Importing iTunes 4.7.1 to newer Mac

avalon · 12-03-2012, 02:56 PM

All my iTunes materials are on a pre-Intel Mac using iTunes 4.7.1. My new main computer is Intel (running 10.6.8) and I want to move my libraries and playlists over to the new machine, both machines are on a home network. I can import individual songs but not playlists. Also I can't import things for the songs like my rating, notes, last played, number of times played, etc. I have tried finding something like an iTunes 5 or whatever the lowest level of iTunes is that can accept a 4.7.1 playlist but can't. My plan would be to install an old iTunes on the new machine and let that iTunes convert up my playlist. Then I could continue downloading the next level up of iTunes, let them update the list, over and over, until I have a functioning modern iTunes with all my song data. But I can't find any Mac iTunes that will work. What versions do I need and where can I download them, please?

NaOH · 12-03-2012, 03:08 PM

What OS is on the old Mac?

Quote:

Originally Posted by avalon


	I can import individual songs but not playlists. Also I can't import things for the songs like my rating, notes, last played, number of times played, etc.

How have you tried to do this that you know you can't import some of the information on to the new Mac?

avalon · 12-03-2012, 05:18 PM

Old Mac is running 10.4.11.

File/Add to Library.../Old_Computer/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/Album (folder). This method copies the songs to the new computer's iTunes but has no ratings for the songs. Using the same scheme but opting for the iTunes Library instead of an album makes iTunes do nothing.

File/Library/Import Playlist.../Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/iTunes Library makes iTunes do nothing. File/Library/Import Playlist.../Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/Album again does nothing, going further into the Album folder lets me import 1 song at a time, still with no rating info.

From the old computer exporting playlist gives me a .xml file that doesn't seem to do anything, it's just a text list.

Sharing across the 2 computers brings Old_Compute's Music as a left column choice, but clicking it brings an error message that the current iTunes release (10, 9, and 8 on different install attempts) is incompatible with the old playlist format.

I think that's all I've done other than just copying a file (song) or folder (album) directly from one iTunes Music to another but those copies don't show up in iTunes even after a reboot; no great surprise I guess but I tried. So I can get either one album folder (no subfolders) or one song at a time, both bringing only the song files and no ratings.

Thanks

DeltaMac · 12-03-2012, 05:38 PM

Too bad you didn't upgrade your iTunes as time went on... The iTunes 4.7.1 versions is older than OS X 10.4. - and, in fact was available when OS X 10.1 was still the current system version
Maybe you can download and install a somewhat newer version - on your old Mac. Updating your iTunes library to some intermediate iTunes version might give you the possibility to then continue to update to a newer version, until you are current to your new Mac.
You can find some older iTunes versions here - http://www.ihackintosh.com/2009/06/d...r-windows-mac/
The version 7.7.1 might be a good one to try.

NaOH · 12-03-2012, 05:38 PM

First of all, the old Mac can at least run iTunes 9.1.1 since I recently put that on my G3 Mac running the same OS. But I don't think that matters.

Quote:

Originally Posted by avalon


	File/Add to Library.../Old_Computer/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/Album (folder). This method copies the songs to the new computer's iTunes but has no ratings for the songs. Using the same scheme but opting for the iTunes Library instead of an album makes iTunes do nothing.

Right, it copies music. No more, no less. We'll come back to the iTunes Library file in a moment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by avalon


	File/Library/Import Playlist.../Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/iTunes Library makes iTunes do nothing. File/Library/Import Playlist.../Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/Album again does nothing, going further into the Album folder lets me import 1 song at a time, still with no rating info. From the old computer exporting playlist gives me a .xml file that doesn't seem to do anything, it's just a text list.

The exported XML files are what you would select when using the File > Library> Import Playlist command. But the approach outlined in a moment should remove the need to go through that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by avalon


	Sharing across the 2 computers brings Old_Compute's Music as a left column choice, but clicking it brings an error message that the current iTunes release (10, 9, and 8 on different install attempts) is incompatible with the old playlist format.

