Norton Security and iTunes

Hello

Have you allowed the program into the firewall?

Hello Ken

I'm not sure if NS supports an ipod. You might need a mobile version of NS. I'm just guessing here though since I don't know anything about ipods.

I am also having this problem. I have an iPhone, an iPod Touch, and an iPod Nano 6th gen. Everything was fine with NIS2014. After installing NS 2015 I can sync and connect the iPhone and the iPod Touch, but the iPod Nano freezes up iTunes for about 60sec and then gives and error when trying to sync. "The iPod was unable to sync because it was not connected" It does show up in windows explorer and in iTunes, but is inaccessible. To test, I rolled back my system to NIS2014 and everything works fine again. This is definitely a problem with NS2015. When I say I rolled back, I restored an image of my system drive from before I upgraded to NS2015. I'm using Win7 64bit pro and am connecting all of these devices through USB.

I'm using NSBU and an iPad 4 and it syncs via wi-fi without any problem. Make sure after the install of NS that you do multiple Live Updates & reboots until there are none left.

I'm still running NIS (2014) with an iPod Classic so I haven't seen any issues yet as I'm not on Norton Security.  But, have you tried right clicking on the Norton Icon in the task bar and disabling the firewall and anti-virus protection.  Note that this will potentially leave your computer vulnerable, but it's quicker to disable Norton temporarily than completely uninstall.  I'm curious to see if temporarily disabling Norton Security (while it's still installed) allows the iPod to sync.

Also, what happens if you set the Ipod NOT to sync when connected to your computer.  Is it the auto-syncing that is causing the issue, or is it merely the process of connecting the IPod to the computer that causes a problem.  Can you connect the Ipod to the computer (without auto-sync) ... then load up itunes (again without auto-sync) and manually transfer files from itunes to the ipod.

Just wondering if it has to do with the syncing operation specifically, but still allows itunes to manually transfer

I have since switched back to NIS 2014 an transferred my 2015 subscription to 2014.  This bug was a deal killer for me.  Still following this in hopes that they fix it by the time my new subscription runs out.  Otherwise I'll need to find a new product.  I can answer your questions however, since I tried that out before the switch back.  

I did not have my iPod set up to sync automatically, so that doesn't effect this.  

I tried disabling the Norton firewall and the antivirus protection before connecting the iPod or launching iTunes.  That would have been a simple workaround, but it does not work.  Also tried disabling and rebooting first with it still disabled.  Also didn't work.  I tried whitelisting everything related to iTunes or Apple without success.  I was pretty thorough with this, whitelisting all running processes and Apple executables.  Only uninstalling NS2015 brings back the functionality.  

You also can't manually transfer files.  The iPod connects and is even recognized by iTunes, but as soon as iTunes tries to interact with the iPod in anyway, the usb connection to the iPod drops.  Then iTunes errors for being unable to find the iPod.

Thanks for the info ... I guess I'll be watching this closely as well.  I'll need to update to Norton Security in a few months when my NIS 2014 subscription run out.  If this issue also effects my 160 GB iPod Classic, then I guess it'll be time to move on to another security solution (after 10+ years with Norton) ... possibly Kapersky, Bit Defender or Trend.  I have a huge music collection and if my iPod classic doesn't play well with Norton, then Norton will have to go.

Hello

I don't know if this has anything to do with this problem with the ipods or not, but Apple has been sued over iTunes.

Hello All

I have requested some help from the other Gurus and Norton Employees to see how they can help you since I don't know anything about iPods working with iTunes while connected to your laptops.

Same problem here! Installed NIS 2014 and now my Ipod Shuffle won't sync and has become useless. Never had this problem before. Symantec, what is your solution??? I want my music back!!

Bit more info...I installed the NIS on my laptop and my Ipod shuffle syncs up via the laptop (USB). Again, the NIS has now made the Ipod shuffle completely useless. Like the others, I will change firewall software to get my Ipod working again. Needs Norton attention pronto please!!

