Error (11556) unable to sign in to Itunes store

Question

Error (11556) unable to sign in to Itunes store

I wonder if anyone can help me, I opened an Itunes account for my sons new laptop, everything was working ok for a few days, I set the account up for that Itunes-U without realising it wasnt what I thought so when trying to sign in to change the parental controls I receive this message "Itunes could not connect to the itunes store. An unknown error occured (11556)make sure your netowrk connection is active and try again".

I have tried some trouble shooting suggested by customer support - checking exceptions tag on the Windows firewall, installed the latest Itunes download, renaming the host file to backup-host and something called a DNS Wipe?

I need to give this to him tomorrow for his Birthday can anyone help me get it working?

Thanks

HP Compaq Presario CQ60, Windows Vista

Posted on Sep 8, 2009 2:49 AM

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Answer 1

polydorus

Level 6

11,967 points

Sep 8, 2009 3:06 AM in response to simonrobinson@delta

I am not sure I have completely understood you. We are talking about parental controls in iTunes, not vista. If you are talking about Vista parental controls, I haven't found a way of connecting to the store with them on.

You change parental control setting in iTunes preferences, but you seem to be talking about logging into the store.

Could you explain what you are trying to do a little more clearly.

Also could you post the results of your network connectivity tests.
iTunes Help>>Run Diagnostics>>Network Connectivity tests.
Paste the entire result into your posts, but you can remove serial numbers.

Could you also check to see if you can access the store from another account. This error number has occurred with a corrupt preference file and if it uis that you should be able to connect from another account.

Which security software are you using?
Do you have any other firewalls even if youa re not using them.
Have you ever had Norton, even it you have uninstalled it.

Message was edited by: polydorus

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Answer 2

Sep 8, 2009 9:56 AM in response to polydorus

Hi yes let me explain:

I setup Itunes no problem and then set the parental control in Itunes so that my son couldnt download music on my card without my knowledge. When I realised that Itunes U is not what I wanted I tried to sign in again to change it back to normal I just havent managed to as I get this error message.

I have AVG security software installed and have never run Norton.

I cannot connect from another computer in fact it tells me that the id doesn't exist!

For some reason I cannot paste the diagnostic box in but it says:
NETORK DEVICES DETECTED:
nvdia NfORCE 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet
Atheros AR5007 802. 11b/g Wifi Adapter

Network connectivity:

Network interfaces verified

iTunes Store connectivity:

Internet connection verified
Secure link to iTunes Store verified

All Tests passed.

Any suggestions?

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Answer 3

Sep 8, 2009 10:07 AM in response to polydorus

Ah got it, thats what you wanted:

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic Edition Service Pack 2 (Build 6002)
Hewlett-Packard Compaq Presario CQ60 Notebook PC
iTunes 8.2.1.6
QuickTime 7.6.2
FairPlay 1.4.10
iPod Updater Library 8.1d19
CD Driver 2.1.0.1
CD Driver DLL 2.1.1.1
Apple Mobile Device 2.5.2.2
Apple Mobile Device Driver 1.43.0.0
Bonjour 1.0.6.2 (118.5)

iTunes Serial Number 222DA7DC9277A34B

Current user is not an administrator.
The current local date and time is 2009-09-08 17:57:28.
iTunes is not running in safe mode.

Video Display Information

NVIDIA, NVIDIA GeForce 8200M G

** External Plug-ins Information **

No external plug-ins installed.

** Network Connectivity Tests **

Network Adapter Information

Adapter Name: {57FCC8CF-3340-4324-B428-C05D2F86036C}
Description: NVIDIA nForce 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet
IP Address: 0.0.0.0
Subnet Mask: 0.0.0.0
Default Gateway: 0.0.0.0
DHCP Enabled: Yes
DHCP Server:
Lease Obtained: Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970

Lease Expires: Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970

DNS Servers:

Adapter Name: {3616BC78-B8AF-4BE8-874F-BC12DF062553}
Description: Atheros AR5007 802.11b/g WiFi Adapter
IP Address: 192.168.0.4
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.0.1
DHCP Enabled: Yes
DHCP Server: 192.168.0.1
Lease Obtained: Tue Sep 08 09:48:38 2009

Lease Expires: Fri Sep 11 09:48:38 2009

DNS Servers: 192.168.0.1
192.168.0.1

Active Connection: LAN Connection
Connected: Yes
Online: Yes
Using Modem: No
Using LAN: Yes
Using Proxy: No
SSL 3.0 Support: Enabled
TLS 1.0 Support: Enabled

Firewall Information

Windows Firewall is on.
iTunes is enabled in Windows Firewall.

