User

24.02.2008 02:57:27

This could be a coincidence, but since upgrading iTunes today to 7.6.1, Remote Buddy won't display music information (album art, rating, playback progress). When I click that button, I notice that iTunes starts to suck 100% of my CPU (as reported in Activity Monitor), so it looks like they're not talking well together anymore?

I have rebooted since installing both iTunes and RB upgrades.

I'm running OS 10.5.2, RB 1.8.9, and iTunes 7.6.1. Is anyone else having this problem -- and better still, does anyone know of a solution? 

User

24.02.2008 04:06:12

Hi. I have 7.6.1 and have the same problem. As I am brand new to rb I was just disappointed with the software. I look forward to a fix 

User

24.02.2008 21:07:01

I've had one support inquiry on this for the time being and it from 
the logs I was sent, it appears as if iTunes 7.6.1 is having issues 
processing AppleScripts targeting it.

I've tried long and hard to reproduce the issue, yet I have not been 
able to.

Can you describe your setups in more detail with regards to iTunes, 
please?

For example:

- attached players?

- shared libraries?

- location of the local library?

- QuickTime version?

Meanwhile, users of pretty much all tools that use AppleScript with 
iTunes seem to experience the same problem:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1408340&tstart=0

From what I know to this point this is a problem only Apple can fix 
with an update to iTunes (=> or you by installing an older iTunes 
version that does not expose this problem).

I'd still like to work with you to get to the root of the problem / 
identify the AppleScript command that iTunes is hanging on (although a 
workaround will be difficult next to impossible as AppleScript / 
AppleEvents is the only interface available for third party apps to 
talk to iTunes).

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

25.02.2008 14:28:47

Felix --

Thanks for working on this! Remote Buddy is truly the killer app for the iPhone/Touch, in my opinion.

Here are the details you ask for (from my setup at least):

[a] no attached players (if by this you mean an MP3 player attached to the Mac when the problem occurs?)

[b] not playing off a shared library when I have this problem, but the library having this problem is able to be shared

[c] the local library is in the default location (/users/[me]/Music/iTunes), but my music folder is on an external volume

[d] QuickTime 7.4.1

I hope this helps! 

User

25.02.2008 15:08:17

Thanks for the info. That sounds like a pretty standard setup then 
(and it's identical to mine, with which I'm not experiencing any 
issues).

What is causing the problem I don't know. It definately seems to be an 
issue with the AppleScript-support of version 7.6.1. The only solution 
for the time until Apple fixes the problem seems to downgrade to 
iTunes 7.6 (the same user I mentioned previously wrote me that the 
problem disappeared for him after doing so).

In the meantime, try running this AppleScript snippet in Script 
Editor.app (/Applications/AppleScript):

tell application "iTunes" 
{artist, duration, rating, album, genre, name, id, year, persistent 
ID, database ID} of current track 
end tell

It shouldn't take longer than the fraction of a second.

And then

tell application "iTunes" 
data of artworks of current track 
end tell

which shouldn't take longer than 5 seconds (mainly because Script 
Editor needs to display binary data as hex values).

Does iTunes hang on your machine on either of the two scripts?

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

25.02.2008 16:49:56

The script for artist and duration does work instantly, returns valid results, and doesn't hang iTunes.

The artwork script also works instantly, appears to return a nice big hex value starting with PICT, and doesn't hang iTunes. 

User

25.02.2008 16:53:27

I should also add: Using the "Music" display button in AJAX remote doesn't permanently hang iTunes -- but it does make iTunes suck 100% of one of my CPU cores for perhaps a minute. But then iTunes does recover.

(All this is running RB on a 2.4 GHz aluminum iMac, by the way.) 

User

25.02.2008 20:49:44

Does anyone know a link to an archive of iTunes 7.6.0 for the Mac? I'd like to consider downgrading, but I can't find a pre-7.6.1 version at Apple -- and I'd appreciate a link if anyone knows one. 

User

26.02.2008 02:22:23

Hello Felix

We have an iPhone, an iPod Touch an older 60GB iPod and Apple TV. All synced to the iTunes on my Mac Mini (old power PC G4 processor) and runninc OS X 10.4.2

Other than that, my answers are the same as Jonathan's. Music and library in standard place. QT 10.4.1.

I have a Airport Express with Airtunes upstairs so I do use the option to play music through that as well as the speakers attached to the Mac and the Apple TV. The upstairs part is why Remote Buddy seems the perfect toy for me.

If my girlfriend was not coming home any minute, I would try downgrading to 7.5.... maybe later in the week!

