iTunes sync between PC and Mac.

Okay, so I went out on Saturday and got a 13" MPB, 2.26GHz.

I have a Dell Inspiron desktop that has a couple of files I want to keep in sync with the Macbook Pro.

I have one hurdle already down with Dropbox - I sync my important documents/files between the desktop and the Mac. However, I would really like to have my music synced between the two iTunes libraries as well. I did a quick Google/forum search on the issue but it seems like people haven't arrived at a conclusive answer or it involves programming with rsync, which I'm not familiar with at all.

Any advice?
Thanks

 

This blog describes the process quite simply:

http://blog.toonetown.com/2006/07/syncing-itunes-library-between-mac-and.html

cheers ...

 

Thanks for the post, but it's only for one-way synchronization... I'm looking for a solution where if I add an album on the Mac, it gets synced back to my PC, and if I add an album on the PC, it gets synced back to the Mac.

 

I am not sure how the Mac OS keeps its stuff, or where it keeps the itunes library file, but you can technically sync the 2.

What you do is use a syncing program on the PC like Syncback SE and sync your iTunes folder (which contains your mp3 music and your itunes library file) with the iTunes folder located on the Mac (which should hopefully have the same folder convention as the Windows side).

When you add an album on any side, iTunes updates both your collection with the physical files and the itunes library file with its information. So this way, you will be syncing both, the mp3 files and the library file.

 

This is the bane of my life, I can tell you. Well, apart from having to use Apples. And in fact many other things which are bigger banes in my life.

So in fact on reconsideration it's one of countless banelettes in my life.

There is one product which claims to do it. However in use I think I wouldn't be entirely wrong in saying that sticking forks into my testicles would be a more fun way of passing the time. It does work, for the most part - and the 'for the most part' bit is the most frustrating. It crashes. It hangs. It doesn't always start the sync.

You might have better luck with it than I did. Just make sure you give it a truly thorough workout with the trial before you hand over your money.

 

Are there any alternatives to that "one product" if it's as buggy as you make it out to be?

 

Not a 'thing' as such - Tuneranger is the only game in town for crossplatform iTunes syncing. There are of course long and slow ways to try and script it yourself, but if Tuneranger is like sticking forks into your testicles, those ways are like having your knackers run over. Several times. With the tyre on fire.

Another alternative is to sigh deeply, go "**** that", forego playcounts and other metadata syncing, share your OS X iTunes music folder (not your library) and go with something like Mediamonkey, j.River Media Jukebox or it's paid-for counterpart that I use on the Windows side, plus Synctoy (Win, free) or Chronosync (not free) / rsync (a faff to script but maybe better than Cs depending on your means / stinginess).

Both of those media programs have auto-discovery, and therefore if you keep the updates to the Mac side, the Windows side will pick up new tracks automatically. In this scenario, the Synctoy / Chronosync / rsync sync can only be one-way (Mac -> Win) as iTunes on the Mac will not pick up changes made to the library. This means that editing of the library, pruning and addition of new tracks must be done solely on the Mac side.

Both of these programs - but in particular the paid-for version of j.River - are hugely superior to iTunes in many areas of library management. Yet while these programs can coexist well with each other and entertain multiple copies working together, iTunes is the hobbling factor here... and the programs have to stoop to iTunes' level if you need interoperability with a Mac.

 

^^^
I also feel your pain. I gave up trying to get this working and just put all the music on one system. Much easier, and now my forks remain pube free !
Then I use the itunes sharing feature to listen to music not great but well you explained the issues pretty well.
a

 

Yup. It's one of a number of reasons why Windows is a better OS for the consumption of media, as opposed to it's creation where OS X has a narrow lead in places. Unfortunately you don't really see these limitations from the outset. Me, I use iPods / iPhones, so especially in terms of the iPhone I'm restricted in what software I can sync with - and that pretty much drives the rest of my available choices.

Very recently I ended up throwing in the towel as Underpantman - having transcoded all of my music to Apple Lossless, it now resides on a single "Pro" with library sharing. I could have left it under iTunes in Windows, but iTunes for Mac of course is better scriptable should I need to do any non-standard library massaging.

I'm really itching for a compelling non-Apple smartphone which is capable of syncing library metadata under Windows and has auto-resume for each podcast. Then I can stick everything back from iTunes/OS X and be back to a much better multi-machine media experience.

 

Palm Pre? http://www.pcworld.com/article/165648/palm_pre_can_sync_with_itunes.html

Okay, normally I would take your guys' advice about just sharing the library, but I'm going out of the country for a whole month (and a few more weeks) so I'll probably try and just copy my iTunes library over and tweak the Library file to save metadata.