Is my iTunes possessed?
March 28, 2005 5:00 AM Subscribe
Every once in a while, my iTunes just seems to start playing without any reason (I have it running in the background with no music playing). This seems to happen when I mis-type something, leading me to think there's maybe some weird key-combo set to "Start playing music in iTunes", but there's no such setting possible, afaik. There's nothing in the CD-Drive, either. If it's any help, i'm on a Mac mini.
Here'd be (some) of the keyboard commands:
Cmd-Tab, Space. But youd' see it switch to itunes.
posted by filmgeek at 5:37 AM on March 28, 2005
Cmd-Tab, Space. But youd' see it switch to itunes.
posted by filmgeek at 5:37 AM on March 28, 2005
It's easy to switch to iTunes without realizing it; if the main window isn't maximized, only the menu bar up at the top changes and whatever application you were in previously appears to still be at the front. Then when you hit 'space', iTunes starts playing.
posted by Wolfdog at 6:37 AM on March 28, 2005
posted by Wolfdog at 6:37 AM on March 28, 2005
Do you use any file-sharing apps? I use Acquisition, and it automatically plays whatever it's finished downloading. Sometimes, when I'm unaware, it'll find a song that's been "dormant" for some time, download it, and begin playing it. This is unnerving when it happens in the middle of the night. Could this be a possibility?
(On a similar note, though this is far less likely to be the cause for you, downloads from audible.com begin playing when finished. This has Freaked Out the wife on more than one occasion. There's nothing more disconcerting than to know that you're alone in the house only to suddenly hear Patrick Tull's muffled voice relating the tales of Aubrey and Maturin.)
posted by jdroth at 7:18 AM on March 28, 2005
(On a similar note, though this is far less likely to be the cause for you, downloads from audible.com begin playing when finished. This has Freaked Out the wife on more than one occasion. There's nothing more disconcerting than to know that you're alone in the house only to suddenly hear Patrick Tull's muffled voice relating the tales of Aubrey and Maturin.)
posted by jdroth at 7:18 AM on March 28, 2005
I've spent more a few minutes trying to figure this out, and Wolfdog and jdroth came up with the only things I thought of.
I'm guessing some application is asking iTunes to be its helper to play music. This, I think, is called an AppleEvent - gives it a sense of occasion, doesn't it?
posted by ikkyu2 at 10:57 AM on March 28, 2005
I'm guessing some application is asking iTunes to be its helper to play music. This, I think, is called an AppleEvent - gives it a sense of occasion, doesn't it?
posted by ikkyu2 at 10:57 AM on March 28, 2005
ikkyu2's probably right, but it's called a SystemEvent...
Have you by chance installed Synergy? (It's an iTunes helper app that assigns shortcut keys for play, pause, etc., to the same keys used for Exposé, but with open-Apple. If you haven't, ignore the previous sentence, as well as this one.)
And if you're at the point of ripping hair out, it might be worth restoring your system's default keyboard shortcuts. Go to System Preference > Keyboard & Mouse and click the Keyboard Shortcuts tab, and look for the Restore Defaults button. Might do the trick, but it'll trash any custom shortcuts you may have set up...
posted by Speck at 11:15 AM on March 28, 2005
Have you by chance installed Synergy? (It's an iTunes helper app that assigns shortcut keys for play, pause, etc., to the same keys used for Exposé, but with open-Apple. If you haven't, ignore the previous sentence, as well as this one.)
And if you're at the point of ripping hair out, it might be worth restoring your system's default keyboard shortcuts. Go to System Preference > Keyboard & Mouse and click the Keyboard Shortcuts tab, and look for the Restore Defaults button. Might do the trick, but it'll trash any custom shortcuts you may have set up...
posted by Speck at 11:15 AM on March 28, 2005
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by mrs.pants at 5:28 AM on March 28, 2005