You are quite obviously doing something wrong on your end, Kirk. And here’s how I know that:
My five year old Mac Mini running Snowy and iTunes 10, (which functions as my A/V hub), has literally never had iTunes beachball or freeze, even while running very CPU intensive tasks, and I’ve got a humongous iTunes library.
Two troubleshooting possibilities for you:
1) Are you operating your Mac Pro while it is immersed in soapy water? If so, immediately remove it from the water, unplug it, and let it completely dry before attempting to use it again.
2) Have you modified your iTunes app by opening the Unix Executable File and inserting random text? If so, quit the modified app, and download a fresh iTunes installer from Apple.
Hopefully, one of these suggestion will get your new expensive gear back up on par with my old cheap gear…
Admittedly, it doesn’t happen often. But it does happen when I try to sync my iPad, or my iPod touch; but not my iPhone. I did get the occasional Beachball — very brief — with my Mac Mini when doing some things in iTunes, but I don’t see that anymore.
You are quite obviously doing something wrong on your end, Kirk. And here’s how I know that:
My five year old Mac Mini running Snowy and iTunes 10, (which functions as my A/V hub), has literally never had iTunes beachball or freeze, even while running very CPU intensive tasks, and I’ve got a humongous iTunes library.
Two troubleshooting possibilities for you:
1) Are you operating your Mac Pro while it is immersed in soapy water? If so, immediately remove it from the water, unplug it, and let it completely dry before attempting to use it again.
2) Have you modified your iTunes app by opening the Unix Executable File and inserting random text? If so, quit the modified app, and download a fresh iTunes installer from Apple.
Hopefully, one of these suggestion will get your new expensive gear back up on par with my old cheap gear…
Admittedly, it doesn’t happen often. But it does happen when I try to sync my iPad, or my iPod touch; but not my iPhone. I did get the occasional Beachball — very brief — with my Mac Mini when doing some things in iTunes, but I don’t see that anymore.
Beachballs can indicate a process that is I/O bound, not just one that is processor bound. In your case, because syncing relies not just on a blazingly fast Mac but on devices that may not be responding with sufficient alacrity, you see the beach ball because the device may have forced the Mac Pro to wait. Analogy: when there’s congestion on the highway, even the fastest car can’t go any faster than the cars around it.
Your explanation does not make sense.
Otherwise, you would see beachballs all the time in Safari because the network bandwidth is way too slow compared to the CPU speed.
When there’s a beach ball in an app, it’s because the main thread is blocked. Usually because operations that take time are not run on a secondary thread. I/O operations are either run on a secondary thread or asynchronous. So no, a sync operation should not trigger the beach ball because the USB connection is slow or the mobile device is slow.
Beachballs can indicate a process that is I/O bound, not just one that is processor bound. In your case, because syncing relies not just on a blazingly fast Mac but on devices that may not be responding with sufficient alacrity, you see the beach ball because the device may have forced the Mac Pro to wait. Analogy: when there’s congestion on the highway, even the fastest car can’t go any faster than the cars around it.
Your explanation does not make sense.
Otherwise, you would see beachballs all the time in Safari because the network bandwidth is way too slow compared to the CPU speed.
When there’s a beach ball in an app, it’s because the main thread is blocked. Usually because operations that take time are not run on a secondary thread. I/O operations are either run on a secondary thread or asynchronous. So no, a sync operation should not trigger the beach ball because the USB connection is slow or the mobile device is slow.
I love the comments on this post!
I, without any technical expertise or dog in the fight, was simply going to chime in sympathetically to say that I was impressed with the beach balls I’ve seen on my new Mac mini (fastest processor option, 32 GB RAM) when opening iPhoto (perhaps a different kettle of fish altogether). The culprit, as far as I can tell, seems to be Photo Stream syncing. At any rate, I very much hope that the new app in Yosemite will address the drag that iPhoto has become.
I love the comments on this post!
I, without any technical expertise or dog in the fight, was simply going to chime in sympathetically to say that I was impressed with the beach balls I’ve seen on my new Mac mini (fastest processor option, 32 GB RAM) when opening iPhoto (perhaps a different kettle of fish altogether). The culprit, as far as I can tell, seems to be Photo Stream syncing. At any rate, I very much hope that the new app in Yosemite will address the drag that iPhoto has become.
A little off the subject ..But why is the screen on my iTunes now black and the letters are white…. Strange ….. Do you have a answer ???
A little off the subject ..But why is the screen on my iTunes now black and the letters are white…. Strange ….. Do you have a answer ???
I wonder if it’s something to do with the size of your library? I’ve got a fairly massive library (~56k items) myself and iTunes 11.3 beachballs with alarming frequency, often locking things up for 10, 15 or even 30 seconds. Of course, I’m only rocking an entry-level late 2011 13″ MacBook Pro w/8gb of RAM and it’s a little long in the tooth, so what should I expect, right? 😀
Yes, but my point is that should really not happen with a Mac Pro.
I wonder if it’s something to do with the size of your library? I’ve got a fairly massive library (~56k items) myself and iTunes 11.3 beachballs with alarming frequency, often locking things up for 10, 15 or even 30 seconds. Of course, I’m only rocking an entry-level late 2011 13″ MacBook Pro w/8gb of RAM and it’s a little long in the tooth, so what should I expect, right? 😀
Yes, but my point is that should really not happen with a Mac Pro.
