iTunes sign in request infinite loop - tried many solutions already and still no success

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Level 1

84 points

iTunes sign in request infinite loop - tried many solutions already and still no success

Hi all,

After updating to iTunes 10.6 I've had a problem where iTunes gets stuck in a loop asking me to sign in to my Apple ID.

I am already signed in and it keeps asking me to sign in to activate Automatic Downloads. I enter the correct password and it simply asks me again. It just keeps going until I click Cancel.

I just subscribed to iTunes Match yesterday as well and it asked me for my password to add my MacBook Pro to iTunes Match. Same problem. It just keeps asking me. So I've now paid for iTunes Match and am unable to use it.

I am not able to add things to or view my Wish List either because it keep asking me to sign in to view or add to it.

I've tried deleting iTunes preferences which made it forget my Apple ID so I could sign in fresh. Same result. I tried signing out, quitting iTunes and signing back in. Same. I even tried restarting my Mac. Nothing.

I've contacted Apple via email but they haven't offered any solution yet. They just directed me to a couple of articles that told me what I already knew about signing in and using iTunes Match.

Any ideas?

MacBook Pro (early 2011) 15 inch-OTHER, Mac OS X (10.7.3), 8 GB RAM

Posted on Mar 15, 2012 5:02 PM

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Answer 1

Heronymo Author

Level 1

84 points

Mar 15, 2012 7:59 PM in response to Heronymo

I've finally found a solution!

It's from a troubleshooting article in the Apple support pages for a similar but different problem.

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1389

Basically, here's what to do...

Quit iTunes and any other open applications until only Finder is open.
Choose Go > Go to Folder.
Type /Users/Shared/SC Info
If Finder is not already set to column view, set it by choosing View > as Columns.
Select the SC Info folder and move it to the Trash by choosing File > Move to Trash.
Restart the computer and open iTunes.

That should do it. Hopefully this helps others.

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Answer 2

HazyRigby

Level 2

404 points

Feb 10, 2013 8:30 PM in response to Heronymo

Found a solution to this problem. A client couldn't log in at appleid.apple.com in addition to not being able to log in to the iTunes Store in the app, despite several password changes and so on.

Turns out that she'd disabled cookies in Safari (in Safari > Preferences > Privacy). As soon as cookies were re-enabled, boom—iTunes Store and appleid.apple.com would let her log in.

Hope that helps someone!

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Answer 3

May 13, 2012 12:23 AM in response to Heronymo

Yes, I have the same concern with iTunes' login too. The "ID and password" works fine here at the Support Community but not at iTunes. Frustrating isn't it. If I solve the iTunes login mystery I'll get back to you. If anyone can help, please advise. Thank you in advance.

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Answer 4

Tulliver

Level 1

0 points

Dec 19, 2012 9:15 AM in response to Heronymo

Tried this, it didn't work (for me).

I've experienced the infinite sign in loop in iTunes 10.x from the beginning. Tried to fix to no avail. Finally I just decided to live with it.

Last night I reluctantly updated to iTunes 11.0.1 thinking this would resolve the issue. It did not. I found your post, Heronymo, tried it, it did not work (for me).

iMac 11,3 - intel Core i7 - OS: 10.6.8

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Answer 5

Oct 12, 2013 2:40 PM in response to Heronymo

Thanks! unblocking 3rd party cookies in safari worked for me too. i closed and restarted itunes and matched signed in and worked fine. i use firefox, not safari, so i would never have thought of that.

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Answer 6

Dec 4, 2013 2:47 PM in response to mojidara

I finally got past the infinite loop to authorize playing a single song by deleting the song from iTunes AND the computer (move to trash/recycle bin) AND then re-downloading the song from...

iTunes Store > Home > Purchased > Music > Not in My Library

...then the song would play.

I've had to do this several times to get certain purchases to play on my computer that I've payed for via iTunes on an iOS device.

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Answer 7

Dec 4, 2013 3:14 PM in response to todorojo1010

What I meant in that last statement was that randomly, every once in a while, an item purchased from the iTunes store on an iOS device would automatically download to iTunes on my PC but I couldn't play it due to an infinite loop authorization issue and only the workaround I listed above would work for me.

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Answer 8

ramonjg

Level 1

0 points

Jun 4, 2014 7:37 AM in response to HazyRigby

THANK YOU Hazyrigby. Just stop blocking cookies in Safari, how easy...

Well, I spent at least 10 hours with Apple Care. To be fair, customer service was great and very willing to solve the problem. We tried everything: deleted library files, reinstalled iTunes countless times etc. Nothing worked. Finally we created a new computer user and I guess that stopped blocing cookies because it reset all my apps.

Apple really needs to get their stuff together syncing their apps and devices and letting us know what's connected to what. It's getting sloppier and sloppier by the minute. They may turn into Microsoft soon... too many moving parts.

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Answer 9

Ziatron

Level 5

4,214 points

Nov 16, 2014 9:41 PM in response to HazyRigby

Turns out that she'd disabled cookies in Safari (in Safari > Preferences > Privacy). As soon as cookies were re-enabled, boom—iTunes Store and appleid.apple.com would let her log in.

That fixed it for me !!! THANKS !!!!!

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