iTunes 5.0 (#2): Persistent "Quit iTunes before installing" message, fix; more

Persistent "Quit iTunes before installing" message, fix A number of users report that they are unable to properly install iTunes 5.0, receiving the message: "Quit iTunes before installing this update" despite the iTunes application being inactive at the time of attempted installation.

One reader writes:

"Tried installing iTunes 5.0 via Software Update. Get the message "quit iTunes before installing this update". No other application is running. Had to force restart my Mac to get rid of the message which came popping up continuously.

Another reader adds:

"Neither the standalone nor the version from software update will install on my powerbook. In both cases a popup window is telling me to shutdown iTunes before running the update to the new version. Of course, itunes is not running and also starting and then stopping the currently installed version of iTunes does not help."

The cause of this problem appears to be that the iTunes installer package checks for any processes containing the name "iTunes" currently running, and refuses to install if it finds any. Hence if you are using a third-party iTunes add-on that contains the product's name, the installer will not execute properly.

For instance, the add-on Sizzling Keys (a hotkey tool for iTunes) uses the process name "SizzlingKeys4iTunes." Thus its process must be killed before the iTunes installer will work.

You can either kill these processes via the Activity Monitor (located in Applications/Utilities) or simply by turning the utility in question off in its System Preference pane or application menu.

Make sure you have QuickTime 7.0.2 and other updates installed As noted by Apple in the iTunes documentation, it is imperative that you have both the latest updates of QuickTime (7.0.2) and Mac OS X (10.2.8, 10.3.9 or 10.4.2 depending on whether you are using Jaguar, Panther or Tiger respectively) for correct iTunes 5.0 operation.

Also, if you are using any iLife applications (iPhoto, iMovie, etc.) they will need to be updated to the latest versions for proper interaction with iTunes 5.0.

Podcasts lost A handful of readers report losing all of their currently subscribed-to Podcasts after updating to iTunes 5.0.

Carlton Doerner writes:

"After upgrading to iTunes 5 from 4.9, I lost everyone of my 30 Podcast subscriptions. All the files were still located in the database that I had not listened to yet, but the subscriptions were gone. This was especially disheartening since several of my subscriptions were to one not listed in iTunes. So now I have to go back and re-find the rss feeds for those because I can't just search for them in iTunes.

"Also, out of 5500 songs, iTunes chose to reanalyze the volume for sound check on 400 songs. iTunes became pretty unresponsive during this process."

Barry Porter adds:

"I had 15 podcasts that I regulary subscribed to in iTunes 4.9. Version 5.0 put them in a playlist, and my podcast list is empty [...] If I need to resubscribe, I will just stop listening to podcasts completely."

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

Tracks lost Meanwhile, some users report loss of actual tracks from the iTunes music library after applying the update.

MacFixIt reader Larry writes:

"After syncing with iTunes 5, lost 182 songs! Tried again, it did not change the number. [...] My iPod 60-gig has been in good working order, do not suspect it after all the synching with earlier versions of iTunes."

Improvements A few readers note undocumented enhancements in the iTunes Visualizer module. One reader writes:

"I have a Dell 2005FPW 20" widescreen monitor connected via DVI-D to a Dual 867 MDD G4 and in iTunes 4.9 when I went into fullscreen visualizer it would corrupt the image. I could always escape to get back to iTunes, but in iTunes 5 this is no longer the case. It now works normally in fullscreen mode - admittedly it's a 4:3 image stretched to 16:10 but that's good enough for me."

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

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