I have same issue, however, I have auto sync turned off.  Manually syncing workings, but ejecting iPod freezes iTunes.  So I just unplug iPod and then use Windows Task Manage to shut down iTunes.  A workaround, not a solution.

Thanks Burningkeys! I'm not exactly sure how to manually sync the iPod but I'll try to figure that out. I have the same songs stuck on my shuffle since I downloaded the NIS 2014. I do hope Symantec takes action to solve this issue. We love our music more than Norton...I would hope you want to keep us as customers (like I've been for a long time!)

MickeyRayRay:  If your iTunes does not recognize your iPod after it is connected, then you may have to 1) set iTunes to not automatically boot up when you plug in your iPod, then 2) use Windows file manager (i.e. view your iPod as a USB drive) to erase your iPod.  Then start iTunes, plug in iPod, then let iTunes auto format your iPod.  Then there is a setting in iTunes for your iPod configuration to "auto sync" or "not auto sync".

I'm just throwing out a few ideas, since I use NIS 21.x and don't have any problems syncing my old 2nd gen iPod nano.

For Win 8.x / Norton Security v. 22.x Users Only:

There is a known issue with Win 8.x / NS v. 22.x users running encryption software that encrypts/decrypts files on the fly (see lolicon's thread LONG STORY: Norton BSOD me when I use Truecrypt) and a bug fix for that problem is in the works.  Anyone having problems syncing an iPod Touch or other Apple device using iOS 3.0 or later that is configured for encrypted backups (see the Apple support articles PH20355 and HT204269) could also be affected even if they aren't experiencing BSODs. Sherry J Whitten's thread Windows 8.1 64 bit BSOD notes that the same NS bug also affects syncing on any virtual drive (e.g., DropBox, Google Drive, etc.) and I'm beginning to wonder if the encryption used with Apple's iCloud Backups could be affected as well.  All this is complete speculation on my part, though.

For All Others:

Please see my comments in mikeg64's thread iTunes 12.1 about possible issues with the new 64-bit iTunes installers and instructions for performing a clean re-install of iTunes. iTunes v. 12.1.0 introduced a change for 64-bit iTunes and iTunes now offers two different installers for 64-bit OSs, itunes6464setup.exe (the full 64-bit installer) and itunes64setup.exe (for systems with older video cards).  There seem to be quite a few people reporting in the Apple forum that their 64-bit iTunes installation was corrupted because the incorrect 64-bit installer was downloaded for the update.

Note that iTunes v. 12.1.0 was released 29-Jan-2015 so the iPod sync issue reported by the OP Kenlyndon on 13-Jan-2015 (Win 7, NS, iTunes v. 12.0.1.26) is not related to this 64-bit installer issue.  However, a clean re-install of iTunes might resolve the sync problems for others who still aren't certain if Norton or iTunes is the root cause of their issue.
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox 36.0 * NIS 2014 v. 21.6.0.32 * 32-bit iTunes v. 12.1.1
HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS

lmacri:

I'm just throwing out a few ideas, since I use NIS 21.x and don't have any problems syncing my old 2nd gen iPod nano.

For Win 8.x / Norton Security v. 22.x Users Only:

There is a known issue with Win 8.x / NS v. 22.x users running encryption software that encrypts/decrypts files on the fly (see lolicon's thread LONG STORY: Norton BSOD me when I use Truecrypt) and a bug fix for that problem is in the works.  Anyone having problems syncing an iPod Touch or other Apple device using iOS 3.0 or later that is configured for encrypted backups (see the Apple support articles PH20355 and HT204269) could also be affected even if they aren't experiencing BSODs. Sherry J Whitten's thread Windows 8.1 64 bit BSOD notes that the same NS bug also affects syncing on any virtual drive (e.g., DropBox, Google Drive, etc.) and I'm beginning to wonder if the encryption used with Apple's iCloud Backups could be affected as well.  All this is complete speculation on my part, though.