Connection attempt to Apple web site was successful.
Connection attempt to iTunes Store was successful.
Secure connection attempt to iTunes Store was successful.
Secure connection attempt to iPhone activation server was successful.
Last successful store access was 2009-09-08 17:24:36.

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Answer 4

polydorus

Level 6

11,967 points

Sep 8, 2009 11:17 AM in response to simonrobinson@delta

+I cannot connect from another computer in fact it tells me that the id doesn't exist!+

I am not sure exactly what you mean by that, can you connect to the store but when you try to log in you have a problem or does it fail to connect at all.

I actually asked if you could connect from another account on the same computer, but if you cannot connect to the store from another computer using the same connection, then it suggests there may be a problem with your router or ISP.

If that is really what you said, try switching off your router and switching back on again after about 30 secs. Sometimes rebooting the router clears the problem. It seems unlikely that it is your ISP if you were able to connect OK until recently, unless they have changed something.

I am afraid that connection problems with normal diagnostics can be difficult.

When you say you have never run Norton, do you mean your have never had Norton installed on your PC. An inactive or even an uninstalled Norton can still cause problems although usually the diagnostics are not normal.

A quick thing you can try is to go to internet options>>Advanced tab and uncheck "Check for server certificate revocation". I don't think it is that as it normally shows up as a secure connection failure.

If you are not able to try logging in from another account on the same computer, you could try deleting your iTunes preference files anyway.
There are instructions in this article:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1717
Look in the section on user specific troubleshooting.
Deleting the preference files causes new default files to be created so you loose any custom preferences.

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Answer 5

Sep 8, 2009 11:44 AM in response to polydorus

I have just tried to connect to my account on this computer and got the same error.

I can log onto my account on my laptop without any problems.

I definately created the account in my sons name as I got all the artwork for CDs that I added to Itunes for his new Ipod.

The laptop may have come with the ability to install Norton I don't know as I had my company IT man configure it for me as soon as I purchased the laptop, but Norton was never going to be used as we always planned to use AVG.

I have switched off the router for a minute and back on and still get the error signing on to my account on the Compaq.

I am going to try the other two things now.

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Answer 6

Sep 8, 2009 12:08 PM in response to polydorus

I have tried the Internet options Advanced tab and uncheck "Check for server certificate revocation". and that didnt work.

I am afraid the final option is beyond me, you can probably tell my limited understanding on this stuff.

I will give him the laptop and see if iTunes will work at his home address, if it has the same connection problems there I guess it will prove its the laptop and not the ISP. I will have to get it to an expert to sort out.

Very dissapointing considering it all worked perfectly at first.

Thanks for your help.

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Answer 7

Sep 8, 2009 12:21 PM in response to polydorus

ok I have a clever wife, we tried the "user specific troubleshootimg" and that hasnt worked either.

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Answer 8

polydorus

Level 6

11,967 points

Sep 9, 2009 1:24 AM in response to simonrobinson@delta

As I said before, these connection problems with normal diagnostics can be tricky. If IT people manage to fix it, could report back with the details, it might help someone else.

.
An important thing to know about Norton, is that it can block iTunes if it is installed but you are not using it and it can also block iTunes even after it has been uninstalled. The uninstall is not complete and you need to use the Norton removal tool to completely remove it.

Usually the diagnostics show blocking with this problem, but not always. So it is always a good idea to use the removal tool after uninstalling Norton.

http://service1.symantec.com/Support/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039?OpenDo cument

This is a particular problem with iTunes that has caught out many people and your IT people may not know about it.

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Answer 9

Sep 10, 2009 3:40 AM in response to polydorus

I have checked and there is no trace of any Norton on this laptop.

Thanks for your help anyway.

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Answer 10

Sep 24, 2009 11:20 AM in response to simonrobinson@delta

I had set parental settings as mentioned, these caused the error!

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Answer 11

polydorus

Level 6

11,967 points

Sep 25, 2009 12:40 AM in response to simonrobinson@delta

Thanks for reporting back.
Parental controls are a well know cause of connection problems, but this error number seems to be new.

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