User

26.02.2008 17:05:02

Thanks for the info. I've exchanged a mal with Apple regarding this 
now and have forwarded some information. I'm optimistic that Apple 
will address the problem with a future update.

MacFixIt is also covering iTunes 7.6.1 problems now:

http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=2008022510015322

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

26.02.2008 22:05:13

I'm having the same problems. A did a Time Machine backup just before installing but messed around with some songs before I found this problem. Not sure wether to wait it out for a fix, do a Time Machine restore and lose a couple of changes or go back a version.

Wow 3 hours later after a restoring my Time Machine backup it's like iTunes 7.6.1 never exsisted and now have no problems. Time Machine is a treat.

Last edited: 27.02.2008 00:53:19 

User

27.02.2008 18:07:01

Just FYI, here's more coverage including downgrading instructions to 
V7.5 (they couldn't find a copy of the V7.6 installer on the web):

http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=2008022510015322

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

03.03.2008 22:28:50

I don't think that there was ever much doubt, but I now have iTunes 7.6 running and I see RB working as it should (and I really like it).

I had to revert to 7.5 following some detailed instructions and then discovered that my Apple TV version 2 needed iTunes 7.6 (of course... but I had forgotten). I eventually found a 7.6 dmg and, as I said, am delighted.

Not sure what I will do when iTunes 7.6.2 comes out! 

User

13.03.2008 15:00:12

Same problem here.

* older Mac Mini 
* Latest Leopard with all updates

Problem definitely started when I allowed iTunes upgrade 

User

27.03.2008 14:24:46

Is it possible that I have iTunes 7.6.1 and Remote Buddy works fine? Because it's certainly working for me.

I bought Remote Buddy yesterday without knowing about any of these issues. I installed it, and it seems to be working fine. It's a little bit sluggish (hey, it's a web app, no complaints) but I can control iTunes, I get album art, I can move the location and volume sliders. Everything seems to work. 

User

27.03.2008 14:40:17

I'm also using iTunes 7.6.1 myself and don't experience any problems.

The problem seems to affect only a minority of users, yet it 
definately exists.

From the backtrace / "Activity Monitor Analyze" logs sent in by 
users, I can tell that - for those that are affected by this iTunes 
bug - iTunes is hanging while working on AppleEvents it received 
(usually those are sent by AppleScripts).

I've also been in touch with other developers and they observe the 
exact same thing. This definately isn't specific to Remote Buddy nor 
its use of AppleScript in conjunction with iTunes. More references 
regarding this can be found in the FAQ.

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

30.03.2008 01:45:11

 
 
Dcgfhouston, 
Interested in sharing that 7.6 dmg? I'd love to revert back to 7.6.

-Marc 

User

01.04.2008 15:36:01

Here's a possible solution I received from a power user.

The problem seems to stem from a defective "iTunes Library" file and 
rebuilding it has solved the problems for that user.

WARNING: 
Follow the instructions fully at your own risk. Smart Playlists can 
possibly be turned into regular ones. I haven't tried out the solution 
myself, yet, though. Making a copy of your iTunes Library and iTunes 
media files certainly can't hurt.

Instructions to rebuild your iTunes Library:

1) Quit iTunes.

2) Go to ~/Music/iTunes and rename "iTunes Library" to f.ex. "iTunes 
Library (Old)"

3) Start iTunes.

4) Choose "Import Library" from the File menu.

5) In the dialog now opening, choose the file "iTunes Music 
Library.xml" located in ~/Music/iTunes/

6) Wait for iTunes to complete rebuilding your library cleanly from 
scratch.

7) Restart iTunes.

If you try out this solution, please share the result here. Thanks!

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

03.04.2008 15:22:02

iTunes 7.6.2 is out now.

Did anybody of those affected try it yet?

I have also updated the FAQ with a link to Apple's Knowledge Base on 
reconstructing the iTunes Library and my final conclusions on the issue.

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

06.04.2008 18:17:32

I just installed 7.6.2 over my 7.6 installation that worked and the problem re-appeared. I rebuilt my library as instructed and now it's all fine. Thanks!

Last edited: 06.04.2008 18:58:44 

User

06.04.2008 18:57:59

This worked for me (using 7.6.2 that had not been working properly) 

User

07.04.2008 09:15:16

Thanks for the sharing!

I'm glad that finally a fix could be found for this issue. Thanks 
again to Tim Böth, who originally sent in the solution by email!

