Just upgraded iPhone 15 Plus to iOS 17.2 and am unable to sync music from Mac Mini also just updated to Sonoma 14.2. Operation seems to stall out at Step 2 of 4 “Preparing to Sync”. No further progress even after 3 hours. Shut down iPhone and restarted, then tried sync using cable, then re-tried sync using Wi Fi without success. Any ideas?
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
iPhone 15 Plus
Hello,
I have the problem since iOS17 (still with iPhone 13 Pro) and Watch OS 10 (Ultra2).
The change to the iPhone 15 Pro and a complete reinstallation of the iPhone did not bring any improvement. The strange thing was that the "fresh" iPhone (without any apps installed, no backup installed) could initially be synchronized just as easily as an iPhone SE, an iPhone SE3 and an iPad Pro 11 3rd. This actually made it clear that the problem could not be due to my computer configuration, especially since it also occurred on another notebook and with another Windows user. Nevertheless, I have gone through all these options together with Apple support.
When I had only installed my most essential apps on my iPhone and paired it again with my Ultra 2, the synchronization went wrong again. Out of sheer desperation, I tried to decouple my Ultra 2 again and, lo and behold, the synchronization ran completely smoothly and all data (including diagnostic data) was synchronized again. As soon as I had paired the Ultra 2 again, the same mishap. This morning, Apple support also confirmed to me that there is a problem that is being worked on in this context.
My workaround to the solution:
My explanation: After every restart of iTunes, iTunes apparently tries to load the diagnostic data onto the PC during the first sync operation of a device. This obviously does not work (for me) with paired Ultra 2. Therefore, the "killing" of the mdcrashreport tool in the task manager leads to the continuation of the sync. It seems as though access to the diagnostic data is blocked by pairing the Apple Watch. (Just a hypothesis)
Why do I prefer to disconnect the cable instead of using the task manager? When killing the tool in the task manager, the current sync continues to run, but the next sync runs back into the same problem because iTunes does not transfer the diagnostic data or the mdcrashreporttool does not register as performed. If, on the other hand, you pull the cable, iTunes seems to regard the mdcrashreporttool as performed and does not try to pull the diagnostic data from the iPhone again at the next sync. I.e. As long as I don't close iTunes, I can always sync my iPhone without any problems. If I close iTunes, the sh… starts all over again.
Which way you choose is, of course, a matter of taste. A fast solution would be very desirable.
I have an iPhone 15 Pro Max running iOS 17.2.1, and a Macbook Air M1 with Sonoma 14.2.1, and could not get my phone to sync. So I opened a ticket and they told me to start the Mac in Safe Mode (Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support) and do the initial sync there (had to unplug the cable once, the second time it sync'ed).
From there on, I start normally and am able to sync. Hope this helps you too.
MZ-San wrote:
I have an iPhone 15 Pro Max running iOS 17.2.1, and a Macbook Air M1 with Sonoma 14.2.1, and could not get my phone to sync. So I opened a ticket and they told me to start the Mac in Safe Mode (Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support)
I tried this. Syncing my IPhone SE with my MBAir in Safe Mode enabled me to identify a problem file in a Playlist, which caused an error.
I unchecked the Playlist and the sync worked without any issue. The sync continues to work in Normal Mode.
As Ron_NJ said, there are two problems. 1. The sync encounters an error, and 2. The error reporting process hangs..
Maybe it would be a good idea to try to identity, if possible, what condition/data/file causes an error.
I think it would be preferable to constantly trying to unstick a stuck sync.
Marios K wrote:
How did you identify the problem file in a playlist?
Normally I sync about 3000 songs to my phone by selecting about 8 playlists . 2 of them are smart playlists.
I knew music on my phone was fully up to date.
I restarted the Mac in Safe Mode, connected the iPhone by cable., opened the Finder and synced .
The synced worked and added 1 new song, which was a surprise.
The new song was in fact a 30 minute video. - An episode of a TV show in my TV library
on my phone I selected the video and selected “Delete from Library”
I synced again and the sync added the video again and I deleted it again. This happened 4 times.
on the 5th time I got an error (The song <……………> cannot be added because it cannot be played on this IPhone)
I couldn’t figure out how the sync could possibly pick up a file that wasn’t even in my Music library, but I suspected the smart Playlists had something to do with it.
I unchecked one of the smart playlists and synced again and it worked. No video file, no error message.
Restarted the Mac in Normal Mode and syncing has worked fine since. I tried that smart playlist again and the sync hangs, deselect that playlist and the sync works.
Obviously there may be any number of different problems- such as song not available in this Region, and some users have problems syncing Calendars, but it seems clear to me that this whole issue is caused by the sync encountering a problem which isn’t properly handled. If you can find that problem and eliminate it…………….
