maasailand giraffe
Level 1 (10 points)
iPad

Q: Sync stuck on "waiting for items to copy"

When using iTunes running on a Mac to sync to iPads, the sync becomes stuck on "waiting for items to copy."

 

We are running iTunes 11.1.5 on a MacBook Pro running OS X Mavericks 10.9.2.  We have three iPads -- iPad 2 + cellular, iPad (4th generation) + cellular, iPad Mini + cellular -- all of which are running iOS 7.1.1.  We have had this problem with all three devices since upgrade to iOS 7.x.  The iPad 2 was upgraded from iOS 6.x several months after the other two were upgraded, and did not have this problem until the upgrade.

 

When attempting to sync, the sync generally becomes stuck on the last step, "waiting for items to copy."  Usually there are few items -- an album or movie here, a play list there, occasionally an app -- that will not sync.  Sometimes they used to be on the iPad in question, but during the sync they disappear.  Other times I am trying to add them to the iPad.  In both cases, after the "waiting for items to copy" disappears (because the sync stops unfinished or because I just cancel the sync), iTunes thinks the items are on the iPad, but they are not.

 

Previously, the sync would be stuck on "waiting" for anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 hours.  Occasionally, it then has copied the items.  But more and more, it doesn't copy them.

 

Most likely related to this, the "other" category of data stored on the iPads is usually suspiciously high.

 

Occasionally, one of the following methods will temporarily solve the problem:

  1. Rebooting the iPad.
  2. Rebooting iTunes.
  3. Rebooting both the iPad and iTunes.
  4. Rebooting the iPad, iTunes, and the MacBook.
  5. Selecting "Restore iPad ..." on the iTunes menu.
  6. Selecting "Restore from backup" on the iTunes menu.
  7. Combining option 5 or 6 with rebooting iTunes and/or the MacBook.

But usually, none of these methods will do anything but waste an inordinate amount of time.  Updating (when an option) to the latest version of iOS 7.x hasn't made a difference.

 

As you can see, I've tried several options.  I've scanned a large number of the related threads here and elsewhere, but to no avail.

 

Any ideas?

 

thanks in advance ...

iPad (4th gen) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iOS 7.1.1

Posted on Apr 25, 2014 11:49 AM

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maasailand giraffe

Q: Sync stuck on "waiting for items to copy"

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  • Helpful answers

  • by judysings,

    judysings judysings Apr 27, 2014 1:03 PM in response to maasailand giraffe
    Community Specialists
    Apr 27, 2014 1:03 PM in response to maasailand giraffe

    Hi maasailand giraffe,

     

    Welcome to the Support Communities!

     

    First of all, thanks for the detailed notes of the troubleshooting steps you've already tried.  It's hard to pinpoint exactly what is going on in your specific case, but I do have a few more ideas for you to try.

     

    Starting with just one of your iPads, when you get stuck on the "waiting for items to copy" step, just disconnect your iPhone.  There are probably some orphaned or corrupt files that need to be addressed.  I would suggest closing all of your open apps and then backing your iPad up to iCloud.  Then review the articles below to move or delete any big files on your device.  These can include Voice Memos (iPhone), music, photos on your camera roll, photos or videos that are attached to your Messages, email attachments, etc.

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1867

     

     

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2519

     

     

    If you need to sync from iTunes, check your settings in the Summary tab to be sure you are only syncing items you have placed a checkmark in front of.

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1386

     

     

    Give this a try on one of your iPads, and hopefully these steps will work for your other devices as well.

     

     

    Cheers,

     

    Judy

  • by Demo,

    Demo Demo Apr 27, 2014 1:24 PM in response to maasailand giraffe
    Level 10 (95,986 points)
    iPad
    Apr 27, 2014 1:24 PM in response to maasailand giraffe

    maasailand giraffe wrote:

     

    Most likely related to this, the "other" category of data stored on the iPads is usually suspiciously high.

    How high is suspiciously high? And even without knowing exactly how high it is, you are probably correct. It should be somewhere between 500MB and 2 or 3GB depending on how many apps you have, how many files, and the amount of associated data. If it's higher than that, that could very well be the problem.

     

    From everything that you tried, restoring the devices as new should correct the problem. But if you have done that and the problem keeps resurfacing, I think that you might have something in your iTunes library that is corrupt and when you sync it back, the problem just starts all over again.

     

    Sometimes photos are the culprit. I would start with one iPad and remove all of the photos from it, resync your other content and see what happens.

  • by AppleThree,

    AppleThree AppleThree Sep 19, 2014 9:48 AM in response to maasailand giraffe
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 19, 2014 9:48 AM in response to maasailand giraffe

    Not fixed in iOS 8. Though iOS 8 did break wifi syncing for me and others, so I guess it got even worse.

  • by jdifour,

    jdifour jdifour Sep 19, 2014 6:36 PM in response to AppleThree
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 19, 2014 6:36 PM in response to AppleThree

    Having problems here with step 7/7, syncing artwork/waiting for items to copy, taking hours and hours.  Not letting me backup to iCloud yet, because the restoration still hasn't finished yet.

  • by dr.j.bond,

    dr.j.bond dr.j.bond Nov 3, 2014 3:06 PM in response to jdifour
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 3, 2014 3:06 PM in response to jdifour

    I'm still waiting for over 2 hours for my phone to sync.  It has been like this on and off ever since ios 8 was released.  How can I stop this from happening????  Why isn't Apple saying anything??? There are THOUSANDS of posts all over the WORLD and Apple doesn't even apologize.  I tried to get help at the apple store, they didn't know anything, total waste of my time.  They suggested a full restore: already did that.  Try another cable: Did that too.  I can't believe how much money I have wasted on a company that no longer cares about it's customers. 

  • by MSlater,

    MSlater MSlater Nov 16, 2014 12:58 PM in response to judysings
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 16, 2014 12:58 PM in response to judysings

    None of these articles are of use. It appears that some files become corrupt on the device and then sync'ing doesn't work at all. I am unable to effect any changes to the music on my device. I've attempted to turn off all music, but by device still has 2543 songs on it, even better iTunes tells me I have 9362 at the bottom of the summary screen and 212 in the "on My Device" section under Music. Best guess one or more of the music files on the device is corrupted and iTunes Sync'ing gets stuck and becomes unable to do anything useful at that point. Then the device remains in sync'ing braindead mode until a restore occurs (if you're lucky the restore clears the issue but I've seen it require multiple restores...no rhyme or reason as to why).

  • by MSlater,

    MSlater MSlater Nov 16, 2014 3:49 PM in response to MSlater
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 16, 2014 3:49 PM in response to MSlater

    Through some combination of incantations, clicking randomly to turn on/off sync'ing, manually deleting music that iTunes refused to remove from the device even though I told it not to sync and music (oh by the way that didn't really work it would start sync'ing indicate it was working and then like magic those would show up again...I finally got it to start copying my music over...it had moved well over 5,000 songs to the device when I got called away. When I returned the computer had gone to sleep and now iTunes is back to "Waiting for items to copy" which makes me think there is an issue with the computer going into deep sleep when only the screen should be going dark. - BTW - I'm running Yosemite but I suspect this may be the issue no matter which version of the OS you are running.