Video file keeps coming back after I delete it (after ios 5 update)

Question

Level 1

5 points

Video file keeps coming back after I delete it (after ios 5 update)

Over a year ago I downloaded a video file from the iTunes store onto my iPhone. I then deleted the file shortly thereafter. I have seen no trace of it since then. However after updating to ios 5, the file now appears in iTunes when I plug my phone in, under "TV Shows". It does not appear on my phone, only in iTunes. It is grayed out and says 0 KB. No file location is listed under get info, and from a search on my computer, there is no other trace of it.

Although it is grayed out, I can right click and delete it and it goes away. That is until I plug my phone into the computer again. It then shows up again as if I didn't delete it. The video is no longer in the iTunes store under the same category, so I can't just find it in the store, redownload it, and delete it again.

If anyone has any idea of what is going on and how I can get it to stop showing up in iTunes, I would be very grateful. Here is a screenshot of what it looks like in iTunes for reference: http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/4047/picture12qn.png

iPhone 3GS, iOS 5

Posted on Oct 18, 2011 12:27 PM

Reply

Answer 1

enkaytee

Level 1

10 points

Oct 22, 2011 9:16 AM in response to jcsullivan25

I've got exactly the same issue on an iphone 4 - after the ios 5 upgrade, the 'free' download of the Father Ted Xmas episode from the 12 days of Christmas promo keeps reappearing...nothing I've tried up to now will make it go away and stay away...!

Anybody got any thoughts...?

Reply

Answer 2

Oct 22, 2011 9:21 AM in response to enkaytee

I have a similarish problem after ios5 upgrade. I can't delete any of my picture albums. Also things i deleted previous to the upgrade are back! Any ideas would be appreciated.

Reply

Answer 3

Oct 23, 2011 5:16 AM in response to jcsullivan25

Re-downloading the show doesn't work, either. I've done that with my phantom show and wound up with two copies in iTunes: one normal and one greyed out. It also shows up on the iPhone from time to time, but not predictably.

Best I can figure is that the original download of the file was interrupted by loss of a Wi-Fi signal and never finished. But I can't find a way to "cancel" the download.

Do these zombie files survive a restore?

Reply

Answer 4

Oct 23, 2011 5:32 AM in response to jcsullivan25

Hi all, .

Once the file appear in TV Shows in itune , dont delete it , make sync with iphone , see if will appear in ur iphone .

also add another video with it and sync it with iphone .

Then unplug ur iphone , see video if there ,

then plug it again with itune, delete videos , and make apply then sync .

Regards

Reply

Answer 5

jcsullivan25 Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 28, 2011 12:47 PM in response to Pab Sungenis

Pab, my original download was also over WiFi. I started only connected to 3G, and then it stopped the download because the file was too large, so I connected to a WiFi network, finished the download, and then deleted it (or so I thought).

Khaled, thanks for the suggestion but that didn't work for me. If I go to the TV Show "tab" across the top of the main iPhone screen in iTunes, the episode doesn't show up. So when I check the sync button on that screen, it isn't included. It's only there on the dropdown list under the iPhone in the left sidebar. Not sure if that makes any sense, but bottom line is I still can't view it on the phone.

Reply

Answer 6

Jan 18, 2012 9:40 PM in response to jcsullivan25

I had a very similar problem, but with the iPad. One ghosted file, an episode of a show I bought a season's pass for, kept reappearing every time I did a sync. And I have set everything to sync manually.

I kept seeing "you have to wipe and restore your device" and I was very hesitant to go down that route. But I finally came upon a solution after reading a thread in which someone had a problem with iTunes songs.

1. I went here and downloaded and installed the iExplorer utility (freeware): http://www.macroplant.com/iexplorer/

2. Plugged iPad into my Mac, and backed it up

3. Ran iExplorer

4. Navigated to / Media / Purchases

5. Deleted everything in that folder (I took a big risk, not exactly knowing what I was downloading. However all the files were date/time stamped from around the time I purchased the season's pass, which was over 2 years ago)

6. Ejected iPad and unplugged it from the computer

7. Did a hard reboot, holding down lock+close button until I saw the Apple logo.

8. Once it rebooted, I plugged it back into the Mac, synced. File hasn't shown up.

Hopefully this works for you.

Reply

Answer 7

enkaytee

Level 1

10 points

Jan 18, 2012 11:00 PM in response to daveednyc

Great - worked for me. Thanks for sharing...!

Reply

Answer 8

jcsullivan25 Author

Level 1

5 points

Jan 20, 2012 9:59 AM in response to daveednyc

Thank you so much! This worked like a charm! I actually had iExplorer on my computer already and looked through there for the file when I first made this thread, but as expected none of the related files actually had a meaningful name that identified what they were. Thanks again!

Reply

Answer 9

Jan 20, 2012 11:21 AM in response to jcsullivan25

Glad it worked!

I hope I didn't screw up something else with my iPad, b/c now I'm having issues changing Media Kind to video files...

Reply