vilennon

Q: Why did iTunes 11.1 (126) delete all (SEVERAL HUNDRED) Podcasts?

I update to iTunes 11.1 (126), update my iPhone 4 to iOS7, synched my iPhone. iTunes began to load Podcasts onto the limited space of my iPhone until clicked "x" to stop. I had previously set my iPhone to be managed manually so that I can choose what to put in the limited space. I set iTunes to allow me to manually update my iPhone *again*, synched it and went on about my afternoon.

 

When I came back to iTunes I see that it has taken it upon itself to DELETE ALL OF MY PODCASTS! Everything is missing. All of my carefully cultivated selections are simply missing, not even retrievable from the Trash. Even if I had the patience to download and sort out the SEVERAL HUNDRED podcasts again I do not have unlimited bandwidth. I will have to repeat listen to hundreds of podcasts to determine which ones I've already heard. What will this do to the podcasters themselves when they wonder why loyal listeners are dropping off? Should I email each podcaster and say, "I can't take the time sort out your hundreds of episodes AGAIN, so I guess I'll just stop listening." ?

 

Honestly, how could anyone think this kind of faceless automation was a good thing? I have been an Apple user long enough to remember the phrase, "It's not a bug, it's a feature" but I don't know how you can fix this.

iTunes, Mac OS X (10.7.5), iPhone 4

Posted on Sep 18, 2013 6:12 PM

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Q: Why did iTunes 11.1 (126) delete all (SEVERAL HUNDRED) Podcasts?

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  • by Kevin Goldsmith,

    Kevin Goldsmith Kevin Goldsmith Oct 24, 2013 1:29 PM in response to turingtest2
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 24, 2013 1:29 PM in response to turingtest2

    I downgraded to 11.0.5, how do I prevent it from deleting all my podcasts again if I update? I can't change the preference in Advance. Also, see my other post. When I upgraded from 11.1.0 to 11.1.1, it also deleted audio tracks.

     

    I do have backups and I spent over a day each time restoring from them after Apple deleted my data. I won't upgrade again until Apple releases a version of iTunes without this bug!

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Oct 24, 2013 1:34 PM in response to Kevin Goldsmith
    Level 10 (85,298 points)
    iPod
    Oct 24, 2013 1:34 PM in response to Kevin Goldsmith

    One possibility is to rename the media folder as NOT iTunes Media during the upgrade, since iTunes cannot delete files it cannot find. Then go into the podcasts section of your library and untick those two options before continuing, close iTunes, delete the newly created and empty iTunes Media folder, rename your original one, and launch iTunes.

     

    tt2

  • by Terrorsteel,

    Terrorsteel Terrorsteel Oct 24, 2013 4:11 PM in response to Iain Hart
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 24, 2013 4:11 PM in response to Iain Hart

    I think an important part is being missed here. It's not strictly about the data loss (even though it is terrible). It's about the loss of trust in Apple. I'm an Apple "fanboy", but all of a sudden (due to this bug and further failed attempt to fix the bug in 11.1.1) I'm now treating iTunes and all other Apple software worse than the plague. I'm treating it like Windows..

     

    I haven't upgraded iTunes since this mess started, I haven't updated my iOS Podcasts app, I haven't updated to the latest iOS 7.0.3, I'm fearful of OSX Mavericks and don't want to touch that, I no longer want to buy an Apple TV or iPod Touch for my father for Christmas. We as Mac users buy Apple because (despite the higher cost of their products) they make quality, polished, tested, innovative stuff. Now that they've caused this massive data deletion, they have broken our trust in them and people are looking to other companies. The data loss issue is our problem, yes, and we should have backed-up. But the broken trust issue, THIS is Apple's problem. And what I think we all are thinking is "Is this a sign of the ship sinking, and should be bail out now?"

     

    Now, I hope we can actually get on the topic of iTunes 11 itself, because I DO want my trust restored. I keep seeing complains about 11.1, but no talk of if 11.1.2's release has fixed the issues. Can we get some feedback from this, or is everyone like me: afraid to be the one to test it and find it is still broken?

  • by Judy__,

    Judy__ Judy__ Oct 24, 2013 5:45 PM in response to Terrorsteel
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Oct 24, 2013 5:45 PM in response to Terrorsteel

    You are exactly correct - it is a trust issue. If they had even emailed a warning when they first discovered the problem I would feel better about the situation.

