Fixes for iTunes syncing issues

[gixxerfool]

While installing the fixed iTunes worked for my syncing issues, i now have the "Unable to Update/download" issue. Even though I backed up before hand, deleting the files did nothing but seemingly bork my phone in this area. Problem is, even if you back up, when you go to resync, 1st step is a back up and it overwrites the initial one. You really should drop those deleted files on to your desktop first then continue. I am trying to figure out a way to restore them now.

EDIT:

I went back into my phone with iExplorer, it seems all the files I deleted were restored with exception to the Purchases folder. This would jive with the issue I am having. I think it is safe to assume the App Store cannot tell what is on my device since the folder is missing. Still looking into a solution.

EDIT:

I went against my better judgement and performed a full restore. This has everything working as it should. To summarize my problem was initially nothing would sync and my installed items bar at the bottom would be yellow only. I attempted the fix in the OP and it led to graying of all my items. Since I was doing this on an 2008 C2D mini the fix was an update for iTunes. Apple launched an update, 11.4 I believe, with no 32 bit support. I posted a link for the proper version which fixed my syncing issues, but the original method borked app updates and new downloads. A restore fixed that.

Hope this helps someone.

 

[Nabooly]

This didn't work for me. I appreciate the efforts and knowledge OP. I'm stuck with a 64GB 6+, music is the most important part of the phone for me. I was on the phone with Apple last night for 2 hours. Ended up doing a full restore, still nothing. Will call them back.

For now I'm using Google Play Music (I switched from a note 2). Atleast I have access to all my music for now. Would love to store the music locally though. I hope there's a fix for this soon.

My initial thought was that there was a corrupt file or some screwed up ID3 tags. So I split up my music into several different playlists to narrow down the "problematic" file. Still no dice. I'm confused because my iPod 5.5G syncs (synced I should say, stolen last week ) fine. I cannot wait for a fix to this.

 

[johannarg]

iPhone 5s on iOS8 here. Anybody else have this issue? After syncing, some artwork is missing on the phone, not iTunes. The only way to fix that is copy and past the artwork on iTunes, but I don't want to have to do this everytime. I noticed now that everytime I sync, when the step "Syncing Album Artwork" kicks in, syncing stops. So now I have random albums with missing artwork, after manually readding the missing ones last week. I wonder if this has to do with the fact that I moved my library files to my SSD while I have my library on an external drive. I did this to gain performance speed, but if it's at this cost, I'll gladly move the library files back to the external drive along with the music!

 

[Nabooly]

iPhone 5s on iOS8 here. Anybody else have this issue? After syncing, some artwork is missing on the phone, not iTunes. The only way to fix that is copy and past the artwork on iTunes, but I don't want to have to do this everytime. I noticed now that everytime I sync, when the step "Syncing Album Artwork" kicks in, syncing stops. So now I have random albums with missing artwork, after manually readding the missing ones last week. I wonder if this has to do with the fact that I moved my library files to my SSD while I have my library on an external drive. I did this to gain performance speed, but if it's at this cost, I'll gladly move the library files back to the external drive along with the music!

Are you syncing from a playlist? I didn't have a problem with the artwork, but actually simply getting the playlist on the phone. The only way to do it was to rebuild my playlist one by one (2200+ songs). That could be an issue if your using a playlist. Somehow the iPhone probably thinks it's corrupt.

 

[johannarg]

Are you syncing from a playlist? I didn't have a problem with the artwork, but actually simply getting the playlist on the phone. The only way to do it was to rebuild my playlist one by one (2200+ songs). That could be an issue if your using a playlist. Somehow the iPhone probably thinks it's corrupt.

Indeed, from one big playlist and a couple small ones. I forgot to mention that after syncing yesterday, almost all artwork was gone, so I synced unchecking all playlists to empty the music, then rechecked playlists to sync and most of the artwork was back, but a lot still missing. If this will happen each time I sync, it's not what I signed up for

 

[vash420]

No matter what, I cannot sync a certain album (probably others, I'm just using this specific one as a test case). I still have this issue despite trying the sync music on/off trick, restoring from backup twice, and again when restoring to factory settings and setting up my iPhone 6 64GB as a new phone.

