iTunes displays error -4 when attempting to download from store; China block-related?
When some users connect to the iTunes store to download previously purchased items, they receive error message -4 and their downloads do not start.
When some users connect to the iTunes store to download previously purchased items, they receive error message -4 and their downloads do not start.
Apple Discussions poster wolfcoto writes:
"I have used this WiFi connection before and I have been downloading from this connection for weeks but now I get this error. I upgraded my ITunes software, have restarted my computer. I can get online, go to Itunes store and download podcast that I have already subscribed to I have 421 purchases to download and Itunes shows this but it won't let me do it"
This problem is a result of an error generated by the iTunes store servers in which large download requests are rejected. If users attempt to download many files (the numbers have been in the hundreds for some users with this problem) they will receive this error. However, this problem seems to have cropped up recently for users in China. While the downloads worked for users in neighboring countries, in the past few days those who've relocated to China have been getting this error. Users suspect a network block of sorts, since China has blocked Apple's .Mac and other services in the past.
Fix: Download files incrementally For those who are having problems downloading large numbers of files, reducing the number of files per download instance to ~100 files seems to work.Resources