Can the data file be placed on an external drive?

mhschmieder · Post by **mhschmieder** » Tue May 23, 2006 1:55 pm

I'm running out of disc space on my internal hard drive, and even after cleaning out unnecessary stuff this weekend, only have 12 Gb free in anticipation of the 8 Gb needed for Ethno Instrument.

I would prefer anyway to store both the MSI and Ethno data files on an external hard drive, but a quick perusal of docs didn't indicate whether this is possible or not (I've had a lot on my plate, so will admit I haven't done a deep study yet). My recollection based on several point release updates is that the data file has to be in a specific location (under the install directory of the app itself).

If it is possible to re-point where the data file sits, is there any performance benefit to keeping it on the main internal hard drive? I know that project files and audio files are best on the external drive, but do not know if this (or the opposite) applies to the static data files or just to dynamic files that are part of the recording process (such as SD II files and individual track audio files).

mikebeckmotu · Post by **mikebeckmotu** » Wed May 24, 2006 12:16 am

If you haven't installed it yet, you install the DVD first (the 8gb MSI.dat file) and you can put it anywhere you want. Do not change the name of the dat file. When you install from the CD (the app itself) it will find the 8gb dat file and it should work. If it doesn't work for some reason, drag an alias of the MSI.dat file to the following location:
hard drive/library/application support/motu/MSI/
and don't change the name of the alias.
Note that this is not the "User" library, but the root library.
I just installed it this way a couple days ago and it works fine.
I had to repair permissions after installing MSI also.
Good luck!

mhschmieder · Post by **mhschmieder** » Wed May 24, 2006 4:34 pm

Thanks. I'll try that with a re-install. What confused me was when I did the two point release updates, and you have to move the .DAT file back to where it can be found AFTER the install has finished.

This is just from memory, so maybe it was because the .DAT file was in the product directory that it got stepped on by a mostly-empty file on the upgrade installation. probably to protect against piracy. So I reinstall the .DAT from the DVD afterwards -- although I could drag it somewhere else first, and then drag it back.

Or hopefully drag it to my external hard drive and then re-point MSI to it, but it sounds from what you say that the right thing to do is to install the .DAT file where I REALLY want it to go first, and THEN do the MSI 1.1.1 upgrade over again (after first deleting my current MSI directory).

Hopefully this would not mess up any existing projects that use MSI on a VI track? I'm upgrading to DP5 this weekend, after I finish backing up all my data later this week, and understand some of this might change due to differences in how VI's are used in DP5 vs. DP4.6.

mhschmieder · Post by **mhschmieder** » Thu May 25, 2006 1:16 am

The specific path is: Macintosh HD->Library->Application Support->MOTU->MSI->MSI.dat

I'm not convinced that it really CAN go somewhere else, but I'll read the manual later this week when I'm mroe awake (I'm doing double-duty at the moment, with jury duty followed by a full eight hours of work).

mikebeckmotu · Post by **mikebeckmotu** » Thu May 25, 2006 1:52 am

The main thing is that you can create a new alias pointing to wherever the actual MSI.dat file is. It's working fine here on an external firewire drive. You got me curious, so as an experiment, I just created a new alias and replaced the one that the installer made for me, and it's still working fine.
Also, here's a tech note from the MOTU website:

My internal HD is almost full. Can I move my MOTU Symphonic Instrument sounds?
Yes, you can move the MSI.dat sounds file wherever you want. However, you will need to tell MSI where the new location of the .DAT file is.

To do so, create an alias to the .DAT file and place this alias/shortcut in:

Mac OS X
startup disk/Library/Application Support/MOTU/MSI

Hope it works for you. I'm still at DP 4.61, so I can't comment about MSI with DP5 yet.

mhschmieder · Post by **mhschmieder** » Sat May 27, 2006 7:32 pm

Thanks. I'll try that after I upgrade to DP 5.0 later tonight. No sense in potentially fdoing it twice (if I have to do anything special with MSI for DP5).

mhschmieder · Post by **mhschmieder** » Mon May 29, 2006 2:38 am

This worked perfectly; although it is important to make sure the alias has the name "MSI.dat" vs. the default "MSI.dat alias" or whatever. There are several ways to create an alias on the Mac, and I tried them all until I found the methodology that I felt involved the fewest steps and was the most problem free (all of them worked, given enough attention, but as I expect to be performing this task in another week or so when Ethno Instrument arrives, I wanted to establish a good habit right away).

mikebeckmotu · Post by **mikebeckmotu** » Tue May 30, 2006 12:34 am

Cool! I'm glad to hear you got it working.
And thanks for reporting back, too.

mhschmieder · Post by **mhschmieder** » Tue May 30, 2006 1:04 pm

Just to clarify, since a lot of people are nervous right now about either or both of DP 5.0 and 5.01, I am having no problems whatsoever with Symphonic Instrument's main data file sitting on my external hard drive, even after the back-to-back DP 5.0 and DP 5.01 upgrades this weekend.