iPod Shuffle 4th Gen to iTunes on MacBook Pro. - ERROR

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iPod Shuffle 4th Gen to iTunes on MacBook Pro. - ERROR

Hello. Just bought a new iPod Shuffle 4th Gen. When I connect it to my Mac Book Pro 10.6.8, my iTunes (latest version), opens, detects the device but then instantly closes and reports an error. "Unexpectedly quits". What can I do to fix this issue? From what I understand, iTunes is necessary to set-up the shuffle for the first time?

This is really disappointing. This device costs £40 whereas other no-display MP3s cost a 1/4 of the price. The reason I bought this one was for performance, organisation, quick set-up and easy-use... This error should not happen.

iPod shuffle, Mac OS X (10.6.7)

Posted on Mar 2, 2014 5:20 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 2, 2014 1:26 PM in response to Emsisme

Make sure the plug on the USB docking cable plug is fully inserted into the headphones jack, as shown in this document

http://support.apple.com/kb/ts3572

(Try connecting the cable to the shuffle first and then connecting the other end to the MacBook's USB port.)

If that does not help, what happens if you start up iTunes by itself, without connecting the shuffle? Does iTunes start up properly and run?

And if it does, when iTunes is already running and you then connect the shuffle, does iTunes still quit unexpectedly?

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Answer 2

Emsisme Author

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Mar 3, 2014 3:16 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Thank you for your reply.

I thought the issue was being caused by the iPod device itself. This is because I have a much older iPod that works absolutely fine. When I connect this new shuffle to my MacBook Pro, whether the iTunes would be open or not, the iTunes would be able to detect the device but then would crash within seconds of presenting the set-up page on iTunes.

After a very long weekend of investigation, it turns out the issue was with my MacBook Pro 7.1. Sometime along the 5/6 years of having this, I lost the App Store and this got me stuck using the OS X version 10.6.8. I never stayed in touch with the Apple news, and did not know about the software updates - the App Store was not there to tell me either!

After re-installing the earlier OS X update that carries the App Store, I managed to then update my software to Mavericks. Since then, my iPod Suffle icon appears correctly on my desktop (before it was the standard white disk icon - now it represents the iPod design). iTunes no longer crashes, and I can now upload my music onto it!

I hope this thread will help anyone else who happens to have this issue. Having read quite a few forums, it seems like a common issue to have gotten stuck at the 10.6.8 version of OS X with the loss of the App Store.

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Answer 3

Mar 3, 2014 3:41 AM in response to Emsisme

Since your Mac OS X version was old, it's possible that your iTunes version was equally old, from before the 4th gen shuffle. That may be why it crashed when it tried to connect with the new shuffle, but your much older iPod worked fine. After getting the current version of iTunes installed along with the OS upgrade, your shuffle and iTunes interact properly.

Glad to hear it's working, and also that you're up-to-date with Mavericks on the Mac. Thanks for reporting back with the outcome.

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Answer 4

Emsisme Author

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Mar 3, 2014 4:09 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

For additional information:

I had tried using older and the latest iTunes versions before having installed Mavericks OS X. From version 5 to version 11 of itunes, the crash occurred. I think the 4th Gen shuffle and other new devices can only connect properly to the Mavericks Operating system. So the issue was not directly related to the itunes version.

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Answer 5

Mar 3, 2014 4:14 AM in response to Emsisme

Actually, according to the tech specs for the 4th gen shuffle

http://support.apple.com/kb/SP592

The system requirements for a Mac are:

"Mac computer with USB 2.0 port, OS X v10.6.8 or later, and iTunes 10.7 or later"

So, there was probably something wrong with your installation of Snow Leopard, in addition to the missing App Store.

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