You are quite obviously doing something wrong on your end, Kirk. And here’s how I know that:
My five year old Mac Mini running Snowy and iTunes 10, (which functions as my A/V hub), has literally never had iTunes beachball or freeze, even while running very CPU intensive tasks, and I’ve got a humongous iTunes library.
Two troubleshooting possibilities for you:
1) Are you operating your Mac Pro while it is immersed in soapy water? If so, immediately remove it from the water, unplug it, and let it completely dry before attempting to use it again.
2) Have you modified your iTunes app by opening the Unix Executable File and inserting random text? If so, quit the modified app, and download a fresh iTunes installer from Apple.
Hopefully, one of these suggestion will get your new expensive gear back up on par with my old cheap gear…
Admittedly, it doesn’t happen often. But it does happen when I try to sync my iPad, or my iPod touch; but not my iPhone. I did get the occasional Beachball — very brief — with my Mac Mini when doing some things in iTunes, but I don’t see that anymore.
You are quite obviously doing something wrong on your end, Kirk. And here’s how I know that:
My five year old Mac Mini running Snowy and iTunes 10, (which functions as my A/V hub), has literally never had iTunes beachball or freeze, even while running very CPU intensive tasks, and I’ve got a humongous iTunes library.
Two troubleshooting possibilities for you:
1) Are you operating your Mac Pro while it is immersed in soapy water? If so, immediately remove it from the water, unplug it, and let it completely dry before attempting to use it again.
2) Have you modified your iTunes app by opening the Unix Executable File and inserting random text? If so, quit the modified app, and download a fresh iTunes installer from Apple.
Hopefully, one of these suggestion will get your new expensive gear back up on par with my old cheap gear…
Admittedly, it doesn’t happen often. But it does happen when I try to sync my iPad, or my iPod touch; but not my iPhone. I did get the occasional Beachball — very brief — with my Mac Mini when doing some things in iTunes, but I don’t see that anymore.
Beachballs can indicate a process that is I/O bound, not just one that is processor bound. In your case, because syncing relies not just on a blazingly fast Mac but on devices that may not be responding with sufficient alacrity, you see the beach ball because the device may have forced the Mac Pro to wait. Analogy: when there’s congestion on the highway, even the fastest car can’t go any faster than the cars around it.
Your explanation does not make sense.
Otherwise, you would see beachballs all the time in Safari because the network bandwidth is way too slow compared to the CPU speed.
When there’s a beach ball in an app, it’s because the main thread is blocked. Usually because operations that take time are not run on a secondary thread. I/O operations are either run on a secondary thread or asynchronous. So no, a sync operation should not trigger the beach ball because the USB connection is slow or the mobile device is slow.
Beachballs can indicate a process that is I/O bound, not just one that is processor bound. In your case, because syncing relies not just on a blazingly fast Mac but on devices that may not be responding with sufficient alacrity, you see the beach ball because the device may have forced the Mac Pro to wait. Analogy: when there’s congestion on the highway, even the fastest car can’t go any faster than the cars around it.
Your explanation does not make sense.
Otherwise, you would see beachballs all the time in Safari because the network bandwidth is way too slow compared to the CPU speed.
When there’s a beach ball in an app, it’s because the main thread is blocked. Usually because operations that take time are not run on a secondary thread. I/O operations are either run on a secondary thread or asynchronous. So no, a sync operation should not trigger the beach ball because the USB connection is slow or the mobile device is slow.
I love the comments on this post!
I, without any technical expertise or dog in the fight, was simply going to chime in sympathetically to say that I was impressed with the beach balls I’ve seen on my new Mac mini (fastest processor option, 32 GB RAM) when opening iPhoto (perhaps a different kettle of fish altogether). The culprit, as far as I can tell, seems to be Photo Stream syncing. At any rate, I very much hope that the new app in Yosemite will address the drag that iPhoto has become.
I love the comments on this post!
I, without any technical expertise or dog in the fight, was simply going to chime in sympathetically to say that I was impressed with the beach balls I’ve seen on my new Mac mini (fastest processor option, 32 GB RAM) when opening iPhoto (perhaps a different kettle of fish altogether). The culprit, as far as I can tell, seems to be Photo Stream syncing. At any rate, I very much hope that the new app in Yosemite will address the drag that iPhoto has become.
A little off the subject ..But why is the screen on my iTunes now black and the letters are white…. Strange ….. Do you have a answer ???
A little off the subject ..But why is the screen on my iTunes now black and the letters are white…. Strange ….. Do you have a answer ???
I wonder if it’s something to do with the size of your library? I’ve got a fairly massive library (~56k items) myself and iTunes 11.3 beachballs with alarming frequency, often locking things up for 10, 15 or even 30 seconds. Of course, I’m only rocking an entry-level late 2011 13″ MacBook Pro w/8gb of RAM and it’s a little long in the tooth, so what should I expect, right? 😀
Yes, but my point is that should really not happen with a Mac Pro.
I wonder if it’s something to do with the size of your library? I’ve got a fairly massive library (~56k items) myself and iTunes 11.3 beachballs with alarming frequency, often locking things up for 10, 15 or even 30 seconds. Of course, I’m only rocking an entry-level late 2011 13″ MacBook Pro w/8gb of RAM and it’s a little long in the tooth, so what should I expect, right? 😀
Yes, but my point is that should really not happen with a Mac Pro.