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itunes library weirdness
A read-only archive of old serato.com help threads.

itunes library weirdness

Product
Serato DJ Intro
Version
1.0.5
Hardware
Numark MixDeck
Computer
Mac
OS
Platform
-
messiahwannabe 8:21 AM - 2 February, 2012
i keep my itunes library on a separate hard drive. as a dj i obviously have shedloads of music, which i keep on my desktop, and backup regularly to an external usb drive. i have itunes set up on my laptop to read it's iTunes Music Library.xml from a folder on this external drive. however serato dj intro only looks at the itunes file in my user home folder. i cant see how to change it, there arent really any proper preferences here. if i drag my iTunes Music Library.xml file from my external hard drive to the appropriate place in my home folder, serato dj intro will see it, and show all my playlists in the browser - however, none of the actual songs are there.

how do i work around this? i tried making an alias to the correct media folder and putting it in my home.music/itunes folder, but that didn't work.

i have a new(ish) numark mixdeck, a new laptop, and am trying to decide whether to switch over from traktor to serato or not - lack of support for itunes playlist is pretty much the biggest issue for me for both programs. i've been a professional dj for about 10 years already, and buy/pay for new/upgraded software pretty much every year. hope you can help with this!

thanks,
karsten
messiahwannabe 8:23 AM - 2 February, 2012
btw dragging my itunes library to my internal drive isnt an option, its too big.
Serato, Support
David Wood 10:59 PM - 2 February, 2012
Hey messiahwannabe,

You should be able to use the external HD. Have a read of this link: support.apple.com
I figure if you choose the External drive iTunes library when opening iTunes on your Mac Serato should then follow and read from that?? Let me know how you go but in theory this should work.

Regards
Dave W
messiahwannabe 5:23 AM - 7 February, 2012
nope, just tried it, didn't work. is there nowhere in the preferences to set the itunes library file?
Serato, Support
David Wood 8:31 PM - 7 February, 2012
This should work, i'm a bit confused? If you hold down 'option' and then open iTunes application it should give you the option of picking which Library you want to use.. Please run me through what it is thats happening. Can you get to that stage?

Regards
Dave W
messiahwannabe 5:36 AM - 8 February, 2012
sorry, i was being unclear. i opened the link, read the article on how to reset your itunes library file. went to the laptop, held down the option key, opened itunes. a window popped up asking me if i'd like to change my library file or whatever. i said yes, it opened up a window where you can choose your itunes library file. i chose the one on my external hard drive, hit correct, the window closed. itunes opened up, a clone of the one on my desktop, all playlists intact. i clicked on half a dozen songs in half a dozen playlists, all working fine.

next i open up serato. all playlists are there in the itunes section on the widow on the left. i click on one - it's empty. no song titles there whatsoever, just a blank, empty page, taunting me with it's unusabilty.

so, i take it there isn't a place to set the itunes library file in the settings/preferences? i was under the impression music-collection-containing portable hard drives hanging off of laptops was pretty common in the djing world. am i the only person this hapens to? is there a workaround? any suggestions?
Serato, Support
David Wood 11:13 PM - 8 February, 2012
iTunes read's the External drive library but Serato Intro reads the iTunes Library.XML in you music folder. What may have happen is that the XML file within your music folder on your Mac has had an issue so serato can't read it properly.
First close all programs. Then let's rename the file in Music> iTunes> iTunes library.xml to maybe iTunes library1.xml
Then reopen iTunes and play some files. Go back and check in you music>itunes> that a new iTunes library.xml has been created.
If so open Intro again and hopefully this should have worked.
Let me know how you go.
Dave W
messiahwannabe 5:35 AM - 10 February, 2012
sorry, that didn't work!

"First close all programs. Then let's rename the file in Music> iTunes> iTunes library.xml to maybe iTunes library1.xml
Then reopen iTunes and play some files. Go back and check in you music>itunes> that a new iTunes library.xml has been created."

nope, no new .xml file was created when i opened itunes after renaming the itunes library. i tried making an alias of the correct file, and removing "alias" from the title, and putting it in home/music/itunes, that didn't work. i also tried copying and pasting the true .xml file into the itunes folder, that got me the list of playlists to the left again, but again the were all empty of songs.

frustrated here! :/ you you have experience of this working for other people with itunes on external drives?
messiahwannabe 5:36 AM - 10 February, 2012
* that is, "i *also* tried making an alias of the correct file..."
Serato, Support
David Wood 12:58 AM - 23 May, 2012
Sorry Messiahwannabe,

How are you going? go through old posts trying to find people who still need support..

Regards
Dave W
1:00 AM, 6 Jun 2012
This help request has been closed due to inactivity.