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SYNCRONIZING MUSIC FROM ITUNES TO IPOD NANO!

SYNCRONIZING MUSIC FROM ITUNES LIBRARY TO IPOD NANO NOT WORKING, THOUGH ALL INSTRUCTIONS WERE OBSERVED AND EVERYTHING IS UPDATED. WHAT CAN BE WRONG? HELP ME!

iPod nano, Windows Vista

Posted on Feb 5, 2016 5:45 AM

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Posted on Feb 5, 2016 9:16 PM

Please provide some more details... When you connect iPod, does the iPod appear in iTunes?


It says you use Windows Vista. What version of iTunes do you have?


Do you want iTunes to automatically sync songs to the iPod when you connect it (or click Sync if already connected)? Or do you want to load songs manually, by dragging and dropping songs on the iPod in iTunes?

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Question marked as Best reply

Feb 5, 2016 9:16 PM in response to ruisista

Please provide some more details... When you connect iPod, does the iPod appear in iTunes?


It says you use Windows Vista. What version of iTunes do you have?


Do you want iTunes to automatically sync songs to the iPod when you connect it (or click Sync if already connected)? Or do you want to load songs manually, by dragging and dropping songs on the iPod in iTunes?

Feb 6, 2016 3:47 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Thank you!


Yes, the iPod appears in Itunes.


The iTunes version is updated and it's the same that used to work well both here at the Vista and with my iPod.


I want to sync automatically all the music to the iPod and I followed all steps at the Apple support. I guess there is some bug, because at my iTunes library I have hundreds of music themes ( approx. 7GB, and after sync I have less than 2GB in the iPod, like less than 100 music themes...

Feb 6, 2016 5:02 AM in response to ruisista

I don't think there's a "bug." If you just upgraded to iTunes 12 (current version), your iPod may be set to use the Manually manage method to load songs (drag and drop songs on iPod in iTunes). Therefore, songs will not automatically sync when you connect iPod (or click Sync if already connected).


To check, select the iPod in iTunes (click its device button on horizontal bar) to show its settings screen in iTunes window. Along left side (in the sidebar), under Settings, click Music. To the right, the iPod's Music settings screen is shown. Is the checkbox for Sync Music checked?


If it is not checked, the iPod is not set up for automatic syncing. To turn ON automatic syncing, checkmark Sync Music.


NOTE: Any songs on iPod that are not in your iTunes library (on the computer) will be lost.


Below that, if your complete iTunes music library can fit on the iPod, you can choose the option to sync Entire music library. Otherwise, choose the option to sync Selected playlists, artists, album, and genres. Below that, select what you want on the iPod from the lists below, such as playlists. When you click Apply, iTunes syncs your selection to the iPod. Going forward, iTunes automatically keeps your iPod "in sync" with your iTunes music library or the portion you selected on the iPod's Music settings screen.


If Sync Music was already checked, how is the iPod's Music settings screen currently set up?

Feb 7, 2016 3:42 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

I had previously followed all steps provided by Apple Support.


The automatic sync music box was checked.


I chose and tried to sync entire music library (less than 7GB), which clearly fits the iPod (8GB).


I don't understand also why there is a " ! " next to almost songs at iTunes library, nor what you mean iPod's Music settings screen...


One thing I know: my music is lost, I must start from zero and I can't rely on Apple/iPod/iTunes.

Feb 7, 2016 4:05 AM in response to ruisista

The exclamation point ( ! ) next to songs means iTunes is no longer able to find the song's file, where it was previously located. For example, this can happen if you move the song files outside of iTunes, using a file manager. Or they are deleted. And that would explain why most of your songs are not syncing to the iPod; iTunes has lost track of where the song files are located. iTune can still find the "less than 2GB" portion that syncs to the iPod, but iTunes cannot locate the remaining song files.


Do a right-click on one of the songs with an exclamation point, and select Get Info. On the Info window, go to the File tab. Look at Location, to see where iTunes expects to find that song's file. Do a search on your computer for the song's file name (as shown at the end of the Location path). Are you able to find the song's file on your computer? Unless you remember deleting a large number of song files intentionally, there's a good chance the song files are still located on the computer's storage somewhere.


