Q: Syncing stays on 'waiting for items to copy' with iOS 5

Thanks! After reinstalling Lion I lost my New iPad back and had to start from scratch. After trying everything else, without success, I found your reply about ring tones. No idea why but it worked. Thanks!

"Ring tones":  I have an original iPad.  I see the possibility to sync "Tones".  Do those of you who refer to "ring tones" have a tab or check box for "ring tones" (as opposed to just plain "tones")?  At any rate, ring tones for a device with which one cannot telephone?!

I have ring tones on my iPhone 3GS, which I have not upgraded to iOS 5 just because I cannot afford to leave it plugged in overnight waiting forever for items to copy, then finally completely the sync.

I really do not understand Apple's silence on this problem.  Surely, Apple must be in a better position to determine under what circumstances this -- and another similar messages ("waiting for updates to complete"?) -- appears.  Some have reported success by not syncing voice messages; others, photos; and now, ring tones.  Where is the common denominator?

Regards,

Richard

I think in older versions of iTunes it was called "Ring Tones" and after the introduction of notification tones it was changed to simply "Tones." Even an iPad can use the tones for things other than the ringer.

I also think that the solution to this problem is simply a corrupt media library. I eventually discovered that toggling all the check marks for each type of media and then syncing seemed to clear up all problems. So, if you have music set to sync, uncheck that box. If you have movies set to not sync, check that box (but you can uncheck all movies so nothing syncs). Wait for the sync to finish, clearing out all media from the iPod/iPad/iPhone. Then just re-set the sync checkmarks back to their original state and sync again. All of your sync settings should be preserved (so if you are syncing specific albums, for example, they will still be selected when you re-activate music syncing).

Doing this should re-build the iOS media library and correct all problems. I was having difficulty finishing my sync, podcasts were missing, music wouldn't finish, TV shows were being ignored, etc. Once I cleared all synced content and re-synced, everything was fine.

I don't think the issue has to do with iOS 5. I only noticed it when I disconnected my iPhone while it was syncing via USB (I thought it was syncing via WiFi). The corrupt library seems to stem from suddenly interrupted syncs, which would be compounded if you get inpatient and force the sync to stop when it says, "Waiting for items to copy."

@lynque

Thanks for the clarification and the suggestion, how to solve the problem. When you say that toggling syncing of the various media solves the problem, do you mean that afterwards syncing is fast, or do you mean that the message still takes ages to disappear, it now it does indeed finally disappear?  In my case, it does disappear, but the syncing is taking hours, whereas prior to iOS 5 it took only a few minutes.

A question obout your solution.  Wouldn't the following be equivalent, though?  First, reinstall the iOS device.  Remember to note first what you are syncing.  Second, do not restore media from a backup; instead, specify syncing as noted above.

Regards,

Richard

I don't know actually. It's possible that the library database is built by iTunes and then copied over to the iOS device, so changing nothing in iTunes would leave the corrupt library file as-is and copy it to the iOS device again, even if it was a clean install of iOS.

...but I'm not sure exactly how it works. I just know that clearing everything, syncing, and then re-adding everything seems to have corrected all my issues.

I don't imagine iOS 5.1.1 fixed this problem, or did it?

Yep, it fixed it for me.

Not for me.  Just downloaded it to my iPhone and the syncing is once again "stuck" at "Waiting for items to copy".  In the past, it has eventually completed, but it takes so long that I hesitate to sync the iPhone unless I know I won't need it as a phone for a few hours.

The problem only was fixed for one sync.  Spoke too soon.  Now it's back again.

This generally happens when u have a huge library.Its not a bug with any ios.i had the same problem with ios 4 and then 4.3.5 never had it.again after i filled up too many stuffs 4.3.5 had d same problem.this also happens when a file in itunes library gets corrupted.try to uninstallitunes and then install again and reboot ur system.it should work

No, my iPhone started this behaviour again and the 5.1.1 update has not helped.

I no longer have any voice memos, so that is not the problem now.

I would have thought that such an annoying problem would have been addressed by now.

@his1nightmare,

Which library do you mean, music or photos?  How large was it when you had problems with iOS 4?  How large is it now?  I have an iPad 1 and an iPhone 3GS.  I upgraded the iPad 1 to iOS 5 and immediately began to have the problem.  For that reason I postponed upgrading the iPhone 3GS and did not experience the problem.  It was syncing fewer photos, but still more than 15,000, I estimate.

@Alf Megson,

"addressed":  well put!  We've heard absolutely nothing from Apple, not even an explanation of which device is waiting, the Mac (iTunes) or the iOS device, and whether it is waiting to receive items that it should copy, or waiting for the other device to copy.  Addressing the problem is a necessary first step towards solving it.  The prospects for a solution therefore look bleak.

Richard

Ya its a common problem.If it goes worse format ur iphone as wellas uninstall ur iTunes and then install and reboot the system.that should solve it.be sure to delete the My iTunes folder from My Musyc(Found in windows not sure abt mac) before reinstalling it again

wow 15000 Pics is a hige.Mine had the problem when there were 12k photos.now i have hardly 3k but i never face this problem anyore.here are my answers

Which library do you mean, music or photos?--Only Photos.My Music Library is 18509 songs 52.8 days 118GB but i never have any problem with it.Its super Smooth in Syncing.

How large was it when you had problems with iOS 4?Some 12000 Pics in my ipod...Main Culprit .But i was able to sync other apple devices as those were having ahrdly 200 pics

How large is it now?It was mainly responsible coz of the Pics that i ahd in Ipod.Now i keeo 3k Pics and it doesnt have any problem in syncing

I upgraded the iPad 1 to iOS 5 and immediately began to have the problem--May be there r still some files left in ur iPad..check the Otehr Section of ur ipad as how much size is it showing.If still the Problem PErsists try fromatting ipad as well us uninstall ur itunes.delete the iTunes folder from Music and then try reinstalling it again.That should work

Thnks

Does anyone know if thre has been a fix for this because I have it happening on my iphone 4 and on a 1st and a 2nd generation iPad...not happy!! 3 different igadgets withthe same problem    'waiting for items to copy'