Software can be a cantankerous thing. Sometimes programs won’t launch when you need them, and other times they won’t go away when you’re done! One reader is having a problem with iTunes refusing to quit when asked:
I have some questions related to 10.5 iTunes. When I quit iTunes it goes about the process normally and then starts back up. iTunes is using 80-100% CPU usage when running. Could this be related to a third-party plug-in? Very frustrating and have to force restart my mini as iTunes cancels the shutdown process.
Thanks, Tim
Hi Tim,
Yes, these problems could be related to an incompatible iTunes plugin. There are two places these are located: in the top level /Library/iTunes/iTunes Plug-ins folder and in your user ~/Library/iTunes/iTunes Plug-ins folder. Take a peek in both and see what you have. Make a copy of what’s there before deleting anything, in case you need to revert back.
If that’s not the cause then you may have a corrupt copy of the iTunes preferences file or iTunes itself. For the preferences, delete the com.apple.itunes.plist preference file in your user library ~/Library/Preferences folder, then relaunch iTunes. If still not fixed, delete the iTunes applicaton itself, reboot, then download the latest iTunes installer from Apple and run this again.
I did try those suggestions previously (except re-installing iTunes) after doing an online search, and still the same issues. I then looked to see what had been installed recently and at the Activity Monitor.
My son uses a BlackBerry and the software for it – their sync program. It appears that the newest version installed a ‘RimAlbumArt’ daemon that uses iTunes. After finding that I did a search for it and found discussion on the BB forum and issues with the latest 2.20 program. There doesn’t appear a way to get rid of that daemon; I quit it in the Activity Monitor and it starts back up again. So I am going to pull a previous version of the BB program from Time Machine and try that.
If a problem still I will re-install iTunes. Or maybe BlackBerry will have a update too.
I think you’re on the right track with the BlackBerry daemon. Quitting this in Activity Monitor doesn’t delete the software; it’s probably set to restart automatically upon termination. That may be exactly what it’s doing with iTunes.
Check to see if you have anything from BlackBerry in your main /Library/StartupItems folder. If so, remove this, reboot and see if that helps. If not, contact BlackBerry tech support and ask them how to completely uninstall this software. Replacing the current program with an older version may not remove the offending component.
In my experience, BlackBerrys and Macs do not play well together, either using their own software or third party solutions like Missing Sync for BlackBerry. My general suggestion to my clients experiencing similiar problems is get an iPhone! The way RIM’s fortunes are going these days that may soon be a necessity for everyone…
Readers, have any additional suggestions on this topic, or corrections/clarifications on the advice above? If so, please leave your thoughts in the comments.
