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TICKET ARCHIVE -> iTunes 7 freezing

gcwhitby - Jan 5, 2007 - 10:31 pm

Hello,

Ever since I updated to iTunes 7, I have not been able to get the program to work. It updates the library OK, loads the store, and then starts "Determining Gapless Playback Information." As soon as it does this, it freezes almost immediately, though usually on a different song every time. I have tried downloading new versions of it, repairing permissions, and a few other things, but nothing allows it to work. Since it freezes immediately, I haven't been able to access my music or update my iPod in a long time.

I originally chose to download the update because there were some things in the music store that said they wouldn't work with less than iTunes 7, so I'd like to find a way to make it work if possible.

Thanks very much in advance
David

philippe99 - Jan 6, 2007 - 4:36 am

Hi and welcome to macosx.com

First of all, do you run QT 7.1.3. I know they say "QT 7.1.3 requiers for video", but.... If not, could try to update your QT to 7.1.3 ?

-------------------------------------------
Then, I would suggest to run the classical maintenance tips, to see if the problem is not related to a system problem itself.

download Macjanitor
http://personalpages.tds.net/~brian_...acjanitor.html
and use it to run the maintenance scripts
The maintenance scripts are Unix scripts which are automatically ran on your
Mac between 02Am and 04 am..if your Mac is on at this moment.
I can advice you to run, through Macjanitor, the daily script each day, the week script each week, ..and so on

Could you also download Onyx
http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs/english.html
Go into the cleaning tab and use it to clean the caches. use the defauts Onyx offers, do not
clean at this stage the system caches.
!!! Please download the release corresponding to your OS !!!

-----if not------
I read that this issue may be related to a corrupted track or a track iTunes cannot find information on the Web..but which one ?


Try this if iTunes gives you the time (I mean before freezing):

1. Open iTunes; go to Library; do not click on any song
2. Select all songs in your library - “command + A”
3. Right Click and select “Get Info” - It will warn you about editing all files
4. In the lower right corner of this "Multiple items information" window, Check the “Gapless Album” box and set it to “No”
5. Close iTunes; the re-open it to check if this better.


----------last of the last: reimport-------
If you're not too concerned about ratings, playlists, or playcounts, then you can just start over with a fresh library and reimport your music to see if that helps. I'd suggest closing iTunes, and then restarting it while holding down the SHIFT key. This will prompt you to either select or create a new library on startup. Just create a new library and reimport your music files from your hard drive into the new library to see if that helps. You can just import them directly from whatever folder they are already in.

When importing them, I'd also suggest that you go to Edit->Preferences->Advanced and turn OFF the "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library" option. This will prevent iTunes from copying every track into a new library directory (thus speeding up the import process and saving disk space).

By using this method, iTunes will leave your old library alone, so you can always go back to it if that doesn't help, or if there's other data you want to recover (exporting playlists for example). To switch back to the old library, just restart iTunes while holding SHIFT and select the old library directory.


Before the "reimport extreme solution", post back your experiences; I will try to find other information on the Web

I made the migration "QT713 + iTunes702" on both my G5_10.4.6 and my G4_10.3.9 without any problem. Note that the "determine gapeless..." stuff takes around a quarter on my G5 (+/- 5000 songs)

Regards
Philippe

gcwhitby - Jan 7, 2007 - 8:09 pm

Hi Philippe,

Thank you so much for your response--I really appreciate the help.

Unfortunately, nothing has worked so far. I downloaded and successfully ran MacJanitor and Onyx, but they didn't seem to have any effect on iTunes freezing up. And unfortunately, the program does not give me time once it opens to turn off the "gapless" option, so the second step is not possible for me to take. (It starts "determining gapless playback information" within a few seconds of opening, and freezes within a few seconds of that.)

I'm fine doing the radical reimport option, but you said I should check in before doing that, so I am. :-)

Thanks again for your help,
David

philippe99 - Jan 9, 2007 - 6:38 am

Good luck and do not hesitate to post back your experiences.
Phil

gcwhitby - Jan 15, 2007 - 7:53 pm

Hi Phillippe,

Thanks again for your help. Unfortunately, I've tried the reimport method in a variety of ways over the past few days but to no avail. Even though I start iTunes with the shift key held down, which makes the updating/loading library steps go quickly or not at all, it still immediately gets stuck in the middle of determining gapless playback information. Is there a way to reimport the library without having iTunes open at all? Or is there anything else you've discovered?

THANK YOU again,
David

philippe99 - Jan 16, 2007 - 1:48 am

My last idea

Quit iTunes

In your ~/Library/Preferences (where ~stands for your home folder) select the files:
com.apple.iTunes.eq.plist
com.apple.iTunes.plist
com.apple.iTunesHelper.plist
and move them to the Desktop

Rstart iTunes with shift key to force it to reload the library

Post back
Philippe