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niho

macrumors member
Dec 7, 2019
76
109
To anyone using Catalina, please check my previous message.
Use "Music" App on your Mac.
Thanks, I had the same error, similar experience here, on macOS catalina.
I opened the music ap, it said missing library, I clicked 'create new' , and closed the music app.
Then I was able to access the iphone contents in finder app.
 
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Ifti

macrumors 601
Original poster
Dec 14, 2010
4,032
2,601
UK
Good to see this is still helping people - would have thought Apple would have fixed it with an update by now!
 

sprucewag

macrumors newbie
Jul 13, 2009
2
0
This is brilliant, thank you! Due to Covid (it's in another location), I cannot plug in the external hard drive on which I keep my iTunes library. Any suggestions how to trick my computer into letting me back up my iPhone without getting that message?
 

Ifti

macrumors 601
Original poster
Dec 14, 2010
4,032
2,601
UK
This is brilliant, thank you! Due to Covid (it's in another location), I cannot plug in the external hard drive on which I keep my iTunes library. Any suggestions how to trick my computer into letting me back up my iPhone without getting that message?

Create a new library on your local drive. Now you can connect and backup your phone etc as normal.
When you have access to your external drive again, redirect Music to connect to your original library. You will continue to be able to connect your iPhone to Finder as normal.
 

arett

macrumors newbie
Jun 9, 2020
1
0
Philadelphia, PA
I am not computer literate at all and don't understand what the solution is, sorry. I try to connect my ipod nano 7th gen to my Macbook Pro and I get the message "couldn't communicate with helper application." This happened after the update to Catalina 10.15.5. I did go to Music>File>Library>Organize Library but Reorganize files is grayed out. I know my cable is good because my iPhone XR connects perfectly. I have tried resetting the ipod nano, didn't help. Does anyone have any ideas? Don't have an external drive.
 
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jwp123

macrumors newbie
Jun 18, 2014
3
1
SOLVED!!

2 hours with Apple Support didn't solve it - instead ended up resolving thanks to trial and error!

I have my iTunes media folder on an external TB3 drive - connected the drive and opened Music too ensure it was seeing everything OK.
Went back to Finder and everything now working fine and my iPhone shows up correctly (even if I now disconnect my iTunes external drive).
Maybe it just needed access to a file from my iTunes folder to get going!
It worked for me - Catalina
 
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lordpixel23

macrumors newbie
Aug 28, 2020
2
2
Just wanted to add: I had the same problem. Media folders on an external drive and "Could not connect to helper application"

I resolved it essentially the same way, but, added wrinkle: I had to create new empty folders for *both* 'Music' and for 'TV' before the iPhone would appear.

Once I launched both applications with new libraries I could see the phone again.
 
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patrryk22

macrumors newbie
Sep 13, 2020
2
0
Please tell me have you solved this problem? I ve creatd empty folder MUSIC and it doen't worke. Apple supper suggested to reinstal whole OS.

Just wanted to add: I had the same problem. Media folders on an external drive and "Could not connect to helper application"

I resolved it essentially the same way, but, added wrinkle: I had to create new empty folders for *both* 'Music' and for 'TV' before the iPhone would appear.

Once I launched both applications with new libraries I could see the phone again.
 

lordpixel23

macrumors newbie
Aug 28, 2020
2
2
Please tell me have you solved this problem? I ve creatd empty folder MUSIC and it doen't worke. Apple supper suggested to reinstal whole OS.

For me I had to make a new Music folder with the Music app and a new TV folder with the TV app. Only when I had done both did it work.
 

patrryk22

macrumors newbie
Sep 13, 2020
2
0
Well i tried all the things you guys wrote here but still can not open my iphone on my main user account. When i ve created other user there was no problem to open iphone. But this is no solution to change account to manage your phone:( Have you got any other hints what to do? This is strange, i can not open any of my iphones on main account even the haven't been conected previously.
 

MWAZ

macrumors newbie
Oct 18, 2020
1
1
I too signed up to this forum just to add my thanks!!
At first i wasn't sure what you meant about being able to see and play music, i could see the files on the USB using finder. Then i suddenly clicked you mean using the Music APP!!!
I opened Music and low and behold, is said it couldn't find my library! I tried to select the library file on the USB Drive - The App Didn't like it and wouldn't open it.
So i ended up creating a new library file on the USB. As soon as i'd done that, Finder could see my iPhone again!

