15.7 Problems with the iTunes Music Store

The iTunes Music Store arrived on the scene in April 2003. As with any new product, a few glitches and gaps popped up as shoppers stampeded the store. Here are a few of the more common issues or errors you might occasionally encounter when using the service.

15.7.1 -9800, -9815, or -9814 Error

The Music Store is quite persnickety about punctuality and being on time. If you get this negative-sounding numerical error when trying to play a song you bought from the iTunes Music Storeor even when trying to connect to the storequit iTunes. Set your computer's clock to the correct time (use System Preferences on Mac OS X; the Control Panel in Windows).

15.7.2 Music Store Window Is Blank

If you're using iTunes, but clicking the Music Store icon produces only a blank window, then one of these problems is probably afoot:

• You're using an ad- or privacy-filter program, a firewall program, or "Web acceleration" software. Updating to iTunes 4.2 or later should help.

  So should configuring your privacy or security software to permit access to specific Web sites, if it offers this feature. Put phobos.apple.com and phobos.apple.com.edgesuite.net on the list. Now you should be able to get into the iTunes Music Store even when your moatware is enabled.

• You're using McAfee Privacy Service, which doesn't work well with the iTunes Music Store.

15.7.3 -5000 or -35 Error when Downloading (Mac only)

This error refers to scrambled Mac OS X permissions for the iTunes Music folder. ( Permissions are behind-the-scenes Unix settings that permit only some people and not others to open and inspect certain folders.) This problem occurs (and recurs ) if several people are sharing the same copy of iTunes. It can also happen if someone trashes the iTunes Music folder, or if there's a broken alias for the iTunes Music folder.

If you're using an alias for the iTunes Music folder (Section 4.9.1), make sure that it works and knows where to find the iTunes Music folder. If the folder has disappeared completely, it's time to make a new one.

15.7.3.1 How to make a new iTunes Music folder

1. In iTunes, choose iTunes Preferences.

   The Preferences dialog box appears.

2. Click the Advanced icon. On the Advanced panel, click Change.

   A window called Change Music Folder Location pops up.

3. Navigate to, and select, the disk or folder where you'd like to store the new iTunes Music folder.

   Make sure your new place has enough room on the drive to store all of the digital audio files in your collection. (If you don't specify, iTunes puts a folder called iTunes Music in your Home Music iTunes folder.)

4. Click OK to close the Preferences window.

   A message advises you, "Changing the location of the iTunes Music Folder requires updating the location of each of the songs in your music library. This update will not move or delete any of your song files."

5. Click OK when you're done reading.

   In the next step, you'll actually move your songs to the new folder.

6. Choose Advanced Consolidate Library.

   A message pops up with the warning, "Consolidating your library will copy all of your music into the iTunes Music folder. This cannot be undone."

7. Click Consolidate to copy all of your music files into this new folder and location.

   Since this action copies all of your music files to the new folder, it might take a few minutes. It also makes duplicates of any song files found outside the iTunes Music folder, so mind your hard drive space.

15.7.3.2 How to correct permissions for the iTunes Music folder

Mac OS X, which is based on Unix, uses permissions to allow different people different access to files. If they get messed up for a certain file or folder especially the iTunes Music folderyou can wind up with a real six-aspirin headache .

NOTE

To perform the following steps, your account must be an Administrator account (not a Standard or Normal account). If your Mac won't let you perform these steps, ask the technical whiz who set it up for help. (That person almost certainly has an Administrator account.)

1. In the Finder, locate your iTunes Music folder.

   It's usually in your Home Music iTunes folder. If it doesnt seem to be there, open iTunes, choose iTunes Preferences, click Advanced, and check the folder map listed in the middle of the box. It tells you where iTunes believes your music to be.

2. Get Info .

   Of course, you can press -I instead. Either way, the Get Info dialog box appears.

3. Click to open the flippy triangle to expand the Ownership and Permissions panel.

   If you're running Panther (Mac OS X 10.3), also expand the Details triangle.