That's a very interesting point.  I wonder if NS is treating some ipods like a virtual drive.  This may all be related to the same issue.  I'm also running NIS 21.x with a last gen 160GB ipod classic with no issues, but am hesitant to upgrade to NS 22.x and run into this issue.

Thanks all for the suggestions. My situation is: Windows Vista and the iPod shuffle is 2nd gen (I think)...it is an old one but I also tried a brand new 2nd gen (I had bought at same time) and it had same issues. All these problems happened after NIS 2014 was installed. The iPod will sync up (after a longer than normal time), then when I tried to autofill with songs it couldn't do it (error -53). I uninstalled iTunes and re-installed with latest version yesterday (thinking iTunes was the problem) and the same exact errors etc. It seems to think my iPod shuffle is an external D drive? Or something like that? Sorry I'm not smarter on the lingo...But again, never had any problems like this until now. So it seems to point to a Norton issue. If I uninstall Norton can I install again or is it gone gone? (I tried the temporary uninstall on firewall and antivirus and that didn't make it work either). Sighhhhh.

One more bit of info: the Norton Security product number is 22.1.0.9

Thanks again to all of you trying to help! 

Just curious...does anyone from Symantec ever comment on these forums???

Hello MickeyRayRay

You should be able to reinstall your NIS again. Before you uninstall it, check your Norton Account to see if there is a download button in it for NIS21.6.0.32--what ever the latest version of NIS is. If not, some one here should have the link for NIS. How many seats have you used the program on? You should be able to uninstall and then reinstall it with no problem. In fact you can use the Norton Remove and Reinstall tool, but that will remove all Norton products from your laptop.

Thanks flopot! I'm sorry but  I don't understand what "seats" are. But I will check out how to uninstall and then reinstall NS. I guess it seems like I'll have to do that every time I want to change songs on my iPod shuffle. Not ideal for sure. But I'll give it a try. 

Hello Mickey

By seats I meant you are allowed to install the program on 3 computers or laptops. How many computers have you installed the program?

Floplot, I only installed it on my laptop. I bought the Norton Security for a single device. I will check out how to uninstall and then reinstall again. If any questions, I'll know where to come. Hopefully that will allow my iPod to load up again, I'm getting REALLY tired of these songs. Thanks all!

Hello

I have requested some help from Norton for this thread. Thanks.

Just another suggestion.  Try running your iTunes diagnostics (Help | Run Diagnostics...) and be sure to run the device connectivity and device sync tests using your problem iPod device.  When you reach the end of the diagnostics you can click Copy to Clipboard, paste the results into a text editor like Notepad and attach the saved .TXT file to your next post along with a brief mention of any diagnostic test that failed.  The results might be helpful if a Norton employee replies to this thread to provide assistance.

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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox 36.0 * NIS 2014 v. 21.6.0.32 * 32-bit iTunes v. 12.1.1
HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS

Thank you floplot for requesting assistance. I truly believe Norton would want to get this fixed properly...especially since folks are ready to abandon them in favor of a working iPod. Thanks again and I hope they heed your request.

Thanks imacri, I did run the diagnostics. Device connectivity failed for iPod, iPhone or iPad. Also Device Sync failed (no iPod touch, iPhone or iPad found). I did copy out the diagnostics report but the only thing I could see that looked abnormal:  Device Connectivity was "No FireWire (IEEE 1394) Host Controller found." and Device Sync Tests "No iPod, iPhone, or iPad found".

I'm not convinced that this problem is caused by Norton. iTunes has undergone several updates over time and in my case about 75% of the time it doesn't detect my 4g iPad when operating on wi-fi.. I have created a batch file that kills/restarts the service and the device helper. When I run that and then cause the iPad to go active on wi-fi then iTunes will then find and sync with it. I'm running W7HP and NSwBU.

net stop "Apple Mobile Device Service"
net start "Apple Mobile Device Service"
taskkill /f /IM AppleMobileDeviceHelper.exe
AppleMobileDeviceHelper.exe

I didn't even suspect it was Norton until I read the other posts, saw they had same problme and then realized I too had just installed Norton. I never had this iPod problem prior, and now I have it. I guess it's just simple deduction. But would be happy for a Norton expert to give their two cents. I'm still not confident on how to uninstall Norton completely, try the iPod and then resurrect and install Norton again. Otherwise I'd do that pronto and see what happens.

