iTunes Error 11556

So you have encountered “iTunes Error 11556” problem and are either wondering what that means or how to go about rectifying the error? Though this sounds very technical and obscure, you will get to know all that you need to know about this by the end of this article.

Out of the list of documented errors posted by Apple for its iTunes support services, code 11556 pertains to errors encountered when you try to compose a ring tone from music that you have bought on the iTunes store. This error is supposedly to be encountered if your network connection is disconnected. However there have been instances where people have complained about being able to connect to the network for other applications but being still prompted with this error number.

The list of possible reasons why this iTunes Error code 11556 might be cropping up could be as follows:

1. You are not connected to the network. Make sure that while attempting to create your ring tones you are connected to the network and that related traffic is not blocked or stopped by firewalls.
2. Your iTunes installation has been recently upgraded and has not been installed correctly. In this process probably your iTunes application has become corrupted. (Check this by running other iTune applications and seeing if they work fine)
3. The facility of being able to create ring tones is available only is select countries and if your country does not happen to be one amongst them, you will be prompted with the error. (a strange thing though reported by many users worldwide is that, by merely changing your country of store setting in your iPhone to ‘U.S’, you can start creating ring tones bypassing this error message.)
4. The feature of creating ring tones is available only against purchased songs. You could encounter this error, if you are trying to create ring tones against freely downloaded music.
5. This could also be witnessed in cases where several iMAC are connected to a single Apple account (family account). In such case all such iMacs are to be authorized with the principal Apple account holder with no parental restrictions placed on any of the user’s iMAC.

Error 11556 on itunes has been encountered by world wide users (barring U.S users) attempting to make their own ring tones. A lot of further confusion has been witnessed because of the ambiguity in the error definition quoted by Apple inc. For instance, if a user is not able to use this feature because of country restrictions, he should not be getting a message questioning in his network connectivity. Strangely for this bizarre error definition users have come up with an equal bizarre solution.

Well! now that we have an easy way to bypass this iTunes Error 11556 problem (simply by changing the country to U.S in the store settings !!) lets not get bogged down by the error but look for other easy options available to you as a user to create your own ring tones without any country specific restrictions. There are several websites on the net that allow you to create your own ring tones for free and in a few easy steps. Once the ring tone is created by the website, all that you need to do is to save the ring tones to your PC or Mac and then synchronize your iPhone with it. This option can also be used for freely downloaded songs as against the iTunes criteria of only converting purchased songs.

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12 comments

  1. i am unable to to any of this. i have tried to unblock all forms of firewalls and such yet i have no luck. i just opened a new ipod touch and have not been able to sync it cause of this error.

  2. people please help me I tried several resources and have the same problem nothing co this error 11556 I tried I can not solve anything and can not even turn on my ipod and not unblock someone help me please

  3. Please add one more bullet 6. to your list.

    Case happens also if you have put a restriction to iTunes Store access in Preferences and one just forgets that it is there. So, go to preferences and allow access to iTunes Store.

    A bit too simple of an answer, and all users fault.

    Jiihaa

  4. K so.. I also have the same problem. I live in Winnipeg, I have no idea how to make a ringtone nor did i want to. I was updating my iTouch to the latest version they had (4.0 update) so i did that and it keeps showing up ‘an error has occured blah blah blah (11556)’ wtf is that?! I cant get into my itouch at all it wont turn on unless i plug it in to the stupid mac computer and when i do THERES A GODDAMN error.. i like the itouch but apple pisses me off…. the make the simplest things complicated… Cuz nothing makes sense..

  5. i have the same problem with error 11556 and i can connect please tell me what to do

  6. I had the dreaded -11556 error and checked on discussions.apple.com and eventually found that Parental Controls had been activated, thus blocking access to the iTunes Store. Unticked the tickbox and it worked!
    Also thinking your country may be set incorrectly. Once my iPhone thought it was in the wrong country and I couldn’t buy anything…

  7. tony i think u can make ur own ring tones with ur own music at a website called myxertones.com its all free even to make an account its free i hope that helps

  8. i have the same problem and i live in michigan 11556 and its got me so frustrated i tried every thing on these websites and nothing i even untilsatlled it and went to itunes and downloaded it again
    any help [email protected]

  9. I live in the UK and get the same error message when trying to create a ringtone. Changing my country setting stops the error message but still does not allow me on to create my ringtone from my iTunes purchased song. I am reading several cases of the same thing on many forums.

    Many people have said that the UK will eventually get this feature but seeing as the iPhone has been available for a couple of years or more now it sucks that we can’t use the our phone to it’s maximum.

    Apple seem very happy to take my money to buy the tune I want to convert to a ringtone but it’s very poor service that they will not allow me to make a ringtone out of it or give me a refund.

  10. I have the same error, but I am also not trying to make any ringtones… I just got an iTouch from my father, who decided he didn’t need one. So I restored it and synced it with my iTunes, but since then I cannot access the iTunes store, or rather sign in…

  11. I have the Error 11556 problem, but I am a US resident and was not attempting any ringtone magic–I was simply performing a restore because I had a couple of icons that had disappearted. Now everything is gone and I only have emergency dialing capability. My iTunes is working just fine except it no longer recognizes my phone, displaying the Error 11556 message. Help.

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