# automatically update itunes playlist



## ichadsey (Feb 24, 2004)

So here's the situation...
I have G4 acting as a itunes server for all of the computers in my house. We have 3 windows machines and 2 macs. We all share the same itunes library from the G4. The problem is that I would like to find a way so every computer in the house has the capability of updating the server's itunes playlist as well as their personal itunes playlist automatically updates accordingly. Say for instance one of the windows user decides to upload one of his CDs to the server so the rest of the computers in the house can see it or if one of the users decides to delete or rename some of the songs.

Anyone have suggestions?


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## ElDiabloConCaca (Feb 24, 2004)

You may need some third-party software to accomplish this, as it goes against the premise of "sharing music" in the sense that if I were sharing my music, I wouldn't want someone changing my playlists.

What about making each user's iTunes library file a symbolic link or alias to the master playlist file?  I can't say this would work or won't screw anything up, but it may be a starting point.


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## ichadsey (Feb 24, 2004)

not a bad idea but i think that would cause a few problems. I'll try it though. I found an applescript that allows me to edit the server's playlist, which works great, but the only problem is that the windows users can't do the same. Also, the other users in the house want to be able to put the mp3s from the server on to their ipods, but you can't when you're sharing.  If there was a way to make an applescript that would automatically scan the server's hard drive and then update the playlist every so often, then that would be perfect. So all any user would have to do is just drag an mp3 onto the server's hard drive and the apple script would automatically pick it up and organize it into it's playlist.


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## Randman (Feb 24, 2004)

If you share music from one computer, why not have it be the sole source? Manually update iPods and rips CDs from the one computer acting as the hub.
  If you have the computers connected via wire or AirPort, you could manually drag mp3s over from one computer to another, but if you manually manage it, you could do the same via iPod and an iPod manager such as Podutil.
  And finally, this thread didn't need to be posted in several forums. One is almost always enough.


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## ichadsey (Feb 24, 2004)

right, for copying reasons manually dragging the mp3s from the hub to an ipod is what we are currently doing right now. in fact, two of the users just use the server's itunes folder as their own so they don't have to copy the files from the server to their computer, and then finaly to his ipod. however, this still doesn't solve how we view all of the mp3s on the hub. if he adds or deletes a song to or from the server then it only modifies his playlist, while screwing up everyone elses playlist. the playlist on the hub is more like a snapshot of all of the mp3s on the computer. what i would like instead is a constantly updated playlist of all the mp3s we currently own.
and i apologize for posting more then once. is there a way i can delete the post in the other forum?


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## Randman (Feb 24, 2004)

Mods should be able to delete it.

  I think I understand what you want, but not sure how to do it. One way might be to have everyone not delete any music from the library. Create a playlist for new files added to the library so everyone has a few days to update their playlists. And have the playlists on the server only be updated for new additions.
  If someone wants to delete something, they can delete it from their own playlist and leave the master in the library and not mess with other's stuff.


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## octane (Feb 24, 2004)

A quick and dirty way to this might be a VNC client / server setup; everyone gets to access the G4 be they mac or pc.

Not very elegant, but it would work...


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## ichadsey (Feb 24, 2004)

i like that idea. still not automatic, but much cleaner then what we were doing. i'm going to test that out and see what the other guys in the house have to say about that. i noticed that in itunes you can add a smart playlist that will add mp3s that were added after a certain date. but i'm entirely sure if that will do the trick since it would probably only do the files that you added.

thanks


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## ichadsey (Feb 24, 2004)

octane said:
			
		

> A quick and dirty way to this might be a VNC client / server setup; everyone gets to access the G4 be they mac or pc.
> 
> Not very elegant, but it would work...



what's a VNC client sever setup?


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## Randman (Feb 24, 2004)

Check out here for some good tips.


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## octane (Feb 24, 2004)

ichadsey said:
			
		

> what's a VNC client sever setup?



VNC [not sure what it stands for] is way of controlling a computer.

Here's the massively simplified explanation: if you install the server on the G4 and then the client [there are both mac and pc versions] on the various computers in the house, you can control the G4 in a window just as if you were sat right in front of it.

Here's a pc / unix / linux version and here's a mac version.

Let us know how you go on...


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## ichadsey (Feb 24, 2004)

octane said:
			
		

> VNC [not sure what it stands for] is way of controlling a computer.
> 
> Here's the massively simplified explanation: if you install the server on the G4 and then the client [there are both mac and pc versions] on the various computers in the house, you can control the G4 in a window just as if you were sat right in front of it.
> 
> ...



one of my roommates is trying to convince me into turning the G4 server into a linux server running itunes. i found an article on it, but it still doesn't seem to solve my problem. i'm going to try running OSXvnc like you suggested and see if that helps any.
Does anybody out there know how to write a simple applescript that just scans the HD for new files, and then updates accordingly on itunes?


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## ohmelas (Feb 26, 2004)

I like this thread as it addresses one of my concerns. I'm using itunes on two classic OS 9.1 machines. I love my upgraded G3 500Mhz and keep getting milage out of them.

My current set up has my Mp3's on a (40GB) hard drive Partition on Computer B.  Computer B is OS 9.1 on a PowerMac 9600 (G3500, 1.5GB, 120GBHD, 32MB PCI VRAM,etc.etc.). Computers A (OS 9.1) has access to this shared drive and every so often I just trash the library and ask it to rebuild it on this drive. I don't listen to a lot of iTunes on Computer A since A and B are in the same room. It's easier just to play them on B.

