iTunes U (restricted collection) not updating RSS from Echo 360
Greetings iTunes U comrades!
We're experiencing systematic update failures with RSS feeds from our Echo 360 server.
The Echo 360 system generates the RSS feeds. The feeds function perfectly well in the browser, on or off campus, and we can stream the assets in the browser without issue. FeedValidator also indicates the feeds are good. We've had these collections configured successfully for several years, and no major update has occurred on the Echo Server recently.
Whereas over the last few weeks, the RSS feed collections were being 'difficult' (they weren't successfully updating automatically, we would receive email alerts for the collections, but they could be 'jumpstarted' by force refreshing in the iTunes U collection multiple times), now they simply won't successfully update, now matter how many manual refresh attempts we make. (See screenshot)
Error: "iTunes U could not update the content because iTunes U could not download the specified feed [Feed URL]. Until the issue is resolved, iTunes U continues to display the last downloadable version of the content. Verify the feed specified in the feed URL field and the resource are available, and then try again."
Also of note: this issue is occurring within a restricted collection. We don't use the Echo 360 RSS feeds in Public Site collections. However, I attempted to create a public collection with the same Echo RSS feed, and it failed similarly.
iTunes U course page settings: I left the 'security' and 'signature' fields set to 'none.' However, problem persists with security set to 'HTTP Basic' or 'HTTP Digest Authentication.'
Access settings: problem persists regardless of whether download access is given to 'all' or only to 'authenticated' for this course. I've tried toggling all these settings to "Download" to troubleshoot the issue, to no avail.
I've tried using "feed" in place of "http" in the Feed URL. Same issue, regardless.
The issue is consistent with MP3, M4B, and M4V feeds.
There doesn't seem to be any way to manipulate the feed URL via the EchoSystem Server (we're on V. 4.0), and there's no additional configuration settings for manipulating the feed via iTunes U.
(Note: I posted about a similar issue in 2009, but the issue is not the same this time. The feed is not being in any way modified when parsed by the iTunes U server.)
Can anyone provide insight?