VideoGuy42

Q: iPhone 5 will not sync over wi-fi, "sync will resume when PC is available"

I have been struggling with this issue for the last several days and I have yet to find a fix. I can sync my iPhone 5 (iOS 7.1) with my Windows 7 PC using the USB cable, but I am unable to get wi-fi sync to work. I am running the latest version of iTunes (11.1.5). Shortly after I start iTunes my phone appears for about 10 seconds with a swirly activity wheel, which then freezes and the phone disappears again. If I try to manually initiate a sync from the phone, the "Sync Now" button is greyed-out and it says "Sync will resume when "HOME-PC" is available".

 

My phone can connect to the wi-fi network and access the internet just fine, and syncs via cable no problem. Home Sharing is on and my phone can access the iTunes library. It appears that iTunes can see my iPhone on the network, but just can't connect to it. It doesn't matter whether the phone is connected to power or not. I did have wi-fi sync working in the past so something must have broken it, I'm just not sure what or when.

 

I have searched here and elsewhere on the internet and found a lot of people with similar issues, but none of the posted solutions have worked. Steps I have already tried:

 

Restarted iTunes/PC/iPhone/router in various sequences.

Unchecked/checked "Sync with this phone over wi-fi" setting.

Stopped/restarted Bonjour and AppleMobileDevice services.

Full uninstall/reinstall of iTunes and all Apple software with registry clean.

Reinstalled Bonjour services.

Assigned static IP addresses to iPhone and PC.

Disable/enable IPv6 on my network adapter and router.

Checked Windows firewall settings, disabled Windows firewall.

Checked all of my router settings...I was using DD-WRT firmware, reverted back to factory Netgear firmware.

Backed up the iPhone, erased all settings and content, set up as new iPhone then restored from backup.

 

Any ideas? Something really simple I missed? Please HELP!

iPhone 5, iOS 7.1

Posted on Apr 1, 2014 1:57 AM

Close

Q: iPhone 5 will not sync over wi-fi, "sync will resume when PC is available"

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

Page 1 Next
  • by VideoGuy42,

    VideoGuy42 VideoGuy42 Apr 11, 2014 3:38 AM in response to VideoGuy42
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Apr 11, 2014 3:38 AM in response to VideoGuy42

    No one? Anybody? Any ideas?

  • by TylerW344,

    TylerW344 TylerW344 Apr 11, 2014 6:02 AM in response to VideoGuy42
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 11, 2014 6:02 AM in response to VideoGuy42

    I don't have an answer for you but from my experience iOS WiFi syncing has always been a hit and miss affair (more miss than hit I'm afraid). I have gotten to the stage where I rarely use the WiFi sync. It is just quicker, easier and much less stressful to use the USB cable. I am having the same issues with all the iOS devices in our family which includes various models of iPhone, iPad and an iPod Touch and have been having them since WiFi syncing was introduced (in iOS5 ???). And then I have not even mentioned my favorite iTunes syncing messages: "Waiting for items to copy" and "Waiting for changes to be applied"!

     

    iTunes is always extremely quick and eager to pick up the devices but as soon as I click on sync it shows "Looking for iDevice" and then the device disappears. I have found that initiating the sync from the Settings app on the device prevents this issue.

     

    It does however seem as if it is worse with Windows 7. I did not have so many issues with my previous Windows Vista PC.

     

    Sorry I cannot be of any help.

  • by 2812green,

    2812green 2812green Apr 18, 2014 1:10 PM in response to VideoGuy42
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 18, 2014 1:10 PM in response to VideoGuy42

    I am sorry to say that I have had the identical problem for about 6 weeks, and have tried all the techniques you described, similarly without success.

    I can say that the problem started immediately after an iTunes update (11.1.4) and has not been corrected with the subsequent update 11.1.5, so I do suspect that the problem is iTunes itself, although Apple has not so indicated.

    I even went so far as to upgrade my iPhone from a 4s to a 5s, OS 7.1. No problem with sync via USB cable, but still no wi-fi sync, although the phone does seem to be recognized by iTunes. No sycn even when initiated from the phone settings.

    Since wireless sync worked up until the iTunes update, I don't think anything you or I do will be successful until Apple recognizes the problem and corrects it in a future version of iTunes.

     

    Message was edited by: 2812green

  • by VideoGuy42,

    VideoGuy42 VideoGuy42 Apr 19, 2014 11:10 PM in response to 2812green
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Apr 19, 2014 11:10 PM in response to 2812green

    I thought it was an iTunes problem as well, and based on info in another thread I also tried reverting back to 11.1.3 but that didn't solve the problem either.

