

You can sync between computers with just Safari using Foxmarks, no need for the mobileme cloud, despite the name it does work cross browser.

 

[FreeStream]

Ah sod mobileme, im not paying for something I already have! (web and email wise!)

 

[vidda]

Can I just ask what the issue with the 'Share my Library on the Local network' option? Seems to work fine for me but I don't do anything "major". Absence of Album Artwork maybe?

 

[Feek]

Absence of album art, inability to change the way everything is displayed. I really don't like the look of it.

 

[Slogan]

Feek, did the method you mentioned (un-ticking copy to library and re-scanning for new content) only work for music?

I'm trying to figure out a way to get my Mac Mini to update when my Mac Pro has been.