ITunes U Bug List

Question

This is my running list of the bugs remaining within iTunes U. If anyone else has a bug (or insights into ways to fix these bugs), please feel free to post them!
Ken Newquist
Lafayette College
ID3 Tags Often Go Amiss
Problem: MP3s created in Audacity 1.2.5 and exported to iTunes for ID3 tag editing often lose their tag information when uploaded to iTunes U. I believe this problem isn't unique to Audacity, as others have reported problems with their tags. This probably does not occur when uploading files created in GarageBand that have had their ID3 tags edited in iTunes.
Probable Cause: Based on what I can see in MP3 ID3X, the cause may be ID3 version conflicts between other applications and iTunes. When opened in MP3 ID3X, I see the same sort of partial ID3 tag info as I see after uploading a file to iTunes U.
Workaround: Edit the ID3 tags using a dedicated editor like MP3 ID3X (http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/5840) or ID3 Editor (http://www.pa-software.com/product.php?prod=BC3B2E3A). Both are available for the Macintosh. I recommend MP3 ID3X because it allows you to edit images in addition to the text fields.
Podcast RSS Feeds Display the Title Field as Description
Problem: The RSS feeds use the "title" of the podcast for the description field in the feed; as a result the title ends up being listed twice. It would be better if the description field defaulted to using the comments field instead.
Workaround: None
HTTPS Nonsecure JavaScript Bug
Problem: When logging into iTunes U via secure connections, an error message about mixed secure/nonsecure page elements appears in IE web browsers (Firefox doesn't complain, but I may have disabled that warning). In IE 6 and 7 , you need to choose to accept the nonsecure items or else the page dies with JavaScript errors.
Probable Cause: One of the JavaScript components evoked by the Apple script resides at an insecure "http" address. The specific error message is:
The IE 6 Error Message:
Error: This page contains both secure and nonsecure items. DO you want to display the nonsecure items?
I think the problem code maybe here:
<Script language="Javascript" type="text/javascript" src="http://ax.phobos.apple.com.edgesuite.net/detection/itmsCheck.js"></Script>
Workaround: Accept the nonsecure content.
"Store Not Found Error" in Firefox 1.5 and IE 6 on Windows
Problem: When launching iTunes U from Firefox 1.5 and IE 6 on a Windows XP machine running iTunes 6, I often get a message about iTunes not being able to connect to the Music Store. In all of these cases, iTunes 6 is closed, and Firefox/IE is opening the application.
I have not seen this error on machines with iTunes 7 installed.
The error message I see is:
"iTunes could not connect to the Music Store. The network connection was terminated unexpectedly. Make sure your network connection is active and try again."
(then the store loaded properly)
Workaround: Click the "ok" button on the Dialogue box and the store loads normally.
------ NON-APPLE BUGS ---------
Firefox Does Not Recognize the ITMS and ITMSS protocol
Problem: When Firefox is used to login into iTunes U, a dialogue box appears asking the user what they want to do with the url starting with "itmss". In Firefox 1.5 on the Mac, the dialogue box is exceedingly wide, hiding the "accept" button from the user.
Cause: Firefox does not no how to handle the itms:// or itmss:// protocols
Workaround: Most users can choose to allow Firefox to accept the itms:// protocol and allow the browser to remember their choice. For Firefox 1.5 users on the Mac, they will need to use special "empty" links to itms:// and itmss:// to train Firefox on how to handle the protocol. With Firefox 2.0 for the Mac, this ceases to be a problem because the dialogue box now appears at a manageable size.
PowerBook G4   Mac OS X (10.4.7)  
PowerBook G4   Mac OS X (10.4.7)  

Answer 1

Problem: Lack of Permalinks in RSS
Overview: We are experimenting with using the RSS reader in Moodle to display feeds from iTunes U. We can display the feed's list in Moodle, but because there are no permalinks given, there is no way to click on a headline and bring up the course information in iTunes U. The RSS feed does link to the headline's file, but Moodle's RSS aggregator (based on Magpie) does not use that link, and neither do other RSS readers.
Workaround: We don't have a good one yet. In theory, we could modify our Moodle code to recognize iTunes feeds, and then programatically insert a link to the course in iTunes U. This is at best a hack however -- ideally we'd like to be able to use the public feeds to link to iTunes U in a variety of applications, including Moodle, Blackboard, and Luminis (a portal sold by Sungard SCT and based on the uPortal framework).
Suggested solution: A permalink to the course page in iTunes U should be included in each of the items in the RSS feed.
Ken Newquist
Lafayette College