It's either the flash memory on the phone, which I doubt as it's worked fine with everything else, or something with iTunes. I don't really want to delete files from the iPhone file system as this has caused problems in the past.

UPDATE: Another restore from backup, but trashed the iTunes library files (iTunes library.itl and iTunes library.xml) before copying anything over, then reimported the entire library. A few of the mp3's I was trying to copy had screwed up tags when reimported (Unknown Artist in place of the correct artist, for one). I'm not sure if this contributed, but now I can sync the albums I previously couldn't. I think this is a separate problem to the other sync issues I've had, though I doubt my screwed up iTunes library helped with the others.

 

[johannarg]

No matter what, I cannot sync a certain album (probably others, I'm just using this specific one as a test case). I still have this issue despite trying the sync music on/off trick, restoring from backup twice, and again when restoring to factory settings and setting up my iPhone 6 64GB as a new phone.

It's either the flash memory on the phone, which I doubt as it's worked fine with everything else, or something with iTunes. I don't really want to delete files from the iPhone file system as this has caused problems in the past.

UPDATE: Another restore from backup, but trashed the iTunes library files (iTunes library.itl and iTunes library.xml) before copying anything over, then reimported the entire library. A few of the mp3's I was trying to copy had screwed up tags when reimported (Unknown Artist in place of the correct artist, for one). I'm not sure if this contributed, but now I can sync the albums I previously couldn't. I think this is a separate problem to the other sync issues I've had, though I doubt my screwed up iTunes library helped with the others.

Do you guys have your iTunes libray files in the same drive as your media? I wonder if that has any influence, especially if it involves NAS when they are not all in the same drive.

 

[vash420]

Do you guys have your iTunes libray files in the same drive as your media? I wonder if that has any influence, especially if it involves NAS when they are not all in the same drive.

Mine are all on the same SSD on my rMBP.

Anyway, I think something odd has gone on with either my mp3s or how iTunes reads the files. Once I'd repaired them with MP3 Scan&Repair they showed up when I synced them, but under unknown artist and other odd places due to what seems like invalid ID3 tags. iTunes was showing they were there but the IOS Music app couldn't display them.

This library has lasted through 3 versions of OS X and god knows how many versions of iTunes, so it wouldn't be a surprise if it was a little broken.

 

[GermanSuplex]

I've pretty much given up at this point as I still have random errors with songs play counts being updated incorrectly. For the most part, things work fine, but a few songs will have their plays jump in incrementally higher amounts with each sync, regardless of whether I listen to them or not. Deleting the problematic song or songs from the phone, fixing their play count manually and resenting does very little.

There's also discrepency in play counts in regards to TV Shows and Movies, particularly when a video resides locally on a device and also is being played in the cloud. I'll have tons of stuff I've never seen marked as watched with a play count of one, while stuff I have watched gets its play count removed.

I suppose if I didn't want to store anything and stream everything, iCloud could work, or if I never wanted to use it and stick to local items, that could work too, but trying to use iCloud while also using playlists, play counts and manual methods to keep what I want on my device has really been a problem with iOS 8. I've had more issues with it than any past problem. I tried iTunes Match when it launched and it was a disaster, but some of the problems I had then are now creeping into everyday use. I have 9 years of history in my iTunes library that I would hate to see ruined by bugs. I do backup my iTunes library often, but even that will only do so much.

 

[SatManager]

I have a trouble ticket open with Apple and they had me run some tests while I was attempting to sync my iPad Air 2 with iTunes 12. It is with the engineers now so hopefully they can come up with a solution to the problem.

 

[Zanton68]

I'm having sync issues too

iPhone 5s 64gb says all songs have synced on the MacBook Pro but on the phone tracks are missing and albums have only some tracks syncing. Tired of this. Might downgrade to a 16gb phone and go back to my iPod for music

 

[ghsDUDE]

Had this issue and reinstalled my iPhone to new. Didn't work.

Suck a pain and now I'm back to square one. Going to try this method next.

http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201561

My next step is to restore my computer to last week (the last time it worked) and try again.

