iPad: Fix YouTube App; Connect to iTunes at Boot
Before I get into any of this, a word of warning: Windows users, this probably won’t help you (assuming you even have these issues to begin with). For the Mac users still reading, if you’re experiencing the “Cannot connect to YouTube” error in the YouTube app, or experiencing the “Connect to iTunes” graphic every time you boot your iPad, then you may be in luck as I stumbled onto the “fix” this morning while on the phone with an iPad product specialist (one of those Senior Support guys). Also, this is likely affecting a small group of users, so I fully admit this may not be entirely applicable to you, but hey, it worked for me. Oh, and I’ll include a possible fix for the wifi not automatically rejoining networks.
If you’re looking for the fix, just scroll down, but if you’re not sure if you’re experiencing the same problems, allow me to go into a little more depth about these iPad problems and their possible solutions (and reasons behind the problems).
Working backwards, the issue with the wifi on the iPad mysteriously dropping and not rejoining may be a matter of messed up network settings. Yes, I know, how can anything get messed up when the iPad has only been out for a few days, but that seems to have been the case for me. The fix is simple:
- Go into Settings and go to General
- Touch Reset at the bottom
- Reset Network Settings
- See if it works once it has rebooted
That fix is straight from Apple support, and as said, seems to have worked for me.
Now, if you’re experiencing the YouTube app problem where it just plain won’t work (“Cannot connect to YouTube”) yet you do have internet connectivity, here’s a few things to try first:
- Connect your iPad to your machine
- Sync it to iTunes
- Open YouTube app
Some people have also suggested opening the App store or iTunes store app, but that actually has nothing to do with the problem. The problem, according to Apple support, is that the iPad doesn’t have the proper tokens set up which tell it that you have activated the iPad with Apple. When you sync with iTunes, this is supposed to send the proper tokens to the iPad, as retrieve from your computer/Apple.
If this “fix” doesn’t work, keep reading.
The last issue, the “Connect to iTunes” graphic popping up after rebooting also has to do with the proper tokens not being set. Again, the Apple suggested fix is exactly as described above, except substitute reboot for open the YouTube app. Apple support also suggests reseting your iPad, which consists of holding the power and home buttons until the device reboots and the Apple logo appears on the screen. Chances are, this won’t work if re-syncing didn’t work.
So, on to the possible issue and fix.
Fix YouTube app on iPad and Connect to iTunes error
So the cause of the problem, in my case at least, looks to be the OS on the computer I am/was syncing to, and not the iPad itself. (If you read the reason for the problems above, tokens, then you’ve likely guessed this.) The computer I’m syncing to is a 2008 MacBook Pro running OS 10.5.8, which according to the iPad Support Specialist and Apple’s website, is the minimum requirement for the iPad.
However, I also have a 13″ MacBook Pro which I just this morning updated to OS X 10.6.3. Now, they’re both running iTunes 9.1 (also a minimum requirement for the iPad), so aside from the OS, everything else is the same.
So, how do you fix these broken things? Connect your iPad to a machine running OS X 10.6.3. That’s it. Really.
I connected my iPad to my 13″ MacBook Pro, did not perform a manual sync, and both the YouTube app as well as my Connect to iTunes errors immediately went away.
The iPad Support Specialist was pretty intrigued by this and was going to pass along the information to the engineering department as it certainly appears that there’s a problem with running Leopard with the iPad in some instances.
So, if you’re running into the YouTube error or the always having to sync with iTunes error, try connecting your iPad to a machine running Snow Leopard (10.6.3, even), and see if it works.
Did this work for you, or any of the other troubleshooting steps? Let us know!
thank you soo muchhhhh
any ideas on how to make it connect to itunes? I turned mine off and now it won’t do anything!!!
That sounds a lot more serious than the issues I’ve described. If you haven’t already, I’d suggest giving it a reset (hold the home and power buttons until it reboots and you see the Apple logo). If that doesn’t work, I’m not sure if you can hold both of those until it forces you to connect to iTunes (I believe the iPhone works that way). If neither of those tricks work, you may need to give Apple a ring or visit a store.
