iTunes not working

[Sooz]

Hi, everyone! 

My iTunes isn't working. I tried to download one song to a disk and I maybe that worked b/c it shows up as .aiff on my CD-R disk, but I cannot play it--when I double click the .aiff, a box pops up and says iTunes is not responding.

I clicked on my iTunes icon in the dock.... it just bounces up and down and up and down and up and down some more.

I then tried to download a newer version by doing this (admittedly, I can't remember the last time I used iTunes): 

I went to Apple and downloaded iTunes 12.8.2 for Mac (https://support.apple.com/kb/dl1977?locale=en_US). 

That page said if I was running 10.10.5, I should download iTunes 12.8.1. 
I'm running OS El Capitan 10.11.6 so I downloaded the 12.8.2.  I have plenty of room on my HD for this.

Now, I click on the iTunes in my dock and nothing happens. Not. A. Thing.
No bouncing up and down, no nuthin'.

Any ideas?  (sheesh, it's never easy for me, YKWIM?)
Thanks in advance!
Smiles,
Sooz

[Xairbusdriver]

1. Go to the Apple menu (black, extreme left-hand Apple logo on the very highest menu bar).
2. Click once. You should see a "Force Quit..." menu item.
3. Click once.
4. If iTunes is listed:
  a. Select/click it and then click the "Force Quit" button.
      You should get a dialog asking you to confirm you want to Force Quit "iTunes".
  b. Just confirm by clicking the "Force Quit" button in that little dialog.

You should now be able to install the newest version of iTunes. Unfortunately, iTunes may still not be able to play the ".aiff" file. Give it a try, anyway. The worst that can happen is that you'll have to Force Quit iTunes again. Rest assured no animals will be harmed either way.

5. If iTunes is not listed,
    try Restarting the Mac and then try installing the newer version of iTunes.

Of course, if the above instructions don't work, blame it on your husband and report back for even more instructions, hopefully from some one who knows what they are talking about!

[Sooz]

see next post

[Sooz]

Ok, long story short, I FINALLY got iTunes to quit, after a wash rinse, repeat cycle. 
Did an install of the latest version mentioned above in my initial post.

But WAIT! Now I think I did something wrong when I burned one song on a brand new  CD-R.  When I click on that CD-R, it opens and then I click on the .aiff, I get a loop of the spinning beach ball.  It never does play.  I think my next step would be to get another black CD-R and try again, now that I have the updated iTunes. 

I'll do that after dinner, maybe.... or maybe tomorrow!  Thanks, Jim, for your excellent advice and of course, your step by step input for me!!!!
Smiles,
Sooz

[kimmer]

You have to convert AIFF files to mp3 or m4a files in order for iTunes to play them, so you won't be able to play it via a CD-R. Of course, I could be all wrong as I never use AIFF files.

https://www.lifewire.com/aiff-aif-aifc-files-2619569


edited to add: or m4a

[Xairbusdriver]

I was confused (again?!) when I said they might not play in iTunes. I've purchased fewer than a handful of music from Apple. I haven't even purchased a CD for several years. But 99.5% the music in iTunes are from my own CDs or recordings of sermons from a previous church where I was a sound tech. The vast majority of my iTunes music files are the .aif/.aiff format. The few others are mostly .mp3.

I burned one song on a brand new  CD-R

However, I do remember from "back in the day" (2000's) that people warned about "burning" music to CD-R disks rather than 'plain' CDs. BAD INFO, nomenclature, see my "Reply #7" in this thread.

Most music purchased CDs use .aif/.aiff since it is an older, "lossless" format. Apple created its own "lossless" format and you can usually save/export/convert an .aif into the proprietary Apple format to save a bit (no pun intended, of course) of space from iTunes. You can then burn a CD of them in iTunes.

I would highly recommend using 'plain' CDs, not CD-Rs which are usually (at least from memories) need much slower burn speeds. Plus, they were not always usable for the second, much less the third burning session.

