Level 1

9 points

Updated to iTunes 12.1, now iTunes crashes every time it attempts to access the internet through our internal proxy - cannot access store!

Hi,

Does anybody have any experience of using iTunes with a web filtering proxy? My home is using the Sophos UTM home edition to provide edge antivirus and content filtering. More information available here: http://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/free-tools/sophos-utm-home-edition.aspx

The proxy settings for the computer is set to use an automatic configuration script "WPAD" and the settings are locked by group policy and cannot be disabled or changed.

Now here's the problem, when launching iTunes, the iTunes prompts me to enter login details for the HTTPS proxy. That's all well and good, so I enter the login details and hit okay. But when I go to the store tab, iTunes crashes with javascriptcore.dll. This makes sense because a WPAD proxy configuration file is pretty much JavaScript code. But this should not happen, as now I cannot access the iTunes store.

Prior to iTunes 12.1, iTunes would sometimes freeze when attempting to access the store but it would eventually work.

The proxy logs are not showing that any iTunes requests were blocked, dropped or otherwise rejected.

Does anybody have any suggestions to get this to work again or at least work around the issue?

NOTE: Disabling the proxy is not an option because the proxy settings on the Windows computers are locked through group policy. I can however, edit the WPAD proxy configuration file and add exceptions to the proxy but I don't know where to start!

I will also post this on the Sophos UTM support forums.

Thanks in advance.

iTunes-OTHER, Windows 7, iTunes version 12.1

Posted on Feb 2, 2015 6:15 AM

115 replies

Someone7272 Author

Level 1

9 points

May 9, 2015 7:13 AM in response to darbidDE

darbidDE wrote...

I just updated to 12.1.2.27. Now without notice iTunes just closes.

Before I got an error window (I think an unhandled exception error).

So maybe things are happening on "the error they cannot reproduce"

as they are now catching the error. :-)

Still crashing the same way...

dogfish182 wrote...

Hi all,

I'm chiming in as well because I have the exact same issue as described by OP.

using a wpad/proxy.pac file entirely breaks itunes ability to access the store.

it will crash javascriptcore.dll and terminate the program, every **** time.

Great that I've just spent month rolling out direct access to our organisation

and to protect the always connected machines we use cloud proxy via a

proxy.pac cloud hosted file.

Itunes is now totally unusable on any machine. this really is terribly broken.

I would post more details but the OP has covered literally every aspect of the

issue Im facing in detail, so I'm just here to add pages to this thread really

(and follow it in the vain hope something gets done about this glaring problem).

Note that setting the PAC/WPAD file to DIRECT access does not resolve this problem.

It is really shocking for a company on this scale to **** up like this. I wrote a basic C# application last week, and even that was able to pull proxy settings from a PAC/WPAD autoconfiguration file without crashing.

May 10, 2015 2:38 PM in response to Someone7272

Indeed. I discovered the same as you, it's not that itunes is getting proxied that is forcing it to crash. it's simply processing javascript that causes it to fail. which is maddening.

I think I've stepped through all the same processes to land in this thread. literally nothing will fix this issue unless apple can just reproduce it and then resolve it.

edit: I just received an update prompt from that apple update software on a previously affected workstation, I updated to 12.1.2.27 and on this box with a pacfile enabled that was crashing the machine earlier, I'm now able to go to the store in itunes. tested by going to itunes, having a look at the new blur album and playing a few samples.

Can anyone that was previously affected confirm? I'm not sure if the problem was 100% of the time or not, so I might just be lucky I guess. I really hope this is actually fixed...

Someone7272 Author

Level 1

9 points

May 11, 2015 3:23 AM in response to dogfish182

dogfish182 wrote...

edit: I just received an update prompt from that apple update software on a previously affected workstation,

I updated to 12.1.2.27 and on this box with a pacfile enabled that was crashing the machine earlier, I'm now

able to go to the store in itunes. tested by going to itunes, having a look at the new blur album and playing

a few samples.

Well, I wanna know what your secret is...

It's definitely not working here. However, upgrading to 12.1.2.27 has changed the way iTunes crashes sometimes.

In addition to the generic JavaScriptCore.dll crash as shown above, sometimes clicking on the store tab results in a blank "iTunes Store" page, with the loading bar moving endlessly. Attempting to close iTunes causes the program to hang. You'll need to use task manager to terminate the process, not even "End task" will close the hung iTunes.

dogfish182 wrote...

Can anyone that was previously affected confirm? I'm not sure if the problem was 100% of the time or not,

so I might just be lucky I guess. I really hope this is actually fixed...

Oh don't worry, you probably got lucky as I can assure you, it's definitely not fixed. This is Apple we're dealing with, so I'm not even expecting this to be fixed anytime soon.