Hope you get it working.
I had the exact same problem with my new 32GB iPad this week my employer purchased for me. Turned out our firewall was blocking Apple’s certificate server. IT corrected the problem where I work by enabling “ocspd”. Our IT department said iTunes reached out to that service per their log when I used iTunes only if a device was plugged in. Plugged my iPad in to iTunes after they made the exception for the firewall and my iPad works just fine now. iTunes took longer than normal to sync at first but YouTube works as expected and no more connect on restart prompt. Hope this helps. Probably just some verification to those tokens you mentioned earlier that Apple performs.
Same issue here with the “connect to itunes” at start and no connection in the youtube app. Can anyone help me with this. We tried the above mentioned options. None worked.
btw. we have the 64gb wifi version here
Assuming you don’t have any firewall issues, I’m not sure what else to suggest. 10.6.3 definitely correctly sets the required tokens the iPad needs for activation. You may want to give Apple a ring — their phone support is free during the initial 3 months or so (at least). It’s possible they may have additional information on it now since it has been a few weeks.
Mine was the same, however once registered within I-tunes then all is well.
Great piece of kit
So I found this blog post when I couldn’t figure out why my iPad wouldn’t connect to my iTunes.
Turns out first I needed to make the jump from Tiger finally – so I installed Snow Leopard thinking it’d be smooth sailing and I’d be gravy.
Not the case. Evidently the software updates that ran after my initial boot were Microsoft only – and I assumed there were no other updates necessary (otherwise I would’ve had a nice pop-up message).
No message.
If you’re having trouble *after* upgrading from Tiger to Snow Leopard – check for ALL software updates and install them. That might do the trick.
Did for me at least.
And what if you don’t have Snow Leopard? We have tried to figure this out on a Windows computer and a MacBook. The MacBook is running OS X Tiger (I believe) and I just updated iTunes on it. (which now won’t open either). The Windows computer won’t connect to the iTunes store. The iPad is having the “can’t connect with iTunes” issue and is stuck on the “connect with iTunes” image.
Please help us! We just want to enjoy our new iPad.
I’m not aware of this being an issue with anything outside of Tiger 10.5.8, so I’m really quite surprised to see you’re having an issue with Windows.
Have you tried removing and reinstalling iTunes? This isn’t a problem as much these days, but iTunes used to be a steaming pile of garbage for Windows. If you have tried that and it didn’t work, then I’m at a bit of a loss, because I know Tiger can’t set the token properly unless iTunes 9.1.1 fixes that, which isn’t listed in the overview of fixes.
Sorry to say, but this may be a call to Apple. I imagine they have a lot more information about this now than when I ran into it two months ago.
You don’t need to upgrade to 10.6 to fix this.. just connect to another Mac. There’s a token hanging problem that Apple can’t seem to get their hands around.
Bottom line…it’s a piece of $hit
Resetting the settings worked for me – Bless you!!
I am having problem with my you tube application. It does open alright but when i try accessing any video, it says ‘ the server is not correctly configured’ I tried with safari as well but same result. Please note that any other site video that is not linked with you tube opens fine like BBC etc. Facebook videos also works if thats not a you tube link. But any video that is linked with you tube does not open at all. Tried rebooting, resetting etc. None helped. Even I reset my router and did configuration again. Also sync with itunes. Everything else works perfectly fine. Except you tube. This happened few weeks back. Before that you tube was working fine on my ipad. Can some one help please.
Mine when i watch vids it kicks me out and when i cone back in it goes to another vid.
I’d suggest reinstalling the iOS software if you haven’t. That sounds different from the problems I used to experience with mine.
As a side note, it’s generally best to install the software from scratch instead of restore using a backup. You can copy stuff to it later.
When I try to open you tube,it some times trying to open and going blank..it’s not opening….when I tried from safari YouTube videos are working