Filed under: iTunes
iTunes 8 causes Windows Vista BSOD
Some Windows Vista users are having significant problems using iTunes 8, which crashes the operating system with a "blue screen of death" when an iPod or iPhone is connected to the PC.
Apple today released a tech note, suggesting to uninstall Apple Mobile Device Support, restart the computer, and re-download and re-install the iTunes 8 installer. It's unclear what about Apple Mobile Device Support was causing the problem.
According to Macworld and ZDNet, Apple simply replaced the files associated with Apple Mobile Device Support (usbaapl.sys or usbaapl64.sys) with the versions shipped with iTunes 7.7.
Computerworld highlighted several irate comments from an Apple Discussions thread on the subject, including precious gems such as "I love how Apple owns up to problems... IT'S NOT US! IT MUST BE YOU! OR MICROSOFT! OR YOUR MOUSE! OR YOUR CHAIR!"
Adorable.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Chris M said 9:11PM on 9-12-2008
People actually run vista? The rule of thumb here is always order your PC with the XP/Vista combo. That is, XP installed and supplied with a Vista restore disc. The vista restore disc makes an excellent coaster.
:)
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David W. said 9:26PM on 9-12-2008
I have Vista and love it...So I don't know what you're talking about.
Chris M said 9:32PM on 9-12-2008
You obviously don't work in IT or do anything more complicated that browse the web then.
Once you get past the 'pretty' translucent windows etc its a nightmare to work with.
Wifi conncetion issues, random crashes shutdown failures etc etc.
Its worse on laptops than desktops and worse still since SP1.
Xoviet chiK said 10:16PM on 9-12-2008
I like Vista a lot, and the last time I owned / had full time in-home access to a dedicated Windows PC was a Win 3.1 Packard Bell upgraded to '95. I can't say the same for XP, I dreaded using it before, and I dread it even more after experiencing Vista.
I've never had a single issue with Vista, which is something I can't say when I upgraded to OS X 10.4 or 10.5. That being said, I use it almost exclusively for gaming and c# programming. Otherwise, 90% of my computing is done via OS X and K/Ubuntu.
mosxs said 10:50PM on 9-12-2008
Chris M, what you're describing sounds more like my experience with Tiger and Leopard over the last year and a half.
OS X likes to randomly crash every so often. Recently I went a full month without a crash! I was amazed! Then within the course of about 2 weeks I had 4 crashes. Sometimes it crashs at shutdown, sometimes it will crash at random times during random tasks.
All the while I have Vista running in its own partition thanks to Boot Camp and it has been running rock solid with absolutely no issues this entire year and a half. I also have a dedicated Vista PC and I have not had one single issue with it. Vista SP1 with driver updates runs faster than XP did on the same hardware.
So please don't spread your FUD. You make Apple owners look bad.
DaMan09 said 1:42AM on 9-13-2008
^
Kernal panics almost always occur 1 month apart, with out fail since i bought my macbook in 06.
robogobo said 4:02AM on 9-13-2008
"Random" crashes are almost always a hardware problem, most likely bad or poorly seated memory. Those of you with constant problems should test and replace your memory or clean the contacts and reseat it. This always seems to work for me.
Dale said 10:31AM on 9-13-2008
Microsoft's problem is that due to their huge installed user base, they always have to support legacy nonsense. I'm sure they are quite capable of putting out a decent, modern OS if they could just start from scratch, but everything's so Frankenstein's monster-like.
That was the attraction to OS X for me - Apple hit rock bottom, and basically started again. Tiger, and now Leopard, really are 21st century operating systems.
As for iTunes, I don't think I have ever seen a version that runs really well on the PC (disclaimer: my collection is over 14,000 songs strong). On OS X, there's noticable dips in speed when it first loads and when I scroll too much, but other than that, it's golden for me.
Daveoc64 said 9:45PM on 9-12-2008
After having to reformat my MacBook 4 times and send it in for repair twice within a month I'll happily say that Windows Vista isn't as bad as you think.
It's certainly more reliable than Leopard for me.
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Daveoc64 said 9:47PM on 9-12-2008
Minor irony, my MacBook's WiFi cut out during this post.
Darren said 11:59PM on 9-12-2008
Busy month for you, huh?
Tony said 7:35AM on 9-13-2008
Try developing with it. It's so bad it got banned internally because it caused so many issues (including serious bugs causing data loss). I had to work with it for about 9 months and you couldn't *pay* me to put it back on a machine.
It's OK for browsing the web and the occasional game but not for anything serious.
Jesse said 10:30PM on 9-12-2008
Wow! What a shocker. Apple software running, or not running, like complete crap on a competing OS. It is almost as shocking as MS Office sanding against the grain when it comes to the idiosyncrasies of OS X.
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David said 10:59PM on 9-12-2008
This is a problem that Apple has already addressed.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2280
You just have to uninstall / reinstall iTunes.
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Level 5 said 11:08PM on 9-12-2008
Yeah, as someone who runs Lin/Win/OSX86 and loves all three, I gotta say Apple is by far the most arrogant, and fuels the fanboy fire rather than doing anything about it. The Mac vs PC commercials and most of their OSX vs Vista comments on their website are very inaccurate.
I also feel Apple sabotages their Windows apps to run like ass to persuade switchers. Sad really.
I'll keep my tri-boot. Works for me, and I can spread the love equally. I use Vista most and have the least problems from it. Maybe if I didn't use a hacked version of OSX, I'd have better luck.
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Mathias said 1:06AM on 9-13-2008
Although it's hard to say Microsoft did an excellent job on messenger for Mac. I'd say it's a pretty mutual relationship.
Level 5 said 9:45AM on 9-13-2008
Point taken, but we both know that there are millions more users of iTunes on Windows then there are MSN Messenger on Mac. Besides, this is why Adium and Pidgin exist :)
Now if it were a very common app (Like Office 08) that was as crippled (I haven't found it to be), I'd agree.
Dale said 12:26PM on 9-13-2008
It could be argued that Adium and Pidgin exist *because* MSN Messenger for Mac OS X is such a pile of dick.
War Machine said 12:40AM on 9-15-2008
My thoughts exactly, Dale.
You make software for the competing platform out of necessity only. They pretty much just copy the code from mac to windows and fix up any thing that don't work correctly. Since the software wasn't developed with that specific software in mind, they're more prone to errors.
You might argue that Apple makes their software bad to get back at Windows, but I don't think that's true. If you look at the Apple software in Windows you'll see that they're exact copies of their Mac counterparts with every bit of functionality intact. Same goes for Office, although MSN Messenger has been pure crap on Mac.
Colin said 11:10PM on 9-12-2008
"Computerworld highlighted several irate comments from an Apple Discussions thread on the subject, including precious gems such as 'I love how Apple owns up to problems... IT'S NOT US! IT MUST BE YOU! OR MICROSOFT! OR YOUR MOUSE! OR YOUR CHAIR!'"
Isn't this part of the Apple stance? If Microsoft software screws up on OS X, it's Microsoft's fault. If Apple software screws up on Windows, it's Microsoft's fault.
As a long time Mac user, I'm getting a bit fed up with knee-jerk, Apple-lover reactions. Apple is just as fallible as Microsoft when it comes to software design. The only difference is that Apple has the ability to release new Mac vs. PC ad and regain the faith of the people.
Apple apologists: Look inward and drink the Kool-Aid of rational though.
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