     

    I suspect we are all like you - waiting to see if the data-feeding shark has gone away and if it is safe to stick our toes in the water again. In the meantime we find there are other ways of getting the job done - sometimes better ways. It is sad, but some companies just depend on one man and now he is gone.

  • by Mike SM,

    Mike SM Mike SM Oct 24, 2013 7:55 PM in response to vilennon
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 24, 2013 7:55 PM in response to vilennon

    The sad part of this story is that Apple did not stop distributing iTunes 11.1. And more Users who is not aware of the terrible bug may fall in this trap. For iOS7 quick transition. 70% updates are done.

  • by Marianco1,

    Marianco1 Marianco1 Oct 27, 2013 3:23 PM in response to smajda
    Level 2 (229 points)
    Oct 27, 2013 3:23 PM in response to smajda

    Synchronization is DANGEROUS. 

     

    The problem is that my AppleTV had different podcast settings than my MacBook Pro.  After selecting podcasts on the ApplTV, when synchronization occurred, all the podcasts that were not listed on the Apple TV were ELIMINATED from my MacBook Pro.

     

    The same problem occurs with Bookmarks in Safari.  Synchronization is a terrible headache, causing the loss of hundreds of bookmarks.

     

    The lesson learned is to NEVER synchronize what you want to preserve and keep.

     

    And better yet:

    1. change the media kind of the podcast episodes you want to keep to Audiobook

    2. move the podcasts episodes you want to keep into their own folder in the iTunes Music Folder.

     

    This way, the podcasts will be under your control, not Apple's.

  • by Judy__,

    Judy__ Judy__ Oct 27, 2013 4:25 PM in response to vilennon
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Oct 27, 2013 4:25 PM in response to vilennon

    For those looking for alternatives... there is still Zune. I thought Zune had been discontinued but apparently the user base demanded it back so it is  available for download - v. 4.8. This is more stable on windows 7 64 bit than gPodder so I installed this instead of gpodder. It lacks  a playlist option for video podcasts but otherwise is acceptable. The migration was pretty painless and it integrates well with other MS products.. It works with X-box. I can't say how well since I don't have X-box but apparently that will keep the product alive. I did not  make use of their cloud system. Once burned, twice shy.

     

    I revived my old laptop with its old installation of iTunes so I can still load my ipod.  I made sure no software updates are allowed for iTunes so it is rolled back several versions. LOL. I now use the old laptop - Dell Precision M60 with XP pro -  as my downstairs computer so it is better than taking up closet space. It still also does a great job of playing DVDs and vodcasts.

     

    I also tried out Noopod - a good basic podcatcher. It does download and update  fast so has some plus features for those with slow connections. Lacks a lot of features we've become accustomed to but is safer than itunes..

  • by Mike SM,

    Mike SM Mike SM Oct 27, 2013 7:13 PM in response to vilennon
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 27, 2013 7:13 PM in response to vilennon

    About media kind change. Perhaps it can work as a workaround for this particular bug in iTunes. However my friend experienced Audible audiobook erase in previous version of iTunes update. And media kind change can confuse iTunes later since this program has associations to the media kind.

     

    Regarding settings. I have about 10 different Apple products in my house: iphones, ipods, ipads and tv's. Shoud I go around and change settings in all of them? It is insane. I agree that the synchronization is an evil that Apple cannot handle. They mixed up Master-Slave device relationships and got lost in those relationships. Who is a master who is a slave? Who knows? Now in addition to iOS7 update I deny apple tv fw updates since I have a general concern about apple software stability and connection to iCloud.

     

    And iPhone RF reception (3G, WiFi, GSM) got worse in iPhone 5 in comparison with iPhone 4. .. It is a different story... Yeah, what can we do? We are probably a small community who can only start looking for a better solutions...

  • by iforumuser,

    iforumuser iforumuser Oct 29, 2013 2:56 PM in response to vilennon
    Level 1 (18 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 29, 2013 2:56 PM in response to vilennon

    I didn't know about the Podcast deletion problem until now.  I updated iTunes on my PC the other day and this morning when I went to look at some Podcasts episodes in my library it deleted a couple of my Podcasts before my eyes.  They were there and then a couple seconds later they were gone.  I had several years worth of files deleted for no apparanet reason just like many of you.  So today I found this thread.

