iTunes Match taking forever to upload artwork

I'm having the same issues as all of you. I'm unable to finish uploading since the service launched. I've been stuck on 1 of 2317 for the past week. While troubleshooting, i ran a diagnostics test from the help menu. For the network connectivity tests, i passed the internet connection verification test, but my secure link to itunes store test failed.

I have a rule in my FW allowing itunes inbound traffic.The status remains the same even when i disable my FW.

Is anyone experiencing the same?

Copying from my original post. You have to trace open ports, & see what it is stuck on.

How to Fix Step 2 and Step 3 Errors in iTunes: Music Media Formats, and Checking Firewall

This solution assumes that you do not have corruption in your iTunes library database. To fix that follow the steps in Apple Support KB ht1251 above.

Step 1, 2, or 3 Hangs: Problems with Media Formats.

If you have heterogenous media formats in your music files, some of them will FAIL iTunes match, causing it to hang. This is a software error in iTunes match, which should mark the files as "Not eligible" instead of remaining stuck in an endless loop. These errors never occur if all the songs in the music library are unprotected AAC 256 kbps music files encoded by iTunes 10.5.1.

There are two basic ways to upgrade your song media formats to iTunes 10.5.1 AAC encoding - encode all of them at once, or do them selectively. In either method, you must delete the original version from iTunes and your file system. If you previously loaded them to iCloud, get rid of them there also.

You will be able to see a hung file in OS/X under Activity Monitor -> iTunes -> Inspect Process -> Open Files and Ports. In Windows you will have to use standard Task Manager inspections.

In my iTunes library, I found that certain AAC (m4a) files which were encoded in before 2011 were stuck, and m4p Protected AAC files. I had already fixed the encoding of MP3s, so I was suprised that music previously encoded by iTunes was hanging up.

You may convert all files which were not encoded at 256 kbps AAC with a right-mouse click. Find them:

1) individually in iTunes as you discover them in Open Files and Ports trace, or

2) by creating a sort smart playlist that matches their pattern. For example, a playlist with bit-rate < 256k.

After converting them, you MUST delete the previous file(s) from your iTunes library. I suggest you move the actual file to trash, and delete the trash. Archive the files if you wish. If any of them were already matched to iTunes Match, you must delete them there also.

After getting rid of older media formats, re-run iTunes match. Step 2 should complete, and your Open Files and Ports window should no longer show any music file open in your iTunes library. If it does show, convert it and remove the old file from your library.

If you have converted your music library and Step 3 is still stuck, it is likely a Firewall problem. Check the last line in Open Files and Ports, and use the information in the last rows to check your firewall settings. The upload port is shown in this form, 192.168.1.1:53089->72.21.214.201:https. If you see this type of row, but nothing is being uploaded, a firewall or other issue is blocking that port.

In my case the block was created by my broadband modem settings. Check with the installation guide for your modem - typically they can be managed by a http:// address such as http://192.168.1.254. Change the firewall settings as needed.

I have no doubt that this could be some people's problem. But in my case, this does not correlate with the symptoms I'm seeing. I just hate to see a bunch of people taking hours of time to try to analyze and fix their media library, when I can just about guarantee this problem has nothing to do with the media content format, at least in my case.

The first couple of days it would upload from around 15 to maybe 30 files and hang on "18 of nnnn" uploaded. But I could stop, restart, and it would upload ANOTHER 15 to 30. Stop/restart... ANOTHER 15-30. But it would hang and each point and never move again until I restarted. But it was uploading and additional 15-30 songs each time. In other words, it would hang on a different song each time, and then happily upload once I restarted.

After a few days it hung on "1 of 544" and nothing would get it to move. It stayed that way for almost two weeks, no matter what I did (stop/restart/boot/etc)

Then, last night while it was in it's eternal hang, I noticed in the background that it just automatically stopped and restarted. It then proceeded to upload 454 files overnight. This morning I had a Windows crash popup for iTunes. Restarted, and now I'm hung on "1 of 90". Oh well, just a couple of more weeks to wait at 1 of 90....

If it's bad (or unacceptably encoded) media, it would be a solid permanent failure. The fact that each time it hangs it 'ultimately' uploads the 'blocking file' rules out bad media.

And the 'slow internet' excuse is a joke. I guess my internet connection that was too slow to upload a single file for almost two weeks 'healed itself' temporarily last night and surprisingly was now fast enough to upload 454 files in a few hours. Now it's slow again.... :-). BTW... I'm on a business-grade internet connection.

This is OBVIOUSLY a server problem at Apple or an iTunes client code problem. I just wish they'd stop playing games and tell us what is going on. Honesty can go a long ways, guys.....

