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joe-h2o

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 24, 2012
997
445
I've had this problem for some time and I have finally found a solution so I'll put it here in case others have the issue and google a solution.

Sometimes I would find that the function keys for iTunes on my Apple keyboard would have extremely delayed action - I would press the play/pause one (F8) and nothing would happen, but then iTunes would respond about 2 or 3 minutes later. The other function keys (volume, screen brightness, expose, launchpad etc) all work instantly so it was driving me crazy.

I have found the solution - it is because Quicktime is open. For some reason if Quicktime is open with no content loaded (the app is running but there's no active quicktime window) then it will somehow hijack the iTunes keys, but only for a few minutes then they allow the command to pass to OS X and iTunes finally responds. The solution is simply to close Quicktime (or kill it using activity monitor or the command line if you can't do it normally).

As soon as you do this the media keys operate exactly as they should with instant response.
 
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