I've downloaded a few albums the last week, could a corrupt file cause these issues?!

 

[ghsDUDE]

Could it be that my music files are on an external hard drive?

I did that about a year ago and it's always worked fine, but now I'm wondering if the update messed everything up.

 

[Zanton68]

Had this issue and reinstalled my iPhone to new. Didn't work.

Suck a pain and now I'm back to square one. Going to try this method next.

http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201561

My next step is to restore my computer to last week (the last time it worked) and try again.

I've downloaded a few albums the last week, could a corrupt file cause these issues?!

That's great and I wish you luck, but not of us should be having to do this. It should just work and, if it doesn't, Apple should know why and have a fix. I've been having this problem for over 2 years; first with an iPhone 5 and now with a 5s. I've never had this problem with either of my 2 iPods or my iPad 2 or iPad Air. It seems to me it's an iPhone problem and I want an answer from Apple.

 

[Uncle Des]

Some suggested things to avoid the issue (at least from my personal experience)

That's great and I wish you luck, but not of us should be having to do this. It should just work and, if it doesn't, Apple should know why and have a fix. I've been having this problem for over 2 years; first with an iPhone 5 and now with a 5s. I've never had this problem with either of my 2 iPods or my iPad 2 or iPad Air. It seems to me it's an iPhone problem and I want an answer from Apple.

I agree - we all need to stop trying to fix it ourselves and write to Tim Cook to politely request that the software gets fixed. Whatever you do, the problem will reoccur at some point. It's virtually guaranteed. Apple should be ashamed.

Suggestions to avoid the problem happening to you:
- Strip all personal data from iTunes purchased files. If you have a tonne to fix in the beginning, you'll need to be crafty about how you get them together but The Tagger will batch strip files; if you only have a few and/or you've exceeded The Tagger's trial period, use Subler. I've done this and things seemed calmer, then I made new iTunes purchases and didn't bother to make the correction, and it seemed to upset it again (not immediately to be honest).
- Never, ever, ever edit a playlist on your iPhone! This is actually my most important piece of advice. Every time I've done this the syncing has broken immediately.

It's definitely a stuff up with both Yosemite and iOS 8. Mostly the latter but iTunes itself has totally lost the plot when it comes to syncing.

 

[ghsDUDE]

I agree - we all need to stop trying to fix it ourselves and write to Tim Cook to politely request that the software gets fixed. Whatever you do, the problem will reoccur at some point. It's virtually guaranteed. Apple should be ashamed.

Suggestions to avoid the problem happening to you:
- Strip all personal data from iTunes purchased files. If you have a tonne to fix in the beginning, you'll need to be crafty about how you get them together but The Tagger will batch strip files; if you only have a few and/or you've exceeded The Tagger's trial period, use Subler. I've done this and things seemed calmer, then I made new iTunes purchases and didn't bother to make the correction, and it seemed to upset it again (not immediately to be honest).
- Never, ever, ever edit a playlist on your iPhone! This is actually my most important piece of advice. Every time I've done this the syncing has broken immediately.

It's definitely a stuff up with both Yosemite and iOS 8. Mostly the latter but iTunes itself has totally lost the plot when it comes to syncing.

This stuff wasn't happening a few weeks ago. I'm wondering if it is iOS, OS, or a corrupt file.

This JUST started happening to me so it's something that recently happened. I'm going to delete the last couple of albums I've downloaded and see if that helps.

This is absolutely ridiculous though.

 

[charlituna]

This stuff wasn't happening a few weeks ago. I'm wondering if it is iOS, OS, or a corrupt file.

This JUST started happening to me so it's something that recently happened. I'm going to delete the last couple of albums I've downloaded and see if that helps.

This is absolutely ridiculous though.

What iOS version is on your phone. Cause there was apparently a bug in 8.0.2 that caused syncing issues. If you haven't updated, try that. If you have (or it still doesn't help then try doing a reset all settings cause the file may have been corrupted)

 

[ghsDUDE]

What iOS version is on your phone. Cause there was apparently a bug in 8.0.2 that caused syncing issues. If you haven't updated, try that. If you have (or it still doesn't help then try doing a reset all settings cause the file may have been corrupted)

I'm all the way up to date and I've done two hard resets. When I went to sync one album it worked. When I went to do the entire library it freezes.

