Stuck waiting on changes to be applied iTunes Win12.0.1.26

My latest sync contained a total of 4257 tracks (I didn't think the playlists would be that large). The sync started, went past the "waiting on changes to be applied, the started converting and copying tracks. Note this was done via USB cable.

Up to now, things went okay. This is where this went to he#@ in a handbasket. I tried my next batch, estimating about 4K tracks; It went to "Waiting for items to copy" and became stuck there. I killed the sync a few times and deselected playlists to reduce the amount of tracks to by sync'ed. I am still at the "Waiting for items to copy". I'm wondering if the issue involves not only the number of tracks to be sync'ed but also the total tracks that iTunes or iOS can handle. More as I have it.

In first appearance, it appears that once the Sync fails, the storage space space is reserved, internally in iTunes. It may be the only way to get around the issue, is to re-delete all music items, and start again. I will have to add a smaller number of tracks during each sync to see if that will work.

In My Device under Music, I show 7923 items, after removing some playlists, however, the high had gone about 8600. The available storage space climbed to 11.07GB free, and will not drop no matter what I have tried so far.

Will update this post with more information, and hopefully a solution.

Well, things didn't go as well. Last sync went past the waiting stage, but began syncing books. It became stuck at syncing books. I stopped the sync, disconnected the iPhone and removed a couple of more playlists before restarting. Now it went back to the original "waiting for changes..." message. On the iPhone I had a sync error message, which I can't remember, and all of my music (close to 8000 tracks) was wiped.

Guess I'll be starting over, and opening a case with Apple when I have a chance.

If you would look at two messages up you'll see iTunes reported 11GB free. I will report on 'reported free storage as I go forward. Thank you for pointing he fact out.

So at 1233 tracks/13GB and seven playlists used, I have I have 71GBs free,

Btw JJ, are you with Apple?

That is my plan, I'll sync my largest playlists first and the smallest later, but I'm afraid that it may be a bug on total storage or number of tracks, we'll see. 48.5GBs free now.

Well, it wasn't any of the issues we discussed.

There is is a bug in the iTunes sync module. When you select an item/group to be synced with a mobile device, the contents bar used to reflect the available space, post transfer. that way you could change selections to suit your available storage.

1. Now iTunes will flash the storage bar on the bottom, but will not always reflect the available space post transfer. Sometimes it shows what would happen to storage post pending transfer, but for smaller transfers, it flashes and keeps the numbers the same.
2. if after making a selection, you make more selections, it appears iTunes sync becomes confused as to the available space. Sometimes it will reflect the change, but most times not. If you remove items, they will not be reflected.
3. when you execute a Sync, iTunes tries to reconcile what it thinks it needs to transfer, with the device, and it appears this is were it becomes confused and hangs. It will not resolve no matter how long you let it sit, and will never begin copying tracks.
4. if you disconnect and reconnect the device, iTunes Sync remains confused, i.e. Will continue showing storage used from the last sync, even though nothing was transferred. You can verify by going to the device and looking for tracks.
5. as a bonus, when the above happens, iTunes will delete most tracks on the device, except those in the Purchased playlist.

SOLUTION

1. Uselect all items in iTunes sync list for that device
2. Execute a sync
3. Dis-connect and reconnect device
4. Repeat 1 to 3 as necessary
5. Turn off music sync for the device
6. Execute a sync
7. Ddisconnect device
8. On the device, delete all tracks not on purchase playlist, in other words anything previously sync'ed
9. Reboot the device and reconnect
10. Reselect Music sync for the device And execute sync
11. Tag new playlists or other items for transfer; make sure the number of items selected remains below 2,000 tracks, and within the available storage on the device
12. Execute a sync and let it finish; if it is interrupted, start over
13. Repeat items 11 and 12 until all your music has been transferred

DO NOT TRUST THE ITUNES STORAGE METER

Actually step 1 should say all Music items. (although I must say it ended up re-syncng every-thing).

As for item 5, I tried that, but when I reselected it, iTunes remembered my selections. That's the reason for steps 1 through 4. Sort of like shampooing, lather, rinse, repeat until iTunes forgets everything that was selected.

I think there has been an iTunes upgrade, and of course there has been an iOS upgrade, so the issue may be fixed. But if not, the above will allow one to come close to filling up their iDevice storage.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I have found the issue. It is not a bug, it is a feature... 😝

There is a known issue, (check any search engine), which Apple has not addressed. Music and apparently other media gets stuck on iOS, even after removal. It then shows up in the OTHER storage category.

I bought a file explorer for iOS and I could see the files. I deleted them, they disappeared, but OTHER still shows 92GBs of storage.

The only solution was to restore the iPhone, restore from a backup and add my music back.

So now I'm out $40 for the explorer that couldn't help, and I still had to restore my iPhone.

Apple, ARE YOU READING THIS?