When iTunes iAttacks
16-Jan-2008Today I updated my iTunes software to version 7.6 on Windows XP and Vista, hoping to see if I could rent “300″ and play it, and get an idea of whether I liked the whole rental idea. Sadly, though I can play music fine, iTunes 7.6 doesn’t want to play audio from my TV Shows or Movies anymore.
This “no sound” experience happens on both my Vista and XP machines.
US$3.99 down the drain, and only 30 days left to rescue my movie hire.
I’m baffled. One more gripe to add to the list.
You should be able to get a credit from Apple
Alastair | 17-Jan-2008You should be able to get a credit from Apple surely?
The *real* WTF here is: why are these movies pan & scan instead of widescreen?
It's not just "300," it's all of my iTunes video
Chris | 17-Jan-2008It’s not just “300,” it’s all of my iTunes video content on both my Vista and XP machine since I upgraded to iTunes 7.6.
I’m more interested in a fix or a diagnosis than a refund… so far.
I haven’t got to the point of determining that the movies are pan and scan yet. I YEARN for that luxury :)
Just out of interest, do the movies play with QuickTime
Alastair | 17-Jan-2008Just out of interest, do the movies play with QuickTime player?
I’ve noticed that QuickTime is particularly sensitive to brain-dead^W overzealous anti-virus software, particularly at installation/upgrade time.
Also: the format is listed on the iTunes Store page for each movie. “Format: Fullframe” is the marketing term for pan & scan (if you’re lucky), or cropping (if you’re not).
Good plan. I'll check my F-secure AV-über-zealot logs on
Chris | 17-Jan-2008Good plan. I’ll check my F-secure AV-über-zealot logs on both PCs when I get home. I didn’t check on the Mac, but I’m currently assuming it’s Windows- and Chris-specific or there would be more substantially more angst out there in Apple forumsville.
No dice. Reinstalling with F-Secure off didn't help.
Chris | 17-Jan-2008No dice. Reinstalling with F-Secure off didn’t help.
Further investigation reveals that it’s just a problem with audio silence on protected mpeg-4 files. Unprotected ones, even unprotected mpeg-4 videos purchased from the ITMS, play with audio.
Very odd. I think it's time to call Apple though.
Alastair | 18-Jan-2008Very odd. I think it’s time to call Apple though. “Can’t play purchased files after an upgrade” seems like a reasonable support request. I haven’t done it myself lately but I know someone who has and that seemed to have a happy ending.
By the way, my own iTunes upgrade experience was a
Alastair | 18-Jan-2008By the way, my own iTunes upgrade experience was a typographical adventure!
A quick scan of the Apple support forums reveals that
Chris | 19-Jan-2008A quick scan of the Apple support forums reveals that the Windows iTunes 7.6 upgrade isn’t making Apple many friends.
What do I have to get my money back? I
SkipperJones | 20-Jan-2008What do I have to get my money back? I will never, ever, never, ever rent another video from Apple. No sound for any of my movies or videos! Nice try but I am not buying a Mac, Steve! Hell, I might even go out today and buy a Zune! Arse!
During all of the hanging and crashing while trying downloading
Chris | 20-Jan-2008During all of the hanging and crashing while trying downloading “300″ and trying to play it, it seems to have deleted itself from my computer. Admittedly, my library is on NAS, but gigabit & raid-ed usually makes for a pretty snappy drive, but iTunes 7.6 is in such a death spiral of hanging and freezing that something went wrong while I was downloading & trying to start watching and now I’m left with nothing 300-like on my computer or NAS.
I contacted iTunes support and after trying a few of their stock answers and coming up empty they refunded my money for “300″ and threw in some free song credits.
iTunes is practically unusable for me until they fix whatever causes the freezing and the playback problems. I might export the library if it will stay up long enough and try to revert to 7.5 if I get time.
The same problem here, i'm using win xp and upgraded
Mohicans | 23-Jan-2008The same problem here, i’m using win xp and upgraded itunes to 7.6. And tried to rent some movies. Well since i’m new at this whole rent movies thing, i guess i tried one movie. And while trying to play completed rented movie, guess what? itunes freeze with black blank screen. That’s it. I had to perform end task to be able to close itunes. A lot of ppl having the same problem both on PC and Mac. Why there is no respond at all from apple. Now i still have like 2 hours before my rented movie gone bye bye and i don’t even see the opening credit yet. This is really sucks.
Fixed with the install of Quicktime 7.4.1 tonight. I
Chris | 14-Feb-2008Fixed with the install of Quicktime 7.4.1 tonight. I can now play protected video content again.
It seems a bit harsh to give up on iTunes
Tonio | 16-May-2008It seems a bit harsh to give up on iTunes over this since I regularly get unplayable DVDs from NetFlix, and I remember often getting unwatchable VHS tapes back when I rented them too.
Pan and scan seems like a bigger gripe.