Q: iTunes 11.2 crashing

What you're saying isn't completely correct. SyncServices was not required in Mavericks until the recent 10.9.3 update. Even then, it's arguably not required. See http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5847 This is because Apple reinstated local data syncing for Contacts and Calendars over USB in Mavericks 10.9.3, which existed in versions of OS X before Mavericks. In versions of OS X prior to Mavericks, yes, SyncServices was needed and Apple advised against its deletion. See http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1865 (Note that these articles were only recently updated with 10.9.3 information after this thread was started).

For lots of people on this thread, like me, the reinstating of this feature in Mavericks 10.9.3 and iTunes 11.2 broke iTunes whenever an iOS device was plugged into a Mac. Deleting this folder helped. Seeing how people on Mavericks 10.9.0 - 10.9.2 weren't using local calendar and contact sync over USB since it wasn't available, the deletion of this folder doesn't seem to cause a problem.

Now, turning on local calendar and contact sync over USB within an iOS device's preferences in iTunes post the 10.9.3 and 11.2 updates may re-create the SyncServices folder, as you suggest, but I have yet to test this since my calendar and contact info has been syncing OTA via iCloud and Google since a long time ago. Also, deletion of the folder after turning on local calendar and contact sync post 10.9.3 and 11.2 may very well cause data corruption problems, as suggested in the second article. Again, I wasn't syncing this data over USB before 10.9.3, since the feature was turned off in Mavericks, and therefore I haven't seen any data corruption issues.

I appreciate your comments.  You may be safe, for the circumstances you described.  However, in circumstances where synchronization can only occur via USB (e.g., older iPods, Nanos, etc.), the proposed solution may not be generalizable.  In fact, in

http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1627

Apple says, "OS X Mavericks 10.9.3 or later use Sync Services only to exchange contact and calendar data with iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices over USB when using iTunes 11.2 or later"  but also  "Important: Manually removing or editing the contents of ~/Library/Application Support/SyncServices/ is strongly discouraged because this might lead to unexpected data loss."  Thus, there are cirumstances under which the general advice to delete this folder and its contents way not be without problems. 

However, same resource also tells you how to delete (using the command line) and "reset" SyncServices properly under 10.9.3, and instructs you to then rebuild the file by resetting your sync preferences for each device.  This may be the key step (that I have not tried yet) to deleting and restoring SynServices to support USB device synchronization. It certainly implies that SyncServices is not unneeded under 10.9.3. 

Before I downgraded to iTunes 11.1, the manual deletion of the SynServices folder had no effect on this, and iTues coninued to use excessive resources. I think others reported this, too.  The bottom line is that your suggestion is very helfpul, but may not be a one-size-fits-all solution.  Doing the recommended Command Line deletion, restart, and rebuild of the SyncServices folder may be the more general solution. 

Ah ha!! Apple finally updated their support document for SyncServices days after this thread started! Thank you for finding this SwedeP. Yes, people should use the official support fix here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1627

I am still confident that those of us who deleted the folder have not experienced any data loss. Like you said in your post, and like I said in mine, and like Apple now says in their support document, SyncServices in 10.9.3 only deals with the local sync of calendar and contacts data over USB. Therefore, it is reasonble to expect that any  "unexpected data loss" would be contact or calendar data. Since Local Sync was turned off in Mavericks before 10.9.3, then assuming that contact and calendar data were synced OTA via iCloud or some other service, then no data loss should have occured. This is supported in the support article linked above in which Apple says that "SyncServices is not used to move data between iCloud and your devices."

I'm going to run the script now just to be safe that everything is working properly. Thanks again SwedeP for finding this updated support article.

I followed the instructions in the link you reference and rebooted, and as soon as I opened iTunes, I got the dreaded pinwheel and had to force quit iTunes, so something is still not right. 

I have the latest Mavericks, and I don't have a syncservice / syncservices folder in library/applications support, only a syncservice folder in system/library/.