By the way, found this post on another Norton forum "Norton Security in iPod shuffle sync issues" (dated Feb 8, 2015) from JackPA:

"Computer #1: OS - Win XP, SP3, 2GB RAM, current license and version of Norton Security.  I have used the current versions of NS and an older version of iTunes, version 10.7, together for years with no problems.  In December 2014, I updated iTunes to version 12.0.1.26.  Almost immediately thereafter, although my iPod Shuffle 2nd Gen continued to be properly detected by iTunes 12, I was unable to sync the iPod Shuffle with iTunes ("unknown error occurred (-53); disk is not available").  I recently upgraded to iTunes version 12.1, with no change to my problem or to the error messages.

After many hours with Apple Support, all to no avail, the only solution that allowed my iPod to work perfectly with iTunes was to uninstall NS.  Now that I have re-installed NS, the same problems persist - cannot sync iPod Shuffle with iTunes.

Computer #2: OS - Win 7, 8 GB RAM, current license and version of Norton Security.  As a test, I installed iTunes old version 10.7 from Apple website.  Again, iPod Shuffle 2nd Gen was properly detected by iTunes but was not able to sync.  Again, the only solution was to ininstall NS.  After re-installing NS, the same problems persist.

Apple Support told me to ask Norton Support for a solution.  I would appreciate your assistance in learning how to make NS and iTunes co-exist with one another."

Time to step up Norton and address this problem.

Apparently this is a relatively common complaint not related to Norton. See article here and note the references to the problem in their forums:

http://www.macworld.com/article/2861406/itunes-syncing-is-broken-apple-p...

MickeyRayRay:

I uninstalled iTunes and re-installed with latest version yesterday (thinking iTunes was the problem) and the same exact errors etc...

I did copy out the diagnostics report but the only thing I could see that looked abnormal:  Device Connectivity was "No FireWire (IEEE 1394) Host Controller found." and Device Sync Tests "No iPod, iPhone, or iPad found".

Hi MickeyRayRay:

Your device sync error points to a possible issue with Apple Mobile Device Support or Apple Application Support.  There is certainly growing evidence to indicate Norton's involvement in these iPod sync problems, but your uninstall / re-install of iTunes wouldn't have helped if your Apple Mobile Device Support or some other Apple component is corrupted.  A clean re-install of iTunes involves the removal of all iTunes components from the Control Panel in a very specific order, manual removal of orphaned files from the hard disk (if necessary) and a re-install of iTunes and its bundled components.  A clean re-install of iTunes does not affect your iTunes music library or backups (although there are extra steps to perform if you ever roll back to a much older version of iTunes) but the Further Information section of the instructions recommend that you back up your iTunes library before performing the clean reinstall as a precaution.  Any custom iTunes settings at Edit | Preferences might also have to be re-set after a clean re-install.

Again, a clean re-install of iTunes won't help if a Norton Security software bug is the cause of the problem, but it's something to consider while you're waiting for a Symantec employee to jump into the thread.  There is also an Apple support article titled Resolve Issues Between iTunes and Security Software that includes information on TCP and UDP ports used by Apple devices.  As noted in that support article, "If uninstalling your security software resolved the issue, contact the developer to help you configure the software to work with iTunes."
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox 36.0 * NIS 2014 v. 21.6.0.32 * 32-bit iTunes v. 12.1.1
HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS

Thanks sidewinder and imacri. I did uninstall iTunes completely in the manual mode in the exact order etc. and uploaded their newest version. But I am now really confused if this is iTunes, Norton or a combination of both.

