I currently have my iTunes music stored on an external Firewire 800 drive. There is a continually reoccurring problem. It occurs about 4 hrs or so after starting iTunes 10.1.1. After running smoothly for 4 or 5 hours, the spinning rainbow wheel comes on and iTunes freezes from that point on. The only way to clear this is to turn off the external drive (it will not eject at this point). iTunes does not shut down until the drive is turned off manually. After turning off the drive, I then turn my drive back on, let it load, then restart iTunes. This has become so much of a pain that I have to ask if anybody else has had this problem and if there is a solution. Would switching to a USB connection eliminate the lockups vs. using Firewire 800 that I am currently using? This Firewire 800 drive has also prevented the iMac from rebooting so I have to turn it off, and then the computer reboots. If anybody has a solution - please let me know as this locking up while using iTunes. The spinning rainbow wheel is just not acceptable for me and I like to access iTunes throughout the day without lockups.