Computer C complicates things. It's OS 10.3. _Whew._ It has the real itunes library on it that I manage everything from and just like computer A shares the drive on Computer B. Computer C is a Powerbook G4 and only has a 40GB hard drive. I can't manage the whole iTunes Library on the G4 so that is why I had to export it to the 40GB partition in the first place. 

Computer C is the center of my Mac universe unless I'm ipodding it, so that works out okay! Occasionally, I have to burn CD's and rip MP3's. My ipod works great with the G4 and with the latest version of OS X and iTunes my system is more integrated on the G4.

Here's my questions for this forum:


 Are there any apple scripts or other methods that anyone knows about that would allow my OSX upon boot to automatically see the Hard Drive on Computer B. Every time I boot up I have to Apple-K to log onto server and log into Comptuer B. If I could do that automatically on Computer A (OS 9.1) that would be cool too. Help me out.
 Are there any apple scripts that would on the two Classic Machines (OS 9.1), Computers A and Comptuers B, that would erase the itunes library on boot and reupdate it. I stress the boot because every night while I sleep I run all my maintenance scripts. The hard drives are defragmented and checked for errors and then the machine shuts off. I also run a backup program every week, at night as well, to protect my data in the aweful event of misfortune. Mac's don't crash but I'm not taking chances. I'm happy to be a really responsible computer guy. The Apple then gets turned on at 5:30AM daily with my coffee in the morning and I'm ready to go.
 I'm going to add another Legacy Mac soon to the mix and would like to put two more bottomless pit hard drives in it for my multi-media center. I'd like to replace my DVD drive and run my Mac on a television for DVD's and such. I'd like to then have the ability to rip DVD's (convert them to Quicktime Pro Files so that I can watch the movies later for my personal use), listen to itunes files and such. Any very cheap suggestions? (I'm thinking desktop Beige G3 with S-Video Out on a video card, DVD and a 240GB Hard Drive.) Does anyone know of any wireless solutions for legacy Macs? Since they won't release an iBox I'm making my own. I like Classic OS 9.1 so some ripping software for DVD's would be helpful there.


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## ElDiabloConCaca (Feb 26, 2004)

About the connect to server on startup thing, try these two things:

1) For the OS 9 computers, using the Chooser to connect to the shared disk, click the checkbox to the right of the share name and that should make the computer connect to that share upon startup.

2) For the OS X computer, this feature doesn't exist AFAIK in the "Connect to Server" dialog box, but perhaps if you made an alias of the share and put that into the login items it may accomplish the desired effect.


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## ichadsey (Feb 26, 2004)

ElDiabloConCaca said:
			
		

> About the connect to server on startup thing, try these two things:
> 
> 2) For the OS X computer, this feature doesn't exist AFAIK in the "Connect to Server" dialog box, but perhaps if you made an alias of the share and put that into the login items it may accomplish the desired effect.



that works but you still have to manually put in the password each time upon stating up. for some reason, even asking it to do so, the computer refuses to remember the password to the server in the keychain.

So i downloaded the "Chicken of the VNC" and the OSXvnc and installed them on both the server and my computer. It works great if you only want to see what the server is doing. otherwise, i can't control the server from my computer. do i just have the settings screwed up?
thanks


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## ohmelas (Feb 26, 2004)

This is perfect for an Apple script. Are there any Applescript gurus out there? 

The function of deleting a file and running a function of a program can be handled with a script. (i.e. the deletion of the library file for iTunes in OS 9).

The function of applescript in having a server log on is another function. In OS 9 there was a client program that you could run with Appleshare IP that did the same thing. I've seen schools do the same thing with some programs that run on boot. 

Any script gurus here?


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## ichadsey (Feb 26, 2004)

ohmelas said:
			
		

> This is perfect for an Apple script. Are there any Applescript gurus out there?
> 
> The function of deleting a file and running a function of a program can be handled with a script. (i.e. the deletion of the library file for iTunes in OS 9).
> 
> ...



Yes please! That's exactly what i've been asking for! I remember in OS 9 recording an applescript was as easy as opening a document. Now in os x it has become a little more difficult.


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## ohmelas (Feb 26, 2004)

I'm a programmer: I'm lazy too. I'll check out these scripts cause that's what its going to take...This might be a while so some one better adept at this HEEELLLP!

http://developer.apple.com/documentation/AppleScript/


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## ohmelas (Feb 26, 2004)

I found some cool iTunes scripts. There is a world of em out there. Check this out while we're solving these problems:

http://www.apple.com/applescript/itunes/index.html

http://www.malcolmadams.com/itunes/index.php


If you find one on here while I'm looking too let's post a link...


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## ichadsey (Mar 16, 2004)

so.... anyone find an automatic script yet that will do the trick?


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## cybergoober (Mar 17, 2004)

For connecting to shares upon login in Mac OS X create an AppleScript containing the following:
	
	



```
mount volume "afp://user_name:pass_word@IP_Address/share_name"
```
Replace "user_name" "pass_word" "IP_Address" and "share_name" with the appropriate values. 
Save it as an application, and put that app in your Startup Items/Login Items (depending on whether you're running Panther/Jaguar respectively).

This has worked for me. Another thing I like about that is the resulting mounted share doesn't automatically open like it does via "Connect to Server".


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## ichadsey (Mar 17, 2004)

cybergoober said:
			
		

> For connecting to shares upon login in Mac OS X create an AppleScript containing the following



that's great if i want to mount the server on my computer. however, that still does not solve the problem. i'm more looking for a way to automatically update the servers itunes playlist automatically (say for instance when the computer starts up). 
i just don't understand why apple refuses to enable itunes to AUTOMATICALLY scan your hard drive for any new mp3s and therefore update the playlist.
if itunes doesn't do this, is there another application out there that does?


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