I have a large iTunes music library on my Studio M1 Max running Sonoma. My lovely bride would like to access the library from her laptop, a MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015 running Mohave) that is on the same home network.
On my Mac, I have turned on Media Sharing and File Sharing in the Sharing section of System Settings. Theoretically, on her laptop, I should see my Library in the left column of her iTunes, but I don’t see it. I can find no other way to see my Music library in her iTunes.
Researching on the web, I ran across a clue that both computers had to be signed in on the same Apple I.D. I tried that, but found no difference.
Surely there must be a way to accomplish this task. Any clues or tips as to what else I can try would be most appreciated.
Can you access any other Bonjour-based services (e.g. file sharing) from her laptop?
I ask because some routers will not propagate multicast packets between a wired Ethernet network (how I assume your Studio is connected) and Wi-Fi (how I assume the laptop is connected). If multicast won’t pass between the two network segments, then Bonjour device discovery won’t work properly. Devices on the Wi-Fi may be unable to see devices on the wired network and possibly vice-versa.
I experienced this years ago where the culprit was the Actiontec router that Verizon provided with their FiOS service. When I disabled the Actiontec’s Wi-Fi and connected a separate access point (a Linksys router in bridge mode) to one if its Ethernet ports, the problem went away.
Sitting at the MacBook Pro laptop (which is connected to the local network via wireless), I can sign into the wired Studio Max and view all the files. I can also connect via Screen Share.
Does that meet the criteria of a Bonjour-based service? If so, I guess the answer is yes, I can.
Did you go to the media sharing menu where your library is and Turn Media Sharing on, then click on the i to the right and select Share Media with Guests
Depends on how you’re doing it. If you’re typing in an IP address or using a hostname from a DNS server on your LAN, then no.
If you’re using a multicast-DNS hostname (e.g. mymac.local) or if you’re using the Go → Network command (⇧⌘K) from the Finder, then you are using Bonjour services.
Same for network peripherals like printers. If you’ve got a printer on the wired network and your laptop just sees it without any explicit configuration, then that’s also Bonjour discovery in progress.
Check the IP address on both computers. If they are not both on the same segments (ie: one is 192.168.0.10 and the other is 10.244.1.20) then this can cause Bonjour propagation issues, as mentioned.
The easiest solution might be to have your Mac Studio join the same wi-fi network as the laptop. Even tho the Studio is wired, it can be on both networks at the same time. (By default, the ethernet connection will take priority.)
I don’t know if the problem for me has been with Apple or the router itself, but often I have found that Bonjour-related issues only get fixed by restarting the router. Things like printing to my
WiFi printer. Possibly AirPlay.
The Sonoma windows are slightly different than the Monterey windows, but now that I know what to look for, I was able to find “Share Media with Guests” and enable it.
Still can’t see the Studio’s music library in the MacBook Pro’s iTunes music library listings, but perhaps I’m now a step closer to figuring out the problem.
I’ll be restarting the Ubiquiti Amplifi router shortly to see if that makes a difference.
There could be some issue since you’re running a newer system using Music and the other computer is using iTunes under Mojave. I wonder if you have home sharing turned on for the Mojave computer? I don’t know if that matters.
On the laptop running Mohave, I had been looking in the left column labeled “Library” and not seeing alternative libraries.
I just noticed a pop-up option immediately ABOVE the library column whereby I could select OTHER libraries. And there was the library that resides on the Mac Studio.
Thanks to all who spent their valuable time helping me to figure this out. As is the case with many problems, the answer was simple once the correct one was figured out.