  • by 2812green,

    2812green 2812green Apr 21, 2014 3:36 PM in response to VideoGuy42
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 21, 2014 3:36 PM in response to VideoGuy42

    Another ill-fated attempt:

    I was at my daughter's for the holiday, and brought my laptop. (I have never used this laptop to sync iPhone previously, just my home PC)

     

    So now I tried

    -my new iPhone 5s OS 7.1

    -a different machine, the laptop

    -a new installation of iTunes latest version 11.1.5

    -a different USP, modem, and router

     

    No surprise. Hard wired sync worked fine, no wi-fi sync at all.

    What this experiment did convince me of, however, is that:

    It is not a modem or wireless router issue,

    It is not some fluky setting on my PC,

    It is not my hardware at all.

    The only unchanged variable producing the problem is iTunes.

    Maybe 11.1.4 created a disabling registry setting, and reinstalling 11.1.3 could not undo that change.

  • by Pine Sap,

    Pine Sap Pine Sap Apr 24, 2014 11:38 AM in response to 2812green
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 24, 2014 11:38 AM in response to 2812green

    Similar results with my wifi sync.  It works maybe 1 out of 25 tries.  Fiddle with setting, fiddle with power off/on, fiddle with usb sync, fiddle with eject/no eject ipad from PC.  Totally unreliable [feature].  No effective help from Apple Support fora; heads burried in sand. Pathetic.

  • by VideoGuy42,

    VideoGuy42 VideoGuy42 Apr 24, 2014 10:20 PM in response to 2812green
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Apr 24, 2014 10:20 PM in response to 2812green

    When I reverted to 11.1.3, I did use a registry cleaner to get rid of any junk 11.1.4 might have left behind but that was pretty much a waste of time. Still have no solution.

  • by 2812green,

    2812green 2812green May 29, 2014 3:01 PM in response to VideoGuy42
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 29, 2014 3:01 PM in response to VideoGuy42

    Maybe good news, finally...

     

    After months of no WiFi sync, I updated to the just -released iTunes 11.2.2.3, and WiFi sync finally worked. It took a couple of attempts, each cumulatively getting a bit further with the sync, but it was successful. Had to open and close iTunes a couple of times, re-sync, etc, but it does work. It was iTunes all along, as nothing else has changed. Hope it works for you as well.

  • by linders09,Apple recommended

    linders09 linders09 Jun 14, 2014 4:34 PM in response to VideoGuy42
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Jun 14, 2014 4:34 PM in response to VideoGuy42

    I had the same problem but I was finally able to fix it. TIf you still haven't fixed this you can ry this. Go to control panel > rogrms and features > find the apple mobility device support > right click and hit repair. After I did this I had no issues syncing over wifi. Hope this helps!

  • by Enderfish001,

    Enderfish001 Enderfish001 Jul 17, 2014 11:41 AM in response to linders09
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 17, 2014 11:41 AM in response to linders09

    I finally made an account just to say THANK YOU linders09!!  Your fix worked for me!  I had been having problems with this forever and after finding 'Apple Mobile Device Support' in 'Programs and Features' and then repairing it (I did it twice, could have fixed it the first time, but I didn't immediately see the change on my phone so I repaired again) the SYNC NOW button was no longer greyed out and I've successfully synced my iphone 5!  Thank you thank you thank you!

  • by Muhammed Refaat,

    Muhammed Refaat Muhammed Refaat Feb 2, 2015 4:24 AM in response to linders09
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 2, 2015 4:24 AM in response to linders09

    Greaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat man, thank uou

  • by Johnnyv1309,

    Johnnyv1309 Johnnyv1309 May 19, 2015 6:10 PM in response to linders09
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 19, 2015 6:10 PM in response to linders09

    i just had to make a comment too that your idea helped 100% the second it repaired the apple mobile device support both my iphone 5s and ipad mini 2 were immediatley able to sync via wifi!!!!!

  • by JZ SmartMort,

    JZ SmartMort JZ SmartMort Sep 19, 2015 12:14 PM in response to linders09
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 19, 2015 12:14 PM in response to linders09

    Awesome, worked like a charm. Not right away (for me) so I just restarted the Apple service, relaunched iTunes and voila, problem fixed. Thank you for sharing!!!

  • by corran22,

    corran22 corran22 Oct 16, 2015 7:43 PM in response to linders09
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 16, 2015 7:43 PM in response to linders09

    Thank you linders09!  Worked perfectly.

Page 1 Next