Storage issues and replacing external hard drive that holds music files

Attached is a screen shot of my storage page which I find confusing.

Most – but it looks like not all – of my local music (not Tidal) is on an external hard drive I have labelled “Music”. This storage system was set up long ago following whatever instructions I found from Roon then. I no longer remember why there are so many different sources or folders involved.

It only matters because I want to do two things:

  1. Add music to my local library. What is the best way to do that? Via iTunes or drag and drop files to the Music external hard drive.

  2. I would like to replace that external drive with an external SSD. What steps are necessary to do this without losing any of my music or confusing my storage set up further?

Core Machine (Operating system/System info/Roon build number)

iMac OS 10.13.6

Network Details (Including networking gear model/manufacturer and if on WiFi/Ethernet)

Xfinity Gateway Router with WiFi and a direct Ethernet connection (via power line adapters).

Audio Devices (Specify what device you’re using and its connection type - USB/HDMI/etc.)

PS Audio DS DAC with Network Bridge

Description Of Issue

Need to replace external hard drive holding music. Confused about my current storage.

Hi @Geoff_Mirelowitz,

You can use File Explorer or Finder to place music files into any of the folders that you have set up in Settings > Storage. Placing files in one of these folders will automatically import it into Roon.

You’ll want to follow these instructions:

The important thing is to make a backup before doing anything, and then remove all of your old watched folders before adding the new one(s).

Thanks for your reply. It may interest you to know that when I searched this site for “Add music to my existing library” no article with a clear explanation came up. I will have to read the article you suggested concerning replacing the external hard drive to see if I can understand it.

Honestly I am not certain what this means:

Does that mean I can drag and drop music files from a USB thumb drive into the appropriate folder on my external hard drive labelled “Music”?

I know many Roon users are deeply knowledgable about computers and file structure. For the rest of us the most direct possible answers to our questions are usually the most helpful.

Hi @Geoff_Mirelowitz,

We have information about Watched Folders here in our KB. Basically, when you add a folder in Settings > Storage, any music in files in these folders will be imported into Roon. So if you place new music files into those folders, Roon will automatically add them.

Dylan my point is that when I searched that article did not come up.

Meanwhile – please – can I drag and drop a folder with music (one album’s worth) from a USB thumb drive into my external hard drive?

I provided a screen shot of my file structure to help get the clearest possible answer. As I understand it I can drag and drop those files into:

image

Please confirm.
Thank you.

Apologies for the confusion, @Geoff_Mirelowitz. Yes, you can drag and drop files into the iTunes Music folder and it’ll be imported to Roon.

Thanks very much!

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