"Ghost" Songs Create Sync Error in iTunes

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Level 6

11,155 points

"Ghost" Songs Create Sync Error in iTunes

CDMA iPhone 4 w/ iOS 5.01 (since the day it was released)
Auto-sync to select playlists (either over wi-fi or USB)
Windows7, iTunes 10.5, only one iTunes account for this library
Backing up to iCloud (as of yesterday) but not using iTunes Match

Recent purchases I've made directly to my iPhone have been creating "ghost" entries on my iPhone -- they're not visible on the iPhone until connected to iTunes and I open the iPhone contents (see screen shot below). Each one of these ghost entries are grayed out and have what looks like a sync wheel next to them which doesn't move. Each time I sync to iTunes the iPhone displays an error message saying that "9 items failed to sync, see iTunes" (no error number). These 9 items are the tracks of the album "Canyon" which are the ones that appear as ghost entries, although the number of errored songs sometimes includes two other iPhone purchases.

This started after purchasing this album and tried to transfer it to my library later that night. I did not get an error message, but my library showed these same grayed out ghost entries, which are not playable. I tried to re-sync and they still didn't transfer, nor did they go after selecting "Transfer Purchases" from the iTunes menu. On iCloud they showed up as already downloaded to my computer and my iPhone. So I manually deleted the entries in my library, and from my iPhone by swiping each song left to right. I re-downloaded the album from iCloud to my computer. Great, no ghosts. I sync'd the songs to my iPhone, but now I have two entries for each song (as in the shot below) and I get this error message from iTunes on each sync. On the iPhone itself there is only one copy of each song, I only see the ghost entries while connected to iTunes.

This isn't a show-stopper, but annoying since two other purchases are occasionally showing up as ghost entries. So far I have done the following with no success:

Reset, Restored from Backup, Restored then installed backup
Changed sync settings to not sync music at all, then sync'd to remove all music, then reversed the process to put it back on
Went into Settings/ General/ Usage/ Music/ and swiped across "All Music" and selected Delete

The only thing I have not done, which I'm trying to avoid, is doing a restore as new iPhone ... I don't want to re-do all my settings, especially if the ghosts only come back.

Any suggestions?

iPod touch, Windows 7, "Cogito, ergo iPod." (I Think, Therefore iPod)

Posted on Jan 13, 2012 1:51 PM

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Answer 1

rockmyplimsoul Author

Level 6

11,155 points

Jan 13, 2012 1:56 PM in response to rockmyplimsoul

Forgot to mention:

There are no ghost entries in my iTunes library
I've tried un-checking the songs and syncing, but that only removes the "good" songs, not the ghosts
I only recently started backing up to iCloud to see if that would make a difference (it didn't)

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Answer 2

rockmyplimsoul Author

Level 6

11,155 points

Jan 17, 2012 1:29 PM in response to rockmyplimsoul

Problem solved ... all I had to do was log out of my iTunes account on my iPhone and then log back in and re-sync.

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Answer 3

MED1975

Level 1

4 points

Feb 2, 2012 12:28 PM in response to rockmyplimsoul

I'm having the exact same issue, but logging out of iTunes and back in has not fixed it for me....

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Answer 4

rockmyplimsoul Author

Level 6

11,155 points

Feb 2, 2012 3:30 PM in response to MED1975

Well in a way I'm relieved to know I'm not the only one, but too bad that the solution for me didn't help you. Two additional things I did, which didn't help me but may have paved the way to the solution, are the following:

1- Connect your iPhone to iTunes and click on the Music tab where you specify your auto-sync settings. Way at the bottom of that window you'll see a section called "Manually added items", which are all song that you've downloaded directly to your device, as well as songs you may have dragged over to your phone (yes, you can drag and drop even if you auto-sync). Delete any songs you see there and click the Apply button. This did not solve it for me, but I did this before logging out of my iTunes account, so give that a try.

2- If that didn't apply or didn't help, go to Settings/ General/ Usage/ Music, then swipe across "All Music" and press Delete. This does not delete the music off your iPhone, but seems to have fixed similar problems for others. It didn't help me, but I did this too prior to logging out of my iTunes account on my iPhone.

Good luck!

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Answer 5

Feb 17, 2012 3:32 PM in response to rockmyplimsoul

I have this problem as well, but, the recommended fixes above did not help.

I have erased my Music from the iPhone via the Settings | Usage | Music slider and logged out of iTunes via Settings | Store. I confirmed the music was deleted in Settings | General | About. Then I resynchronized to my PC which contains 474 music files. I completed these steps twice. The first time, ~30 songs did not transfer to my phone. The second time, ~70 songs did not transfer to my phone. I ejected the phone from my PC/iTunes and manually downloaded the missing "Purchased" media from my iPhone. Now my phone has 474 songs as displayed in Settings | General | About. I see no "ghost" entries in my Songs list.

When I reconnect my phone to my PC, iTunes shows under my Devices section that I have 553 songs on my phone which is the total of 474 actual songs + 79 "ghost" entries. In iTunes, I navigate to Music and click "Sync". I still have 474 songs on my iPhone, but, the list under "Devices" has not changed.

As a sidenote, I have uninstalled/re-installed iTunes on my PC which is running Windows 7.

Any suggestions are appreciated!

