iTunes 10 - incorrect ipod/iphone free space calculation

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iTunes 10 - incorrect ipod/iphone free space calculation

iTunes 10 appears to be calculating free space incorrectly on devices. This can range from 'not enough space to sync' type of messages for music, movies, and photos - even when there is plenty of space available. (like when trying to sync a 50k photograph, with 1.7 GB free).

Near as I can tell, this is caused by using the 'compress to 128-bit' option for your music. It appears that iTunes is using an incorrect estimate, or is using the full file size, to estimate what will be on the ipod, rather than looking at the ipod to see what it really reports.

The result for me is that I'm completely unable to sync photographs, and syncing movies needs at least 2-4 GB left free on the device.

Anyone else seeing similar errors or have a different theory?

Mac Book pro i7 15, Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Sep 9, 2010 7:41 AM

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Answer 1

Sep 11, 2010 7:39 PM in response to lhotka

Hi, I'm having exactly the same problem. I am suppose to have about 4GB of free space, but then when I get to stage 5/5 of sync it jumps from 18GB to 22GB of audio filling up my iPhone. Does anyone know if Apple are going to fix this bug?
Harry

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Answer 2

lhotka Author

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Sep 20, 2010 10:59 AM in response to harrysmyth

I hope so, it's definitely broken.

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Answer 3

djameson

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Sep 27, 2010 8:12 PM in response to lhotka

Has anyone learned anymore about this issue yet. I've searched the internet briefly, but cannot find much information about this.
I'm having the same difficulty with a new iPod Touch and iTunes 10.
iTunes 10 states that the iPod has 1.2 GB remaining, while the iPod states that it only has about 500MB remaining.
Any idea why this is happening?

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Answer 4

Sep 28, 2010 12:47 AM in response to lhotka

lhotka wrote:
Near as I can tell, this is caused by using the 'compress to 128-bit' option for your music. It appears that iTunes is using an incorrect estimate, or is using the full file size, to estimate what will be on the ipod, rather than looking at the ipod to see what it really reports.

That's exactly, what it does. I converted all my songs on the iPhone to aac 128 kbps. The correct size of the contents is only shown WHILE syncing. After syncing it goes up to the original size. Initially i thought, restoring the iPhone would help. But after hours of syncing (9 gigs in original size...) i encounter the same situation. I actually lost about 3 gigs.

Even worse: My shuffle now has not enough space anymore, so the initially present free 500 MB disappeared.

And no: nothing new about it here either. I hoped for a cure in 10.0.1. But "Ping" was obviously more important. Maybe we should tell Apple to fix it, as they might not be aware of it yet....

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Answer 5

turingtest2

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272,707 points

Sep 28, 2010 5:37 AM in response to Markus Gantner

Markus Gantner wrote:
... Maybe we should tell Apple to fix it, as they might not be aware of it yet....

Yep, you should send a description of the problem to iTunes Feedback. This is a user-to-user support forum and in general these boards are not monitored for technical problems, only breaches of the terms of use.

tt2

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Answer 6

Tones2

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21 points

Oct 19, 2010 5:12 AM in response to lhotka

I have this exact same problem using iTunes 10 in Windows Vista. Has anyone found a solution yet?

Tony

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Answer 7

mle724

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Oct 20, 2010 6:10 PM in response to Tones2

Same problem here as well. Reported it to Apple (Which is more difficult than ever these days) and still no response or fix that I am aware of.

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Answer 8

Oct 21, 2010 2:11 PM in response to mle724

Exactly the same here. Keep getting syncing problems too, only since using the 128kbps AAC conversion setting.

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Answer 9

lhotka Author

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97 points

Oct 26, 2010 7:09 PM in response to Stealth Rodeo

And still doing it here too - 6.1 GB free, can't copy an 800MB video file to the ipod.

Come on Apple - how hard is this to fix? Just copy the old code from iTunes 9 :-)!

This essentially means that the compress to 128 is useless, since you can't use the space that you save anyway! My 64GB ipod is now a 58GB ipod.

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Answer 10

mle724

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0 points

Oct 27, 2010 5:18 AM in response to lhotka

No, there has been no update, fix or even response from Apple on this issue. I'm done bothering with it and Apple products, no longer worth the time or trouble.

Apple is too busy telling everyone else what is wrong with their products instead of fixing the problems they have with their own.

And if they aren't reading these forums, they need to be.

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Answer 11

Tones2

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21 points

Oct 29, 2010 11:55 AM in response to lhotka

So it's safe to say this is not an iPhone 4 or iOS4 issue - it's an iTunes 10 issue. Correct?

Tony

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Answer 12

lhotka Author

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97 points

Oct 29, 2010 12:16 PM in response to Tones2

All signs point that way, because the free space on the device is reporting properly, and you can still add content directly to it from the iTunes store (just not via sync).

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Answer 13

Tones2

Level 1

21 points

Nov 12, 2010 10:56 AM in response to lhotka

Can anyone test to see if this is fixed in 10.1?

Tony

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Answer 14

Nov 12, 2010 2:05 PM in response to Tones2

no.

Still the same up and down and after finishing sync - wrong value.
Everyone who waits for iOS 4.2 - there will probably no solution, as my iPod Nano shows the same symptoms...

fail 😟

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Answer 15

Nov 12, 2010 2:29 PM in response to Markus Gantner

...don't know whether Apple is really not aware of that problem. But finally submitted a slightly angry feedback, suggesting to TRASH that feature if they don't get it working as it should.

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