iTunes freezing during sync (iPod Classic 160GB stops syncing)

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Level 1

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iTunes freezing during sync (iPod Classic 160GB stops syncing)

I have about 19000 mp3 files in my iTunes that I am trying to sync to my 160GB iPod Classic (2009). I have updated to the latest iTunes and my iPod is updated to 2.0.4.

The iPod is recognized and syncing begins like normal and files begin to transfer… BUT iTunes freezes at some random file and stops syncing. Basically iTunes says it is still syncing (but stuck on one file) and the iPod is showing the “Do not Disconnect – Please eject before disconnecting” screen. It looks to me like the iPod thinks it is done but iTunes is still trying to sync.

I have to manually close iTunes and restart the computer to get iTunes working normal again. I can close iTunes but cannot get it to open again before restarting the computer unless I manually go into the Task Manager and end all iTunes processes.If I do this and bring iTunes back up then start to sync again, the sync is completely stuck on the first song while the iPod does not respond to the syncing at all.

If I restart my computer then start over again then I can begin syncing, but the same thing happens again.

By the way, I have had an iPod touch 3G on this same computer with iTunes and have never had a syncing problem like this ever.

Here are some of the things I have figured out and done to try and fix this:

• I have removed all of the songs (files) in iTunes that the program cannot find on my hard drive anymore.

• If it freezes, the songs that it said were being synced to the iPod are not actually on the iPod. Only 2-3 of the first songs sent during the sync have stayed on the iPod. Well most of the time. In manual mode they seem to “stick”.

• I have restored my iPod back to factory settings. That has not solved the problem.

• I have figured out that this has NOTHING to do with corrupt files. The file that it is freezing on seems completely random (I have done this about 10-15 times) and sometimes it freezes sooner and sometimes it freezes later. I also checked to ensure the files are not corrupt; which they are not. I even deleted them from the list at first when I first had the problem.

• I have set it to sync only checked songs then set only 30-50 songs at a time to transfer. Besides taking FOREVER to sync my iPod (shouldn’t it be easier?), it can still randomly freeze up to where iTunes is syncing, but the iPod is not. Basically it can happen on song #451 or on song #3. The odds of a freeze are much lower it seems with very few songs at a time, but it can still happen, no matter how few I do.

• I have tried manual syncing… same problem. It will freeze during the update.

• I have tried different USB cables with no effect.

• I have tried different USB slots.

• Reinstalling windows... that did not solve it.

iPod classic, Windows 7

Posted on Jan 22, 2016 1:20 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Buckie1967

Level 1

4 points

Jan 2, 2018 10:14 AM in response to musefian

Just to resurrect this thread as I was having same problem with my classic 120GB and 160GB.

Tried everything and both i-pods would load around half of my music (around 12,000 songs in total) but then my whole computer would freeze and I would have to turn my lap-top off completely and let it re-boot again.

I eventually decided to download my music in groups of around five albums at a time.

I have now cracked the problem due to adopting the above method....I had one album (out of the hundreds that I have) which must have been corrupted and would cause this computer freezing issue. I would never have been able to pin point this album without doing the transfer methodically. Once it froze I revisited the five albums I was trying to transfer at the point of the freeze and started to transfer these albums individually until I selected the one which caused my PC to freeze again.

I then deleted the identified problem album and hey presto both i-pods are now able to complete a full transfer without an issue.

This may help others that are experiencing the same problem but for me it was a duff album file and not my I-Pod or i-tunes. In fact if I probed a bit further it may well have been just one song on this album but I was happy to ditch the whole album in order to resolve this issue, which thankfully it did.

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Answer 2

Jan 22, 2016 5:38 AM in response to musefian

Sounds like you did a lot of trouble-shooting already. Like hard drives used with computers, the mini hard drive in your iPod becomes unreliable over time. So the cause may be the hard drive failing to write data at random times. That may not be the cause in your case, but it is possible.

As a test, if you have other USB devices connected at the same time, you can try shutting down the PC and disconnecting all USB devices. You can leave standard USB keyboard/mouse connected, if used. Do this to put the iPod into Disk Mode

Putting iPod into Disk Mode - Apple Support

Start up computer, run iTunes, and connect iPod to a direct USB port, by itself. iTunes may prompt you to do a Restore with a message about "recovery." Tell iTunes to proceed. After the Restore completes, try doing a full sync again. If that does not help, please post back.

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Answer 3

turingtest2

Level 10

278,363 points

Jan 22, 2016 5:38 AM in response to musefian

See Corrupt iPod classic. What are the HDD stats?

tt2

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Answer 4

musefian Author

Level 1

9 points

Jan 22, 2016 5:38 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

I tried this method and ipod restored successfully.but after restore itunes still freezing during sync again.The problem is not solved.

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Answer 5

musefian Author

Level 1

9 points

Jan 22, 2016 5:40 AM in response to turingtest2

Here are my stats:

Retracts:54

Reallocs:16376

Pending Sectors: 0

PowerOn Hours: 148

Start/Stops: 29198

Temp: Current 27c

Temp: Min 17c

Temp: Max 56c

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Answer 6

Jan 22, 2016 5:55 AM in response to musefian

One other thing I can think of for you to try is to reformat the iPod using Windows, like it's a regular USB storage device. Quit iTunes if it's running. With Windows 7, I think you can select FAT32 as the disk format. If there's an option to do a quick format, select to do a full format. When the operation completes, the iPod's hard drive is completely empty (no onboard software). Run iTunes and do a Restore on iPod to reinstall its software. Then, try doing the full sync again.

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Answer 7

musefian Author

Level 1

9 points

Jan 22, 2016 6:33 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

I formated ipod using Windows(full format) and even used "HDD low level format tool software" for full format and its formating completely with no problem and then restore ipod... The problem is not solved.

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Answer 8

turingtest2

Level 10

278,363 points

Jan 22, 2016 8:56 AM in response to musefian

I reckon that hard drive is dead, you're maxed out on reallocations. Data cannot be written and reliably read back.

tt2

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Answer 9

musefian Author

Level 1

9 points

Jan 22, 2016 12:55 PM in response to turingtest2

BUT why i can put my ipod in disk mode and connecting it to my home tv as a external storage and record movie on it without any problem!i say it work as a universal storage!

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Answer 10

turingtest2

Level 10

278,363 points

Jan 22, 2016 1:57 PM in response to musefian

You might be able to write data to the drive, but it does it read back reliably?

tt2

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Answer 11

Jan 22, 2016 7:34 PM in response to musefian

When used as a regular storage device, the iPod may work fine, depending on where data is being written (or accessed). When iTunes does a sync with a large amount of data, it is systematically writing data starting at one "end" of the storage medium and filling up the hard drive. If a portion with damage is encountered during the sync, iTunes is not able to write data as expected, which is probably the cause of the described problem. Hard drives can "reallocate" sectors showing errors (identified as "bad"), but only to a certain extent.

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