itunes unbelievably slow accessing SMB shares

I'm having the same problem, too. I kept trying iTunes 10, then iTunes 10.01, then 10.1, and every time I find that the app is so laggy and unresponsive that I have to roll back to iTunes 9. I have an iPad, and my concern is that I'll have to be on a 10.x version if I want to upgrade the iPad to 4.2.

It took iTunes 10.1 nearly 30 hours to do the stupid "gapless playback" thing on my 60gb of music. Hey Apple, how about giving us the choice at install/upgrade of whether or not we want the artwork and gapless playback scans to take place?

I can also confirm this behavior and the multiple threads on the subject. The issue looks to be related to SMB and how iTunes is using it. I see no issue when transferring files between Mac and Server using SMB, but immediate slowness when reading data in from the SMB share using iTunes. My NAS (Buffalo LinkStation, presumably some flavor of Linux using Samba for SMB), also supports AppleTalk (presumably netatalk). Switching protocols solves the issue. Why there's no problem with SMB via finder but only with iTunes is a mystery still.

Good Luck!

The same ****** problem!

+1 for same ****** problem

Same problem. I just use xp with an smb share to store my music. I gave up running an MS server environment long ago. I've been working all morning to get 10.1 to sync my touch running 4.2 and it's been nothing but headaches.

I am running a D-Link NAS server (Model 321) and had the same issue with unacceptable slowness. I resolved the problem by enabling "oplocks" and turning off the iTunes built-in server. My performance increased dramatically!!!

According to the helpfile:

Oplocks
Opportunistic locks (Oplocks) are a characteristic of the LAN Manager networking protocol implemented in the 32-Bit Windows family of operating system environments. Oplocks are guarantees made by a server to its clients for a shared logical volume. These guarantees inform the client that a file's content will not be allowed to be changed by the server, or if some change is imminent, the client will be notified before the change is allowed to proceed. Oplocks are designed to increase network performance when it comes to network file sharing, however when using file-based database applications it is recommended to set Oplocks to No (off).

What operating systems are affected by Oplocks?

By default Vista has Oplocks enabled and cannot be disabled. If you are having network performance issues with applications sharing files from the DNS-321 you may try to improve performance by setting Oplocks to No (off).

+1

I too have an iPad and can't do much with it without iTunes 10.x. iTunes 9x works fine, music/network wise.

Same problem here. I don't have a powerful computer but I can confirm that itunes 9 worked just fine with SMB shares and wifi access but itunes 10.x just locks up when accessing those shares.

10.1.1 fixed this issue for me. Smooth as silk now. <3

Fixed?? The problem is the same for me!! 😟

Not fixed for me either

Same here. But actually this problem has a much longer history than just the 10.x versions.

It has existed for over 3 years!!! And worse: Apple ignores users with problems. They are convinced that everybody is dying to have gapless playback, so the incredibly annoying "Gapless Playback" blabla determination crap is driving me and others crazy.

iTunes is the worst piece of **** I have ever used, but I need it for me iPod, iPhone, iPad and Apple TV. How's that? I've worked with computers since 1984 and iTunes is, by far, the worst software product (to say it nicely) I have ever come across.

**** APPLE!

Message was edited by: BorisC

I have problem only the iTunes version 10, after that it works very well.

Sorry, I spoke way too soon here. The issue persists. It's like its waiting for a DNS timeout or something. Changing tracks takes at least 30s.