iTunes keeps restarting

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Level 1

13 points

iTunes keeps restarting

Hi!

I know this question has been asked over and over for the last 6 years with no real answer... I've been having this problem for a bunch of years, and it's really getting on my nerves.

When I want to quit iTunes (latest version), it quits normally and then restart instantly. I quit it again, it restarts. Again, and again, and again (right now, I finally managed to get it to quit after about 25 force quits).

Force quitting doesn't do any good (except after 25 times). iTunes is eating up all my CPU usage and my computer is burning up (macbook pro 17 with quadcore 2.5ghz, very poor cooling system).

Killing it in the terminal doesn't do any good either, since iTunes will instantly restart with a new PID.

Can't restart the computer, of course, because iTunes won't quit and prevents the computer from shutting down.

I'm running El Capitan, all updates are done, iTunes is the latest version too. I don't have any audio bluetooth device attached. Earphones aren't plugged in. My iPhones and iPad aren't connected via bluetooth or updating via wifi. My iPod is not plugged in. I'm not inadvertantly hitting the play key on my keyboard. iTunes store is deactivated, genius too, home sharing too, syncing too. I don't use any plugin, and I checked, none installed itself without my knowledge, the folder is empty.

Over the years, I tried all solutions on the internet (plist, deinstalling and reinstalling iTunes, upgrading to the latest OS...), none worked.

The only thing I managed to find out was that there appears to be an interaction with the wacom driver (***?), which is very strange. I'm using a Cintiq 24HD and a Cintiq 13HD, but at the moment I'm not using the stylus.

Here's what I could grab from the console from one of the many restarts :

09.07.16 20:22:57.148 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:com.apple.iTunes.playerInfo

09.07.16 20:22:57.799 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:HelpBookRegistrationDidChange

09.07.16 20:22:57.976 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:com.apple.backup.exclusionschanged

09.07.16 20:22:57.977 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:com.apple.backup.exclusionschanged

09.07.16 20:22:59.020 iTunes[4341]: ApplePushService: APSConnection being used without a delegate queue

09.07.16 20:23:00.089 com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.FileStatsAgent) Service only ran for 9 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 1 seconds.

09.07.16 20:23:02.822 ntpd[754]: time set -0.174593 s

09.07.16 20:23:02.826 com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.FileStatsAgent) Service only ran for 1 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 9 seconds.

09.07.16 20:23:02.827 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:CalNotificationUpdateMessageCount

09.07.16 20:23:02.828 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:RemindersNotificationUpdateBadgeCount

09.07.16 20:23:02.831 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:RemindersNotificationUpdateBadgeCount

09.07.16 20:23:02.835 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:CalNotificationUpdateMessageCount

09.07.16 20:23:02.837 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:RemindersNotificationUpdateBadgeCount

09.07.16 20:23:02.844 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:CalNotificationUpdateMessageCount

09.07.16 20:23:20.377 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:com.apple.CFNetwork.CookiesChanged.493949032063fcd33a09fa366 e247ade8cc48f16

09.07.16 20:23:39.508 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:com.apple.iTunes.libraryChanged

09.07.16 20:23:40.379 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:com.apple.iTunes.libraryChanged

09.07.16 20:23:40.568 com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.FileStatsAgent) Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 10 seconds.

09.07.16 20:23:51.090 com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.FileStatsAgent) Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 10 seconds.

09.07.16 20:24:04.388 com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.FileStatsAgent) Service only ran for 3 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 7 seconds.

09.07.16 20:24:07.320 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:com.apple.HIToolbox.beginMenuTrackingNotification

09.07.16 20:24:07.324 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:com.apple.HIToolbox.beginMenuTrackingNotification

09.07.16 20:24:07.353 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:com.apple.HIToolbox.beginMenuTrackingNotification

09.07.16 20:24:08.539 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:com.apple.HIToolbox.endMenuTrackingNotification

09.07.16 20:24:12.860 com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.FileStatsAgent) Service only ran for 1 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 9 seconds.

09.07.16 20:24:23.059 com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.FileStatsAgent) Service only ran for 1 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 9 seconds.

09.07.16 20:24:30.000 kernel[0]: process iTunes[4341] thread 1934254 caught burning CPU! It used more than 50% CPU (Actual recent usage: 96%) over 180 seconds. thread lifetime cpu usage 90.057024 seconds, (87.743981 user, 2.313043 system) ledger info: balance: 90033828153 credit: 90038567316 debit: 4739163 limit: 90000000000 (50%) period: 180000000000 time since last refill (ns): 93353359281

09.07.16 20:24:30.830 com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.ReportCrash[4349]) Endpoint has been activated through legacy launch(3) APIs. Please switch to XPC or bootstrap_check_in(): com.apple.ReportCrash

09.07.16 20:24:30.832 ReportCrash[4349]: Invoking spindump for pid=4341 thread=1934254 percent_cpu=96 duration=94 because of excessive cpu utilization

09.07.16 20:24:32.129 spindump[1092]: Saved cpu_resource.diag report for iTunes version 12.4.1 (12.4.1) to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/iTunes_2016-07-09-202432_precious.cpu_resource. diag

09.07.16 20:24:33.738 com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.FileStatsAgent) Service only ran for 1 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 9 seconds.

09.07.16 20:24:43.237 com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.FileStatsAgent) Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 10 seconds.

09.07.16 20:24:53.981 com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.FileStatsAgent) Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 10 seconds.

09.07.16 20:25:04.529 com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.FileStatsAgent) Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 10 seconds.