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Answer 6

rockmyplimsoul Author

Level 6

11,155 points

Feb 17, 2012 3:56 PM in response to eJennifer

A couple things to try:

I don't see where you tried this, but when connected to iTunes and you click on the Music tab (where you set your music sync options) do you see "Manually added items" way at the bottom of the window? If so, select and delete all those if they're displayed, then re-sync.

On your iPhone, when you went to Settings/ General/ Usage/ Music and deleted music, did you then reset the iPhone? (press and hold the Home and Sleep/Wake buttons until you see the Apple logo). I see above that I neglected to include that step, sorry about that.

Log out of your iTunes account on your iPhone and your iTunes, then re-sync while you're logged out. Then disconnect and log back in on your computer and iPhone.

Thankfully this problem has not reared its ugly head for me lately, but do write back if you're successful (or not) with these. Good luck!

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Answer 7

Feb 17, 2012 4:20 PM in response to rockmyplimsoul

I do not have a "Manually Added Items" in my Music options.

I was logged out of iTunes on both the PC and the iPhone when I synced. After I deleted the music and logged out of iTunes, I powered the phone off/on. I did not do a "Reset" - I will try that next.

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Answer 8

Feb 17, 2012 5:10 PM in response to rockmyplimsoul

I did the steps described above except with a Reset instead of powering off the phone and I'm closer, but, not quite there.

I cleaned up my Music Library earlier and now have 465 music files/songs on my PC. When I view my Devices | Music list, I now have 464 total songs. 385 are actually on my iPhone and there are 79 "ghost" entries. I cannot see any consistency in the files which didn't sync other than they were all purchased via iTunes - some recently and others several years ago. I checked "Get Info" on a few of the good entries versus ghost entries and I cannot find anything that would make them unique. In some cases, the files are stored within the same folder on the PC.

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Answer 9

Apr 13, 2012 10:56 AM in response to rockmyplimsoul

Same problem here, no luck with any of the above suggestions and i've got 1683 of them on my iPhone, not happy.

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Answer 10

rockmyplimsoul Author

Level 6

11,155 points

Apr 13, 2012 11:49 AM in response to Cruloriarc

What version of iTunes are you using? Back when I had this problem I was on 10.5, so if this was an iTunes issue then try 10.6.1 to see if that helps. However, some problems re-surface with later versions so if you're already on 10.6.1 then perhaps 10.6 may avoid the issue.

Are these 1683 items purchases from iTunes? How many of the purchases were made directly to your iPhone (as opposed to buying them from your computer)? The problem I had were the direct purchases to my phone, but this stopped happening to me, although I have not bought anything since installing 10.6.1 (sounds odd, but iTunes versions can affect iOS performance).

Good luck!

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Answer 11

Apr 13, 2012 11:59 AM in response to rockmyplimsoul

I'm using 10.6.1 but it was like this one the previous version of iTunes too.

I've been on with it all day and tried just about everything apart from a complete to new restore, I really don't want to have to do this but at the moment looks like the only way to get rid of them. There's a few puchased through iTunes but the majority are all imported to iTunes from CDs and such.

I use iTunes match but have tried auto sync and just manual too. The most progress I have managed to get is to delete most but 35 songs (which are a mix of iTunes bought and CD) but then as soon as I sync the iphone again they all come stright back.

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Answer 12

May 8, 2012 10:37 AM in response to rockmyplimsoul

I'm having problems with songs I downloaded on computer and tried to transfer to phone. The "ghost" songs I'm seeing on my iPhone have a symbol on them that's a circle with a square in the middle, looking like a stop button. they are a duplicate for working tracks. Is this similar to what you saw? I'm able to click on them, but the song doesn't play. The time stays at 0:00.

1. I can't swipe to delete like other tracks.

2. I need to go into iTunes and check the manual load section.

3. In some cases, the original download of the track on my laptop had an error, and created the issue on my iPhone. However, I don't think I've had a problem with all the tracks coming up with this icon.

4. I've tried deleting the working tracks, syncing and then reloading...but the working tracks don't delete.

Any ideas?

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Answer 13

May 8, 2012 10:53 AM in response to savage panda

Here's an image.

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Answer 14

rockmyplimsoul Author

Level 6

11,155 points

May 8, 2012 11:49 AM in response to savage panda

Wow, what a nightmare. No this is not really the same as what I saw. My problem was with direct purchases on the iPhone creating "ghosts" in my iTunes library when I transferred the purchases to my computer, I never had any such entries on my iPhone.

The only things I can suggest for you are:

On your iPhone, log out of your iTunes account and log back in.
Reset your iPhone.
A combination of the above (log out of your account on your iPhone, reset it, then log back in).
Restore your iPhone and re-load your backup.
Restore your iPhone, but don't load a backup. This is a last resort!

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Answer 15

r.hudson

Level 1

9 points

Jul 11, 2012 12:57 AM in response to rockmyplimsoul

I had this problem today so here's what I did. I'm not sure if this is going to help anyone BUT after not having iTunes Match turned on on my iPhone when I synced etc I went into settings turned on iTunes Match along with the other 2 options it consequently reveals. I then checked my iTunes library on the phone and the albums weren't there so I went back and turned off iTunes Match, 'checked' those albums in iTunes on the Mac and resynced them and Voila! No ghost albums!!

I hope this helps someone.

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