iTunes WILL NOT OPEN

Question

Level 1

30 points

iTunes WILL NOT OPEN

I've tried everything I can think of besides a complete system reinstall. Since the past few security updates it just hangs on open.

Yes, this is an older machine. But it's otherwise in awesome shape. And my family uses it primarily as a media server…so the fact that iTunes isn't working anymore is, well, a big bummer.

Interestingly iTunes DOES open when I start my computer in safe mode. But it DOES NOT open when I try and launch iTunes in "iTunes Safe Mode." Which is kinda weird. Not sure the difference there.

I've tried deleting all the iTunes prefs. I've turned off all my login items. I've even reinstalled iTunes. But nothing works.

I have dozens of crash reports, system files, and even process samples…but it's a bit beyond my knowledge to read those and try and figure out WHAT is causing the hang.

Any ideas?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, macOS Sierra (10.12.3)

Posted on Nov 18, 2017 6:30 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

chris_g1

Community Specialist

Nov 22, 2017 5:27 AM in response to JungleNYC

Hey, JungleNYC!

Thanks for visiting the Apple Support Communities. From your post, I understand that you are unable to open iTunes on your MacBook Pro. I'm happy to help!

I see that you've already tried some troubleshooting. Since those steps haven't worked, I would recommend next testing out iTunes in a new user account: How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac - Apple Support .

Should you continue to have trouble, don't hesitate to respond back.

Cheers.

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Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

272,881 points

Nov 25, 2017 11:32 AM in response to JungleNYC

Here are some recent builds of iTunes direct from Apple's secure servers in case you want to try working with an older version:

iTunes12.5.5.5.dmg	(2017-01-23)
Tunes12.6.0.100.dmg	(2017-03-23)
iTunes12.6.1.25.dmg	(2017-05-15)
iTunes12.6.1.27.dmg	(2017-05-23)
iTunes12.6.2.20.dmg	(2017-07-19)
iTunes12.6.3.6.dmg	(2017-09-22)
iTunes12.7.0.166.dmg	(2017-09-12)
iTunes12.7.1.14.dmg	(2017-10-30)

iTunes 12.6.3 can be installed over iTunes 12.7 if you wish to recover the app and tone management features that were removed in 12.7, however in general downgrading iTunes on a Mac is harder than upgrading or reinstalling. When reverting to an earlier build you often need to restore an older version of the library database as shown in Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash or from another suitable backup such as Time Machine.

tt2

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Answer 3

JungleNYC Author

Level 1

30 points

Nov 22, 2017 5:31 AM in response to chris_g1

So it's GENIUS that keeps corrupting and making iTunes hang.

I've done everything except wipe my hard drive (lol) and every time I delete the Genius file in ~user/music/iTunes iTunes opens! And it stays open until Genius establishes another genius file, and then iTunes starts crashing again.

Sadly, I cannot seem to turn Genius off any more, due to the fact that I use iTunes Music / Match.

Something is getting corrupted with Genius EVERY TIME, and it's a real shame that it can't seem to get fixed.

Any ideas on GENIUS?

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Answer 4

Nov 25, 2017 11:06 AM in response to JungleNYC

Got the same problem (using EL CAPITAN) since iTunes 12.7.1. Deactivating iCloud-Library and Genius does not help. Genius.itdb gets re-created at every start & Genius then freezes the app. Only way to start ist to start in safe mode. iTunes' latest update is ill-coded ... doing a re-install of the OS will not change this fact.

😠

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Answer 5

JungleNYC Author

Level 1

30 points

Nov 25, 2017 11:11 AM in response to Freakatiki

Yup. I should have made this super clear in my question, but I too am using El Cap, and 3 security updates ago killed my iTunes. So it sounds like we're in the exact same boat.

I have sent SEVERAL bug reports to Apple over the last 8 weeks about this, and nothing has changed. I know they don't put much effort against older OS but it's really uncool to deliver an update that KILLS a program like this.

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Answer 6

JungleNYC Author

Level 1

30 points

Nov 26, 2017 5:24 AM in response to turingtest2

So I managed to get my iTunes open for one session, and it spent about a half a day "updating" my iCloud Music library…and now all my playlists are gone on my iPhone 😟

Everything's still on my computer. But now since iTunes doesn't work, and i've apparently reset my iCloud Music library, I can't see any of my stuff on my iPhone anymore.

This blows.

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Answer 7

Nov 27, 2017 3:52 AM in response to JungleNYC

Sorry that you too have such a bad experience with iTunes 12.7.1

The only solution that worked for me was: to downgrade iTunes (https://goo.gl/vbdo1d) to 12.6.x on every Mac i own. And sometimes I didn't have a previous iTunes library .itl-file and had to re-download my complete iCloud-Music-Library (which takes all night long, even with superfast Internet).

The web is full of people having exactly the issues you described (Update, then start iTunes 12.7.1, get spinning beachball/freeze on each start). And no solutions work (reinstall OS, disconnect & re-connect all devices from iTunes-Store/iCloud, etc etc).

So 😠 😠 😠!

[angry mumbling on]

Apple is becoming a Telephone- and Horlogerie-Marketplace, just caring about luxury-products and forgetting that people maybe work with their OS and Computers as everyday tools, not just for selfies and jogging.

[angry mumbling off]

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Answer 8

JungleNYC Author

Level 1

30 points

Nov 27, 2017 5:32 AM in response to Freakatiki

PS, I did NOT meant to mark this thread "SOLVED" (I clicked the wrong button in my email ping) and I'm frankly surprised/notsurprised that I can't reverse that. Really silly.

Anyways…yeah. I agree w/ you Freak, this is getting to a point that's beyond frustrating. I spend way too much time troubleshooting all my tech devices, and I'm not even a power user with a ton of programs etc. I tend to just use the "stock" apps. And yet my iPhone 8 , and even brand new MacBook Pro are constantly giving me serious issues with BASIC functionality (phone, camera, music, sync). It's not just Apple. It's ALL OF THEM. My Xbox now won't recognize my TV half the time. My new car won't connect via bluetooth automatically, and when I use USB I can't FFW and RWD music and podcasts. And the other day I spent 3 hours troubleshooting my YoutTube/Google accounts because it wasn't recognizing that I was already logged in, and I got stuck in a 2-factor loop.

I'm not alone. All these issues, too, have TONS of online threads posted about them. Thousands of users frustrated with the exact same bugs and glitches. And yet nothing is ever done about them. Because all these companies are focused on whatever shiny thing is on the horizon.

But back to this…I guess I'll have to downgrade too. I've filed multiple BRs w/ Apple about this, but they obviously don't care about El Cap anymore. Which really stinks for those of us who have a multi-tiered generation household (new Apple products living with older Apple products).

If this new iTunes didn't play well with El Cap then they shouldn't have allowed users to install it. Just like the newer versions of Pages, etc, that I can't use on El Cap.

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