An open community 
of Macintosh users,
for Macintosh users.

FineTunedMac Dashboard widget now available! Download Here

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
iTunes streaming via Express
#11462 08/15/10 02:35 AM
Joined: Aug 2010
OP Offline

Joined: Aug 2010
Nice to find the old MacFixit crew still around! Unfortunately, I start my re-acquaintance with a very basic question....

I am streaming music from iTunes 9 on old Powerbook G4 (10.4.11) to an Airport Express (v6.3) some 20' away. Express is set to "Join a wireless network" created by Extreme (v7.4.2 set to "Create a wireless network) which is itself connected to Qwest DSL. There are in general three Macs on the network (one MacBook Pro, one MacBook, one iPad), which is WPA Personal password protected. Generally I stream songs from the iTunes Library (on external LaCie HD), but occasionally live radio, so I like having the Powerbook on the network with net access....

How can I avoid or minimize the repeated dropping of signal? It can conk out for seconds or minutes or drop entirely. Channel settings on Extreme and Express are "11 (Automatic)"(Express and Extreme are UAE models and will accept up to Channel 13). Signals appear strong throughout most of the time....but on occasion, after music has stopped streaming for a while, iTunes will tell me it cannot find the Express..., though the Airport Utility still "sees' it. Other times, the Express itself seems to disappear from the network (i.e. Airport Utility will be unable to see it).

Could the problem be minimized if I put the Powerbook and Express on a dedicated network simply to stream music from the Library (so, the two would not be connected to the network of other computers, Extreme, modem and internet...)? Should I try changing the channel? Is there a channel which might logically have less interference than another?

Note... In fact, changing the channel to 9 did not seem to help... still drops music regularly.

Last edited by spmcc123; 08/15/10 02:57 AM.

MacBook Pro 15" (2.33 Intel Duo/3GB/667MHz/120GB/10.6.8),
MacBook 13" (2.1 Intel Duo/3GB/667MHz/120GB/10.6.8),
PowerBook G4 12" (1.5 PowerPC/768MB/70GB/10.4.11),
Various LaCie Firewire HDs, Airport Extreme, Express
Re: iTunes streaming via Express
spmcc123 #11463 08/15/10 04:59 AM
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 15
Online

Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 15
Aaargh!!! I feel for you, because I've been living with the exact same problems for going on three years since the dropouts began and at least a year since iTunes/AirTunes began losing connection with my AirPort Express, but still playing. You can read about my past hair-tearing here and here, but not about my new, perhaps related issue of iTunes/AirTunes losing connection with my AirPort Express and stopping playing which, shying away from further frustration, I haven't posted. Aaargh!!! frown mad

I'm both truly sorry and aggravatingly disappointed that I can't be any more helpful.

Edit: It's really difficult to say with confidence, because the nature of my issues is that they come and go randomly, but Apple's having changed my deuced Mac(hina)'s fan may have actually resolved my initial non-connectivity issue.

Last edited by artie505; 08/15/10 07:35 AM.

The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: iTunes streaming via Express
artie505 #11465 08/15/10 03:28 PM
Joined: Aug 2010
OP Offline

Joined: Aug 2010
Thanks for letting me know it is not a simple issue (though I had suspected as much after trawling sites claiming to address the issue...). Astounding that Apple has not come up with some solution. I would have guessed that building some sort of simple buffer in the Express would address the issue (as it does in any cheap printer...)

I assume the problem is primarily a bandwidth issue, but it happens even if all other computers which might access the network are asleep.

I have just set AirTunes up on its own private network. Just the PowerBook sending the music, the Express receiving it, and the amp attached via minijack.....Signal strength is good (4 of 5 bars) and it still cuts out from time to time!

Last edited by spmcc123; 08/15/10 04:21 PM.

MacBook Pro 15" (2.33 Intel Duo/3GB/667MHz/120GB/10.6.8),
MacBook 13" (2.1 Intel Duo/3GB/667MHz/120GB/10.6.8),
PowerBook G4 12" (1.5 PowerPC/768MB/70GB/10.4.11),
Various LaCie Firewire HDs, Airport Extreme, Express
Re: iTunes streaming via Express
spmcc123 #11469 08/15/10 10:22 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Offline

Joined: Aug 2009
I've sent HOURS on multiple occasions trying to get WDS / airtunes to behave. Sometimes it just doesn't want to play. Very flakey. Also very time-consuming. The pairing process is very slow, and when it doesn't feel like working, it just doesn't and gives you no helpful feedback. Apple will just give you more ways to kill time like rebooting both, try try again, and restoring firmwares, which basically never helps.


I work for the Department of Redundancy Department
Re: iTunes streaming via Express
spmcc123 #11480 08/17/10 05:00 AM
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 15
Online

Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 15
> I assume the problem is primarily a bandwidth issue, but it happens even if all other computers which might access the network are asleep.