Here is a simple question that I know someone can help me with: What are the exact steps to uninstall Norton but so that I can install it again? I would like to uninstall Norton, try to get new songs into my iPod and then install Norton immediately after that. Can someone walk me through that? (the Norton Remove and Reinstall tool seemed to uninstall and then reinstall immediately...not giving me time to do the iPod loading). Thank you all for your help!

deleted.

MickeyRayRay:
I would like to uninstall Norton, try to get new songs into my iPod and then install Norton immediately after that. Can someone walk me through that? (the Norton Remove and Reinstall tool seemed to uninstall and then reinstall immediately...not giving me time to do the iPod loading)

Hi MickeyRayRay:

If you'd like to test your iPod sync before NS is re-installed on your system the following instructions should work.  Be sure you are logged in to a Windows user account with Administrator rights when performing a reinstall.  If you aren't sure if you have an Administrator user account, download the offline NS installer and NRT to your desktop, right-click on the file and choose "Run as Administrator" to run with elevated privileges.

1. Download the latest available offline installer for Norton Security (www.norton.com/latestns) or Norton Security with Backup (www.norton.com/latestnsbu), depending on your current product
2. Optional: Download the Norton Removal Tool (NRT) from www.norton.com/nrt (see Step 4)
3. Uninstall NS/NSBU from the Control Panel | Programs and Features.  For the best uninstall, you can choose "Please remove all user data" when asked if you plan to re-install your product since choosing this option will also remove all security history logs and user configuration files (e.g., static files with extensions like .dat, .txt, etc.)
4. Optional: Re-boot and run the Norton Removal Tool.  Note that the NRT will remove all Norton products from your system, including Norton Ghost and Norton Utilities, so skip this step if you have other Norton products installed on your PC and/or the only issue with your current NS/NSBU installation is your iPod sync.
5. Re-boot and test your iPod sync before re-installing Norton
6. Run the Norton offline installer and run manual LiveUpdates until you have the current v. 22.1.0.9 and no further updates are available.  It might require several cycles of consecutive LiveUpdates and re-boots before NS is fully patched.

If you use Norton Identity Safe for storing login passwords your login data stored in the online vault will not be affected, but it is always a good practice to backup your Idenitity Safe Vault data as a .csv file before performing any re-install.  Even though your license only allows installation on a single device (the standard license is 5 devices for NS and 10 devices for NSBU) you should not have any problems re-installing on the same machine and your product license key should be automatically registered with your Norton Account.  If you run into any problems just post back and we'll provide instructions on how to free up your installation seat from your Norton Account.
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox 36.0 * NIS 2014 v. 21.6.0.32 * 32-bit iTunes v. 12.1.1
HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS

Thanks imacri! I'll give that a try. I guess if I mess it up, I'll just keep NS uninstalled and get another kind internet security software. Poorer but wiser as they say. Thanks again!

Hi MickeyRayRay:

If you run into any problems re-installing NS you can also contact Norton Customer Support via Live Chat at www.norton.com/chat and they should be able to help as well.

If you do find that your iPod syncs correctly when NS is uninstalled from your system, another option you have is to contact Norton Customer Support and ask them to temporarily downgrade you back to Norton Internet Security v. 21.x or Norton 360 v. 21.x (depending on whether you currently use NS or NSBU v. 22.x) since the iPod sync problem only seems to occur with NS.  The customer service reps can run a remote access session and help you with the downgrade if you don't want to lose the days remaining on your NS subscription.
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox 36.0 * NIS 2014 v. 21.6.0.32 * 32-bit iTunes v. 12.1.1
HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS

Thanks imacri, you've been very helpful and I like all those suggestions. Not sure if you're affiliated with Norton, but I appreciate you trying to help me. If you're not affiliated with Norton, well...shame on them for their disinterest. You've been awesome!

