iTunes crashing when iPod/iPhone is connected

Several users are experiencing problems wherein iTunes crashes when they attach iPhones or iPods to their systems. In some instances the program will hang with the spinning wheel, and in other instances the program will unexpectedly quit.

Apple Discussions poster Tom75 writes:

"When plugging my iPhone to my iMac (april 08 model) USB: iTunes keeps quiting unexpectedly and I keep sending the feedback to Apple."

Users with this problem may only experience these crashes with one ipod device. Some users with iPhones have been able to synchronize them properly, but when connecting standard ipods the problems occur. Still, others have been stuck with all their mobile devices causing the program to crash.

It appears at least for iPhone users this problem has to do with the authorizing routines after upgrading to the iPhone 2.2.1 software. The following fix has been tried for iPhones and seems to clear the problem, but doing similar things may work for standard iPods as well.

Fix: Re-authorize the computer Open iTunes without the iPod/iPhone attached. Then select "Deauthorize Computer..." from the "Store" menu and confirm deauthorization by entering the iTunes store credentials. Then authorize the computer from the same menu, and go to the iTunes store. Ensure the store is working by getting some free content such as the single of the week, a TV episode, or a free iPhone app. Then try syncing the new file to the mobile device.

Users may also try removing the iTunes preferences file as well, if the problem still persists. After deauthorizing the computer, close iTunes and remove the "com.apple.iTunes.plist" file located in the /username/Library/Preferences/ directory. Then relaunch iTunes and continue authorizing.