[SOLVED] Problem transferring files between itunes libraries: error -50

[AnnaK2]

I recently replaced the external HDD that is connected to my (headless) Mac Mini and which I use as media center, with a WD 6TB Mybook (USB 3.0). The external HDD is used to store my Itunes Library.

The Mac Mini runs OSX Mavericks 10.9.5 and Itunes 11.4 (I did not upgrade to Itunes 12 because I do not want to lose the option to easily drag and drop between libraries in the left column..).

With my previous external WD HDD I never had file transfer issues, but I am now frequently having issues when I try to transfer files from Itunes (11.4.0.18) on my PC to Itunes on the Mac Mini. I can see/read (play) the content of both libraries perfectly in iTunes on both the Mac and the PC, and I can copy files from the Mac's to the PC's iTunes libraries. but file transfer to the Mac library is not possible. The error message I get is "A problem has occured when downloading the file 'xxxxx'. An unknown error has occured (-50). Check if a network connection has been established.'

However, if this happens and when I restart the Mac Mini, I can tranfer files again. Unfortunately most of the times the problem is back the next day (the Mac Mini is set to go into sleep mode during night hours).

Both the Mac Mini and my PC have fixed IP-addresses in my home network and I have no other issues in the network / home sharing. Streaming to the Apple TV for example works fine.

Any thoughts? A problem with rights on the Mac Mini's external HDD perhaps, and any advice on how to check and fix this? I already checked that the 'ingnore ownership rights on this volume' box for the external HDD is ticked.

The Mac has an admin account, but the account that is set to automatically launch and that is always running Itunes is a standard user account. I had the same account setup when I had the previous HDD and this never led to problems.

Thank you.

 

[MacTech]

That's an I/O error code. Launch Disk Utility and repair the external drive. How is the external drive formatted?

What are you transferring and how are you transferring?

Why are you checking the box to ignore permissions on the drive?

 

[4SaleUSAadviser]

Assuming that the iTunes Media folder will be in the same path on both machines, then you can do the following:

Copy your media folder to the new machine. If it lives in /Users/Sorin/Music/iTunes on the source machine, copy it to the same location on the destination machine.
In iTunes on the source machine, select File -> Export Library to generate an XML file of your library's metadata, including the paths to the media files.
In iTunes on the destination machine, make sure that the iTunes Media folder is set correctly in its advanced Preferences panel; then, import the xml file you just exported.

The above process should be faster than dragging/dropping files through iTunes, though the initial copy of your media will take time depending on how large it is.

 

[MacTech]

You should definitely repair the disk first. I would use DiskWarrior.

 

[AnnaK2]

Apologies for my very late response and thank you for your suggestions. Repairing the disk with Disk Utility solved the issue.
Odd that this happened with a brand new disk. Fortunately I havent had any problems since.