Sharing is a different concept in this context (recent versions of iTunes). Sharing here means iTunes on one computer sees compatible versions of iTunes on another computer and the first computer can play the content from the second computer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by avalon


	I think that's all I've done other than just copying a file (song) or folder (album) directly from one iTunes Music to another but those copies don't show up in iTunes even after a reboot; no great surprise I guess but I tried. So I can get either one album folder (no subfolders) or one song at a time, both bringing only the song files and no ratings.

Putting song files in the Music folder is not the same as adding them to iTunes.

All that said, let's address what you should try. You first want to move all the songs (and any other media content viewed/played in iTunes) to the new Mac. Put them in the exact same location. You also want to copy over the iTunes Library file from the old Mac and put it in exact the same location.

Next, launch iTunes and immediately hold the Option key. You'll be prompted to Choose or Create a Library. Select Choose and navigate to the iTunes Library file you just copied over. You should then get prompted that iTunes will need to update this file (or it does it automatically, I can't remember). Once done, I think everything will be as it was on the old Mac.

One potential hiccup here is if your user account names are different on the two Macs. But try the above first and we'll go from there if any issues crop up.

acme.mail.order · 12-03-2012, 05:44 PM

Try the direct method:

- Quit iTunes
- delete the Music folder on the new machine
- copy the old Music folder, in it's entirety, to the new machine
- open iTunes on the new machine

It should discover the old library and go through the usual upgrade procedures. No idea if they included import utilities that many versions back - that's the fast road to software bloat and they have enough of that already.

If it doesn't recognize the really old library you may have to hunt down intermediate versions.

DeltaMac · 12-03-2012, 05:48 PM

@ NAoH - looks like you mis-typed a 9.9.1 (no iTunes with that version

)
Last version that is supported on a G3 Mac (running OS X 10.4.11) is iTunes 8.2.1
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL857

I don't think I'd go direct from 10.4.7 all the way to 8.2.1 in one step.
I'd try a somewhat older version first.

NaOH · 12-03-2012, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeltaMac


	Too bad you didn't upgrade your iTunes as time went on...

I still have the 7.7.1 DMG for PPC, so it should work once downloaded (and I have the 9.1.1 DMG but these forums understandably frown upon file sharing among strangers).

I also wonder if the iTunes menu in the old version that's being used has a Check For Updates option listed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeltaMac


	@ NAoH - looks like you mis-typed a 9.9.1 (no iTunes with that version )

Thanks for catching that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeltaMac


	Last version that is supported on a G3 Mac (running OS X 10.4.11) is iTunes 8.2.1 http://support.apple.com/kb/DL857

I'm running 9.1.1 on a PowerBook G3 with 10.4.11, and I'm pretty certain that's the limit for that OS/processor combo.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeltaMac


	I don't think I'd go direct from 10.4.7 all the way to 8.2.1 in one step. I'd try a somewhat older version first.

In this case, since everything is being copied from the old Mac to the new one, it seems worth trying the move in one jump since the files still exist on the old Mac. Re-copying the old iTunes Library file is all that would be needed to start the update process anew.

Make note of that avalon: Don't remove any iTunes files from the old Mac until the new Mac is up and running with iTunes as you want.

avalon · 12-04-2012, 09:17 AM

Okay, thanks to all. It'll be a while before I can get back to this (I have to catch a flight) but I'll post later to let all of you know how it worked out.
Thanks again, Avalon

saniya19 · 12-07-2012, 07:43 AM

This is iTunes v4.7.1(30).

Interestingly, the software is Copyright 2000-2004, not 2000-2005. I guess they made no last-minute tinkers in this version.