In the same boat, except I have to power down my Macbook because it completely locks up the whole machine.  I've started using Clementine as an iTunes alternative on my Mac, and Google Play as an alternative app on my iPhone and iPad - though as far as I know there is no other way than iTunes to get videos on my devices.   Not real happy right now.

You have my condolences mmp1964.  If you search back in this thread, you will see that I gave up and used my Time Capsule backup to get my MBPro Retina (SSD) back to the pre-update state.  I then updated OSX, but not iTunes from the former 11.1 version.  I am sill not ready to update my work machine to iTunes 11.2, 11.21, or 11.22.  I do not need the hassle.  However, on two other machines, the update worked fine.  Niether, however, had an active Tunes file on them. 

If downgrading back to 11.1 is not an option for you, here are some other things you might consider:

1. Others have said that having Find My Mac on while first starting up iTunes 11.2x causes some complicated problem.  Try it again with Find My Mac turned OFF in your iCloud prefs on the Mac and iPhone if you are syncing over iCloud.
2. Make sure that after all of the updating, etc. that the "disappearing Users folder" is still not a problem.  Just click Macintosh HD and see if you see a Users folder.  The "fixing" of this problem may have been munged by some other, lintering problem, or by chucking out the SyncServices folder manually, rather than using the Terminal command.
3. Try shutting of WiFi, or whatever your network connect is, before firing up 11.2x and try to do a local sync only.  I have heard that if you have made a lot of changes on your iPhone/iPod iTunes may have trouble simultaneously dealing with updates/changes in apps on your Mac vs. the iPhone. 
4. Otherwise, be sure to pepper the Apple staff with your crash logs--multiple times if necessary, with a few words as to what you were doing.
5. Also, do a Repair Permissions between any addition of new software and/or crashing.

There is something else going on, and it has something to do with iTunes trying to chart with the outside world, because connosl activity shows this.

SwedeP - thank you so much for your detailed reply!  Went through the list and thus far no success.  I will start sending logs to Apple.  Between this, issues w/ Mavericks update and iCloud problems, - I'm losing faith.  I think someone in this thread suggested to Apple that they stop focusing so much on hardware and start focusing on software and services.... and not just adding new features, but making sure what they have is stable.  I know that does not impress investors or industry pundits, but it does impress customers.

thanks spyder683 , worked for me too. It was the deleting of this hidden folder that finally made it

Well so far i have:

1) reinstalled and repaired itunes numerous times

2) rebuilt the itunes library

3) added an application support directory to the Windows path

4) deleted sync services folder

5) copied the QTxx.dll file into various directories

6) turned off Genius

7) turned off display content ratings

Not sure if I left anything out. ITunes STILL freezes after opening. It is basically useless. I have the latest version and windows 8.1. Any other ideas?

I just found this in Windows event logs: Client application bug: DNSServiceResolve(a4:67:06:1f:a1:c1@fe80::a667:6ff:fe1f:a1c1._apple-mobdev2._tc p.local.) active for over two minutes. This places considerable burden on the network.

Well, you probably aren't going to want to hear this, but last night I went Medieval on my Macbook.  Erased the hard drive and did a clean reinstall of Mavericks.  Did selective restores of everything except iTunes, which I started over from scratch.  8 years of metadata gone (backed up of course).  Did not turn on iTunes Match. Have not synced any devices yet.  But iTunes hadn't crashed yet, though I only used it for 30 minutes or so.

Apple did release an update to iTunes over the weekend which, at least on my machine, took care of the stability problem and I have been able to use iTunes without any issues.  Have you seen this?  It appeared as  a software update.

Really?  What is the version number?

I'm not in front of my iMac now, but it came out on Sunday. The latest version on the Apple site is 11.2.2

It worked for me.

Merci

I retract my earlier comment about the fix working.  as soon as it detects a device, iTunes stops working, so there is no way to shut down wifi synch because you can never get to the screen to turn it off.

So much for the update!