Hi MickeyRayRay:

Thanks for the kind words, but I'm just a Norton customer like you and occasionally volunteer my time helping other users troubleshoot their problems.  Norton customers with a blue GURU badge next to their username are volunteers who have been given a special rank to identify their expertise with Norton products and commitment to assisting others in the forum.

Norton employees posting in this forum will typically have a red ADMIN badge and rank of Administrator (level 30) - see Nikhil_CV's post Norton Community Ranks and Levels for more info.  I'm still hoping that one of the Norton employees will respond to Guru floplot's request for assistance and post in this thread after the weekend.

Just to clarify a few things:

1)  This is not an iTunes problem.  Multiple users, including myself have had no problems until NS2015.  From my personal experience, I've tried iTunes 10.7(which I much prefer to the current version) and the latest version of iTunes 12.  I've had no problems with this setup on 2 different desktop PCs over the years using Windows XP and now Windows 7, along with 5-6 versions of NIS upgrading each year.  NS2015 is doing something too aggressive with USB connections.  Reinstalling iTunes or blaming Apple is just shifting the blame.  Without touching iTunes, uninstalling NS2015 fixes the problem.  Rolling back to NIS2014 also fixes the problem.  Other people have posted similar experiences.  This pretty much rules out our iTunes installs being at fault.  Norton needs to fix this or tell us how to work around it.

2) Someone mentioned earlier that this was a problem limited to laptops.  Not the case.  I'm solely on a desktop.

3) MickeyRayRay mentioned a couple of times that his problems started after installing NIS2014.  I'm pretty sure he meant after installing NS2015.  Just pointing that out so there is no confusion.

4)  Uninstalling NS2015 to sync our iPods is not a workaround.  That’s an unsolved problem.

5)  Just FYI, iTunes handles the older iPods(non-iOS versions) differently from a USB perspective than the newer iPods, iPads, and phones(which are all still working correctly).  I believe they lock the device somehow when syncing.  I’m sure this is related to the problem somehow.

Thanks Rogue for capturing my (and others) frustration so well!

The NS I have installed in 22.1.0.9 (I'm guessing that is NS2015?)

Agree, the USB connections seems to be the source of the problem with NS.

Also totally agree uninstalling NS each time is NOT a solution.

I'm looking into Bitdefender Antivirus 2015...not happy with the lack of response from Norton to say the least.

MickeyRayRay:

Also totally agree uninstalling NS each time is NOT a solution.

MickeyRayRay:

Just wanted to clarify that I was not suggesting <here> that you uninstall NS every time you want to synch your iPod.  I was suggesting that you try syncing your iPod while NS is uninstalled.  If your iPod still doesn't sync after NS is removed then your issue is likely unrelated to the NS problem being discussed in this thread and it would be more appropriate for you to post your problem in the iPod board of the Apple forum.

And FWIW, I agree that Norton employees need to be doing a better job of providing tech support in the forum (see my complaint <here> in the Forum Feedback board).

If anyone is interested in continuing with troubleshooting while they're waiting for someone from Norton to jump into this discussion, there is a thread titled Auto-protect, startup protection and verification of removable media are inaccessible that they might want to read.  Norton is investigating an issue where some third-party software like AIDA64, iObit, etc. seem to cause problems with NS and affect the Auto-Protect feature that checks for viruses when you insert any removable media, access the Internet, or use document files.  It's a bit of a long shot, but NS users might want to try disabling Norton's Removable Media Scan and re-booting to see if that allows them to sync their iPod.
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox 36.0 * NIS 2014 v. 21.6.0.32 * 32-bit iTunes v. 12.1.1
HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS

Oh yes imacri, I did not mean to insinuate that your comments were a solution. I greatly appreciate your helpful suggestions! It was more of a jab at Norton...that we are all trying to solve the issues that their product is causing. You have been great!

Rogue, quick question: are you saying that a new iPod shuffle (4th gen) will work properly with NS2015? 

Thanks for reporting this issue.

The team is looking into this issue and I'll update this thread if I have more information.