12-03-2012, 02:56 PM	#1
avalon Triple-A Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 173	Importing iTunes 4.7.1 to newer Mac All my iTunes materials are on a pre-Intel Mac using iTunes 4.7.1. My new main computer is Intel (running 10.6.8) and I want to move my libraries and playlists over to the new machine, both machines are on a home network. I can import individual songs but not playlists. Also I can't import things for the songs like my rating, notes, last played, number of times played, etc. I have tried finding something like an iTunes 5 or whatever the lowest level of iTunes is that can accept a 4.7.1 playlist but can't. My plan would be to install an old iTunes on the new machine and let that iTunes convert up my playlist. Then I could continue downloading the next level up of iTunes, let them update the list, over and over, until I have a functioning modern iTunes with all my song data. But I can't find any Mac iTunes that will work. What versions do I need and where can I download them, please?

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12-03-2012, 05:18 PM	#3
avalon Triple-A Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 173	Old Mac is running 10.4.11. File/Add to Library.../Old_Computer/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/Album (folder). This method copies the songs to the new computer's iTunes but has no ratings for the songs. Using the same scheme but opting for the iTunes Library instead of an album makes iTunes do nothing. File/Library/Import Playlist.../Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/iTunes Library makes iTunes do nothing. File/Library/Import Playlist.../Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/Album again does nothing, going further into the Album folder lets me import 1 song at a time, still with no rating info. From the old computer exporting playlist gives me a .xml file that doesn't seem to do anything, it's just a text list. Sharing across the 2 computers brings Old_Compute's Music as a left column choice, but clicking it brings an error message that the current iTunes release (10, 9, and 8 on different install attempts) is incompatible with the old playlist format. I think that's all I've done other than just copying a file (song) or folder (album) directly from one iTunes Music to another but those copies don't show up in iTunes even after a reboot; no great surprise I guess but I tried. So I can get either one album folder (no subfolders) or one song at a time, both bringing only the song files and no ratings. Thanks

12-03-2012, 05:38 PM	#4
DeltaMac League Commissioner Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 7,958	Too bad you didn't upgrade your iTunes as time went on... The iTunes 4.7.1 versions is older than OS X 10.4. - and, in fact was available when OS X 10.1 was still the current system version Maybe you can download and install a somewhat newer version - on your old Mac. Updating your iTunes library to some intermediate iTunes version might give you the possibility to then continue to update to a newer version, until you are current to your new Mac. You can find some older iTunes versions here - http://www.ihackintosh.com/2009/06/d...r-windows-mac/ The version 7.7.1 might be a good one to try.

12-03-2012, 05:44 PM	#6
acme.mail.order League Commissioner Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Tokyo Posts: 6,045	Try the direct method: - Quit iTunes - delete the Music folder on the new machine - copy the old Music folder, in it's entirety, to the new machine - open iTunes on the new machine It should discover the old library and go through the usual upgrade procedures. No idea if they included import utilities that many versions back - that's the fast road to software bloat and they have enough of that already. If it doesn't recognize the really old library you may have to hunt down intermediate versions.

12-03-2012, 05:48 PM	#7
DeltaMac League Commissioner Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 7,958	@ NAoH - looks like you mis-typed a 9.9.1 (no iTunes with that version ) Last version that is supported on a G3 Mac (running OS X 10.4.11) is iTunes 8.2.1 http://support.apple.com/kb/DL857 I don't think I'd go direct from 10.4.7 all the way to 8.2.1 in one step. I'd try a somewhat older version first.

12-04-2012, 09:17 AM	#9
avalon Triple-A Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 173	Okay, thanks to all. It'll be a while before I can get back to this (I have to catch a flight) but I'll post later to let all of you know how it worked out. Thanks again, Avalon

12-07-2012, 07:43 AM	#10
saniya19 Prospect Join Date: Nov 2012 Posts: 2	This is iTunes v4.7.1(30). Interestingly, the software is Copyright 2000-2004, not 2000-2005. I guess they made no last-minute tinkers in this version.