iTunes 4.7 (#3): Issues with AirPort Express, "Not compatible" error; Patience during installation; more

Issues with AirPort Express; "Not compatible" error As reported yesterday, some users are experiencing an issue where iTunes 4.7 refuses to correctly recognize and make use of an AirPort Express.

When this problem occurs, the AirPort Express may be listed twice, and display a "not compatible" error message when selected.

In most instances, users can resolve the issue by making sure the AirPort Express is turned on and operational before attempting to select the device from within iTunes. In-house testing showed proper operation under these circumstances.

Another workaround that has been successful for some readers:

1. Open the AirPort Admin Utility (located in Applications/Utilities on a standard Mac OS X installation) and select the problematic AirPort Express base station.
2. Click on the "Music" tab
3. Uncheck "Enable AirTunes on this base station" and click "Update"
4. Re-check the "Enable AirTunes on this base station" and click "Update"

One more suggestion from Michael Kummer "Open iTunes' preferences and disabled the AirTunes speakers, close the Preferences pane, then re-access it and re-enable the speakers."

Patience during installation Yesterday we also noted reports from some readers indicating that installation of iTunes 4.7 failed prematurely, freezing before completion. It seems that in many cases, simply waiting several seconds (or minutes) will allow installation to proceed.

MacFixIt reader Jack writes "The iTunes install may not be 'frozen.' I had mine stop at the same point as your other reader, and I killed it too. Then I tried it on another machine, and noticed it looked frozen there, too. Just as i was about to kill it, it went on to the next screen. I think it is checking something out on the drive - maybe the music library? On a system with a very small library, the "freeze" time was very short. Also, the disk was much smaller (40 GB instead of the 250 GB of the desktop and 160 GB on the iMac). When I let it run again on the desktop (G5 dual 2.0) it took several minutes but did finally move on and install OK."

Installing QuickTime 6.5.2 first, iTunes 4.7 independently Yesterday we noted that installing QuickTime 6.5.2 before iTunes 4.7 can eliminate a number of potential issues. In addition to using this method, some readers report that, when using Software Update, problems can be avoided by installing iTunes 4.7 independent of other updates.

MacFixIt reader John DeMillion writes:

"On two separate machines running 10.3.5 and iTunes 4.6, I took the defaults and installed Quicktime 6.5.2 and iTunes 4.7 at the same time. Installation stopped progressing during the iTunes install, at 'iTunes: Installing (Running Installer Script).' The Stop button was still active, so I clicked it, at which point the progress bar quickly went ahead to about 80%, but the status message remained the same. At this point the Stop button was grayed out. I force-quit Software Update and restarted, and all seemed to be ok.

"I took part of the advice on MacFixit and updated QuickTime first (through Software Update), then restarted and updated iTunes separately. This time it went fine (and the iTunes update didn't prompt for a reboot).

"I tried another combination on a third machine. On this one, I did the Quicktime SU update first, rebooted, then tried to update both iTunes and the newly-arrived Security Update 10-27-2004. iTunes *again* stopped in the middle of the update with the same symptoms as before.

"It looks like the iTunes update wants to be installed exclusive of any other updates, otherwise it will stop in the middle as noted in my previous message."

Problems importing songs Meanwhile, we are seeking confirmation for reports of problem importing songs with iTunes 4.7. One reader writes:

"Now that I have installed 4.7, I cannot import songs or convert to MP3 without an immediate crash. Yes, I did install the QuickTime 6.5.2 update first as recommended."

If you're experiencing a similar issue, please let us know.

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