Deauthorizing computers

[Boyd01]

Getting ready to replace a 2014 Mini (running Mojave/iTunes) media server with a new m4 Mini. Looking at my account settings, it says I already have 5 authorized computers. Was able to fire up two (still running Sierra) and deauthorize them in iTunes. After doing so, each put up an alert saying they were no longer authorized to play my content. So far, so good.

However, the Music and TV apps on my 2018 Mini (running Monterey) still think 5 computers are authorized. Waited 24 hours and no change. Is individual deauthorization just broken? Or maybe iTunes/MacOS is just too old on those machines to properly complete deauthorization?

At this point, guess I'll have to deauthorize everything. In the end, I only need two authorized Macs but would prefer to get the new m4 working before deauthorizing the 2014 Mini. Seems like Apple makes this all a lot harder than it needs to be!

 

[tonmischa]

You go into Apple Music, click "Deauthorize all".
Then you authorize (or re-authorize) the Macs you want to use. (You accomplish this by simply signing into your Apple Account on those Macs.)

Authorize or deauthorize your computer for Apple Account purchases - Apple Support

Learn how to authorize your computer to play your Apple Account purchases, deauthorize a computer from accessing your Apple Account purchases, and check how many authorized computers you have.

support.apple.com

 

[Boyd01]

Thanks, but I already know how to deauthorize all my Macs. What I would prefer to do is the other option in that article you posted, deauthorize the individual computers. I did that, but it doesn't seem to work (possibly because they are still running iTunes).

 

[iStorm]

Is it only the 2018 mini that's reporting it incorrectly? Or does the 2014 mini still show 5 computers are authorized too? How many computers do the two Sierra Macs say are authorized when you go into your Account Settings on those?

If they are reporting correctly, have you tried signing out of Music and signing back in on the 2018 mini? I wonder if that will refresh the screen showing the number of authorizations. I'm only curious because my Apple Account kept showing an incorrect balance on my Account Settings screen once, until I signed out and back in. It's not quite the same issue, but apparently some things do get cached on that screen.

Also, since we have no way to see which computers are authorized, are you sure you deauthorized the right ones? It sounds like you probably did, but this is the screen you should have gotten if it was successfully deauthorized:

If you deauthorized a computer that wasn't authorized, then you would have gotten this screen:

Of course I'm using Music instead of iTunes for these screenshots, but it behaved similar with iTunes as well. If it didn't go through at all, I imagine you would have gotten an error or something else.

 

[Boyd01]

Thanks, those are good ideas! Unfortunately, I can't do anything with iTunes on the 2014 Mini (under Mojave) because it's "stuck in a loop" asking me to login. Home sharing still works from that machine and I can access my library on my Apple TV's. I wrote about this here. That problem is why I'm replacing the 2014 Mini with the m4 Mini.

I actually got the second alert you posted "This computer is not authorized". I assumed that meant the deauthorization was complete, but clearly it was not! A little stumped, because those were the only other computers I have that were still shown under "devices" when I go to the Apple ID site.

Will have another look later this morning, definitely worth signing in and out on the 2018 Mini for starters. But as things stand, will probably just deauthorize everything and then reauthorize the 2018 and m4 Mini's. That will get me back down to only two authorized computers, which will be good.

Downside is that I won't be able to confirm the new Mini works with media sharing until after I nuke the old one. Oh well, I knew the transition from iTunes wouldn't be easy. Thanks again.

 

[Boyd01]

Well, this is proving just as painful as I expected. 🤣 Deauthorized all my Macs via the Music app on the 2018 Mini, then reauthorized only that computer. No problems.

Setup the new m4 Mini; everything works EXCEPT Music and TV. Endless pinwheels when logging into my Apple ID in either the Music or TV apps. Updated to the newest version of Sequoia, same problem. Created a new user account, made it an admin. Music and TV still don't work, I get either endless pinwheels or no response at all after logging in with my Apple ID. Meanwhile, everything works fine on the 2018 Mini in both Music and TV, which is now the only authorized Mac.

[edit]Had a chat with Apple support that lasted over an hour. Long story short... not helpful, kept asking same questions, suggestions no better than what I found with google searches, finally gave up. Now wiping and reinstalling Sequoia.... Hopefully that will fix it.

[edit2]Success! I'm gonna have to take at least part of the blame for all this... the first time, I used migration assistant to set up the m4. The old 2014 had almost nothing stored on it (media was on an external ssd), so I thought that would be quick and would transfer all my settings. Evidently that's exactly what it did... including whatever was corrupted on the old Mini. I think the problem on the m4 was just the new version of the sign-in loop from iTunes on the old Mac.

But reinstalling and erasing seems to have things working. Now for the fun part... trying to migrate my large media library and playlists from iTunes to the new apps...

[edit3]Much to my amazement, everything seems to work now, including all my music, tv and movie playlists, and I can access them all from both Apple TV's.

It was not at all intuitive importing those from my external SSD and google searches found lots of confusing posts. What I finally did was hold the option key when starting the app, then selected the iTunes Library.itl file when asked to choose the location. This put up a dialog to create a new library, and everything seems to now be in it. I think the new library database is on the internal SSD in the standard location however, with my media still on the external ssd.

It will take a long time for me to be happy with these new Music and TV apps, but so be it. At least everything is now on a new Mac that should be supported for a long time!