Q: itunes 11.4 crashes when syncing apps to ipad / iphone

I'm on the iPhone 6 with 5000 songs sync'd and my library existing on a NAS, moving it not an option.  So it can be done.

Correct, no problems with music on iTunes with NAS.  Crashing iTunes 11.4 appears related to rights management for the apps.

Yup so to get your iPhone 6 to sync you have to make it so that no apps have to sync.  One way to do this is to make them the same on device and library.

This is what worked for me.

Go to Preferences -> Advanced -> Reset iTunes Store cache.

After doing this I my apps installed without crashing.

@dluna7676: with having apps on network share?

I install the apps manually through iTunes.  However trying this on a friends PC it didn't work. Although after deleting the iTunes folder in his music library, restarting Bonjour and resetting the iTunes Store cache it worked on his.

UPDATE:

So after trying just clearing the cache on a friends PC it didn't work the app didn't install.

However after Resetting the Store Cache, deleting the iTunes folder in the music folder and restarting Bonjour using services.msc it installed on his too.

Hopefully this works for more people.

  Following up on an idea originally suggested from asdfqwertz ( posted Sep 20, 2014 9:53 PM ), I have had success throughout a range of devices
and scenarios with (testing over last 4 days with various devices) deleting only
the Apps (from library control A then delete) from the itunes “library” (importantly
“keeping files” on the NAS) then re-adding the apps  (file; add folder to library) with a mapped
drive rather than UNC mapping. To be clear throughout I have kept my UNC
mapping via the itunes media folder (preferences; advanced itunes media folder)

As background all my media (music, movies
and mobile apps) stored on the NAS .. with the itunes and the library file (.itl)
running from local PC install. Within itunes I have always configured the itunes
media folder to map using UNC mapping .. so for a NAS named “NAS” … the UNC
mapping would be \\NAS\itunes .. rather than
drive mapping where the R drive is mapped to the \\NAS\
.. so that via drive mapping the mapping to the same location is R:\\itunes …  throughout I have kept my configuration
static with UNC mappings

So the delete / add  process as specified above will add back the
apps but will save the drive letter mapping within the library file (.itl)
rather than the UNC mapping. This overrides / end around the configuration
specified and controlled by the itunes media folder (preferences; advanced ). I
decided not to change this for reasons explained below. Also you can always
verify the mappings for an individual app by right clicking on an app and click
on Get Info … then look at very bottom of the screen for “Where”

What you want to see after this is done is
all your apps added back with a letter drive mapping rather than UNC.  Keep in mind that after you preform these
steps there willl likely be new app updates released and if you accept an update(s)
then these will incrementally replace the affected apps with UNC mappings (due
to the itunes media folder configuration)  and you will have to repeat the process for
the individual apps (or the entire folder if you find that more convenient).

One thing I found helpful was to right
click on the columns heading in the itunes library apps .. and add the date
modified column then sort by this modified date. This helps with identifying incremental
updates to apps. You can then just delete these apps and add back via files
rather than folders. 

Yes this is only a workaround. There is
clearly a bug in 11.4 that can only be resolved with new version of iTunes that
includes a true fix.

Other comments / issues / suggestions

Changing the mapping of the overall itunes media folder
location seems overly risky given the amount of customization I have done to
the metadata on my music and movies. Further my assumption is that apple will
issue a fix in a future release of itunes … thus if I can just manage through
with the apps then I do not think the risk to the metadata on my music and
movies is worth the change given that I would later have to change this back.

My feeling is moving to an old version is risky given I have
already upgraded my itunes / library to 11.4 and have lots of customized
metadata on my music and movies. Just not sure how friendly a downgrade would
be to my library file. 

Problem sync and crash itunes does not seem to affect the movies
and music .. all mapped with UNC and I have added and removed at a device level
(forcing a load from itunes) without issue never causing a crash of
itunes. 

I have not had to uninstall 11.4 to make this work, or touch
bonjour service, clear cache etc … just do the delete and re-add as described
above .. 

As side note I was in the apple store today and can tell you
the “Geniuses” have no clue about this bug … I spoke with 4 different Genius support
guys and all were hearing for first time .. I showed the thread ..  Why I was in there is an entirely different story
… iphone water damage in Houston rain storm yesterday ... thank goodness had
this workaround worked out prior or I would not have been able to restore the
replacement for my 5s.

Tried this. Still crashes when syncing iTunes with iPhone, except that it seems to crash with a different warning now.

You may want to make sure you have transferred all your purchases from phone to your iTunes.