May 12, 2015 2:24 AM in response to Someone7272

ah that's a shame...

thing is I have windows 8.1 and 64bit installed here and 12.1.26 appears to work.

on a microsoft surface with same setup, dead in the water and get this, SAME pac file (cloud hosted).

I'm now updating my one that is working to the latest version to see if I get the bug.

May 15, 2015 5:00 AM in response to dogfish182

I had this problem on the intranet at work, going back to iTunes 11 worked for me but I didn't like that solution as iTunes 11 occasionally crashed (occasionally crashing is far better than always crashing).

As this issue is related to WPAD I browsed to http://wpad/wpad.dat which is the universal WPAD address where you can download the proxy script. I noted my subnet and found the corresponding proxy address. I entered this address into my internet settings

Someone7272 Author

Level 1

9 points

Jun 1, 2015 7:16 PM in response to Jay Freeman

It's set by policy and cannot be changed.

Even if it was editable, you can't use proxy bypass lists when setting the proxy server in the bottom box.

What I did in the end was to use Group Policy to create a Windows Firewall policy which blocks the iTunes executable (C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunes.exe) from connecting to the WPAD on port 80, and then push this policy out to all of the computers. It's not ideal as iTunes obviously completely loses internet access (not that it worked anyway) but it's the only way I've been able to make iTunes usable without it crashing.

Jun 4, 2015 6:40 AM in response to Someone7272

Update: So Apple marked my bug as a duplicate of 18736465, and closed it. I suppose that's good, as they're recognizing that multiple customers at different sites are having the same issue.

As of today, the bug is still not fixed, so I've just resorted to disabling the iTunes Store in Parental Controls. At least I can listen to music for a bit before crashing. :/

rjamesnw

Level 1

11 points

Jun 4, 2015 12:04 PM in response to Someone7272

Figured I'd also add a post to show my frustration with this as well. Seems to crash randomly for me. After restarting 2-3 times due to crashes it seems to work for awhile.

Someone7272 Author

Level 1

9 points

Jun 4, 2015 7:20 PM in response to csurguine

Looks like Apple wants me to tone it down a bit... I got auto-moderated! This is super frustrating but yeah, I went off the rails a bit too far.

Maybe I'm being too harsh, but Apple really do need to pull their finger out - this should have been sorted ages ago! Or better yet, this problem should never have existed! You decide.

Anyway, here's a modified PG version of my original post.

Yeah they've closed mine too. Unfortunately, I feel like what they're really saying is "We're just going to cut you off, so you can't see the progress that we're NOT making with this issue..."

As I mentioned, I had to use Group Policy to create a Windows Firewall policy which prevents outgoing communication from iTunes to our server hosting the WPAD file. That has fixed the crashes once and for all. Consequently, iTunes can't connect to the store obviously, but hey, this didn't work anyway without crashing. So at least my iTunes doesn't crash anymore.

rjamesnw wrote...

Figured I'd also add a post to show my frustration with this as well. Seems to crash randomly for me. After restarting 2-3 times due to crashes it seems to work for awhile.

Sorry, but I don't think you're having the same problem. The problem described in this topic can be reproduced absolutely every time, and no amount of restarting can remedy the problem, so if it's happening only randomly, I think you've got a different issue.

To close off my communications with Apple's 'Software Engineering' team, I left this response:

I have determined that it is not fair that you have closed this bug.

I now can't see any progress that you may be making towards having this issue resolved. Instead of closing this bug report, I wish that you had merged it with the 'duplicate' so that each user who has reported the issue can keep track of any progress made.

I was hoping to see some progress made with this, now that you seem to have actually accepted it as a bug, but I won't be holding my breath any longer.

I feel like I am wasting my time. I have personally ensured that the School I work at as an I.T. technician will not begin using iTunes, and I have referred them to a rival music store, which is actually proxy friendly!

This is the final nail in the coffin for this topic. If enough people need it, I will post the Windows Firewall based workaround in simple steps.

rjamesnw

Level 1

11 points

Jun 4, 2015 10:13 PM in response to Someone7272

Well I think you're wrong. I didn't have any issues until I setup my personal laptop to work in the company environment, and a pac file is also used to configure the proxy. On launch I get prompts to login (proxy login) and I usually cancel out. Eventually it crashes; many times right away. It seems if I dismiss the login prompts fast enough it doesn't crash, but I have to test further to confirm (very odd). Just because it doesn't crash every time period doesn't mean it's not related.

Someone7272 Author

Level 1

9 points

Jun 5, 2015 1:00 AM in response to rjamesnw

rjamesnw wrote...