A song I downloaded a few weeks ago from a band website - angelsandairwaves.com - didn't work when getting uploaded to my phone.

It was greyed out and had a circle next to it on iTunes (when looking at files on my phone). It plays on my computer but won't upload to my phone.

I may erase that file and try syncing again.

 

[ErikGrim]

- Strip all personal data from iTunes purchased files. If you have a tonne to fix in the beginning, you'll need to be crafty about how you get them together but The Tagger will batch strip files; if you only have a few and/or you've exceeded The Tagger's trial period, use Subler.

This is very interesting. I wonder if this could be related to having other people's purchased songs in your library?

But, how exactly does the Tagger batch strip AACs? It only wants to work with files from a single folder it seems? I've tried dragging files from iTunes to no avail. Pretty useless if I have to go into every single album to find the songs (I have 3292 songs listed as purchased in my library).

----------

- Never, ever, ever edit a playlist on your iPhone! This is actually my most important piece of advice. Every time I've done this the syncing has broken immediately.

I have a feeling you might also want to turn off automatic downloading of music to your device. I usually see this kind of corruption around the time of purchasing new music, often the grey circles will be duplicate tracks of the purchased album.

 

[Cougarcat]

I am glad I found this thread, I thought I was the only one. I have been running into this issue ever since I got my 6 Plus. The OP's solution worked for me, but I have a feeling the issue will come back. I had it once before and I can't remember how I fixed it (I think I just restored and wiped the phone.) I hope Apple looks into it.

 

[johannarg]

Everyday is a new surprise. Now out of the blue, several tracks from a playlist which I sync with the iPhone, have an exclamation sign on iTunes, I had finder show the location of the file, and it is indeed gone!! What the heck. So of course after syncing, they are gone from the iPhone as well. Anyone else experincing songs just disappearing from your library??

 

[Zanton68]

Everyday is a new surprise. Now out of the blue, several tracks from a playlist which I sync with the iPhone, have an exclamation sign on iTunes, I had finder show the location of the file, and it is indeed gone!! What the heck. So of course after syncing, they are gone from the iPhone as well. Anyone else experincing songs just disappearing from your library??

Yes...love the surprises. I've found that if I search for a song the shortlist of options has the wrong icon next to it. It's fine when I select the song and play it, but the artwork in the shortlist is wrong. Also, when I sync a new album the artwork doesn't show up until I restart the phone. Again, I only have these problems with my iPhones, not problems with two iPods or the iPad which sync perfectly everytime without a hitch. Had this problem with iPhone 5 and now 5S.

 

[charlituna]

I'm all the way up to date and I've done two hard resets. When I went to sync one album it worked. When I went to do the entire library it freezes.

A song I downloaded a few weeks ago from a band website - angelsandairwaves.com - didn't work when getting uploaded to my phone.

You may want to check the file itself. iOS isn't as robust when it comes to quirky bitrates etc.

 

[Oktober]

I followed a different set of instructions from an Apple discussion forum, where you remove all songs from the device.

1. In iTunes uncheck to sync music on the music tab. (Don't sync yet)
2. On iOS device: Through Settings -> Usage -> Storage Usage -> Music and delete all music.

Sync removing all music (from iTunes DB).

Re-check sync music in iTunes and sync the device nut all came back.

I filed a bug last week on this issue, likely a duplicate.

This has worked for me with my iTunes and iPod Touch. Fingers crossed.

my thread here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1822882/

 

[jsmith189]

Same thing happening here, seems at least once a week 3/4 of my songs will just randomly disappear from my phone. Unchecking sync music, syncing and then rechecking seems to work, but sitting there and re-adding 6,000 songs a week is frustrating and not something that should really be happening. Especially so often.

Having said that though, it happened on my 5S and on iOS7 too, so I don't think this is an isolated issue at all.