[SlimDevices: 3rd-party-hardware] Re: Mac user needs advice on using SS on Mac and storing music on ReadyNAS NV+

[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

Bruno
*'Twisted Melon - Fine Mac OS Software' (http://twistedmelon.com) |
'mira - Personal Control for your Apple Remote'
(http://twistedmelon.com)*
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