My set up is one iMac, with two user accounts, which we never log out of – just using fast user switching, so both accounts are semi permanently logged in. I also have a NAS.

I dropped all my mp3s etc into a folder on the NAS, and then set about mapping iTunes’ prefs to point to it.

The problem comes in here. Because both users are logged in, it’ll actually mount a second instance of the NAS – which means the path is slightly different for each user.

For user 1 it’ll be /vol/music/

For user 2 it’ll be /vol/music-1/

which is fine, until you restart the mac and log into user 2 first, and launch itunes, because the NAS mount now is music – not music-1, so iTunes won’t be able to find anything.

the reason I’ve done this is so that each user can maintain their own iTunes stats (playcounts, playlists etc).

It’s fine, as long as I never log out, or if i do make sure that one account logs in first.

Will your procedure solve this issue? THANKS IN ADVANCE :)

I’m trying to do the same thing, but with no success.

I have a MacBook Pro that I store all my music. I wanted to have my iMac at home to access MBP’s iTunes Library when I’m home. Didn’t like the Home Sharing, because I would have to “sync” manually and it’s actually keeping two separate libraries.

If I could add a file from iMac and it gets reflected on MBP’s library, I’ll be happy.

I tried to set file sharing and tried to access the library file through the network, but I kept getting “unknown error message (13014).”

Any advice would be helpful.

I have an iPod shuffle (for my kids lullabys), an iPod Nano (for my runs), an iPhone (cause it’s so damn cool!!) and then three PC (strangely no Macs)
When I plug any iPod device into any of my computers I want it not to “reject” it based on sychronization with “another library”.
I also use the Nike+ iPod so after each run I plug it into a computer to update my runs.

What I have now is the solution posted here where I run all my computers from one library.

This mostly works, except for the nagging issues that Jenny points out during her discussion, namely:
1 – If you are using a laptop and want to take all of your music with you, this is not the method for you. All of the music is stored on a networked drive, so it is only accessible when on the network. (You could set it up so your music can be streamed over the internet, but this article will not go over that).
This I can deal with since I rarely want “all my music” with me… my syncd iPods take care of what and when I want to listen to.

You can only make updates to one music library at a time — you cannot have iTunes open on both computers and make changes. Make changes on one, then open the other one.
Acccccckk! This is a pain in the ASS!! Since when do I “turn off iTunes”? It’s always on, should be on, should stay on. This sucks.

You need to close iTunes on the computer you made changes on, and reopen it on all other computers to see changes
As above… SUCKY!!!

PLUS One she doesn’t mention, but worth mentioning… if your internet connection falls out (ie wireless laptop), then iTunes gives you ERROR messages that it can’t save the library… buffering issues with live streaming I can deal with… but error messages suck.

So after thinking and trying… I’m ready to try something NEW! I am already a huge fan of Microsoft (did I just say that?) Live Mesh. Finally, they are starting to get it, and Live Mesh is a great example of what the future will bring with cloud computing. (Why it’s limited to 5Gb and why there is no “paid upgrade” option is another story…)

This is where I need help though…. thinking logically about it… instead of “Accessing the remote library” as Jenny teaches, I want to SYNCHRONIZE my library. Note, I have also >400Gb of music and I do NOT want to SYNCHRONIZE my music files, JUST the library that keeps track of all the meta data (tracks played, album artwork, genres, playlists, all this great stuff…)

The advantage here is that the Library file (iTunes library.itl) is relatively small (1.5Mb) and can be easily synchronized in one of my Live Mesh folders.

What I don’t understand though – is two-fold:
1 – What do I do with all the other files? Do I need to sync these too?

iTunes Library Extras
iTunes Library Genius
iTunes Library.xml files too

2 – What about the other folders, do they need to be syncd too? Namely:

Album Artwork
iPod Games
Mobile Applications

I sense I’m on the verge of a breakthrough… can anyone help put the last pieces together? Then I can make a “Setup” Entry and we can finally SOLVE this!

My lib is 160gb + and this is not pheasable….fingers crossed