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I've succeeded in copying a family member's iTunes Media folder to a share exclusively for their iTunes media on the RN526X, and I have left their iTunes library files on their Mac, as per Netgear recommendation. After redirecting iTunes to the new location of their iTunes Media folder, I consolidated their library (File>Library>Organize Library>Consolidate files), and now everything plays back on their Mac exactly as it did before I copied their iTunes Media folder to the NAS.
I would like to be able to play music from this family member's iTunes library on my Mac, so I tried enabling iTunes Server on the share. When I launch iTunes from my Mac, I can see the iTunes Server, but when I successfully log in with the password I set up, I am always greeted with a message stating "[iTunes Server name] has no music."
I thought maybe the folder structure might have something to do with it (the Netgear help article for this topic shows no folder structure on the share in its example). So I copied a few music files from [Share]/iTunes Media/Music/[Artist] to [Share], but I am still greeted with the same "has no music" message. I also tried creating a Music folder in [Share]/Music (mimicking treating [Share] as iTunes Media), but after copying a few artist folders to [Share]/Music, that didn't work either.
After extensive searching on this and other forums, I've so far been unable to get around the "has no music" message. I know Home Sharing is also an option (although not as convenient because it requires the other Mac to be on as well), and I haven't tried Plex yet, so if I can't get iTunes Server to work, I understand Plex can likely do what I want (and more).
Some additional notes: My RN526X is running the latest firmware (6.9.3). And all Macs are running the latest versions and updates of macOS (10.13 High Sierra) and iTunes. Aside from HTTP/HTTPS, Antivirus, File Search, and iTunes Server, the only NAS system service I currently have enabled is SMB. I tried enabling AFP, but that didn't help. I also have UPnP disabled on my router (and NAS), but enabling that in both places didn't help either.
I fixed it! I did some digging around in the logs, and discovered the source of the problem. Turns out it was a file permissions issue. In File Access for the share, I had disabled (unchecked) permissions for Everyone. Once I set it to Read Only or Read/Write, iTunes Server worked. I'm glad it was a simple fix.
Although I wish iTunes Server were smarter about categories: stuff that isn't categorized as music in the family member's library (Podcasts, Audiobooks, etc.) is listed under Music. Oh well, at least I have access to their music from my Mac now! 🙂
FWIW, you don't need the itunes server to accomplish your goal. You can simply add the NAS share to your Mac's itunes library (in addition to the family member's)
As the NAS admin I've already given my user account read-only permission on the family member's share. I don't want to copy any of their music to my library, only play it on the NAS from my Mac.
If I can do this without using iTunes Server, won't I have to maintain a separate set of iTunes library files on my Mac?
It wouldn't need to be a separate set of library files. You should be able to add the media to your existing itunes library.
Thanks, but I don't want to add any of their files to my library (wouldn't that double the space they occupied on the NAS?). Also, I don't see how this method would auto-update the available music whenever the family member added or changed anything (wouldn't I have to manually track and add any additions they made by always having to Add to Library?). I want to keep the libraries separate, and just be able to play/stream their library to my Mac.
I wish I could get iTunes Server to recognize the music on the share. Any ideas about additional troubleshooting steps I could take?
@ReadyNASser wrote: (wouldn't that double the space they occupied on the NAS?).
No, it just increases the size of the database. There's only one copy of the music.
@ReadyNASser wrote: (wouldn't I have to manually track and add any additions they made by always having to Add to Library?).
You have to do that even with the server, since they are saving their database on their own mac. The only way to avoid it is to have a single library database on the NAS - which would require you to either get the itunes server running on the NAS, or use plex or ReadyDLNA with a different app on the mac.
I wish I could get iTunes Server to recognize the music on the share. Any ideas about additional troubleshooting steps I could take?
I am puzzled on why it isn't, though I haven't run it for several years now. Maybe download the log zip file and look there for clues. I think the log you'd want is called forked-daapd.log (though it's been a while and I might be misremembering that).
@ReadyNASserwrote: (wouldn't that double the space they occupied on the NAS?).
No, it just increases the size of the database. There's only one copy of the music.
Interesting, I didn't realize that. Is that because of the Btrfs file system and its use of checksums? I have bit-rot protection and compression (as well as auto-defrag) all turned on for the share. So hypothetically, if I have a file of a particular size with a particular checksum value stored in Share A, and I copy (not move) it to Share B, the NAS won't actually duplicate that file in its entirety, just note that a copy has been made in Share B? That's pretty cool. 🙂
Is the folder structure I have set up, where each family member gets their own share for iTunes media (I've named each share Music-[user name], and placed the iTunes Media folder in each), tenable if I want to use Emby or Plex (I have no experience with either)?
Thanks so much for the info about what software iTunes Server is actually using, StephenB! I downloaded the log zip file, but unfortunately there was no log called forked-daapd. Does the absence of this log tell us anything (perhaps the iTunes Server's not even running)? I can still see the iTunes Server and log into it within iTunes with the password, so I'm not sure why there's no log file present on my system.
I searched for the forked-daapd project and read some about it. It seems to require configuring via a web interface at http://forked-daapd.local:3689 or http://[server IP]:3689. I tried and I'm not able to access any web interface that may be present (is it not supported/needed in Netgear’s implementation?).
Are you able to get iTunes Server to work with your current setup?
@ReadyNASserwrote: (wouldn't that double the space they occupied on the NAS?).
No, it just increases the size of the database. There's only one copy of the music.
Interesting, I didn't realize that. Is that because of the Btrfs file system and its use of checksums?
I think I need to clarify.
With iTunes you have the music/video itself, and then you also have an iTunes database where iTunes keeps information on those music and videos.
If I understand your situation, right now the family member has the music/video on the NAS, but the database files are on their mac. You can do the same thing by just adding those folders to your own iTunes and only the database files would be on your mac. BTRFS isn't involved.
@ReadyNASser wrote: I searched for the forked-daapd project and read some about it. It seems to require configuring via a web interface at http://forked-daapd.local:3689 or http://[server IP]:3689. I tried and I'm not able to access any web interface that may be present (is it not supported/needed in Netgear’s implementation?).
Are you able to get iTunes Server to work with your current setup?
Forked-daapd is what your NAS is already running as it's iTunes Server.
I haven't tried setting up the iTunes server in the NAS for some years - this week is pretty crazy, so I might not get to it for a while.
I fixed it! I did some digging around in the logs, and discovered the source of the problem. Turns out it was a file permissions issue. In File Access for the share, I had disabled (unchecked) permissions for Everyone. Once I set it to Read Only or Read/Write, iTunes Server worked. I'm glad it was a simple fix.
Although I wish iTunes Server were smarter about categories: stuff that isn't categorized as music in the family member's library (Podcasts, Audiobooks, etc.) is listed under Music. Oh well, at least I have access to their music from my Mac now! 🙂
