Could not then get Mac formatted ipod to synch with large library of music on PC.
Hello physiologic & welcome
As you first synced the iPod on your Mac, you would need to reformat/sync the iPod on the Windows PC as you can't sync with both Win OS/Mac OS concurrently.
More info can be found at the Apple site:
iPod: Frequently Asked Questions
Bought an external hard drive and copied PC itunes library to it, but am having no success transfering library on external hard drive to Macbook itunes. Importing doesn't seem to allow entire file to transfer, instead requires me to move song-by-song - not an option!
I'm guessing you have quite a large music collection? Connect the Ext HD to the MacBook, then double-click the drives icon and when the Finder window opens showing the drives contents, drag the music files/folders onto your desktop. If you have a gazillion music files, then it may be best to drag them bit by bit so you don't incur the wrath of the spinning beachball ....
If the music files are not in a folder on the Ext drive then create several folders on your desktop and drag a bunch at a time then when finished you can drag each folder onto an iTunes window or Dock icon to start the import.
What about the song file types? Are there any .wma or other file types that iTunes won't recognise? While iTunes for Windows OS gives users the option to convert a .wma file on import, iTunes on Mac OS doesn't do this. So when you are importing to iTunes on the MacBook, you may need to separate the music files that need prior converting before they will be *recognised*.
If the songs were on your iPod you could use a 3rd Party app called Senuti
(iTunes backwards) to transfer the songs onto the MacBook. You just connect up your iPod, quit iTunes when it launches, launch Senuti and select the song/s and click the
"Transfer" button to have the songs placed in your Music Directory.
There is also an option to store the music library on an Ext Drive if this is preferable to you. Here are some links explaining this further:
iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Music folder
How Do I Store My iTunes Library on an External Hard Drive?
How To: keep your iTunes library on an external hard drive
