Dotted circles next to songs, won't sync, red circle with square?

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Level 1

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Dotted circles next to songs, won't sync, red circle with square?

I've tried everything and NOTHING works... At first I had those stupid dotted circles next to every song. I restored it to original settings(as told by apple support), then re-synced everything and the songs started downloading and I was ecstatic. But then about half the songs were playable and the other half had the red circle with square inside. I was also told it will take awhile for them fully download considering I have somany songs. I waited over 12 hours with the ipod still connected and nothing changed.

I then saw that someone else on this posted and said to uncheck 'sync songs', sync the device, then click on sync songs and re-sync it, but then that resorted back to where I first started, back to every song having those dotted circles next to them.

I've contacted apple about this issue numerous time and it just seems like they have no idea what they're doing. They were really nice and tried to help as much as they could, but in the end they were absolutely no help and the problem still existed. If anyone could please help me, I'd gladly appreciate it. I have no what to do anymore besides buy a new iPod, and I'd rather not over a stupid problematic thing like this.

I started a new discussion because no one was replying to the older ones anymore.

Every single song is like and they won't sync.... It is frustrating me so much. I listen to music constantly through-out my day and It annoys me that I hjave to stay at the computer to listen to them. Just a few weeks ago everything was all peachy and worked. In the past weeks I've updated to iOS 7.0.2 and then iOS 7.0.3 the other day. I sometimes wish I hadn't updated to iOS 7, because I never had an issue like this before in the past 10 years of me owning and Apple iPod.

iPod touch, iOS 7.0.3, 5th generation

Posted on Nov 4, 2013 9:31 AM

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Answer 1

Apr 9, 2017 11:16 PM in response to soulxgurl

This happens every so often to me as well. What ALWAYS works for but it is annoying is this...

Highlight whatever song isn't working, Go to file - Convert - Create AAC version. This will make a new copy of your song into a very friendly apple format "AAC". After thats done you can then drag that to your device and it SHOULD work. You'll have to do this for every song, but you can convert several at once, just have to individually convert them separately.

It converts it to whatever your preference is set as far as bit rate. If you want to change that, go to preferences and IMPORT SETTINGS. You can then click around till you find the bit rate. I have mine at 256kps. Hope this helps!

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Answer 2

Jul 22, 2017 2:08 PM in response to Underflow_PDG

I'm so tired of recreating my itunes libraries! Over the last 18 years itunes has ruined my music collection: so many songs duplicated, so many songs missing. For a true music lover, itunes is the worst program I can imagine. If anyone knows of a decent alternative besides streaming services, let me know. It also really ***** that Apple does nothing to fix anything!

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Answer 3

soulxgurl Author

Level 1

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Nov 4, 2013 9:37 AM in response to soulxgurl

I've also tried the 'signing in and out of my itunes account' on my ipod touch. It did nothing....

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Answer 4

lllaass

Level 10

210,411 points

Nov 4, 2013 9:52 AM in response to soulxgurl

SOLUTION: circle with red square Some Music Won't Play After...: Apple Support Communities

What does the gray dotted circle in...: Apple Support Communities

what does the dotted circle mean?: Apple Support Communities

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Answer 5

soulxgurl Author

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10 points

Nov 4, 2013 10:02 AM in response to lllaass

I've already looked at and went through all the suggestions on those discussions and none of them worked.

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Answer 6

lllaass

Level 10

210,411 points

Nov 4, 2013 10:12 AM in response to soulxgurl

Did you:

- Restore from backup. See:

iOS: How to back up

- Restore to factory settings/new iOS device.

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Answer 7

soulxgurl Author

Level 1

10 points

Nov 4, 2013 11:08 AM in response to lllaass

I've done 2 full system restores on my iPod. One the other day, and it seemed to work at first. It copied all my songs, but then I had those dumb red circles next to half of them. I then backed it up because I didn't want to lose the rest of the files that were on there.

I am now doing another system restore through itunes and seeing if that works. I really didn't want to restore it again, but I'm willing to try anything at this point. I'm in middle of backing it up right now, but it looks like it may take almost another hour or more for it to be complete. I will then try to re-sync my music and go from there, hopefully nothing else after that. If not, then I'm going to have to look into buying another mp3 player. I've wasted too much of my time figuring out the problem, It's been a little over a year owning this current ipod touch, and I've owned other ipods in the past, and this has never happened. It's truly ridiculous.

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Answer 8

lllaass

Level 10

210,411 points

Nov 4, 2013 11:17 AM in response to soulxgurl

It could be due to a bug in either iOS 7 or the current version of iTunes. If that is the case you will have wait for an update.

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Answer 9

soulxgurl Author

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Nov 4, 2013 11:19 AM in response to lllaass

I've heard it may be a bug, but other people have had issues like this from over a year ago, so I'm not entirely sure.

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Answer 10

lllaass

Level 10

210,411 points

Nov 4, 2013 11:21 AM in response to soulxgurl

There have been other posts in this forum with same problem and masome do not seem to have a solution.

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Answer 11

soulxgurl Author

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Nov 4, 2013 11:28 AM in response to lllaass

So I've seen. If this restore doesn't work, I don't know what else to do. Even Apple support couldn't help me.

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Answer 12

soulxgurl Author

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Nov 4, 2013 1:19 PM in response to lllaass

Okay, so It finished restoring it. The music is evidently on my ipod, at least that's what it says on itunes, but it's not showing up on my iPod. The 'other' is now where the songs are,.. What the heck? I don't get it?

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Answer 13

lllaass

Level 10

210,411 points

Nov 4, 2013 1:28 PM in response to soulxgurl

An "other" that large usually indicates that the "other" includes corrupted files.

First try:

"First you go settings/general/usage/music/then left swipe over music and press delete and you would think it deletes your music but it doesn't instead it deletes your other but make sure your ipod is connected to a computer while doing this"

as recommended by:

How do I get rid of "other" storage: Apple Support Communities

Next, usually restoring from backup eliminated the corrupted files. However, sometimes restoring to factory settings/new iPod is required.

To restore from backup see:

iOS: How to back up

Also see:

What is the Other on my iPhone and How to Remove It

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Answer 14

soulxgurl Author

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10 points

Nov 4, 2013 1:55 PM in response to lllaass

So the "other" is corrupted music? How could that be, they were all working fine a few days ago just until I tried to put new music on. They play fine on iTunes.

It says there's no data under music on my iPod. I just finished restoring and backing it up not that long ago for a 2nd time. I don't see how doing it a "3rd" will work any better.... This is truly hopeless. If it's not one thing, it's another.

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Answer 15

soulxgurl Author

Level 1

10 points

Nov 4, 2013 5:11 PM in response to soulxgurl

Well, I unchecked all the songs once again, synced, checked all the songs, then resycned and the "other" went away, but now I'm back at square one where nothing synced and in the "on this ipod" all the songs have the dotted circles next them again. This is rediculous......

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