EDIT: An attempt to correct my mizteaks!

[Sooz]

Thanks, Kimmer and Jim!
I seem to only have CD-R disks.
Monday may bring me doing some more on this, but really, I want to make PIE!  I think pie may take precedence, but Tues or Wed may be "open iTunes and burn one song to a disk" day!
Thanks!!!!!
Smiles,
Sooz

[Xairbusdriver]

Once again, I must beg forgiveness because of my bad (continuously-fading) memory!

There is no difference between a "plain CD" and a CD-R. The ReWritable CD (or DVD) is denoted by the initials "CD-RW". "Hidden in plain sight!" How ingenious! I'm not sure what a "CD" is, anymore... unless I'm at the bank...

So, yes indeed, you can 'burn' music to a CD-R. As a matter of fact, you can 'burn'  music to a CD-RW disk/disc! There is the possibility that an older CD burner may not accept a CD-RW and, even if it does, it will take longer to finish the burn. As far as I know, any Mac should be able to use either type to burn music. Of course, Apple quit including a CD reader/writer a few years back. If there is no "CD slot" in your machine, you'll have to use an external burner/reader.

[kimmer]

I'm running 10.13.6 and iTunes 12.8.2, but I'm not sure if the OS will make a difference.

I popped in a CD and when I looked at it in the finder, the files are all .aif. However, when I try to play them on the cd, I get the bouncing ball and a window pops up asking if I want to import into iTunes. If I say no, the file doesn't play. If I import, iTunes auto-converts the .aif to an .m4a file.

I can play .aif files by highlighting the file on the CD and then hitting the space bar.

That's the extent of my poor knowledge. You're both on your own from here.

[Xairbusdriver]

You may need to "play" with the iTunes Prefs a bit. "m4a" may be the normal conversion format (default) that iTunes uses. I think any music you buy through iTunes (Apple Music) will probably be m4ap; the "p" is for protected (non-copyable).

iTunes Prefs->General->Import Settings... You can change the settings to one of five formats. What do you have set?

Aside: Just noticed that when I click the "Import Settings..." button, its background changes to a very dark blue *basically the normal background color for any default button), it makes the text nearly invisible. A normal Default button (one that will be 'activated' by pressing return or enter) also has very light colored text. In this case, the button is not active, since the "Import Settings" window is now in focus. Seems like an UI bug to me. I think the "Import Settings..." button should simply remain with a white background. No doubt one of the "benefits" of Dark Mode.

Same thing happens with the Advanced->Change... button. Probably not going to change since iTunes is now basically an 'orphan'.

[Sooz]

I'm gonna play with all this CD-R stuff and iTunes stuff tomorrow (Tues). Meanwhile, here is a piece of the Sugar Cream pie I baked today--with a side of fresh peach!
Smiles,
Sooz

[Highmac]

That looks good enough to eat 

Party time... 

[Sooz]

You have all helped me so much over the years, with great patience!!!, that you're ALL invited over for pie!!!  Or maybe cookies AND pie! Or maybe lasagna and cookies and pie!

I haven't done the CD stuff yet...I got distracted by the paper tiger that is one file drawer.  It's all good!  I'm retired!

Smiles,
Sooz
P.S.  Jim, no need to beg forgiveness for memory stuff...many of us are in that same club!

[Sooz]

Ta-daaaaaah!  Success of a sort!  I managed to burn a CD with the specific song I wanted on it -- it's for a church thing.  But wait, it wouldn't play on my external CD/DVD drive thingy through iTunes -- I just kept getting the spinning beach ball or it looked like it was playing but had no volume whatsoever. 

Here's the Ta-daaaaaah part.... it DOES play just fine in my car, so I'm sure it'll be good to go for my purposes, and as for my external CD/DVD thingy not playing what it burned (it DOES play my CDs fine, just not the one I burned), I can work around that. I call it a success! 

Thanks again!!!!!!
Smiles,
Sooz
P.S.  Have a cupcake!