Hope that helps.
Experienced issues with macOS Sonoma 14.2.1 and iOS 17.2.1.
Upgraded to macOS Sonoma 14.3 and iOS 17.3.
Sync works now but, as per other users comments, time between step 2 and 3 for the first sync is into the minutes, possibly around 3-4.
But it at least it does now sync OK without the need to force quit the MDSCrashReportTool.
Subsequent syncs, within the same macOS boot cycle, complete quickly. Subsequent syncs after a macOS reboot revert back to the 3-4 min wait for the first sync.
Just figured out that McAfee firewall was blocking Apple Music app aka ITunes from syncing. Configured McAfee firewall to allow internet exceptions for Apple Music App. Works perfectly now.
Same problem with iOS17.2.1 and macOS 14.2.1.
I discovered the following work-around. (But the whole thing is still quite annoying.)
AiPB wrote:
Sorry, noob here. How do I force quit the MDCrashReportTool? I've tried syncing my iphone ios 17.2.1 to my Macbook Air sonoma 14.0 but it gets stuck at step 2 or syncing. Hoping to sync so I can get my songs to my Music App
Hey, on day #1 we're all noobs. To force quit MDCrashReportTool on your MacBook, do the following:
Good luck!
-R.
Restarted phone and Mac. (Getting the stalled sync to abort was not easy, relaunching the Finder did not kill the process, neither did turning the phone off)
In the Finder I checked the option ‘Manually manage music, movies….’
Launched Music app and dragged and dropped ,on the phone in the sidebar, a couple of songs that I knew were not already on the phone. A sync started and copied the 2 songs to the phone.
So, a workaround is to manually manage the music on your phone using the Music app.
Thats the best I can do.
This is what I just did to resolve my own problem. First, I have 12 playlists that I always updated without any problems prior to IOS 17.2. Second, what I did was uncheck all but 1 playlist to see what would happen. The sync worked fine (however, the other 11 playlists were removed from my iPhone. Third, I then rechecked a few of the playlist check boxes and the sync worked fine again, and the playlists appeared on my phone as usual. When I rechecked the remaining playlists, the sync once again stalled. I’m guessing its a capacity problem?
PS.
To stop the original stalled sync, I right clicked on the phone device icon at the left pane and selected “eject”. All this did was to see another stalled process for “stopping sync”. So I just pulled the cable from from iPhone to end the sync process (without any apparent ill effects).
The Activity Monitor app can be found on your Mac computer in the Utilities folder under Applications. Alternately, you can use Spotlight to search for it.
When running Activity Monitor, enter MDCrashReportTool in the search field (upper right). Highlight the app name in the list and then click on the (X) button at top of screen. Select Force Quit from the popup.
Good luck!
Doing my Friday back-up and ran into the same issue, stuck at "preparing to sync" after the last updates!!
Thankfully Google led me to this site with comments from today! Force quitting "MDCrashReportTool" worked.
Hopefully Apple will fix the issue soon, because it looks like I have to do this now every time I sync my iPhone 14PM (iOS 17.2) to my M1 MBP (Sonoma 14.2)
The solution was to Open the Activity Monitor app and Force Quit "MDCrashReportTool", syncing should proceed just fine after that.
Certainly, xCowboy deserves credit for posting a method for getting Sync to complete. Across multiple threads, I see many people using his instructions and being happy with the results.
However, please, can we stop calling this a solution or a fix?
No code has been modified and this is not being added to any automated process. Rather, this is no more than a "work around" and as xCowboy has correctly called out, the step to force quit MDCrashReportTool will need to be manually repeated every time Sync stalls.
Thank you, xCowboy, for sharing. Let's hope something more elegant and permanent becomes available.
-R.
Thank you so much for posting this fix. I had the same problem: iOS 17.2.1 and MacOS Sonoma 14.2.1.
Force quitting the MDCrashReportTool from within the Activity Monitor app worked like a charm.
Temporary disabled my virus protection and it immediately started syncing without any problems. Not sure why or what process McAfee is blocking. iPhone 15 Max Pro IOS 17.2.1 with Mac mini 2018 Sonoma 14.2.1
peterhamm wrote:
Forcing the MDCrashreportingtool is absolutely NOT working for me
Alternatively , try interrupting a wired sync as a workaround
Connect your iPhone to your Mac with a USB cable.
Go to the Finder and select your IPhone in the sidebar .
Check “Show this phone on Wi-Fi” ( that should ensure the iPhone stays visible in the Finder at the next step)
When (or if) the sync stalls at “Preparing to sync “ disconnect the USB cable and reconnect after a second or two.
The backup and sync should restart and complete normally.
iPhone 15 Plus stuck in “Preparing To Sync"