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

07.04.2008 16:54:57

It's been very interesting and helpful to see everyone's replies here. I'm just posting to update about my own situation:

I had downgraded to 7.6.0, and of course RemoteBuddy was working great again then. To downgrade, I simply used Time Machine to roll back my iTunes app, actually, since I never did find a 7.6.0 installer anywhere. I'm sure that's a terrible thing to do to an app, but it worked.

I noticed the other day a new iTunes behavior update from Iospirit (), which is installed. (Was this at all related to the artwork/AppleScript problem?)

Today I read here about the solution involving rebuilding the Library, so I figured it was time to upgrade to 7.6.2. But what's really weird: I upgraded to iTunes 7.6.2 and now RB works just fine for me -- without any Library rebuilding. Go figure.

(My installation of the iTunes-related app Synergy, which also had artwork-related problems in 7.6.1, is also working fine now.)

Thanks, Felix, for the best app for the iPhone/Touch! 

User

18.04.2008 00:33:16

 
 
Since I've been getting hangs and failures to fetch artwork recently, I tried rebuilding my library, but it didn't help. I'm still not seeing artwork in the ajax remote. I haven't seen a hang since updating to iTunes 7.6.2, at least. 

User

24.04.2008 20:43:12

 
 
I tried these two scripts. The first one returns immediately, and the second returns after about 1 second. Both return data that looks reasonable.

Yet, I am unable to see any information on the playing track using iTunes 7.6.2 and Remote Buddy 1.1.0. No hangs, at least, but it makes Remote Buddy almost useless. 

User

24.04.2008 21:22:03

Those two scripts were just samples to find out whether iTunes already 
freaks out with the simpliest queries for information.

The cause (iTunes library conversion bug) and solution (rebuilding 
your iTunes library) are known by now and described in the FAQ entry 
at the top of this forum discussion at length.

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

24.04.2008 22:56:15

 
 
Yes, but rebuilding my library didn't help. All it did for me was to lose most of my album artwork.

User

24.04.2008 23:09:01

I'm afraid this is the only solution known, while at the same time 
this definately is not a problem caused nor solvable by Remote Buddy 
(or GimmeSomeTune, or Growl, or ... who are all affected by this bug 
in iTunes). As much as I'd love to offer a workaround to Apple's bug, 
that's simply not possible for the complete lack of any API 
alternatives to AppleScript.

Did you stick with the rebuilt library - or try to reuse the 
previous / old version of the library (with the artwork in it)?

On a general note: Remote Buddy can only present artwork for a tune 
when it already exists in iTunes. It doesn't have any search-for- 
artwork-on-the-net kind of functionality.

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

03.05.2008 19:00:31

Update from me is that the last time I went to show off the functionality of RB, it had reverted to the slow, no track details or covert art problem. I am not sure what caused my library to go corrupt again but I think I may have an idea.

I rebuilt my library this moring and it worked again, then after I put ringtones back on the iPhone it's reverted.

To do the ringtones, I make a m4a file then rename it to m4r and add to my iTunes library.

I am going to have to rebuild again now and that ringtone plan is going out the window!

David 

User

11.05.2008 19:58:26

I have now discovered that rather than re-building my library, all I have to do is delete the tracks from the ringtones library and things work as they should. 

User

17.05.2008 17:40:18

YES!!! I deleted all ring tones and now it works! Thanks a lot! 

User

22.05.2008 18:49:07

Many thanks for sharing. I've just updated the FAQ accordingly.

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

27.05.2008 03:03:31

While this is fine and dandy, What about people who need these ringtones for their iPhones?

Is it possible for Remote Buddy to just ignore the ringtones in the database?

They are not accessible to be shown like the other iTunes system playlists, so is there a planned update to resolve this? 

User

27.05.2008 09:56:17

 
 
The problem remains an iTunes-internal one and is neither caused by 
nor residing in Remote Buddy and since it's not in Remote Buddy, it 
also can't be addressed or fixed in it.

 
The ringtones are not even part of the database XML file, so there is 
nothing to ignore for Remote Buddy, nor can it even have any effect on 
what Remote Buddy is doing.

Whether you add or remove ringtones to the library does not change a 
single byte of the data Remote Buddy is using. It makes zero 
difference to Remote Buddy. And it does not change the behaviour and 
AppleScript code Remote Buddy is executing at all.