    I can testify to the fact that the latest version of itunes 11.1.2 still has the bug.

    I can't begin to express the Anger I feel today.  I used to Love Apple now, well.....

    This is just one issue out of several serious issues I have experienced since about the time IOS 7 came out.

     

    I called Apple and of course they don't seem to know much about it.  They are supposed to look into it and call me back.

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Oct 29, 2013 3:47 PM in response to iforumuser
    Level 10 (85,298 points)
    iPod
    Oct 29, 2013 3:47 PM in response to iforumuser

     

     

    If the files have truly been deleted from the hard drive, and you've no other backup, then recovering from the drive using a file recovery tool may be the last resort. In the past I've used FileRecovery from Seagate ($99) to recover some crucial video files from a friend's 500Gb hard drive that suddenly decided it was completely empty. From a fairly brief test it seems FreeRecover can do the same task, if not so elegantly, for the low low cost of free. Provided that the area of the drive that a file occupied hasn't yet been used then it is usually possible to recover a copy of the data. The scanning and recovery processes take time, but don't require constant manual input. What you are likely to need is a new drive to restore the data to or you may damage files that could have been recovered.

     

    Assuming you can pull back the files then, having backed them up to another location first, you can then use the techniques on page 2 of this thread to reintegrate them into the library.

     

    tt2

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Oct 29, 2013 4:56 PM in response to turingtest2
    Level 10 (85,298 points)
    iPod
    Oct 29, 2013 4:56 PM in response to turingtest2

    Sorry, just twigged (again) that this thread is hosted in iTunes for Mac and the file recovery tool above is for Windows. With luck you set up TimeMachine, otherwise I hope you can find a Mac equivalent.

     

    tt2

  • by Mike SM,

    Mike SM Mike SM Oct 29, 2013 5:18 PM in response to vilennon
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 29, 2013 5:18 PM in response to vilennon

    All platforms are affected by this bug. I use windows and all the symptoms described in this thread are applied to windows platform as well. It does not make sense to create multiple threads for the same bug.

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Oct 29, 2013 5:23 PM in response to Mike SM
    Level 10 (85,298 points)
    iPod
    Oct 29, 2013 5:23 PM in response to Mike SM

    Sure, I was just worried I might have pointed iforumuser in the direction of an unsuitable tool.

     

    tt2

  • by August Berkshire,

    August Berkshire August Berkshire Oct 29, 2013 6:50 PM in response to vilennon
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 29, 2013 6:50 PM in response to vilennon

    Has anyone upgraded to Mavericks?  If so, has it added any further problems beyond the ones discussed here?  I heard it makes syncing from the computer to the mobile device worse by forcing you to use iCloud.  Someone else said you can still sync directly from computer to mobile device as long as you use a physical cable.  

  • by Terrorsteel,

    Terrorsteel Terrorsteel Nov 1, 2013 3:35 PM in response to Mike SM
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 1, 2013 3:35 PM in response to Mike SM

    Posting this here because 1) another case of data deletion due to use of an Apple upgrade, 2) this answers August Berkshire's question, even if he/she doesn't use this particular software, and 3) THIS is the response Apple should have done:

     

    http://www.macrumors.com/2013/10/31/western-digital-warns-external-hard-drive-cu stomers-over-mavericks-data-loss/

    Dear WD Registered Customer,


    As a valued WD customer we want to make you aware of new reports of Western Digital and other external HDD products experiencing data loss when updating to Apple's OS X Mavericks (10.9). WD is urgently investigating these reports and the possible connection to the WD Drive Manager, WD Raid Manager and WD SmartWare software applications. Until the issue is understood and the cause identified, WD strongly urges our customers to uninstall these software applications before updating to OS X Mavericks (10.9), or delay upgrading. If you have already upgraded to Mavericks, WD recommends that you remove these applications and restart your computer.


    The WD Drive Manager, WD Raid Manager, and WD SmartWare software applications are not new and have been available from WD for many years, however solely as a precaution WD has removed these applications from our website as we investigate this issue.


    Sincerely,

    Western Digital

     

    Beware the poisoned Apple!

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