Yes, definitely seems like problems on the server side. I wouldn't recommend taking a lot of time to mess with your library when that might not fix things. If certain files choke Match, Apple needs to fix that either on the server or with a new iTunes release.

Hey Apple.... here's an outrageous concept..... SKIP bad files, finish, and put up a message at the end listing the bad files...

Naw, never mind... it'd never work... hanging is a much better design..... :-)

Well, I heard from Apple.... Not sure if I've ever received a more worthless response. They earned their "Helpless desk" title yet again....

Dear Jerry,

This is Shivendra from iTunes Store Customer Support and I am glad to assist you!

I am sorry to hear that you are unable to complete setup of iTunes Match on your computer. I know how important it is for you to get this issue resolved. Please be assured, I will do my best to resolve the issue.

Jerry, as an Advisor for the iTunes Store, I handle issues related to billing, downloading, customer accounts, and the items available on the iTunes Store. Although your question falls outside of my area of specialty, I will be happy to assist you with resolving your issue.

I have find out some links, which may help you in resolving the issue.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3493939?start=0&tstart=0

or

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1276333

If you require more assistance, you may wish to call our AppleCare technical support team. A technical Advisor will be able to tell you about Apple's complimentary and fee-based support options as well as assist you in determining what option might be most helpful in this case. To find the appropriate phone number, please visit:

http://www.apple.com/support/contact/phone_contacts.html

Another option is to simply describe your issue using our website and arrange for an Apple Expert to call you. Using this option, you can receive a phone call now, or make an appointment to have an Apple Expert call you later if that is more convenient. To explore this option, please visit the Express Lane:

https://expresslane.apple.com/

Jerry, if you have any further questions, feel free to contact us and we will be happy to assist you.

Have a nice day!

Sincerely,

Shivendra

iTunes Store/Mac App Customer Support

Please Note: I work Sunday to Thursday 11 AM to 8 PM (CST)

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to assist you. You may receive an AppleCare survey email; any feedback you provide would be greatly appreciated.

Well at least now you know who to ask for a refund.

Same problem. It's not user error or library error or upload speed. It's poor matching plus something else.

Now it's fixed. I think posting on here was the trick...?

I've been suffering from these same problems - iTunes would upload just a song or two, then hang. After 2 weeks of constant opening, reopening I'm only 1/5 of the way through my library.

I may have isolated the problem. My home internet modem (Time Warner Cable) was pretty old and I had been noticing my connection speed tended to fluctuate quite a lot and occasionally would cut out altogether for a short while.

Today I took the modem back and swapped it for a new one. So far iTunes has been matching away happily ever since. I don't want to jinx anything as I still have many gigabytes to go, but I'm suspecting that the Match server can get tripped easily by a less than perfect connection from the uploader. Without my previous modem (back in the hands of TWC) I can't check exactly what the problem was from a network point of view, but so far a new cable modem seems to have fixed things for me. I shall update this post if this changes, fingers crossed...

I've also been having this same issue. I also lost most of the album artwork on my iphone after the last sync once Match was activated.

This is unacceptable, the reason i paid the $30 for apple's service was too avoid this waiting game while uploading my music. It's been far too long and didnt even finish over night. I have all of my music already on my phone through google's beta music app, this is really irritating and I feel that some of us derserve compensation for this. Just unacceptable. If it was going to take this long, they should tell us how long, and why. If it's because so much of my music cannot be matched by their record company deals, then tell me that's why. dont just make me wait, and wait, and restart the process only to wait and wait again. I'm on the move at all times, which means my laptop cannot always be linked to an internet connection, which means I haven't had time to wait long enough and i'm not sure if i ever will. I can't be the only person who is having this problem.

I have a little different insight on this issue. I just started the process today. The first 1500 or songs uploaded fast, then the upload process slowed down. But I'd seen this before, when I first installed Carbonite online backup on my PC. Fast initial uploads for a short time then slowing way down.

I use Comcast. Comcast is known for throttling upload speeds after a certain amount of time (I'm a network engineer, so you learn these things after a while). If you stop the process for a while, then start it, do you see it go fast for a little while before slowing? If so, you may want to call your broadband provider. Remember those fast speeds they advertise are download speeds. Upload "guaranteed" speeds are usually a fraction of the DL speed offered.

If it's freezing entirely though, that's a different story. It shouldn't die completely.

I've been stuck at 3225 out of 3226 songs uploaded to iCloud for the last half hour.... This is very distressing.

Are you joking??? You've waited a whole 30 minutes for your LAST song to upload???? That's HORRIBLE!

Most of us have been waiting 3 weeks for the last 700 to 5000 songs to upload.