iTunes helper

From what I understand it helps iTunes communicate with iPod's and also the Superdrive when a CD is inserted.

If you don't use these, then I guess you could.

Hi, larsen2000.

iTunes helper has nothing to do with the SuperDrive.

Fellow Level 4 contributor Kappy and I spent probably close to an hour on the phone discussing the purpose of iTunes Helper and trying some tests with his iPods. This is because of a complete lack of documentation concerning what functions iTunes Helper provides on the Mac.

Our conclusions at that time were the following:

• We suspect that iTunes Helper on the Mac does exactly the same as on Windows — the only place where there's some inkling as to its function — i.e.

"'Listens' for commands to help iTunes communicate with devices (such as iPod)."

• Since automatic iTunes launch and iPod sync worked with Kappy's USB-based iPods without the iTunes Helper process running, we suspect it may provide some support for older, FireWire-based iPods.

Here's a brief synopsis of additional facts we learned from our experiments:

1. iTunes Helper is added to your account's Login Items by iTunes.

2. Once iTunes Helper is added to an account's Login Items, it sets the "Installed" value to "Yes" in the com.apple.iTunesHelper.plist file in that account's Home > Library > Preferences folder. This setting causes the following:

2.1. If you remove iTunes Helper from Login Items, it won't be added back.

2.2. If you Quit the iTunes Helper process in Activity Monitor, that process may or may not be launched again when you launch iTunes or connect your iPod. However, what iTunes Helper actually does may depend on the model of iPod you have. With Kappy's USB-based Video iPod, auto-launch of iTunes and auto-syncing of his iPod worked AOK without the iTunes Helper process running.

3. You can get iTunes Helper back in Login Items and hence obtain automatic launch of the iTunes Helper process at future logins by doing the following:

3.1. Quit iTunes if open.

3.2. Delete the com.apple.iTunesHelper.plist file in your Home > Library > Preferences folder.

3.3. Quit the iTunes Helper process in Activity Monitor if it is running.

3.4. Launch iTunes. This will restore the iTunes Helper app to Login Items, launch the process, and create a new com.apple.iTunesHelper.plist.

Good luck!

😉 Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X