Itunes won't open past v. 7.5

Greetings,
I've been fighting with this for a while and have yet been able to fix this issue:
I am unable to open any version of iTunes past 7.5. Up until this point, I was able to use itunes unhindered. In itunes 7.4 I started getting alerts:
"iTunes might be unable to launch or communicate with iPod or iPhone..."
Going to iTunes support site the alert directed me to gave me instructions that didn't remove the message. I didn't think that this was important and didn't pursue it further. When I installed 7.5, it wouldn't open at all; however, it would show up in the Task Manager and would hold there indefinitely. In fact, I would have to end the task at shut down manually. I am now at a point where I want to fix this but can't find any useful documentation beyond this ONE article.

On my attempt to fix the issue, I found that I was missing 2 of the .dll files listed for the repair. I copied them from another computer and ran the repair after that. It still didn't work.

Anyone got a good suggestion?

 

Update: I have isolated my issue to two of the files listed on the apple support site as they are both missing from C:\Windows\System32
I get these errors when I ran each command individually:
LoadLibrary("sccbase.dll") failed - The specified module could not be found
LoadLibrary("sbcsp.dll") failed - The specified module could not be found

I have put these files into my System32 folder, but I'm still getting the same errror. Is there some way I'm supposed to get Windows to recognize them?

 

OK, ONE more update:
I found this really cool program called Dependency Walker that helped me figure out the dependencies of these two files. Apparently, there were more dll files missing than just these two. I replaced 2 additional files as well as found their registry entries under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Cryptography/Defaults/Provider/ in two of the subfolders. Apparently, they were set to have an image path that does not exist. I set them to an absolute path (C:/Windows/System32/"file"). This fixed the sccbase.dll error, but I am now getting a different error for the other:
LoadLibrary("slbcsp.dll") failed - A dynamic link library (DLL) initialization routine failed.
I think this is my last hurdle so and there isn't much on this that is readily useful on the net. Anyone got any ideas?

 

A longshot maybe but I have seen it work before for iTunes problems.

QuickTime and iTunes seem to rely on each other to finction properly so install or re-install QuickTime and see if it helps.

 

Thanks for the tip, but that was something I though about after reading a few articles on the Apple website. The thing is - quicktime still works after the update, iTunes decides to putter out. After reading about the files listed above, I think the issue with iTunes extends from it's inclusion of hardware support for the iPod and iPhone as all of the dlls are part of the cryptographic services. This clearly puts the fault in my OS and not on iTunes (though I haven't been able to find any other music player that uses such extensive system files).

In a nutshell, I was missing several system files to make this service function properly (conveniently listed on the apple support site). I have successfully replaced each of these up to this point, regsvr32 each of them, and made sure (by the grace of coffee) that any registry keys I could find corresponding to each file was correct. Using Dependancy Walker, I was able to confirm any children dlls missing and was able to replace those as well... except one.

LoadLibrary("slbcsp.dll") failed - A dynamic link library (DLL) initialization routine failed.
In other words, a child dll it was dependent on was missing. I found a copy from another computer and placed on my machine. But it still won't work as it has not been registered. I get this error from it whenever I try to run regsvr32 on it:

sccsccp.dll was loaded, but the DllRegisterServer entry point was not found. This file cannot be registered.

I think i have hit the limits of Google too :cry. I don't get a return on that error for that file.
I AM sure that this is THE LAST FILE I need to put back into place in order to use iTunes 7.5 and up. Afterwards, I'll write the book on this because there seems to be plenty of literature explaining how to DISASSEMBLE XP, but there is nothing useful on how to build it back if something is wrong.

I have made too much progress on all the other files to be stopped by one little dll like this.

 

otaku244:

Have you made any further progress with this? Perhaps you would like to know that your not the only one with the problem! I am having exactly the same issues.

Firstly, I tried to install iTunes 7.6, after installing correctly, iTunes would not open, but the process continued to run (as you have mentioned also). After deducing 7.4 was the only version I could use and still gaving me the error that you have also mentioned, I'm as adamant to fix this as you are!

You mentioned you've been following some threads on the Apple site, have you seen this one (and specifically this post

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6500914#6466916

I will report back on any progress I make (if any), but I am also at this point:


LoadLibrary("slbcsp.dll") failed - A dynamic link library (DLL) initialization routine failed.

