iTunes running extremely slow

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Level 1

53 points

iTunes running extremely slow

I am having a problem with extreme slowness. I have read all the post and don't see anything that I could change to correct this. I have my music file on an external disc using the firewire port on my iMac. I have the latest Mac os 10.11.1 and the latest iTunes version 12.3.1.23.

I have apple music turned on but I am not using the icloud or matching service

I have 127.88 GB of music on any external disc

At this point I am considering cancelling apple music and going to another service, And I am considering downloading an alternative product to iTunes.

Is there any possibility that iTunes U and Podcasts might get their own separate programs as they do on the the iPad and iPhone?

What would be a good alternative to iTunes?

hanks For any help.

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11)

Posted on Dec 1, 2015 4:34 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Kenichi Watanabe

Level 8

41,572 points

Dec 10, 2015 3:04 AM in response to DanMccarter

One thing you should do is run Disk Utility, and test the external drive's volume to confirm there is no data corruption on it. You can do this by selecting the external drive's volume (indented below the device) in the Disk Utility sidebar. Click on First Aid button, and run it. Data corruption can cause slow access. Also, if the drive is close to being full, that can severely increase data fragmentation, which can cause slow access, especially if the drive has been through cycles of getting close to being full, followed by you deleting data from it to free up space, followed by getting close to begin full again...

My iTunes Media folder, also on an external FireWire drive, is currently 315 GB (including things that take up more space like movies, TV shows, video podcasts, etc.). I use both iTunes Match and Apple Music actively. I don't experience any slowness. You may want to do some additional testing on your system to determine the cause.

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Answer 2

DanMccarter Author

Level 1

53 points

Dec 10, 2015 11:28 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Thanks for reminding me of these u=issues. I did run the disk utility but there were no problems. This is a 2T disk and it has 1.76 available space. I also ran iDefrag and that did make a notable difference. I down load lots o0f Podcasts and afterwards delete them who I assume causes fragmentation.

I notice after this exercise the slowness that I am seeing it switching back and forth between, for you, to the iTunes store or back to my playlists

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Answer 3

Dec 10, 2015 2:58 PM in response to DanMccarter

With that much free space, I wouldn't think data fragmentation would become a (noticeable) problem, but it's good that using your defrag utility made a difference.

I can think of a few more tests, since you still seem to have some issues. Before you do testing on your system, it is obviously best to have a good (and recent) backup of your data.

Quit iTunes, if running. Turn OFF Wi-Fi, so that you do not have Internet access (assuming you connect to network over Wi-Fi). Launch iTunes. You'll get some messages related to not having access to iCloud. And you'll obviously have no access to the iTunes Store. Pretend you have a temporary ISP network outage (which happens in the real world), and try using iTunes for other stuff, like playing podcasts, to see if you notice a difference is slowness. When you turn Wi-Fi back ON, I would first quit iTunes, then turn Wi-Fi ON (and confirm you have an Internet connection using Safari), and launch iTunes again.

To test general Internet connection speed, you can use a web site like Speakeasy

https://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

I typically get 30 Mbps (download speed) or better with my service, but there are times when it is significantly slower, and that can cause iTunes to feel slower. See if there is a difference in Internet connection speed when you notice significant slowness in iTunes.

To test FireWire, most recent FireWire external drives also have a USB port. Shut down (power off) your Mac, and turn off the external drive. Disconnect the FireWire cable for the drive, and connect it with an appropriate USB cable. Turn on the external drive and start up the Mac. Run iTunes to see if you notice any difference. I'm not suggestion you don't use FireWire; this is just a test to see what happens with iTunes if your iTunes Media folder is connected over USB. Reverse procedure to put FireWire connection back.

You can also run Disk Utility (First Aid) on your startup disk. The best way is to start up the Mac through Startup Manager (hold down Option key during startup). Select Recovery HD from the list of possible startup disks. After getting to the recovery screen, select to run Disk Utility. Select your usual startup disk in Disk Utility, and run First Aid on it.

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