During my rounds of troubleshooting I found that once iTunes crashed I had to logoff of my windows .. then back in (did not have to restart) .. this seemed to clear how iTunes functioned during a sync

Also make sure you are configured similar related to iTunes media file and where your apps are stored (ie on a NAS)

Posted this on another forum, sharing here in case it helps:

Ok, just spent a few hours with Apple support same issues.  Here is some details about my config:

Windows 8.1 Enterprise with Update 1

No Viruses, Clean rebuilt system just for testing this issue

Plenty o RAM

Plenty o CPU

Plenty o Disk Space

Synology NAS

Windows HomeServer SMB share

iOS devices running a mixure of 8, and 7 versions

I have been running my iTunes library on a Share/NAS/Homeserver for years now without issues.  Instantly after upgrading to this latest version of iTunes on my desktop my syncing of devices now crashes iTunes with the exact same error codes you mention.  I have a copy of my iTunes library on a share with wide open permissions on a HomeServer, and a Synology NAS, both crash when syncing.

We then tried to create a local iTunes library from scratch and populate it with some apps downloaded straight from the cloud (previously purchased apps from the store).  I decided to take my iPad and make it the sacrificial lamb and completely reset it to factory settings.  Then plugged it into the clean iTunes library which resides on SSD hard drives locally on my desktop, and attempted to sync just the few small applications I downloaded from the cloud, and boom it worked.  THEN, reset the iPad again, MOVED the fresh iTunes library to a new folder on both the HomeServer, and the Synology NAS and tried the same test across the network to each network location.  It then FAILED.  So the bug is definitely happening when accessing your library from a network location.

Apple support told me they would keep my case open and update me on if the engineering team finds any issues from the logs they captured from my machines.  I will post back if I hear back from them.  I am hopeful that apple will come forth with information that details this flaw and gets it corrected soon.  I would hate to have to go back to the old days of having my iTunes library on only one computer, because there are just some files you want to leverage the speed of your local LAN instead of a WiFi connection sometimes.

So for now I wait...

Hope this helps someone.

1) if you goto your apps within your iTunes library .. right click on a couple of them .. select get info .. look at the "where" at bottom of the summary tab .. how is the app mapped .. UNC or drive letter ..

2) within your iTunes install .. if you goto edit preferences advanced .. then look at your iTunes media folder local .. is it mapped with UNC or drive letter

I'm having the same problems as everyone else here!!.  However, for the past couple days I have been talking to a Apple Rep and even though it is painful to wait on hold, we are getting super close to solving the problems!  (engineers are working on it now).  Anyway, I think everyone does need to call Apple and I been talking to a rock star of an Apple Rep, his name is Andres Olivas.  His email address is :andres_olivas@apple.com and his phone number is 1-877-416-4271 ext: 1136341.  he works 11:30-8:00 MST. He is FABULOUS and i recommend talking directly to him!!

As soon as we get the problem resolved, I will post what steps need to be taken

Thanks!

Posting my experience here as well in case it helps anyone.  My problem and solution is similar to some earlier posts in this thread.

Got a new iPhone 6.  Backed up old phone.  Activated new one and restored from backup.  During sync, iTunes would crash and leave my new phone with a bunch of grayed out unusable apps.  Here is how I got around it:

1. Started sync.

2. When iTunes crashes, look at the progress window and write down which app was syncing.

3. Disconnect phone from computer.

4. Restart iTunes on the computer.

5. Go to App Store on phone over WiFi (phone still disconnected from computer).

6. Find the app from Step 2 in the App Store.

6a.  If the app still exists in the App Store, download it to the phone over WiFi.

6b.  if the app is no longer available in the App Store, delete the grayed-out icon from the phone and delete it from iTunes (this means you will no longer have the app anymore.  You might be able to manually backup and restore the app from your iTunes library after you have successfully synced, but I didn't bother).

7. Plug the phone back in to the computer. iTunes will automatically start syncing where it left off.  The 'bad' app will be skipped because it has already been resolved on the phone.

8. Go back to Step 2 at next crash.  Repeat until you have completed a successful sync.

This isn't as bad as it sounds.  For me, out of ~300 apps, I had 3 that I had to download over WiFi, and 3 that didn't exist in the App Store anymore that are now just gone (I didn't really care about them anyway - they were very old apps).  My phone now works and syncs just fine with iTunes.

If anyone is interested there is an Apple hosted version of 11.3.1 here:

https://secure-appldnld.apple.com/iTunes11/031-06106.20140807.REo2r/iTunes64Setu p.exe

I too was able to resolve this by downgrading to iTunes 11.3, but beware you must uninstall all Apple components. I originally just did iTunes and that did not work. Make sure you clear out the rest - mobile support, application support etc. I didn't figure out which one in particular was at fault, but the dates on some of these show that not all of them were updated with 11.4, so you can probably triage the exact component if you are interested.

Cheers

andy