iTunes won’t quit

Achates hello,

but no obvious solution is forthcoming.

you have been going to the wrong place for answers.... check 1st for what is running in the background that is accessing iTunes after you try to quit... my 1st guess would be the iTunes widget in dashboard... next any konfabulators or scripts or other programs or plugins... are you running any Digi 001. 002 or XBOX setup ?
Have you checked the HD repairs and permissions are correct ? see here for instructions if you need them.

come back and we can go from there if necessary... TP

I'm having the same problem. Intermittently can't kill iTunes 5.0.1 on 10.4.2; iTunes hanging also hangs the finder (or is it vice-versa?); other apps work normally. Am forced to do hold-power-key-5-seconds reboot to recover. This has happened twice in as many days. iTunes has been idle at the time, other than perhaps downloading a podcast. iPod has been plugged in. My workaround for now is to quit iTunes when I'm not using it.

-tom

Tom hello,

have you checked the instructions I gave to the original Poster ?

if so what did you find, were there any widgets etc. running ?

let's know Tom .... TP

No widgets running; I did a permissions repair which didn't seem to find anything relevant...

Tom,

Check the HD repairs as well... they can get out of Sync. when you force the program to quit...

Start Activity Monitor from the Utilities folder in Applications and 'show active processes' when quitting iTunes and see if you can spot what is running that needs iTunes... Use Apple menu and choose 'About this Mac' then select more info and the Profiler will open, check the software logs for clues... more logs are available from the Console program in Uitilities... check there if you have to.

You have no Digi, Xbox setup running do you ?

TP

I'm having all kinds of problems since updating to iTunes 5.0.1 but specifically am also experiencing the iTunes that wouldn't quit. When I try to force quit the window disappears and iTunes disappears from the list of open apps in the Force Quit window. In the Dock though, iTunes icon still shows as open with the little black triangle beneath it.

If I reopen the force quit window, iTunes is there as an open app. I also cannot get iPod Updater to quit but it at least has the decency to list in red and say "not responding" in the force quit window. I think if I reboot everything will be okay, but why is this happening?

Thanks for any input.

No Digi or Xbox.

Here are the apps I have running according to Activity Monitor:

Activity Monitor
mdimport
iTunes (Not Responding)
Dock
SystemUIServer (Not Responding)
loginwindow
Finder
ATSServer
Safari
SFLSharedPrefsTo

-tom

Tom,

I have been back through all the posts on the subject and keep coming up with the same answers as to what causes this problem.... here is a list of things that have also caused this to happen to others and when remedied all is OK.

iTunes Lyrics widget
Sizzling Keys
Universal access
iPod connected
Virus program
Update program

TP

I have the same problem as discussed above. I cannot kill the process after 10 minutes the process died and I am able to relaunch itunes without problems.

If anybody finds a cause and solution please post.

This issue has been discussed already several times.

I'm afraid Apple introduced in iTunes 4.9 the worst bug I ever saw whatever the platform (I've been working on Macs for 20 years and I know PCs pretty well too, so I know what I'm talking about).

The cause is a faulty part of the program, the kind of mistake you are warned against at the beginning in programming classes. There is no solution for the user. It depends on Apple to take it into account and fix it. And fix it quick please.

If your library is on an external drive, shutting it off usually makes iTune crash. But you'd better restart your computer.
In short it's a mess. Luckily I haven't had too many problems since some time.

Nick

To anyone who has a problem with iTunes not responding please read this and act accordingly.

Forum Tip: From the Apple Help and Terms of use files.

State your question clearly. Include as much information as you can about your issue.
At minimum, include:
The operating system you're using and its version.
The names and versions of other relevant products.
A complete description of computer and connected peripherals.
What you were doing when you ran into this issue.
Example: I'm using Mac OS X 10.3.4 on a 20-inch flat panel iMac with 768 MB of RAM and 15 GB free space on my hard disk. I have an X-brand PDA connected via its USB cradle. iCal 1.5.2 unexpectedly quits when I add an event.
Tip: As in the example, a good description of your computer includes how much RAM and how much free hard disk space you have.

Do not be swayed by talk of 'Bugs' as in all cases dealt with so far no bugs have been uncovered ... those who have taken the time to fully investigate the issue have been rewarded and in all of those cases it has not been an iTunes fault.

TP

Hi TP

You say "Do not be swayed by talk of 'Bugs' as in all cases dealt with so far no bugs have been uncovered". I am sorry but the absence of proof is not a proof of absence.

OTOH, many people report iTunes crashing, being impossible to 'force quit', freezing the System itself and other applications as well. The only solution is then to shut down the Mac the hard way, because the soft way is impossible too.

For my profession I have permanently dozens of applications, and I permanently keep my system and disks in order. Since I'm using OS X I experienced very few issues, most of them due to the system first releases itself and some incompatibilities with my older G4. Since I'm working on a G5 dual everything works like a breeze.

OS X 10.3 is now extemely stable and I've never seen an application putting any mess with others and definitely not with the System when it crashes.

That was until iTunes 4.9 update came into the picture. Everything was playing around like happy campers and now strange things happen: settings are screwed up, drivers don't work anymore and must be reinstalled, etc.

If this is not a first magnitude bug, what's a bug?

As a comparison I've been suffering for decades from an illness no doctor could diagnose. When reading the analysis or test reports which were negative they used to say: "OK, everything is in order." I used to reply: "Wrong, the issue is that you didn't find. I need a positive test that would tell me what's the problem." I eventually found I got treated. These doctors were incompetent, they couldn't read radios and thought that negative tests mean you are healthy.

Bugs are extremely difficult to spot in a program. Yet professionally I know there are ways of programming that avoid the worst ones like iTunes' one and make it easier to find out.

BTW, TP, don't you have a name?

Nick

Hi Nick,

Read again...
so far no bugs have been uncovered ...
I'm not saying there are none all I'm saying is, so far none have turned up ...
now you can rant and rave about it if you like but until I can see one I will advise users to look elsewhere 1st ...
this course of action is my professional advice ...
I have over 20 years experience in the Computer Consultancy business/Development of Software/De-bugging/ and manager & owner of Computer related businesses 17 years.

*What is a Bug you ask.

A bug is a flaw in design, coding or manufacture of software which causes all -- or some portion -- of a program to not perform as expected -- this is a repeatable action.

*What is the 1st test for a 'Bug'

Using another computer with the same Operating System and associated applications all in perfect working order -- try the suspect Application and see if the fault still exists.

You seem to know what you are talking about so why not take another tack and look elsewhere for the faults 1st, you may get a big surprise...

And yes I do have a name.

regards ... TP

Hi Guys,

For what it's worth, I was pulling my hair out with this problem and I finally identified the issue as my iPod shuffle. I've been having some trouble with it (I finally "restored" it with the iPod updater) and it was apparently freezing up iTunes. I had the same symptoms -- iTunes hanging, couldn't Force Quit or kill process in Activity Monitor, etc.

Once I disconnected the iPod I was able to Force Quit iTunes and it now appears to be ok.

Good luck!
Matt

Well whatever it is (let's go the Microsoft route and call it an "issue", not a bug), it exists for a lot of people, so something is wrong here. I too have the problem. I had to hard restart a couple times. Just now, I tried to force quit a couple times, but it didn't seem to work. I can't be sure (because I wasn't paying attention to the dock while doing it), but when I disconnected my iPod, iTunes quit and I was able to start it up again. It could be that I just happened to wait long enough for it to quit (several minutes).

Now, if the connected iPod is causing the "issue", then it can graduate to a "bug", because I'm pretty sure Apple means to have the iPod work with iTunes.

-DT (that's my real name)