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    The Computer Audiophile

    Automount Almost Any NAS Drive On OS X

    <img src="http://www.computeraudiophile.com/files/AutomountMaker.png" style="padding: 1pt 10pt 7pt 0pt;" align="left">Those of you using a NAS drive to store your music collection know that mounting the drive is very important. Launching iTunes before the NAS drive is mounted will reset your music folder location to the default local folder. Then the dreaded exclamation marks appear next to every track. It's not the end of the world to recover from this, but it's far easier to prevent it from happening. <!--more-->

     

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    As some of you know I created an Automator script to mount my NAS drive when I login to my music server. I wrote an <a href="http://www.computeraudiophile.com/node/289">article explaining how to do this</a> and made the script available for download. While this was a good method of mounting the drive, I still kept looking for something a little easier to setup for all the readers. This afternoon I spent some serious time on the subject and settled on the AutomountMaker application. This application has a simple GUI allowing even the most unskilled users to setup their NAS drive to mount automatically every time they login.

     

     

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    <img src="http://www.computeraudiophile.com/files/AFPSampleConfigWindow.jpg">

     

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    In simple terms here is what needs to happen.

    1. Install the application.

    2. Open the app and enter the name or address of your NAS and the folder to mount.

    3. Enter the username and password if required.

    4. Save the infomation as a AutomountMaker file.

    5. Open System Preferences >> Accounts >> Login Items and drag the file into this window and your done.

     

     

     

     

     

    The application's website has plenty of screenshots and even these two videos.

     

     

    <b>How To Make Your First Script</b>

     

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    <b>Quickly Find and Use Your Scripts</b>

     

    <div><object width="420" height="339"><param name="movie" value="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x5ju65" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x5ju65" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="339" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always"></embed></object><br />

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    This application really is easy and solves a somewhat annoying problem that Apple crated by removing the auto connect check box when connecting to a network drive. Here is a link to the site where you can download the application. The app is free but the developer accepts donations for all his work. This app is worth quite a bit in my book. Let's support this guy for making our lives easier :-)




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    Thanks Chris. Yes, I noticed that it has a ping "feature" but it wasn't quite clear to me how it works. I'll play with it some more...

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    Chris I have my finder preferences set to display the NAS on the desktop. Never had the finder window pop up, the volume just shows up on the desktop. It requires a log in for the first time you mount it but after that this is the behavior I've observed on my system. It just shows up on the desktop much like the main OS X volume. If the NAS isn't up and running and able to be mounted you are correct this won't work. It does bring up the question of why it wouldn't be though...perhaps I'm not understanding the nature of the problem. My apologies. I guess I don't understand what exceptions would allow for one method and not the other...

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    Hello<br />

    <br />

    Loving the AutoMountMaker as it makes my Itunes NAS behave a treat. That said, I'm now being greedy and wondering if there are any options so it only tries to run on my home network. I use my Macbook at work and have it searching for my home NAS every time I boot up.<br />

    <br />

    Any suggestions?

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    You can tell the app to ping your NAS before trying to mount the drive. This should be the solution for you. <br />

    <br />

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