iTunes 7.0 (#10): More on -50 errors when downloading purchased media; Problems with AAC files on mobile phones; more

CNET staff

Sept. 2, 2009 12:05 a.m. PT

5 min read

More on -50 errors when downloading purchased media We continue to report on an issue where users are unable to properly download media that has been successfully purchased from the iTunes Store. We've covered a number of solutions over the past few days, including deletion of certain .plist files, and re-clicking the purchase button.

We've now received reports indicating that the use of various routines offered by Mac OS X maintenance utilities can resolve this issue.

MacFixIt reader Joe writes:

"Regarding the -50 unknown error on downloading songs purchased from iTunes, I e-mailed in to MacFixIt and described the problem last week. Everything I tried resulted in the same error, including the fix from Apple regarding this error with downloading purchased videos. As a last ditch effort I ran the Cocktail routines on my system and viola! Everything started downloading when I checked for purchased music! I don't know which routine fixed it (I ran them all), but it's a good starting point for troubleshooting."

Problems with AAC files on mobile phones MacFixIt reader Keith Takayesu reports problems playing back AAC encoded files on his mobile phone after the update to iTunes 7.0.

"At first, I didn't notice any problems at all. But later on, I realized that some of my podcasts on the v3i were being skipped over, like Inside Mac daily. These used to work no problem. I simply thought that they weren't downloading properly. I have finally sat down and tried a few things.

"Well, all my problematic files play ok under iTunes 7 on both a Mac and PC. They seem to copy ok to the Motorola v3i, too. However, it now appears that none of the AAC files play at all , whether protected or not. This doesn't seem to affect just newly downloaded files like the "free download of the week", but earlier downloaded files, too."

If you are experiencing a similar issue, please let us know.

Smart playlist problems MacFixIt reader Ryan Edwards reports an issue with smart playlists on his fourth-generation iPod after updating to iTunes 7.0:

"Just wanted to let you guys know of a problem I've been having with my 20GB 4G iPod since I updated to iTunes 7. I have quite an elaborate system of nested Smart Playlists that I use as a 'iPod Radio.' I rely on it updating dynamically when I'm on the go so that I always have a fresh playlist matching my various specifications. This system worked great with iTunes 6.0.x (except when Apple issued the 3.1 iPod update that broke smart playlists) but now when I synchronize with iTunes 7 all my smart playlists become simple static playlists on the iPod (ie. they don't update to include the most recently played song, etc.)."

If you are experiencing a similar issue, make sure your iPod settings are correct -- designated playlists are listed to synchronize, etc.

Play/skip count discrepancies Some users are reporting differences in the way iTunes 7.0 handles play/skip counts.

MacFixIt reader Rock Norris writes:

"I was listening to an new album i bought via the iTunes Store (the purchase was several months ago, I just got around to listening to the whole album now), so there was only one track with any Play Count. I was rapidly fast forwarding through tracks to get to that one I knew, and meanwhile, each track's Play Count went up by one, even though they played for less than a second (and most, not at all). In a way, this is an improvement over the old method, where you had to listen to a track 100% and not a second less, or else the track wouldn't be counted as 'played.' But less than a second? Shouldn't that count as a Skip at best? And, speaking of skips, the Skip Count seems to advance if a certain number of seconds are allowed to elapse in play, but if you skip too late in a track, it doesn't advance the Skip Count, I guess assuming that if you have listened to 85-90% of a track, it doesn't really count as skipped."

Podcasts inadvertently deleted It appears that if iTunes 7.0 attempts to perform an automatic podcast update while you are viewing or listening to media via Front Row, the Podcast currently being accessed will be counted as already viewed, then deleted (if automatic deletion is enabled). The simple fix is to turn off automatic deletion of podcasts.

One reader writes:

"I was just listening to a podcast, TWIT, in iTunes 7 using FrontRow 1.3 on my 2.16GHz MacBook Pro. The podcast was about half way through and stopped. Front Row said that iTunes wasn't responding. On quitting FrontRow and going back to iTunes I saw that iTunes was updating all my podcasts as it's set to do every few hours. I have iTunes set to only keep unplayed podcasts. The TWIT podcast i was playing was no longer listed! It looks as if iTunes thought I had played it and deleted it whilst I was still playing it."

More on issues with satellite-based connections Meanwhile, satellite-Internet users continue to report issues with downloading media from the iTunes Store.

MacFixIt reader Elizabeth writes:

"I too am having problems with downloading media from iTunes 7.0 with a satellite internet connection. I was trying to download two movies yesterday, and it downloaded one movie, but stopped after that. I had to go back to the music store and ask it to download the second movie again. After two tries I got it to download successfully. I have Wildblue satellite internet access and it has a particularly long latency period. I have a 15" PowerBook G4."

In some cases this issue can be temporarily resolved by clearing caches with a utility like like Cocktail, Mac Pilot or Tiger Cache Cleaner.

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

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