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I copied my collection of music CDs onto a flash drive as wave files. When I tried to play them back on my Mac Mini, it would play only one track at a time. How do I create a playlist on my Mac Mini that would play the tracks continuously through at least an album? [I used to be able to play CDs on my old iMacs' built-in player, but no longer have that capability on my current Mac Mini...]
Mac mini, macOS 13.5
Get an external USB disc drive and import the CDs directly into the macOS Music App. to play on the Mac.
An Apple SuperDrive or inexpensive LG drive will work just fine for importing the CDs.
If your Mac lacks disk space, you can always move the Music Library to an external drive.
see > Change where your music files are stored on Mac - Apple Support
Get an external USB disc drive and import the CDs directly into the macOS Music App. to play on the Mac.
An Apple SuperDrive or inexpensive LG drive will work just fine for importing the CDs.
If your Mac lacks disk space, you can always move the Music Library to an external drive.
see > Change where your music files are stored on Mac - Apple Support
You're welcome.
It should be possible to import the WAV files into Apple Music.
see > Choose import settings in Music on Mac - Apple Support
I'm not sure if the original structure will be intact and/or play back correctly.
Again I recommend importing directly from the CDs into Apple Music.
JXL3 Said:
"How to play wave music files from USB drive on Mac mini"
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Playing WAV file on a the macOS:
For Ventura, try VLC for macOS. Get here, directly from he developer: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html
Hello, den.thed:
Thank you for responding. I have a USB thumb drive containing wave copies of music CDs from my collection. I need help on two challenges:
1. When I plug it into my Mac Mini's USB, it no longer shows up on my desktop or Finder.
2. How do I import these wave files from thumb drive into Mac Mini, and also play the tracks play continuously?
Thank you.
John
Hello, TheLittles:
Thank you for responding. I have a USB thumb drive containing wave copies of music CDs from my collection. Before I download your suggested VLC app, I need help on two challenges:
1. When I plug it into my Mac Mini's USB, it no longer shows up on my desktop or Finder.
2. How do I import these wave files from thumb drive into Mac Mini, and also play the tracks play continuously?
Thank you.
John
JXL3 Said:
"How to play wave music files from USB drive on Mac mini: Thank you for responding. I have a USB thumb drive containing wave copies of music CDs from my collection. Before I download your suggested VLC app, I need help on two challenges:"
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Troubleshooting WAV File and VLC Player:
Format your Drive Accordingly:
Q1. "When I plug it into my Mac Mini's USB, it no longer shows up on my desktop or Finder."
A1. Are these from a PC? You'd need FAT32 format for it to be seen by both. So, format this accordingly. To avoid losing this data, you'd export this to you PC, and would them perform this format on the Mac.
Opening And Repeat:
Q2. "How do I import these wave files from thumb drive into Mac Mini, and also play the tracks play continuously?
Thank you"
A2. Opening this drive in Finder, Drag & Drop them to your Desktop. Right-Click: the WAV file > Hover Over: Open With... > Select: VLC Player. View the Help menu to find out how to perform the in repeat.
Dear den.thed:
Thank you very much for your responses and valuable help!
I copied part of my CD music collection on an 8-GB USB thumb drive because I relocated (and the CDs were too bulky/heavy to carry with me). Otherwise, importing the CDs directly onto the Mac Mini (as you have suggested) would have been ideal! Only once I had been able to plug and play its contents on my Mac Mini (Apple M1 chip, 8-GB memory, Mac OS Ventura 13.5.2, HD: 70GB of 245GB used). Now I plug it into the USB port, see the thumb drive indicator light flashing, but can no longer see it on Finder or Desktop. Same results on a MacBook. However, I can still plug and play other thumb drives (containing home videos and photos) on my Mac Mini. If the 8-GB USB thumb drive (with the music) is now corrupted, how can I retrieve its contents? I truly appreciate your patience.
John
Dear TheLittles:
Thank you very much for your responses and valuable help!
A MacBook was used to copy my CDs as wave files onto an 8-GB USB thumb drive. I no longer have access to a PC to export the wave files and transfer them to Mac.
Mac Finder can no longer see this thumb drive, so I would be unable to perform your suggested steps.
I copied part of my CD music collection on an 8-GB USB thumb drive because I relocated (and the CDs were too bulky/heavy to carry with me). Otherwise, importing the CDs directly onto the Mac Mini would have been ideal! Only once I had been able to plug and play its contents on my Mac Mini (Apple M1 chip, 8-GB memory, Mac OS Ventura 13.5.2, HD: 70GB of 245GB used). Now I plug it into the USB port, see the thumb drive indicator light flashing, but can no longer see it on Finder or Desktop. Same results on a MacBook. However, I can still plug and play other thumb drives (containing home videos and photos) on my Mac Mini. If the 8-GB USB thumb drive (with the music) is now corrupted, how can I retrieve its contents? I truly appreciate your patience.
John
JXL3 Said:
"How to play wave music files from USB drive on Mac mini: Dear TheLittles: Thank you very much for your responses and valuable help! [...]Now I plug it into the USB port, see the thumb drive indicator light flashing, but can no longer see it on Finder or Desktop. Same results on a MacBook. [...]"
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You are welcome.
Transfer Through iCloud Drive and Format to EX-FAT:
You'd need to get this data off of the Hard Drive, doing so by connecting it to a PC. While on the PC, upload this to iCloud Drive: https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive. From there, log in to iCloud Drive on your Mac, and download it to a new folder on the desktop. Once all has been transferred, you need to format this hard drive as EX-FAT format in order for it to he seen by both the Mac and the PC. Perform this using Disk Utility on your Mac. Make sure all data is exported prior to performing the format.
No problem, you're welcome.
Hard to say how or why the flash drive became corrupted or damaged.
https://www.datarecovery.net/newsletters/what-kills-flash-drive.aspx
https://www.pitsdatarecovery.com/flash-drive-failure-causes/
Sadly data recovery is expensive and not worth it for a few CDs worth of music.
I recommend that you download all of your other precious home videos and photos on flash drives, to one of your Mac's or at least, back them up to an external hard drive.
How to play wave music files from USB drive on Mac mini
