Itunes not responding, running extremely slow

Yeah, I was a bit nervous about using Terminal, but I did as someone suggested and it worked okay. I'll paste in what I posted elsewhere. As for playlists, I've not gone through every one of them, but when I reverted, nothing seemed amiss as far as I've been able to tell. I've been on iTunes since the beginning, and have tens of thousands of songs and videos.

This is from other people. Worked for me, anyway.

Download 12.3:

http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/download-review/1957301/apple-itunes-for-mac-1110

Then:

1. Open the Terminal
2. Run "sudo rm -r /Applications/iTunes.app"
3. Re-install iTunes

Just copy/paste into the Terminal window what is inside the quotes in step two, hit enter, you'll get a prompt for your password. Be aware that when it asks for your password, the password won't be visible as you type it. After you type password, hit enter and iTunes should be deleted in a few seconds. When I did this, I had my Applications folder open and watched the old iTunes disappear. When that happens, just close Terminal and proceed normally. If your problem is similar to mine, you should be up and running in a few minutes.

After I reinstalled 12.3.0.44, things worked as before. Note: I had to restart my iMac before the version number in Finder matched the actual version number found by looking at "About iTunes" in the menu. Also, I then ran repair disk permissions via OnyX. It showed some problems w/ iTunes permissions, but those may or may not have been relevant to any of this problem.

Good luck and hope this helps.

a repost of my dissatisfied rant that I just added to the other active thread on this issue ( Re: iTunes slow):

in response to Mr_Samlowry

Start by downloading the older version of iTunes: http://mac.filehorse.com/download-itunes/5833/

I got the link from another thread on this board, and it works.

I'm sorry, but while this is genuinely helpful in that it may likely temporarily fix the frustrating symptoms that many people are seeing with iTunes 12.3.1, and I and others are indeed grateful for the sleuthing and sharing going into helping others make iTunes at a minimum usable, it all stems from a real breakdown in responsibility and accountability from Apple and desperately requires a prompt fix by Apple. Despite a known major problem with this latest release, the refusal of Apple to acknowledge this issue and fix it means that it has now driven its users to have to download versions of Apple software from unverified sources, delete files via Terminal (many evidently for the first time), install the unverified, non-current version of critical software and hoping nothing breaks during the downgrade, and then disable auto-update to prevent both a) the sure return of a known, verified, repeatable, major bug, and b) any ability to take advantage of future iTunes updates if a real fix isn't addressed and incorporated in the iTunes code base going forward.

Any responsible, responsive developer would acknowledge this ASAP, and then fix it ASAP (I can't count the number of times I've seen small developers post an update on the iOS or Mac App Stores, and before I ever get around to downloading it, they've already posted a note saying there's a bug in that new version and please hold off on downloading, and then, by that afternoon, boom, there's a fix) - Apple's refusal to confirm known problems is evidently causing many of its longtime users to suffer from the gaslight effect ("maybe it's something I've done", "maybe it's something wrong with my library/machine", "maybe it's my responsibility to fix this") and waste countless hours going in circles with tech support, and its inability to fix these known problems is leading its users into risky, convoluted, unsupported dead-end-downgrade-fork solutions.

Fix this, Apple. I know the bulk of your profits now come from iPhone sales, but the only reason I've bought piles of iPhones over the last 8 years is because they work with iTunes. Now wake up, shape up, fix this... and apologize, willya?

Note: for anyone just following this thread, there is also a much-longer thread on this issue here:

Itunes not responding, running extremely slow

And others:

My iTunes is non responsive with iTunes 12.3.1 I get that coloured beach ball constantly.

iTunes 12.3.1 Memory Hogging

After upgrading to 12.3.1, iTunes slowed way down, the rainbow appearing with every command, every click. Support could…

On getting by with multiple bugs in iTunes 12.3.1 update (some problems and fixes compiled)

Itunes 12.3.1 not responding on 10.10.5

etc...

Thanks to Russell for the advice on this - it's been driving me MENTAL for the last few weeks.

