iTunes Match Problems and solutions -3

Lost album covers:

Two large pockets of loss may arise. In the first, the covers of the songs in the cloud suddenly disappear: it is most often covers repatriated with the Get album artwork, while those added by hand are preserved. Sometimes it is a temporary problem that goes all alone in order, but if it will accept a less aesthetic presentation, since the Get Album Artwork does not work with songs in the cloud.

In the second case, it is the local covers of songs that are deleted. Another variant: you change the cover of a song by local, and the former comes when syncing with iTunes Match. Again, there is unfortunately not much to do, although some have managed to find their covers by disabling iTunes Match holding down the ⌥ then reactivating.

In general, it seems that the covers inserted as ID3 tag (by dragging an image file in the box Illustration of the Info tab of the info panel) are less sensitive to these problems that covers associated with the Get illustrations album. It is therefore not impossible that the problem comes from the timing of the iTunes Album Artwork folder - about whether Apple will decide to settle ...

My metadata is lost:

Variant of the problem of pockets, overwriting metadata iTunes Match. It may happen that some pieces are downright famous for iTunes Match, for no apparent reason, or that all their metadata are removed. It does not seem to be a file corruption problem.

In general, refill and metadata sync iTunes Match is enough to get things in order If the problem affects many pieces, do not hesitate to use an application like the excellent Music Brainz Picard to automatically fill metadata.

iTunes Match has duplicated my playlists:

Another classic, duplicate playlists - sometimes hundreds of times! In our experience, the problem seems to be related to the loss of which would cause a runaway network during synchronization. These playlists are empty extra: a simple script will remove quickly while keeping your playlists original (and full).

If none of the previous manipulations has worked and that your problems were not resolved in themselves (as is often the case with iTunes Match), there are only two solutions: resetting iTunes Match and updating your iTunes library.

Reset iTunes Match:

Simply put: there is no "reset" button on iTunes Match. To reset a library in the cloud, so you have to tweak: if you do not already have one, you will have to create a library that will contain only pieces in the cloud. To do this, quit iTunes, and then run it by pressing the ⌥. Then choose to create a new library.


Connect to iTunes Match (iTunes Store> iTunes Match) and wait until your entire library in the cloud appears. You might be tempted to select all and delete everything at once: it would be a mistake. Relations department to developers Apple has confirmed that to immediately delete songs from iTunes Match, it was not to remove more than 1000 pieces at a time. In short, delete 999 songs by 999 until you have deleted all your songs to iCloud.

Prior to removal, make sure you have kept a copy of all your songs in the cloud.  Update your iTunes library Match (Store> Update iTunes Match): it is now empty and de facto reset on Apple's servers. Quit iTunes and restart holding down ⌥ and select your usual library containing your songs locally. Connect to iTunes Match: since your library in the cloud is empty, the longest stage of synchronization will start from scratch.

iTunes Match Problems and solutions -2

Some times iTunes Match is stuck at step 2 associate with your songs in the iTunes Store catalog. iTunes Match can also lock in step 2, although this is rare. In the vast majority of cases, simply press the Stop button and restart to get out of sync.

iTunes Match is stuck at step 3 while downloading album covers and the remaining pieces. In this case is almost as common as the blocking step 1 and hence rule out the same way.

Beyond synchronization, several more or less serious problems may affect iTunes Match. Why some songs are not synchronized. Several reasons may explain the non-synchronization of certain pieces. The easiest way to check is the number of songs you have: iTunes Match cannot store that 25,000, not counting those that you purchased from the iTunes Store. The number of songs in your library appears in the status bar (View> Show Status Bar) for Songs or Artists.


Some songs are not eligible (they are followed by a cloud icon strikethrough): those who weigh more than 200 MB or are encoded with a rate of less than 96 kbps (see summary information panel). To our knowledge, no store has proposed lower quality music at 128 kbps: the latter must have been intended to limit money pirated music. We have managed to achieve against the first limit with long pieces of classical or jazz ALAC unless you want to convert a destructive codec, there is currently no solution.

An icon representing two clouds crossed on a song supposed to be replicated. iTunes Match sometimes confused in an album version and a version in a compilation or two interpretations of the same song in an album "deluxe" or an anthology. You can try to force the addition (Add to iCloud in the menu), but most of the time, iTunes Match will remain bounded. Remove the piece of iCloud and importing again is an effective solution, but difficult and which is also not always feasible.


A cloud containing an exclamation point indicates an error: Update iTunes Match (Store> iTunes Match) is generally effective. If you can, enable and disable iTunes Match (if necessary by holding down ⌥) or force the addition. If nothing works, it is possible that the piece is corrupt: there is not much to do other than delete and import a new copy.

Some times Playback does not start on right time. If a song is playing in the cloud does not start, check the service status page Apple: if you cannot access it, is that you are not connected, so you can access, check iTunes Match is not just down. If the reading is still churning in a vacuum, it is usually because your session has expired: reconnect to your account in the iTunes Store. Restart iTunes is also a good solution.