Regards

 

jabu2oz:
Thanks for the support. I have been noticing a LOT of questions, but almost no answers from most of the forums I've looked through. I imagine you are having the same issue.
My recent attempt to copy registry entries from my working computer containing the info on these two files has not met with any success. Right now, I'm looking at other DLL dependencies and trying to figure out why they are coding errors in Discrepancy Walker. Right now, there are 4:
MPR.dll & SHLWAPI.dll (which report the same error on both my working and not working computers)
USER32.dll & ADVAPI.dll (which are specific only to the one that cannot open itunes)

If nothing useful turns up, I'm going to look for a better Regsvr32. Microsoft has code for a "better" one on of their knowledge base sites with a decent explanation on how Regsvr32 works. I'm not much of a programmer, but I feel this is possible.
If you have any suggestions, please feel free to throw them my way.
Oh yeah, and thank you for the posts, while the info didn't help much, I did find the thread plugging Process Explorer very useful. I'm adding it to my battle chest for this project.

 

Greetings Fellow Geekathonians!!! This problem has been SOLVED!!!
This solution addresses errors in the Cyrptographic services as outlined in this "Support Page" from Apple. I'm sure, though, that this can be extended to many other missing dll errors. The first step is to change the instructions found on that apple support page by removing the "/s" from the registration commands as this won't tell you if and why each dll registration fails. In short, your text file should look like this:
*******COPY BELOW HERE*******
regsvr32 /s softpub.dll
regsvr32 /s wintrust.dll
regsvr32 /s dssenh.dll
regsvr32 /s rsaenh.dll
regsvr32 /s gpkcsp.dll
regsvr32 /s sccbase.dll
regsvr32 /s slbcsp.dll
regsvr32 /s mssip32.dll
regsvr32 /s cryptdlg.dll
regsvr32 /s initpki.dll
*******COPY ABOVE HERE*******
-> save it as start.bat to your desktop and run it.
From here, you should get a notification for each saying "DllRegisterServer in name succeeded" or receive some sort of failure notice. I got these two:
*LoadLibrary(name) failed - The Specified module could not be found.
*LoadLibrary(name) failed - A dynamic link library (DLL) initialization routine failed.

The first one is obvious - that particular file is missing and you need to replace it. I found these files on another computer and copied them to mine.
The second one is a little harder. This means that the file you want to register cannot register because another file it is dependent on is missing. THERE IS HOPE!!!

Download Dependancy Walker. Open the Dll files that won't register. DW will show you which files are missing. BEFORE you go around repairing everything, make sure that the errors DO NOT show up in the FAQ page. Windows creates some "false positives" inside the Application that do not need to be addressed. In particular, the 2nd one pertaining to MPR.dll and SHLWAPI.dll causing errors that does may not need to be addressed. The 5th one pertaining to how to deal with regsvr32 errors should also be READ CAREFULLY as it outlines how to address additional failures to the ones I've mentioned. ALSO, DWMAPI.dll IS NOT needed for Windows XP. The dependency is listed because of IE7. YOU ONLY NEED THIS DLL IF YOU HAVE VISTA.

For me, I needed to copy sccsccp.dll, mfc42loc.dll, & slbrccpsp.dll. I also copied the registry entries related to each of these files from the working computer to the faulty computer. I don't know if this is necessary yet. But I will investigate further in order to verify this step.

Please let me know how this works for you!

 

otaku244:

Great news!! Nice one in solving this finally and thanks to all your efforts, I have applied your guide to help fix my iTunes.

Leading me to this point on the DW FAQ:

helped me find out that I was missing these reminding .dlls:

inetcomm.dll
msoert2.dll
slbrccsp.dll​

Which totalled my list of missing .dlls to be:

cdfview.dll
cryptdlg.dll
efsadu.dll
inetcomm.dll
initpki.dll
mobsync.dll
msoert2.dll
msrating.dll
sccbase.dll
sccsccp.dll
slbcsp.dll
slbiop.dll
slbrccsp.dll​

I have written a quick guide for the steps I went through and will post a link to it soon.

Thanks again... - now to install iTunes 7.6 without Quicktime!

 

Welcome jabu2oz, to Major Geeks. :major

Just when you thought it was safe to proceed, a new version ( iTunes 7.6.1.9) released today.

Check out www.majorgeeks.com frontpage, or my post #25 in thread at http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=150425

Bazza