Followed the instructions and now, a few hours in, 12.3.0.44 is back to working fine, little bit of drag but nothing rage-inducing. No loss of playlists either (I have many) and indeed a playlist i set up on the previous version of iTunes just before downgrading is there.

I'm not the most technically minded, so to anyone nervous about trying, it's reasonably foolproof.

Thanks again Russell, much appreciated.

Others have said it before on this thread, but it bears repeating: Apple does not monitor these forums.

The best thing we can do (after downgrading iTunes so it's usable, of course), is to alert Apple of the issue. They need to hear from each and every one of us:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/itunesapp.html

"We appreciate your assistance in making iTunes better."

They probably should think about changing 'better,' to 'useable.'

TheatwarNov 5, 2015 2:38 PM
Re: Itunes not responding, running extremely slowin response to EastDog

Others have said it before on this thread, but it bears repeating: Apple does not monitor these forums.

The best thing we can do (after downgrading iTunes so it's usable, of course), is to alert Apple of the issue. They need to hear from each and every one of us:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/itunesapp.html

Always good advice to submit feedback through the official channels. I have certainly done so, and commend Theatwar's suggestion to everyone else as well.

And as for these forums, Apple cannot and will not ever acknowledge that they monitor these forums (that they, you know, host), or even glance at them, or even barely know they exist, because that would create expectations that the company should be responsive to the issues posted. I get that; it's cynical, but practical, and hardly unprecedented. But I would be absolutely shocked if the product teams (despite the notably infrequent cadence of Apple application software updates) do not regularly monitor what is being said about their particular products; smart companies, and especially software companies, are desperately eager for real-time, unfiltered feedback on their products. Apple, due their nature, is likely, sadly, less curious than most companies would be about the problems that a sub-set of their users are having, but points remain: a) don't discount the value of a discussion thread to serve to highlight a problem and provide information on its scope, even if a company claims they don't regularly/ever/everevernever monitor user discussions, and b) when you do submit feedback, you can save yourself a lot of typing by simply saying:

"iTunes 12.3.1 is [however you want to describe it in a non-profane word or two], for me and for many others. Why, here, take a look: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7296892 "

🙂

I'm having the EXACT same issues. How did this thing ever get past the testing stage? It's SO BROKEN. I've been using iTunes since my Ti MacBookPro in 2003, and this is the first time iTunes is running slowly AND it will no longer sync with my iPhone. Very frustrating as I have 23,000 songs in my library, most of which are from CDs and the rest are purchased MP3s. I can only play my MP3s purchased from iTunes on my iPhone... FRUSTRATED.

It worked marvellously for me. I guess you can trash the app but still have the iTunes folder that the new-old versions links to. I was a bit leery, but what a change! I'm as happy as Caitlyn on father's day! Or mother's day?

Can't believe the change! Will not update until iTunes 15.1

Restoring 12.3 with the method described by Russell worked perfectly! My library is intact, iTunes works at normal speed and my iPhone 6 syncs! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

Thank you to the poster who suggested rolling iTunes back to 12.3 - has worked a treat and saved my tower from being thrown out of the balcony! 😁

THANK YOU, that helped!

For me, a simpler way worked:

1) Open iTunes pressing Option key;

2) Select Create New Library with a new name such as "iTunes 1";

3) This time iTunes open in a flash;

4) Quit iTunes;

5) Open iTunes again pressing Option key;

6) Select Choose Existing Library (something similar, I don't know exact English message);

7) Choose original library such as "iTunes";

8) iTunes open after some initialization;

9) Now, iTunes work with original library without spinning wheel;

I did this earlier. It did seem to help some. I still had troubles, unfortunately, w/ playing some videos: spinning ball before playing, lags, etc. Not as bad as before but enough so that I reverted again. Glad it solved your problems, though.

I agree with you that iTunes is still slow in some cases, but the CPU usage is reduced from 100%+ to around 10% in most cases.

This procedure is similar to the way to solve a problem in the Open-Directory database of Yosemite Mac OS X Server.