Tech Thought

I’ve come across a problem - my main computer (a MacBook Pro) has all my music on it, and is hooked up to my iPhone. But I’ve just got a nice big flat screen TV and its connected to my stereo. So I want to be able to play music/movies I buy on iTunes through my stereo and on my shiny new TV.

Unfortunately my laptop is used for work and isn’t always at home, so I can’t just share my library and play music etc over the air (this doesn’t work for movies anyway).  So I’ve come up with a solution that works really well, and is completely automated.

Step 1: Buy a Mac Mini

Yes, I could have bought a nice Apple TV - but why buy a cut down Mac Mini when you can have the real thing for only a couple of hundred more $$? I bought the bottom of the line Mac Mini with a Bluetooth and Wireless Mouse from JB Hi-Fi (local retailer here in Melbourne, Australia) and now I have a fully functioning internet enabled PC in my living room.

Step 2: Synchronise the Mac Mini with my iTunes Library

Now that I have my Mac Mini setup and hooked up to my stereo and TV, I need my master iTunes library (on my laptop) on my Mac Mini. 

To do this you need to perform a few steps:

Enable File Sharing on your source

Firstly, you need to enable file sharing on your computer with the master iTunes library.  You should be careful when you do this not to share anything you don’t want to.  I only allow sharing for people who know my username and password (me).  To enable file sharing:

1. Click the Apple Logo in the top left-hand corner of the screen
2. Choose System Preferences
3. Select Sharing
4. Check the box next to File Sharing
5. Now set your file sharing preferences.  I only share for myself and turn off all other access (so you need my username and password to access my music)

File sharing is now enabled on your master (for me this is my Macbook Pro)

Mount your source from the Mac Mini

Now that file sharing is enabled on your master you need to connect your destination Mac (Mac Mini for me) to your master.  To do this, open up Finder.  Your master should now appear on the left hand side below the heading Shared.  Select the master, and then click the Connect As option in the top right-hand corner of the finder window.  Enter the username and password for the master.

You should now be able to browse to your master iTunes library (usually in /Users/accountname/Music/iTunes).  You have now mounted your source library from the Mac Mini!  Now to get the music across…

Sync your music!

Okay, so you’ve bought a shiny new Mac Mini, enabled file sharing on your iTunes master, and connected the Mac Mini up to your master.  Now for the fun part - synchronising your music between the master and the mini.  To do this, you need to issue a command in the terminal application.  To open the terminal, do the following:

1. Open Finder
2. Click Applications
3. Choose Utilities
4. Select Terminal

A window will appear with a command prompt.  If you have never access the command line before, don’t freak out!  It’s not scary, just very powerful.  We need to find out what the path is for your master (which you’ve just connected to).  Type the following:

cd /Volumes
ls

This will list all the connected volumes on your Mac Mini.  One of them should be something like “firstlastname” - whatever your username is on your master PC.  Type:

cd accountname/Music/iTunes
ls

(Replace accountname with your username) - you should see folders like Album Artwork and iTunes Music.  If you do, great!  You’ve just found the path to your master iTunes library. Now follow these steps to open up your Mac Mini’s iTunes directory (this is where we are going to copy all the music into):

cd ~/Music/iTunes

Then type the following command (this will take a while) to start copying all your music across to your Mac Mini:

rsync -a -v --progress --block-size=12800
    /Volumes/accountname/Music/iTunes .

This will take a while (two hours for me) while the Mac Mini copies all the music across from your master computer.  Remember to replace ‘accountname’ with your path on your master.  Once complete, all your music is now on your Mac Mini!

Now anytime you want to resynchronise, simply run the command above and only the new music/videos will be copied.

Step 3: Sign into the iTunes Store

Now that you have all your music on the Mac Mini, you need to sign into the iTunes store with your details from the master.  This will authorise your Mac Mini to play any music and videos you have purchased from the iTunes store.

Step 4: Press the Menu button on your remote!

Now that you’ve signed into the iTunes store, its time to press the Menu button on your Mac Mini’s remote - because you can now use Front Row to listen and watch all the music from your master!