Dear Lazyweb... (itunes edition)
- Jul. 23rd, 2009 at 11:55 AM
Dear LazyWeb,
Having long since surrendered and moved my music into iTunes, I find myself with several itunes related questions.
Having long since surrendered and moved my music into iTunes, I find myself with several itunes related questions.
- iTunes tracks are now DRM-free, which is great. However, I have a number of older tracks that still have DRM on them. Is there an easy way to strip the DRM off the files, or am I going to have to do it the hard way? (convert to mp3, or burn to audio CD and re-rip, etc.)
- Is there an easy way to share an iTunes database across machines? I have itunes on my desktop,, where I sync my ipod, but I also want to be able to use the same itunes DB on my laptop, since the laptop outputs to the TV in HD and the desktop does not, and I love having pretty visualizations on the TV, especially while crafting or for parties. It seems like the sort of thing that one ought to be able to do. I know I can just copy the DB files across, but I don't want top have to do that every time I want to listen to music on the laptop. Complicating matters slightly is that the actual music files sit on a third machine, my linux server, acessible to both machines via a mapped drive.

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Comments
2. there's an option to turn on sharing of the itunes library, maybe that's what you need? i forget where it is, tho, sorry!
Problem 1, assuming you've already paid for all the upgrades ($0.30/song for those that could be upgraded, which was worth it for me), used to be solvable by an app called Hymn. I don't know whether that still exists or not or whether it works with current iTunes, but it might be a place to start looking. I still have a bunch of songs that iTunes no longer sells. I'm just backing them up for now.
At any rate, whether or not they still require you to pay to upgrade all your existing iTunes purchases before downloading any new ones, if the new format costs more, they're unlikely to want to give people any sort of way of doing it for free. But of course, there are nearly always various hacks or workarounds available out there for things like this.
Regarding syncing an iTunes library between two computers, I think they actively try to prevent that, because it would be an easy way for people to share music they'd downloaded with other people. The purpose you're talking about - wanting to be able to listen to the same tracks on your desktop and laptop - seems like it ought to be legal, but I don't know if there's a way they could make that possible without also making it possible to sync libraries with other people's computers.
However, once again, there's always ways around it. I know where all the iTunes-related files live on a Mac, so just copying them over would probably work to sync two Macs. But I don't know where they're located on a PC. So depending on which platform you're on, either I could tell you directly what to look for and where to find it, or it might require a bit of exploring.
Basically, on a Mac, look in /users/[your username]/Music/iTunes and you'll find the following files:
iTunes Library (a database file in a proprietary format)
iTunes Library Extras.itdb
iTunes Library Genius.itdb
iTunes Music Library.xml
iTunes Music (a folder containing the actual music files)
If you've already got the music files on both computers and just want to sync the database info for things like ratings, play counts, etc., then you'll just need to copy over the first four files. If you're syncing for the first time and don't have any of the music on the second computer, you'll want to copy the whole lot - basically everything in the iTunes folder.
I should note that I haven't actually tried this, but as far as I can see it should work, because there don't appear to be any iTunes-related files anywhere in the Library or Preferences of anywhere like that that I've found. And of course I have no idea if the files are all neatly in one place on Windows they way they are on a Mac. But it could be a starting point, anyway.
Just so you know, the e-mail in question wasn't spam, it's from a company I've bought stuff from in the past. Anyway, thought you might find it useful...
Using the burn to audio CD then rip to iTunes method does indeed strip the DRM but it also degrades the audio quality somewhat each time you convert the file from one format to another. I know at least some software packages that strip DRM employ a similar methodology, essentially burning your files to a virtual CD and then ripping them to iTunes, thus resulting in the same file degradation. Depending on how much of an audiophile you are, it may be worth your while to upgrade your library via the iTunes Store.
Regarding sharing, it's already been mentioned that turning on sharing in iTunes should solve your problem. The source computer should allow sharing. The other computer(s) should look for shared libraries (these are separate settings on the Share tab of the iTunes preferences). The location of your media files (on a Linux box) shouldn't matter. iTunes on the primary computer is essentially streaming media to the secondary computer, so it's pretty much the same as playing the media directly on the primary computer.
I have no idea how to help you with the network issue, especially since it is a Windows network (although a switch on your network shouldn't make a difference), but sharing in general shouldn't be a problem, since it is listen only (a bit like listening to the radio. You can listen but you can't copy/keep what you listen to).
Thinking about your networking issue a bit more... Can your two windows machines see each other over your network? If not, this may be the source of your problem. I know very little about how to change that. I did help someone straighten out a network sharing issue several years ago, but found all of my answers by searching google, so I would say start there. You'll probably want to start with the usual suspects, check your file sharing and firewall settings (if any) on each machine.
All kidding aside, here are a couple of links to articles that may or may not be useful to you depending on your setup and what you've already tried.
Straight from the House of Jobs: iTunes for Windows: Music Sharing With Windows Internet Connection Firewall
An awesome Lifehacker article: Hack Attack: Share your iTunes music library over your home network. I *puffy heart* Lifehacker. They have the best geeky advice.