Does anybody have a clue what's going on? I don't want to have to force quit my computer everytime I want to open iTunes. (note that the crazy restarting thing doesn't happen everytime, but often enough. It doesn't matter whether I plugged in my iPod or iPhone just before (always ejecting them before I quit anyway), it can happen without any device interaction.

Thanks a lot 🙂

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5)

Posted on Jul 9, 2016 11:47 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 9, 2016 12:46 PM in response to nessdufrat

If you have not done so, check to see if the hard drive needs repairing.

Launch Disk Utility located in /Applications/Utilities

Select the startup disk on the left then click the First Aid tab the click Run.

If the disk appears to be ok, a Safe Mode boot deletes system caches that may help.

Follow these steps to start up into safe mode.

Start or restart your Mac.
Immediately after you hear the startup sound, press and hold the Shift key.
Release the Shift key when you see the Apple logo appear on the screen.

After the Apple logo appears, it might take longer than usual to reach the login screen or your desktop. This is because your Mac performs a directory check of your startup disk as part of safe mode.

To leave safe mode, restart your computer without pressing any keys during startup.

Then see if iTunes restarts itself.

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Answer 2

nessdufrat Author

Level 1

13 points

Jul 10, 2016 2:35 AM in response to Carolyn Samit

Thanks!

It's been done several times already (both the repair and the safe mode boot). I can try it once again, but if over the last few years it hasn't solved itself, I guess it won't this time either.

Oh, and I also tried to reset PRAM and SMC, just in case. No use either.

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Answer 3

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Jul 10, 2016 6:27 AM in response to nessdufrat

Please disconnect the Wacom devices. Any change?

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Answer 4

nessdufrat Author

Level 1

13 points

Jul 13, 2016 2:26 AM in response to Linc Davis

Right now it's not doing it anymore, I'll try next time it starts acting crazy. But that's a good advice. If I remember correctly, the first few times (more than 2 years ago, at least), I didn't have any wacom device connected. Just the drivers installed (I had an Intuos, that I plugged in from time to time, but right now it's a cintiq 24HD and I'm using it as my main screen so it's plugged in via displayport and usb).

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Answer 5

nessdufrat Author

Level 1

13 points

Jul 13, 2016 4:19 AM in response to Linc Davis

Ok, so apparently iTunes just needed me to regain faith. It happened again. I unplugged the Cintiq, cleared the console, and shut down iTunes again. It's restarting like before and my computer is overheating.
Here's the console infos:

13.07.16 13:16:26.904 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:com.apple.iTunes.playerInfo

13.07.16 13:16:27.307 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:com.apple.iTunes.libraryChanged

13.07.16 13:16:27.937 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:com.apple.iTunes.libraryChanged

13.07.16 13:16:28.238 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:com.apple.CFNetwork.CookiesChanged.493949032063fcd33a09fa366 e247ade8cc48f16

13.07.16 13:16:28.427 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:HelpBookRegistrationDidChange

13.07.16 13:16:28.530 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:com.apple.backup.exclusionschanged

13.07.16 13:16:28.530 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:com.apple.backup.exclusionschanged

13.07.16 13:16:28.530 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:com.apple.backup.exclusionschanged

13.07.16 13:16:28.530 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:com.apple.backup.exclusionschanged

13.07.16 13:16:29.296 iTunes[9977]: ApplePushService: APSConnection being used without a delegate queue

13.07.16 13:16:35.184 WindowServer[748]: send_datagram_available_ping: pid 1119 failed to act on a ping it dequeued before timing out.

13.07.16 13:16:42.391 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:com.apple.iTunes.libraryChanged

13.07.16 13:16:42.932 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:com.apple.iTunes.libraryChanged

13.07.16 13:16:47.667 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:com.apple.iTunes.playerInfo

13.07.16 13:16:47.997 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:com.apple.CFNetwork.CookiesChanged.493949032063fcd33a09fa366 e247ade8cc48f16

13.07.16 13:16:47.999 WindowServer[748]: send_datagram_available_ping: pid 1119 failed to act on a ping it dequeued before timing out.

13.07.16 13:16:48.239 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:HelpBookRegistrationDidChange

13.07.16 13:16:48.336 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:com.apple.backup.exclusionschanged

13.07.16 13:16:48.336 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:com.apple.backup.exclusionschanged

13.07.16 13:16:48.337 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:com.apple.backup.exclusionschanged

13.07.16 13:16:48.337 WacomTabletDriver[991]: handleNotification:com.apple.backup.exclusionschanged

13.07.16 13:16:49.102 iTunes[9979]: ApplePushService: APSConnection being used without a delegate queue

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Answer 6

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Jul 13, 2016 8:18 PM in response to nessdufrat

Please remove the tablet software. Otherwise, update it to the latest version from the manufacturer's website.

After following the removal instructions linked above, you may also need to open the Users & Groups pane in System Preferences, select the Login Items tab, and delete any Wacom-related items. That's because the uninstaller is defective.

Back up all data before making any changes.

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Answer 7

nessdufrat Author

Level 1

13 points

Jul 14, 2016 3:56 AM in response to Linc Davis

Software for the Cintiq is up to date, as a matter of fact I updated it a few days ago with the latest version. I cannot uninstall my cintiq because I need it everyday for my work, much more, of course, than iTunes.

Back up was done yesterday, so I'm good with that too.

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Answer 8

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Jul 14, 2016 5:05 AM in response to nessdufrat

You can remove the software as a test. It's easy enough to reinstall.

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