I've bought a movie on iTunes, but it won't download, and when I check for available downloads, I get the following error -- "Unable to check for available downloads. The network connection was lost." What do I do?
All my software (OS X and iTunes) is up to date.
3 Answers
This is a gnarly problem that Apple doesn't explain well in its online support forums. There are a ton of people on the internet who have experienced this problem -> see this Google search.
By the way, let me start by saying that my software is all up-to-date. That's the first thing they tell you online -- make sure iTunes and Mac OS X are up to date.
So anyway, after a lot of time working on this problem, I ended up reaching out to Apple Support via chat, and they explained the solution:
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To be clear, in my experience, this is a much better way to see what you are missing in your library than using the "Check for Available Downloads" option from the iTunes Store menu, which is really buggy and often useless.
By the way, let me start by saying that my software is all up-to-date. That's the first thing they tell you online -- make sure iTunes and Mac OS X are up to date.
So anyway, after a lot of time working on this problem, I ended up reaching out to Apple Support via chat, and they explained the solution:
- First, in iTunes, log out of your account
- Then log back in
- Then go to the iTunes home page by clicking the Home icon (see below on the left)
- Then on the top of the right column, you'll see the Quick Links menu
- Click the "Purchased" button.
- Then click Movies (or Music, or whatever you are looking for), and you'll see all the stuff that you've bought that isn't in your current Library! This is awesome.
- Then click on whatever you want to download and it should start working.
To be clear, in my experience, this is a much better way to see what you are missing in your library than using the "Check for Available Downloads" option from the iTunes Store menu, which is really buggy and often useless.