As I mentioned in my linked thread, Apple's very convenient out on the dropouts, with which I have zero ability to argue, is that AirPort Express Base Stations operate on the same frequency as many other devices, baby's room monitors by way of example, and that any such device within 250 feet of a Base Station can cause a dropout when it's in use, so there's a chance that the other computers on your network are not responsible for at least some of your dropouts, and your best bet is probably to go the hard-wired, ethernet route.

My solution to the problem was to grit my teeth and pray that either the owner of the device would move out of the neighborhood, the device would fail and not be replaced, or the baby would grow up, and since I no longer experience the dropouts I guess one of those alternatives has come to pass.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: iTunes streaming via Express
artie505 #11487 08/17/10 05:50 PM
Joined: Aug 2010
OP Offline

Joined: Aug 2010
Well. The system still drops on occasion, but it does seem to be much more reliable now that the AirTunes set up occupies its own network. Tradeoff is that, of course, we can't stream anything from internet. May help that we have only one mobile handset (at 2.4GHz), no other devices, and are not so close to other houses... (though still closer than 250 ft).

Thanks for the help to date.... now posting about my battery issues in hardware forum .

(BTW, was looking for feature which allowed me to be notified by e-mail of replies... Where am I missing it?)



MacBook Pro 15" (2.33 Intel Duo/3GB/667MHz/120GB/10.6.8),
MacBook 13" (2.1 Intel Duo/3GB/667MHz/120GB/10.6.8),
PowerBook G4 12" (1.5 PowerPC/768MB/70GB/10.4.11),
Various LaCie Firewire HDs, Airport Extreme, Express
Re: iTunes streaming via Express
spmcc123 #11490 08/17/10 09:36 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Moderator
Offline
Moderator

Joined: Aug 2009
spmcc123,
Quote:
(BTW, was looking for feature which allowed me to be notified by e-mail of replies... Where am I missing it?)
See: How to get email notification of replies in the FineTunedMac Feedback forum.


Back up everything you can't afford to lose: documents, mail, movies, music, photos, and other data and settings.
Re: iTunes streaming via Express
dianne #11501 08/18/10 04:18 PM
Joined: Aug 2010
OP Offline

Joined: Aug 2010
Thanks. Got it.


MacBook Pro 15" (2.33 Intel Duo/3GB/667MHz/120GB/10.6.8),
MacBook 13" (2.1 Intel Duo/3GB/667MHz/120GB/10.6.8),
PowerBook G4 12" (1.5 PowerPC/768MB/70GB/10.4.11),
Various LaCie Firewire HDs, Airport Extreme, Express
Re: iTunes streaming via Express
spmcc123 #11780 09/13/10 03:30 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Offline

Joined: Aug 2009
I've also got this dropout problem. We're in the woods in rural Maine. No outside interference. laugh Only other wireless device is telephone and it makes no difference whether that's on or not. I still have dropouts, frequently. I tried moving my MBP to within inches of the Express and still got dropouts.

Grrr!

Mainely Rick

Re: iTunes streaming via Express
Mainely Rick #11784 09/13/10 04:57 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Offline

Joined: Aug 2009
perhaps defective airport card, I've replaced quite a few for intermittent issues


I work for the Department of Redundancy Department
Re: iTunes streaming via Express
Virtual1 #11791 09/14/10 01:24 AM
Joined: Aug 2009
Offline

Joined: Aug 2009
Is there any way to troubleshoot an Airport card? All other Airport related services work fine. Air Tunes is all that doesn't work right.

Rick

Re: iTunes streaming via Express
Mainely Rick #11799 09/14/10 03:46 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Offline

Joined: Aug 2009
if airtunes is your ONLY issue, it's almost certainly a software issue, possibly systemic. (unsolvable)


I work for the Department of Redundancy Department
Re: iTunes streaming via Express
Virtual1 #11831 09/16/10 11:37 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Offline

Joined: Aug 2009
Thanks for the reply.
I'm trying two angles on a fix:
1) Airfoil, which seems to have helped some people.
2) Make a long-delayed purchase of the latest Airport Extreme, .11n capable) to replace my old UFO model. That way my AEX will be able to run at the faster speed.
Will report if successful.

Rick

Re: iTunes streaming via Express
Mainely Rick #11842 09/17/10 12:30 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 16
Moderator
Online
Moderator

Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 16
Originally Posted By: Mainely Rick
Will report if successful.
This is an interesting thread and I hope you will report either way, not just if it is successful. smile


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein

Moderated by  cyn, dianne 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.4
(Release build 20200307)
Responsive Width:

PHP: 7.4.33 Page Time: 0.041s Queries: 42 (0.033s) Memory: 0.6419 MB (Peak: 0.7524 MB) Data Comp: Zlib Server Time: 2024-03-28 22:41:28 UTC
Valid HTML 5 and Valid CSS