4. Change the Access and Others pop-up menus so they look like Figure 15-8 .

   Figure 15-8. Resetting the permissions on the iTunes Music folder can clear up certain Music Store error messages. The trick is to use Get Info on your iTunes Music folder (shown here in Mac OS X 10.2, left, and 10.3). If you're still getting grief from the Music Store (or its wares) after correcting the permissions, you may have to make a similar correction to the folder for the particular band or singer you were trying to listen to when the trouble started. Go into the iTunes Music folder, locate the folder named for the artist in question, and repeat steps 25 above.

   
   

   Of course, your name should appear where it says Owner. (This, by the way, is where you may be asked for your account password, to prove that you're technically competentan administrator.) The Group Access and Others pop-up menus should say "Read only."

5. Click "Apply to enclosed items," and close the Get Info box.

If you're not having any luck with the permissions-correction approach, making a whole new iTunes Music folder, as described on Section 15.7.2, may fix the problem.

15.7.4 "Required File Not Found" Error Message

Some early versions of iTunes for Windows were easily bamboozled by Internet Explorer's "Work Offline" option, resulting in this error message when you tried to visit the iTunes Music Store. Updating to iTunes 4.2 or later is the best way to solve the problem.

15.7.5 Bought Music Doesn't Play

If you've purchased some Music Store songs that refuse to play, first make sure that the computer you're using is authorized to play the purchased music. Also make sure that you haven't exceeded your three-computer iTunes Music Store limit (Section 6.5).

There's one other remote possibility: the permissions for your Shared folder (a standard Mac OS X folder, designed for sharing documents among account holders) may have become scrambled or even deleted. The Music Store relies on this Shared folder to store the authorization information for your Mac.

Open your hard drive icon, and open the Users folder inside. If you don't see a Shared folder there, create one (File New Folder). Follow up by setting its permissions as described in the previous stepsexcept this time, the Owner should be System.

Now try to play your purchased music, or buy a song from the iTunes Music Store.

15.7.6 Can't Buy Music

If you can't complete purchases in the iTunes Music Store, follow the steps described above for replacing a missing Shared folder. Also, make sure your Internet connection is live and working (not to mention your credit card).

15.7.7 Music Doesn't Download Automatically

You can download your purchases from the iTunes Music Store in one of two ways: either with the 1-Click method, which downloads the songs right away as you buy them, or with the Shopping Cart feature, which collects your songs and then downloads them all when you're done shopping. (See Chapter 6 for details.) If you're expecting instant song downloads, choose iTunes Preferences on the Mac or Edit Preferences on the PC, click the Store icon, and make sure the option for 1-Click purchasing is turned on.

15.7.8 Can't Burn My Purchased Music to CD

If iTunes finds an unauthorized Music Store track on your playlist, it will stop burning the CD in progress and scold you ("One or more of the songs on this playlist are not authorized for use on this machine"). Authorizing the song with your Apple or AOL account name and password will fix it, but remember, you can only burn the same playlist containing purchased music 10 times.

15.7.9 Can't Burn My Purchased Songs to an MP3 Disc

While the iTunes Music Store allows you to burn a playlist containing purchased music up to 10 times, you must burn it as an audio CD (Section 4.10) and not an MP3 CD. If you've tried to make an MP3 CD out of purchased music, you've probably seen the foreboding error message, "None of the items in this playlist can be burned to disc."

The songs from the iTunes Music Store are in AAC format and protected from conversion into other file formats like MP3. You can, however, burn them to a regular audio CD or back them up to a data disc. Choose another disc format by choosing iTunes Preferences, and then clicking the Burning icon.

NOTE

When you buy a song or album from the iTunes Music Store, it's yours to keep foreverbut you can only download it once from the store. Additional downloads mean additional payments, so it's a good idea to back up your purchased music files as described in Chapter 6.