iPhone - Stuck "Preparing to sync" when trying to sync with iTunes via USB cable

Stephan-S

For those using Mac, you don't need to fiddle with Terminal or have administrative rights. Even simpler work-around: just use Activity Monitor to Force-Quit the MDCrashReportTool process, as in thread 255344479.

This was absolutely the resolution to the issue. Of course, the reporter relaunches itself and the sync fails the next time I give it a go. I have rebooted both devices since then in the hopes that whatever is hung up would clear; nope. Un-synced my Music, Movies, Podcasts and Books from the phone which sync to the Mac; nope. I'm not going to go much farther beyond this. Never had the issue prior to iOS 17 + macOS Sonoma. Will certainly be following this thread.

How do we file for a refund and return equipment due to this?

I know it seems drastic, but I paid a lot of $$$ for my iPhone and my MBP last year.

Having to rename a file or kill a running process for them to sync - using the software that we are forced to use for syncing - is something out of a 1980's computer tech class.

Apple should:

• Do better by default - this one is obvious
• Open up the syncing process to other vendors if they can't hire/keep people to figure it out.
• Give a refund for a percentage of the cost of both products since I have to use this workaround like a chump.

Maybe a nice focused social media campaign about people buying their first $4K MBP then renaming files to make iTunes work would be fun.

now how do we fix this with the windows app store version of itunes?

Unfortunately not fixed in macOS 14.2.1 / iOS 17.2.1.

So I might have found the fix for the MDCrashReportTool issue. At least for Windows 11-23H2.

The C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Apple\Mobile Device Support\MDCrashReportTool.exe process needs to run in Windows 7 Compatibility Mode and run as Administrator for All Users.

Here's an article from XDA Developers to help those find how to run as Administrator.

https://www.xda-developers.com/how-tun-run-apps-administrator-windows-11/

Just make sure you right click on MDCrashReportTool.exe then left click Properties. Navigate to the Compatibility tab, left click "Change Settings For All Users", then select the checkbox for Run This Program In Compatibility Mode For & make sure you select Windows 7 in the drop down box. After that click the check box that says Run This Program As An Administrator. Click OK on both windows & restart your PC.

Photo included to hopefully help everyone.

ainsley001 wrote:

I raised a support ticket with Apple yesterday. Chat couldn't help so they passed me to a senior engineer by phone who has no passed this on to someone else (everyone very helpful, btw, even thought they couldn't solve the problem). They wanted a video of the problem and the solution (killing the crash process) which I've sent so hopefully they will resolve and I'll update when I hear back

Oh cool, I also submitted a video demonstrating killing the process and how it immediately sync'd after that. Hopefully this will get them to fix this (years old? decade old??) problem.

Same thing with the latest non-store iTunes (as I need the classic version for another software), 12.13.1.3, Win11 and an iPhone 13 Mini with the latest iOS 17.2. The nanosecond I killed MDCrashReportTool.exe in Taskbar, iTunes finished the syncing process correctly, as I only added two songs. I renamed the file, and everything works perfectly on other syncs.

File info is in this thread. It's MDCrashReportTool.exe. The file location and steps to resolve will depend on your operating system and iTunes install type. Check this thread thoroughly, all the info is here.

Thanks for your help on this. I'm going to raise a ticket, I think, in the hope that this is something they can fix

This worked for me! Mahalo! (iPhone 15 Pro on iMac M1)

I'm seeing this problem as well, only, its via itunes off the windows apps store, on two computers, one's a windows 10 machine and isn't my daily driver, the other is a recently assembled(july) windows 11 machine. both use itunes via the windows app store, so the workaround outlined above doesn't work for me.

Thank you so much. I have been dealing with this issue since the IOS 17.1 update on my iphone and ipad. I sync my Outlook 2016 calendar and contacts from my Windows laptop and up until that update always worked great. Your work arounds, both the temporary task manager and renaming the file, fixed the problem. Hopefully the next Apple IOS update doesn't break it again.

I can confirm this is a problem on Sonoma 14.2 on MacBook Pro using USB-C cable and iPhone 15 Pro in Dec 2023.

My solution was to go to the app menu, Utilities and then launch Activity Monitor. Go to CPU option and search for MDCrashReportTool. Force Quit this app by clicking on the X and selecting Force Quit. Once this app is terminated the syncing finishes quickly.

Why is this bug not fixed? A lot of people must be having this problem. My sync hangs everytime until I do this procedure.

You all are amazing. I powered off my Apple watch 7, force quit MUSIC (itunes)in OS 13.5.2, went to utilities>activity monitor>MDCrashReportTool and selected the force quit option. Restarted MUSIC, sync'd 1900 songs in 5 minutes. I would guess that powering off the watch was unnecessary but who cares!!! I would have been willing to stand on one foot while I did all this to make it happen.

I never could have solved this one on my own. Thank You!!!

Well, after shutting down and rebooting, the next time I tried to back up after renaming the file it wouldn't work, backup or synch. So, I changed the file name back to the original and the backup works fine, but of course the sync doesn't unless I went into the task manager. Then copied and saved the batch file that was mentioned by another member which can be run while iTunes is stuck on "Preparing to Sync". That works and saves the time opening up the task manager and finding the file to end task. Still frustrating but at least I can still backup and synch my Outlook calendar and contacts.