Sync option in iTunes greyed out.

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Level 1

1 points

Sync option in iTunes greyed out.

Hi, I am having a problem with the Sync between ITunes and my iPod Touch.

The iPod is recognised when I connect it to ITunes and it finds the relevant music and or photo files that I want it to sync, but the sync option is greyed out. If I change the Sync all option to the sync selected option, then the greyed out sync tab disappears altogether and is replaced by 2 tabs -Revert and Apply. At this stage only the Revert tab is available the Apply tab being greyed out once again.

This seems to have occurred after a recent update, but I am not sure.

I have updated my iPod Touch as well as iTunes, and even reverted it to its original state but this does not seem to have any effect.

My system is Windows 7 64bit and my iPod Touch is 4th Gen. I am willing to try anything as I have copies of my selected music and photos on my computer so do not mind zapping the iPod (again) if that will fix the problem.

(First time i've posted to a support community so apologies for any errors or ommisions.)

iPod touch, Windows 7, Sync not available in iTunes

Posted on Sep 2, 2012 1:03 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Philly_Phan

Level 7

20,707 points

Sep 2, 2012 1:31 PM in response to Groundman

Weird.

First, try a system reset. It cures many ills and it's quick, easy and harmless...

Hold down the on/off switch and the Home button simultaneously until the screen blacks out or you see the Apple logo. Ignore the "Slide to power off" text if it appears. You will not lose any apps, data, music, movies, settings, etc.

If the Reset doesn't work, try a Restore. Note that it's nowhere near as quick as a Reset. Connect via cable to the computer that you use for sync. From iTunes, select the iPad/iPod and then select the Summary tab. Follow directions for Restore and be sure to say "yes" to the backup. You will be warned that all data (apps, music, movies, etc.) will be erased but, as the Restore finishes, you will be asked if you wish the contents of the backup to be copied to the iPad/iPod. Again, say "yes."

At the end of the basic Restore, you will be asked if you wish to sync the iPad/iPod. As before, say "yes." Note that that sync selection will disappear and the Restore will end if you do not respond within a reasonable time. If that happens, only the apps that are part of the IOS will appear on your device. Corrective action is simple - choose manual "Sync" from the bottom right of iTunes.

If you're unable to do the Restore, go into Recovery Mode per the instructions here.

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Answer 2

Groundman Author

Level 1

1 points

Sep 4, 2012 8:14 AM in response to Groundman

My thanks to Philly_Phan for taking the time to read and reply to my post, but in the 4 frustrating days prior to posting I had spent many hours trawling the internet for help and advice and had already tried these solutions to no avail.

However, I have managed to resolve the issue. I believe it was a side effect of the firewall installed on my Desktop computer. Whilst ITunes had free access through the firewall it would appear that other programmes that are associated had restricted access. I realised this when I connected my iPod to a Laptop computer for the first time. iTunes was duly downloaded and installed but I realised during the installation that applications such as ATH.exe, Bonjour, MobileDeviceService, MobileDeviceHelper, and MDCrashReport Tool were all requesting access through the firewall. These were all allowed access and after the installation of iTunes completed the iPod behaved as expected. It synchronised with a new (empty) library and I was able to download an App and transfer it to the iPod via ITunes.

With this information to hand I returned to the Desktop computer and opened my firewall programme control utility and upgraded all of the items mentioned above to "Trusted" status. I then uninstalled iTunes and re-installed it, connected the iPod and found that the iPod was recognised as before but that synchronisation was now taking place automatically. Hurrah.

Having pointed iTunes to my relevant folders for photos the Sync option was now available and within a few minutes all my content has been restored. Now I was able to update the photo albums which had been my intention all along.

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Answer 3

Rod34

Level 1

4 points

Aug 4, 2016 6:28 PM in response to Philly_Phan

I had the same issue with my iphone 6. Same problem even after reinstalling itunes and rebooting the iphone.

Finally, the first solution of Philly_Phan, making a system reset, works !! yeah !

Thank you very much. It's very simple and I already knew how to do, but I thought an iphone reboot was same.

But in fact no. After a system reset, the iphone booting is pretty long, make me thinking the iphone is performing a full reinitialization, not only restoring the previous session.

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