In case of getting trouble in Playback stops being music / playback skips: Reading generally stops during the song when iTunes Match or skips a flow problems. Of course you can download the songs you want to play and delete once heard, but we have seen more practical. Unfortunately these hiccups can last for days and involve only certain songs and not others.

Mozilla Launches Firefox OS in Europe

The world press has an appointment at the press conference of Mozilla, on the eve of the opening of the doors of the Mobile World Congress 2013. The foundation has announced the launch of Firefox OS in nine countries this summer.  From the beginning of the summer and then by the end of the year, Firefox OS phones will be available in Spain, Brazil, Colombia, Hungary, Mexico, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia and Venezuela. Mozilla target is clear: emerging markets (Brazil, Poland etc, and or economically constrained Spain and other countries) where the next billion people online.

The first wave of phones in Firefox OS reflects this choice: the models presented by Alcatel (One Touch Fire), ZTE (Open), LG and Huawei are positioned on the bottom and midrange. The entire product will use Snapdragon chips Qualcomm worked hand in hand with Mozilla. There is no competition to the iPhone or the Galaxy S III in Firefox OS, a strategic choice also allows Mozilla to not directly confront iOS and Android.  In Nitot’s own statement, "We must offer something to emerging markets; this is not an iPhone to € 800 which will be in charge”.

Firefox comes with OS Firefox Marketplace. The Firefox OS app are those third-party developers such as those proposed by default - are neither more nor less than web apps. But they can use all the material resources of the camera and store data locally to work offline. Again, Mozilla is surrounded by many partners: Nokia provides data mapping solution integrated offer several EA games in the Marketplace. But Firefox Marketplace will not only catalog apps for Firefox OS: developers can distribute their own apps and operators can offer their own shops with their own billing solution.

A hybrid model and Mozilla tries to hybridize and web apps. The search field in Firefox OS will look in both your installed apps in the Marketplace on the Web. If you choose an app that you do not have it installed, it will start instantly without installing as if it was nothing more than a website. Mozilla does not merely duplicate existing systems, but is force proposal - and hope that consumers will notice.

Google Chromebook Pixel

Google has just unveiled the Chromebook pixels, a laptop that has no local disk storage but takes place in the Google Cloud Drive.   The "Pixel" is equipped with the Chrome OS (a web browser), a high definition touch screen 2560 x 1700 px (4.3 megapixels) of 12.85 inches with aspect ratio of 3:2, to an Intel i5, and especially a storage capacity of 1 Terabyte on Google Drive.

On the display part, the display density is of 239 pixels per inch or a little more than that of the Macbook Pro Apple Retina Display. Guess the price of it. Its price is $1299 dollars for the Wi-Fi version and $ 1449 for the LTE version. This new laptop from Google is rather daring and ambition to compete with the Apple range, although here we must be aware that the operating system is reduced to a browser, and therefore must have permanent access to internet to use it. Personally, even if the price is not cheap, we can find this concept computer in the cloud rather futuristic and not crazy at all. In recent years, there may be all in the clouds ... or directly into the Matrix. The pixels are already on sale from yester day on Google Play United States and the United Kingdom, and it will soon via the website of Best Buy. The LTE version will be available from April in the U.S.

iTunes Match Problems and solutions -1

Most of the times iTunes Match works fine, when it does not work then it is a head ache. There are numerous synchronization problems, each require a different solution. Here we are trying to give solutions to few of the problems.

Blocking iTunes Match in step 1 of the synchronization is a classic. Sometimes the blockage is only apparent; let your machine run all night, and you will notice that the progress bar has moved slowly. Better to let iTunes Match to take its own time rather than cutting and start syncing, so you should solve your troubles patiently.

ITunes tells you if an error 4010 and suggest you try later, follow its advice; things will be set right in the second or third try.  Blockage persists sometimes, but perhaps most of the time set by resetting the identifier your library on Apple's servers to force synchronization "clean." To do this, simply select the Store menu> Disable iTunes Match while maintaining ⌥ key, then select Store> Turn on iTunes Match.

If you're still stuck at step 1 after these manipulations, it becomes more difficult to find the exact cause. Cuts in the view, display layout options (View> View Options) and check the status iCloud. Sort the column that appears to reveal the errors and try to find common ground at there. On the Summary tab, check the origin of particular pieces: whether they were purchased with another account, it is possible that you are no longer allowed to read. If you can, allow your computer to read the contents of the account in question (Store> Authorize this computer after you are connected to the account).

It also appears that iTunes Match lost more easily when using the pedals several different file formats, even if it is supposed to manage, among other things, AAC, MP3, WAV, AIFF and ALAC. If possible, do not hesitate to convert your files to get a more coherent library: according to our tests, iTunes Match is much more stable with two formats AAC and ALAC for example. You choose the format in the Import Settings panel in the General section of iTunes preferences and then converts with File> Conversion.

Create a list of similar reading (File> New> Smart Playlist) to list all the songs in a certain format and thus easily convert. You can then delete the duplicates and multiple entries.