In short:

Before adding ringtone to iTunes: 
- Remote Buddy and iTunes work perfectly together

After adding ringtone to iTunes: 
- a few users experience problems

Difference between the two: 
- iTunes internal: iTunes added a ringtone to its internal, 
proprietary database that is not used by anyone. The ringtone is now 
presented in the iTunes interface 
- For third party tools (short): not a single byte. iTunes starts 
borking on AppleScript now, though, that previously was executed 
properly by iTunes and worked perfectly.

"So why did rebuilding the iTunes library help?" I hear you ask. Easy:

- iTunes apparantly has a problem with handling standard AppleScript 
as soon as ringtones are in the library

- the XML file used as the basis for rebuilding and also used by 
Remote Buddy to grab a lot of information *fast* does not contain 
ringtones

- therefore, after rebuilding, the iTunes library from the generally 
ringtone-free XML file, the iTunes library is free of ringtones and 
iTunes does no longer expose the bug it is apparently carrying

For whatever reason the ringtones are dealt with seperately, Apple 
broke iTunes' AppleScript support in the course of adding special 
handling for them. We all remember the back and forth about - at first 
- allowing only purchased ringtones, allowing third party ringtones 
with a trick, pushing a fast update to fix that "bug" and finally 
allowing third party ringtones officially. Chances are, that if Apple 
had decided to deal with ringtones just like they are with all other 
media files in iTunes, they wouldn't have broken the app.

As said before, I’d love to fix the bug. Yet, it's not in my code. Or 
in any of the code of the myriad of other third party tools that are 
affected by the bug in the very same, very odd way.

The bug is in iTunes. Apple is and remains the only party that can fix 
it.

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

28.05.2008 20:49:58

I can confirm that once the ringtones are gone from iTunes, there is no longer a problem with RB showing covers. Just incredible. 

User

03.06.2008 09:16:37

I use 7.6.2 and had no success with rebuilding the Library. Coverart is still not displayed. Are there any other hints?

I don't have ringtones. 

User

03.06.2008 11:55:06

Do the tracks that you are missing cover art for actually do have 
cover art in the first place?

Please note, that Remote Buddy does neither search for nor add cover 
art to your tracks for legal reasons.

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

05.06.2008 09:51:34

I know that iTunes has to provide everything.

Yes, the music has coverart included but when I stream to my iphone, only a Quicktimelogo is displayed. 

User

06.06.2008 10:19:12

Ah, that's an important bit of info :-)

The "now playing" part is a pure web interface and thus its appearance 
is under control of Remote Buddy/AJAX Remote.

The Quicktime / Web Media Player on the iPhone, on the other hand, is 
built-in into the iPhone and can't be controlled by either Remote 
Buddy nor AJAX Remote.

Currently, that Quicktime / Web Media Player will not show any cover 
art for any music file. It's simply not supported in the current 
firmware. It will always show a QT logo with the URL of the source for 
all audio and only display something else for video playback (would be 
bad if it wouldn't ;-).

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

06.06.2008 10:20:59

Ok, got it.

It was a misunderstanding on my side 

User

17.06.2008 03:34:24

Stanley

I browsed back into this discussion and thought I would add how we are dealing with it.

If you take over managing your music on the iPhone manually, you can still sync calendars etc. automatically. Because I have way more music than the iPhone can take, it's not too inconvenient. That way, I keep the ringtones deleted from iTunes (after the first copy over, obviously) but still on the iPhone.

It's not perfect but I do get to use RB perfectly and my girlfriend still gets her phone to sing the Homer SMRT song whenever I call her iPhone. 

User

17.06.2008 09:39:16

I have submitted a bugreport to Apple regarding this problem.

If you want to contact Apple about the problem ( via http://bugreport.apple.com/ 
or http://www.apple.com/contact/ ) to increase chances the fix of 
this bug gets a higher priority, please consider referencing

radr://6011557

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

15.07.2008 23:45:06

Apple followed up on the bug report. :-)

And now I need your help: 
Please update to iTunes 7.7 and check whether adding ringtones to your 
library still triggers the iTunes bug.

Any feedback would be mostly appreciated.

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

22.07.2008 13:17:11

Problem still there with iTunes 7.7 

User

22.07.2008 17:47:08

Thanks for the info.

Since I can't reproduce the issue myself, I'd like to kindly ask you 
for your help:

When the problem occurs, please open Activity Monitor.app (in / 
Applications/Utilities), select iTunes in the list and then select 
"Analyze" from either the menu (all OS versions) or the toolbar (under 
Leopard) and copy and paste the log to the forum or an email to info [- 
a-] iospirit [-point-] com. Please also do the same for Remote Buddy, 
so that the picture is complete.

Thanks in advance!

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz