MacOS High Sierra & Airplay

[webbymac]

So, I recently updated my 2011 iMac to 10.13.6 from 10.9....

Anyway, iTunes (12.6) now won't connect to my AirPort Express. I get "An error occurred while connecting to the AirPlay device “Back Room”. An unknown error occurred (10)." which is about as useful as a chocolate teapot.

Anyone know what might be going on here? I have a large music collection and stream to my stereo via the AE.

I can connect to it from my iPhone, and I can also connect to it from the volume icon in the menu bar. But that sends ALL sounds to my stereo and not just iTunes.

 

[Brian33]

This is just a guess:

I believe there was an update to the Airport Express firmware a year ago or so. Maybe yours is out of date and doesn't work with the new Airplay 2 protocol? I see my Airport Express (2nd generation) has "Version 7.8" (also listed as 78000.12 if you actually click on the "7.8" in the Summary tab--see below).

You can check yours with Airport Utility. After clicking on your Express, hold the Alt/Option key while you click on the Edit button. That will add a Summary tab to the usual tabbed interface, which shows the model/serial number/version info for that Express.

 

[webbymac]

Thanks for your response Brian.

I've done a bit of further testing and investigation and I believe that the MacOS 10.13.6 update brings support for AirPlay 2. There's also a Firmware Update for the Airport Express which also adds AirPlay 2 support. However, for iTunes to support AirPlay 2 it needs to be updated to 12.8.

This seems a little bizarre to me. Does iTunes use different audio protocols separate from MacOS?

p.s. I'm a little reluctant to update to 12.8 due to some known artwork display issues: https://medium.com/@patrick.rankine/dear-apple-its-a-small-ask-please-fix-itunes-48d1a0fd978 :-/

 

[smojo]

Thanks for your response Brian.

I've done a bit of further testing and investigation and I believe that the MacOS 10.13.6 update brings support for AirPlay 2. There's also a Firmware Update for the Airport Express which also adds AirPlay 2 support. However, for iTunes to support AirPlay 2 it needs to be updated to 12.8.

This seems a little bizarre to me. Does iTunes use different audio protocols separate from MacOS?

p.s. I'm a little reluctant to update to 12.8 due to some known artwork display issues: https://medium.com/@patrick.rankine/dear-apple-its-a-small-ask-please-fix-itunes-48d1a0fd978 :-/

Thanks for this investigation; upgrading iTunes solved this exact same issue for me. I was having this same error with various Airport Expresses with attached speakers, although it didn't start immediately after I upgraded the AE firmware, which is a bit puzzling. However upgrading to 12.8.2 fixed the issue and I can airplay again.