Sorry, I'm just sick of people attempting to merge their unrelated issues into this topic. I was wrong to take it out on you. Someone else claimed scrolling too fast caused this crash, I'm just like no, start your own topic. I don't think he even knew what a proxy server is, or what it does! 😁

Okay, can you continue testing?

You say that dismissing the proxy authentication prompts allows iTunes to run for a while, but eventually it will crash. This is true, dismissing the proxy authentication prompts doesn't prevent the crashes as I originally believed, it merely delays them, as further testing has revealed.

What I've noticed is that sometimes, yes, iTunes may start without crashing.

It'll show the proxy authentication prompts. Can you try entering your proxy credentials, and see if it is stable.

Is iTunes still running? If it is, press on the iTunes Store tab. At this point, iTunes will immediately crash before it has even finished loading the iTunes Store home page.

If this happens, then you've definitely got the same problem, and you'll have to use the Windows Firewall workaround (depending on how nice your system admins are) I posted a few days ago to reduce the effect of this major issue.

rjamesnw

Level 1

11 points

Jun 5, 2015 5:54 AM in response to Someone7272

Interesting, I'll give those ideas a try and see what happens. I have full admin rights on my laptop, so no worries there.

(BTW, I have a PC, does it happen on the Mac also for anyone?)

rjamesnw

Level 1

11 points

Jun 5, 2015 11:16 AM in response to rjamesnw

Just trying at work now. First attempt to launch fails (every time I first try it at work). iTunes shows my "My Music" tab selected, and then:

Problem signature:

Problem Event Name: APPCRASH

Application Name: iTunes.exe

Application Version: 12.1.2.27

Application Timestamp: 55236b62

Fault Module Name: JavaScriptCore.dll

Fault Module Version: 7600.1017.10000.1

Fault Module Timestamp: 550ca5a0

Exception Code: c0000005

Exception Offset: 00000000002c6225

OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1

Locale ID: 4105

Additional Information 1: 76cd

Additional Information 2: 76cd3bf84af8d209e21918fcff1ecc11

Additional Information 3: ca36

Additional Information 4: ca36809d43c3e27277e0c1dea3b4fcbc

Second try got a login prompt for Automatic Downloads (sorry, it was this, not the proxy login). Cancelled out and went to the Store - crashed after it failed to connect to the itunes store.

Each time I launch iTunes it defaults now to the store (last thing I visited I guess?). If I wait long enough, it never fails to crash (same error posted above). Sometimes before the crash I get the prompt to login for automatic downloads.

Now I managed to switch to the "My Music" tab and closed/reopened iTunes so it stays on that tab. Crashed the first time. Second time it did not (I quickly canceled out of the automatic download prompts). 3-4 other times after this it crashed (without logging into the prompts).

Disabled the pac url for the proxy in IE. iTunes no longer crashes - restarted iTunes a few times. Re-enabled the pac proxy url while itunes is opened and still no crash. Also tried opening the store during that time - which works - and no crash.

Disabling the proxy, opening iTunes, then re-enabling it seems to allow it to keep working (for awhile at least - so far so good). I'll post more if I discover more.

Jun 7, 2015 11:03 PM in response to rjamesnw

I read the forum from start to finish and I have tired everything. I have Windows 8 and one day all of a sudden my iTunes kept freezing every time I plug my iPhone 6/ iPad mini in. Because of that I was unable to sync any songs to my devices. The more I read the discussion, I got more frustrated...Especially after the fact that I still couldn't find a solution. But I did this and it TOTALLY works now, WITHOUT crashing as well. I uninstalled EVERYTHING that is Apple related. (ex. iTunes, iCloud, bonjour, all the iTunes update and support stuff). Afterwards, I reinstalled iTunes all over again and it totally works fine! I still have all my music and everything. I can finally put new music into my phone. YAY! 😀 I hope this works for you all! Just in case this happens again I decided to turn on my option to be able to sync my music over Wifi and it has been working out great.

Someone7272 Author

Level 1

9 points

Jun 8, 2015 2:37 AM in response to lilmsmomo

lilmsmomo wrote...

Sorry, but that's an unhelpful reply. You clearly did not have the same problem as anybody in this topic, so your suggestion to uninstall and reinstall is pointless. The problem discussed in this topic only applies to networks with a proxy server, and based on the fact that you use Wi-Fi syncing, I'm going to assume that you don't have one. This topic does not apply to basic, consumer home networks.

We know exactly what is causing the problem, but Apple are refusing to resolve it.

The problem discussed in this topic does not cause iTunes to freeze. It causes iTunes to crash, and Windows has to close iTunes.

With all due respect, please stay off this topic unless you have any useful information.

Nothing annoys me more than people jumping onto my topic to post about unrelated problems.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Updated to iTunes 12.1, now iTunes crashes every time it attempts to access the internet through our internal proxy - cannot access store!