Thank you so so much for your help!

SOLVED!!

2 hours with Apple Support didn't solve it - instead ended up resolving thanks to trial and error!

I have my iTunes media folder on an external TB3 drive - connected the drive and opened Music too ensure it was seeing everything OK.
Went back to Finder and everything now working fine and my iPhone shows up correctly (even if I now disconnect my iTunes external drive).
Maybe it just needed access to a file from my iTunes folder to get going!
 
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coyboy

macrumors newbie
Nov 13, 2020
2
1
I too signed up to this forum just to add my thanks!!
At first i wasn't sure what you meant about being able to see and play music, i could see the files on the USB using finder. Then i suddenly clicked you mean using the Music APP!!!
I opened Music and low and behold, is said it couldn't find my library! I tried to select the library file on the USB Drive - The App Didn't like it and wouldn't open it.
So i ended up creating a new library file on the USB. As soon as i'd done that, Finder could see my iPhone again!

Thank you so so much for your help!
 

coyboy

macrumors newbie
Nov 13, 2020
2
1
I just had to sign up too. Thanks everyone for the help. After I set up the Music, TV, and Podcasts apps to work with their libraries, then My iphone showed up. Praise the Lord.
 
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gdgross

macrumors newbie
Jul 8, 2011
27
17
SOLVED!!

2 hours with Apple Support didn't solve it - instead ended up resolving thanks to trial and error!

I have my iTunes media folder on an external TB3 drive - connected the drive and opened Music too ensure it was seeing everything OK.
Went back to Finder and everything now working fine and my iPhone shows up correctly (even if I now disconnect my iTunes external drive).
Maybe it just needed access to a file from my iTunes folder to get going!
Wow, a year and a half later, google helped me find your solution. Thanks for asking about it way back then haha, solved my non updating too. Just opening my old iTunes media folder did the trick (even though I'm on catalina with no more itunes!)

Thanks
 
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kattam

macrumors newbie
Sep 12, 2021
20
4
Thanks for this thread.

I have my Music files on an external drive as well. This weekend I was busy reorganizing the files because I have noticed that my music database has been splitted into three parts. There were many nested folders. Some music files were in "Music/iTunes Music/Music". Some were in "Music/Music" and the other part was in /Music. It got very confusing. I manually dragged all the files from /iTunes Music/Music into my main /Music/Music folder and started consolidating my library.

Little did I know that I still needed that old iTunes folder for the communication with the plugged in iPhone?! So I stupidly erased the iTunes Music folder... What's the end of the story? Well at first I thought I was totally f*cked and didn't know how to fix the problem. Then I remembered I have another external drive with the backup of my current external drive – PHEW!

BUT. It didn't work right away. I was almost crying because I couldn't get it fixed. My last hope was a restart. And there it was. It works again!! What a relief.

Update 1: I disconnected the iPhone and reconnected, just to make sure it goes smoothly. Unfortunately it's the same problem all over again and I have no idea what might have triggered it. I'm really frustrated.

Update 2: I've decided to start out with a fresh new library. Said good-bye to my playlists, play counts, favorites etc. I've decided to locate my Music Library on my internal drive nested in user/Music. The Media location is still on my external drive. I manually dragged all my music into the new library. Well, this feels kind of fresh! So far everything works fine with my iPhone. Hoping this is the end of this story.
 
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kriss13

macrumors newbie
Nov 11, 2009
13
2
Just wanted to add: I had the same problem. Media folders on an external drive and "Could not connect to helper application"

I resolved it essentially the same way, but, added wrinkle: I had to create new empty folders for *both* 'Music' and for 'TV' before the iPhone would appear.

Once I launched both applications with new libraries I could see the phone again.
I have also signed in just to thank you!
THIS WORKED!!!
Both TV app and Music app need to be opened to acces the old/new library.
I have tried the above solutions with Music app and did not worken no matter what I did.
Opening TV app and just bam, all worked after the dalog to create/load the library.
Btw I do not use TV app, I opened just to repair this issue.
 
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