kevinr

Okay , I read the appropriate sections in apple.com regarding "where's my library" and "managing your media" sections and got the Itunes for Dummies book from the library. Went over that stuff again. Then I went back to my link in post#3 above that shows a link to forum member Goldsdad posts and screen shot showing me way back when I set up my first external drive for itunes media library. So.... what I needed to do was copy my Mini's "iTunes folder" to the new external drive as shown clearly in Goldsdad post. Actually his explanation and screen shot was the clearest. I should have revisited that thread first before posting this one and it would have been pretty straightforward. I dragged and copied my Mini's iTunes Folder to the new external drive , consolidated again, and all my playlists, artwork etc. are back in place and iTunes opens with no " no iTunes Folder". Some of my playlists look like they need cleaning up but that's pretty minor.

Thanks Biku; Yes I did read post #18 and consolidated library as you mentioned and then cloned the external drive after as you suggested . My screen for iTunes does look like the picture of yours in post 18 Just still don't have an iTunes Folder in the new external drive as mentioned in my original post #1. Plus lots of artwork I manually added is still gone

Yes, ther situation is worse after the "library/organize library" performed yesterdaY. When I option/click itunes each drive , internal and 3 external drives ( the first external , it's backup , and the new one ) I only get a "can't find itunes folder" in each place message after "choosing" each library. The items from yesterdays organize library command are now showing up as individual song documents in the documents folder. Most of the artwork is gone .

Unfortunately after 24 hours completion of the organize library process I'm still no further than before. I also ran organize library on the internal drive with both external drives disconnected which was a quick process. Checking Spotlight shows one .itl file. Before organize library process there were 2 .itl files showing. There is still the same file folder structure showing as before on my external drive as shown in the screen shot below. That is separate compilation , separate automatically add ,iTunes Media , iTunes Music etc. When I option click iTunes I get a no itunes folder message on my internal drive and both the 2 external drives . If I "choose library" there is a text box asking for name and location of the iTunes Folder

Thanks Mr. Elf and Biku for your posts. I'm organizing the library on the first external drive at the moment and will run the second box when that is complete. I wasn't aware I needed to do this even though I always kept the box checked for "keep Libraries organized" under iTunes/preferences. I guess I was unsure if I needed to also do it at all locations from File Preferences. This mini was purchased new in summer 2007 but I upgraded the internal drive from 80 to 500GB around 2000 and then added the first external drive around 2011. I think iTunes changed storage folders from /music to /media sometime in between ?

Hello Biku; Yes I'm still here and subscribed to the thread. I have iTunes 11.1.3 on all locations , I always upgrade iTunes. The box you mention has always been checked . Here is a screen shot of iTunes in the first external drive When I go to the same screen for the new external drive that I cloned , the iTunes folder has nothing when it is expanded. When I go to iTunes/File/Library/Organize Library..... I get the message showing here in the screen shot. Should I click the first box ?

Biku; I option/opened iTunes and then click the .itl file as mentioned in your post and get a functioning earlier itunes library which does not include all my added media,artwork, and metadata since adding the first external 1.5TB drive Kevin

Thanks Biku , I appreciate your help Yes, the box you mention in your post is checked when I get info on that drive. Screen shot here

Clicked on the new drive , got info then unlocked the sharing and permissions icon and entered my administrator password. Sharing looks correct with read/write setting for myself and read only setting for staff and everyone . Clicked lock shut but still no items in the itunes folder on the new drive

Thanks for the tip Biku but not sure how to do this Here is a screen shot of my USB info on this new drive if it any help

11.1.3 Yes Biku , those items are grayed out and Owners Enabled is No. My previous Western Digital HDDrives were pretty much plug and play, and this latest WD drive showed PC/Mac compatible on the box. After installing it showed zero items when clicking on the drive icon . The installation sheet that was in the box was a plug and play series of 2 pictures so I went to the support/downloads section for this drive at WD.com . I downloaded all 3 patches and the mac formatting files . The second security update patch seemed to erase the mac format file so I installed the first mac format file again.

Here is a screen shot of when I option/launch itunes before selecting the new drive location and the message when I option/start iTunes with the new drive selected..... before I click select choose library Disregard the file at the top named Cream , don't know how the band The Cream ended up with their own seperate file. A fumble finger of mine maybe

Thanks Biku ; iTunes folder is empty when I click on it. Here is a screen shot

okay , google is my friend , the Alt key on my Microsoft keyboard is the same as option on the Apple KB. Choosing the itunes folder on the new external 3TB drive isn't working . I noticed the itunes and itunes media folders' .xml file and .itl file are grayed out and not clickable

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f7-disk-storage-music-library-storage/carbon-copy-cloner-backup-hd-11221/ Hi Goldsdad ; here is the link to the old post where you assisted on the move . Biku , thanks for your post , just bought a Microsoft keyboard this week as I had a stuck key on my original apple keyboard. The windows icon on the keyboard serves the same function as the Option key on the apple ?