iTunes - crashing on import/unknown error (-50)

[cprice]

Hello all.

Got my first iBook recently (windows convert), and I am loving it with no problems at all, aside from the one I will discuss here.

Got an iPod for Christmas and I am attempting to rip some CD's using the latest iTunes software. I have all OSX software updates installed, the latest Quicktime, and the latest iTunes.

I have downloaded songs from the internet and transferred them to the iPod seamlessly. However, when I attempt to rip my CD's (using AAC encoder, mind you), the import will die at different points, somtimes getting through one track, sometimes not even one. The error is something like "an unknown error occurred (-50)".

Anyways, it's kind of frustrating. I am not as familiar with macs as most of you, I am sure, so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Additionally, I am able to rip CDs fine with the MP3 encoder, however the sound quality does not sound quite right even @ 192kbps (high end accentuated)...thus, the attempt to use AAC.

I already uninstalled/reinstalled QT and itunes twice, so it's not that. I also ran disk utility to "repair permissions" as someone suggested. No help.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Chris

 

[jim.]

As a shot in the dark at possibly being able to help, I'm going to ask some potentially stupid questions...

You don't have any 3rd party iTunes enhancements installed?

What are your settings for ACC import? Just the defaults?

Are you using the error correction? Any change when you do?

Are you using any 3rd party RAM? This probably isn't a problem if you are experiencing no other issues.

The fact that your mp3 import works is what is stumping me. Otherwise I would say that if it isn't a software problem, that only leaves hardware. I'm not so sure in your case though.

Jim

 

[cprice]

Jim -

No third party enhancements...just the default as far as I can tell. How can I tell if any enhancements are installed? I uninstalled all of QT and iTunes, downloaded them again, and re-installed two times, so I think it's all fresh.

Default values for AAC.

Tried turning on/off error correction - same problem.

No third party RAM as far as I know...no other problems though.

The MP3 gets all the way through its encoding, however the sound quality is not good. I do not think this is just a result of the audiophile "high end" thing that I have seen some complain about regarding iTunes' MP3 encoder. It seems more like the encoding itself is bad...the best way I can describe how it sounds is like a cassette tape, rather than how an MP3 should sound.

I was just listening to the ones I managed to rip using the mp3 encoder in my car and they sound, as I mentioned, sort of like a cassette. I am quite sure the mp3 encoder in iTunes is not that bad by default.

Maybe this will give you some more information, but as of right now I am still stumped.

Thanks for your reply.
Chris

 

[jim.]

I'd assume if you had installed any 3rd party programs, you would know. Did you buy this computer new or get it used? If you got it used did you do a clean install or just start working? I don't want to advocate just reinstalling everything when a computer goes awry, but if it was used previously I would do that as a first step.

If everything is clean, my only thought would be that it is a hardware problem. Have you tried playing a CD/DVD on your comp? Any errors?

Still stumped, but thinking,

Jim

 

[cprice]

I did buy it used, but it was pretty much clean at the time. I considered re-installing everything but looked around and it was pretty much clean. I have installed stuff like MS Office, etc. off the CD drive, and it worked perfectly fine. I have also played several CD's and they worked great.

Any special mac "cleanup" tricks (aside from reinstallation) for ensuring that there are no conflicts?

I suppose if it does not work out, I will consider reinstalling.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Arcus]

Just a shot in the dark. Some artists copy protect thier CDs. Wonder if that could be the problem.

 

[jim.]

Just a shot in the dark. Some artists copy protect thier CDs. Wonder if that could be the problem.

An interesting idea. That may explain the bad quality of mp3s, though I thought that copy protection typically prohibited any form of copying? This happens on multiple CDs though, correct? Are any of the CDs you try to import more than a couple of years old? Might be something good to check.

I really don't know of a good way to scour an OSX install for files that other programs are hiding. I guess you could grep the Library folder for any mention of iTunes or QT. If you're not a UNIX guy, then the above may have made no sense, and it isn't a big deal because it probably won't be that great of a help.

Well, we have pretty much ruled out something being wrong with your optical drive. The only other hardware issue I can think of would be HD corruption, though that may be unlikely. To check you can boot into single user mode and run fsck. Here is a page that tells you how to do that:

http://homepage.mac.com/geerlingguy/mac_support/mac_help/pages/9-fsck_su_disk_repair.html

If that comes back clean, then my guess is that it is entirely software related. In such a case you could try to delve into a lot of UNIX stuff to diagnose the problem, or you could bite the bullet and backup all of your data and do a clean install. I always recommend a clean install on any used computer purchase anyway.

Sorry I haven't been too helpful, this problem just has me completely stumped.

Jim

 

[xrays]

However, when I attempt to rip my CD's (using AAC encoder, mind you), the import will die at different points, somtimes getting through one track, sometimes not even one. The error is something like "an unknown error occurred (-50)".

I've had this happen to me for months now and haven't really resolved the problem yet. It happens on both my machines, which happen to both have upgrades (G4-1.467 and G4-1.0 singles). Both computers are fine with every other application except Final Cut Pro, which doens't even launch without errors, so I thought there might be some connection. I created a user with no QuickTime plug-ins and Final Cut Pro launches fine.

It turns out that there's a problem with some CoDecs installed in the QuickTime Preferences folder, but simply removing them did not solve the iTunes issue. Essentially, I was able to start into a clean system and there were no problems, which relieved me of any thoughts that it was a CPU related issue. I now know it's a software problem, but I don't know exactly how to fix it. Perhaps the basic info that it appears to be a plug-in problem might spark some ideas with other people.

I'm expecting a full upgrade to Tiger to erase the problem entirely... Here's to hopeful wishing.

x.

 

[cprice]

xrays -

Were you actually having the same iTunes problem as well? Sounds as though creating a new user with no QT plugins fixed it up for you (at least for Final Cut).

If I'm not mistaken and this did indeed solve your problem, how exactly do you create a new user with no QT plugins installed? I know how to create a new user, but how and when do othe QT plugins get installed (and how do I circumvent that)?

Thanks for the reply. Sounds like we are getting closer to an answer (or at least a workaround).

 

[xrays]

If I'm not mistaken and this did indeed solve your problem, how exactly do you create a new user with no QT plugins installed? I know how to create a new user, but how and when do othe QT plugins get installed (and how do I circumvent that)?

I went through the routine of creating a new user, then from my master account I went into /Library/QuickTime/ and copied any files in that folder into my /Users/MyAccount/Library/QuickTime/ instead, which means that those plugins will only be active with that user. This is generally the way OSX works, items in the /Library/ folders are usually available to all users, but items in the respective /Users/UserXXX/Library/ folders are specific to those users. After moving the files, simply switching to the simple User allowed me to do most operations that would crash my main user.

This seemed to help with Final Cut Pro, but didn't completely resolve the problems with iTunes. I was only able to resolve that by restarting into a second start-up drive with a clean install of OSX (no updates).

Once in a while I transcode about 200-500 MP3 songs for storage, and I found that iTunes would crash routinely during the operation until I found this workaround. This problem also affects encoding from CDs... I also edit small videos with FCP every other week, and found that it started crashing as well around the same time. I run a lot of little patches and system buggeroos on my computer, and I can only suspect that one (or more) of them has caused this problem.

I hope you can resolve your problem, and perhaps someone out there with more experience might have a solid idea as to the resolve.

x.