NOTE: On a Windows PC, using the iTunes default settings, it's possible that the song files were located outside of the iTunes folder. For example, if you added songs to the iTunes library from a "Downloads" folder, iTunes may have been linking to the song files from that location.

One thing I know: my music is lost, I must start from zero and I can't rely on Apple/iPod/iTunes.

It depends on the actions taken that resulted in iTunes losing track of the song files. If they were just moved, you can move them back and iTunes will find them. If they were deleted, and you don't have a backup of your user data, then they are lost.

Feb 7, 2016 4:24 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Yes, thank you, that possibly explains the problem, however the mistery remains: no change was done to the computer or whatever setting, no technical intervention or malfunction detected and I'm its only user. I know what I'm writing: nothing was done. Like hundreds of times before, I made a sync and... lost everything.


So just wondering what kind of thing might have happened.


And so one must have the library backed up in one or more external drives.

Feb 7, 2016 4:35 AM in response to ruisista

Did you do what I suggested in previous reply? Do a Get Info on one of the songs with exclamation point. On the Info window, go to File tab, and look at Location. That tells you where iTunes last saw the song's file, before it lost track of it. Please copy that file path shown in Location, and paste it into your next reply. Seeing the expected location may provide a clue about how the song's file became lost to iTunes.

Feb 7, 2016 9:32 AM in response to ruisista

That looks like the location for iTunes to store its song files, using the old folder organization. Having the old folder structure is normally not a problem, but it may be related to your problem. For this song example, using the current (new) folder organization, that same song would be stored at


file://localhost/C:/Users/sony/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Intérprete desconhecido/My Favourite Songs, Vols. 1-2_ The Last/01 Faixa 1.m4a


I used bold text to indicate what is different between old and new folder organization. The iTunes Music folder is now the iTunes Media folder. And there is an additional folder level called Music that separates your Music song files from other types of iTunes media, such as Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts, etc.


Can you use Windows Explorer to navigate (follow the file path) to the location of the new folder organization that is shown above, to see if that song file called 01 Faixa 1.m4a can be found there? Each "level" (starting after C:) is a folder name. So, show your C: drive, then double-click on the Users folder, double-click on sony folder, double-click on the Music folder, and so on, until you don't see the next folder or you get to the song file.


OR, you can do a file search in Windows on "01 Faixa 1.m4a" to see if that missing song file is located somewhere in your computer's storage. Can you find that song file? If you find it, where is it located?

Feb 7, 2016 10:24 AM in response to ruisista

But you did say the iPod still had "less than 2GB" after syncing. So, those songs must still be stored in your iTunes library's storage location. When you look in your iTunes music library, there must be some songs that do not have the exclamation point. Do a Get Info on one of those songs. What is the Location file path for a song that is still accessible?

Feb 7, 2016 11:47 AM in response to ruisista

In the first Location path for a "missing" song with exclamation point, the path started with file://localhost/, and the slashes between folder names are regular (forward) slashes. In the path for a "surviving" song, the path starts with C:\ and the slashes are all back slashes. Did these come from different places, when you did a copy/paste? Or does the iTunes Info window actually show these Location paths differently.


For the second path, if you follow the path (navigate) using Windows Explorer, do you see the song file stored at that location? If you do, go back to the iTunes Music folder along the path. You should see many other folders there with Artist names. That's where your song files are (or should be) stored. Do you see any Artist name folders there for songs that are missing (with exclamation point) in iTunes?

Feb 7, 2016 12:28 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

I hope this autopsy will help someone!


The search you suggested led me to the library of the Windows Media Player where the surviving music remains. Yes, at the library of windows media player I see folders with Artist names and the music is there too. And I don't see at the Windows Media Player Library the songs that are missing (with exclamation point) in iTunes.

Feb 7, 2016 1:08 PM in response to ruisista

Not sure I understand. Are you saying you found the missing song files, and they are currently stored at the location used by Windows Media Player. If that's what you are saying, it makes sense, if you added those song files to your iTunes library from that location. But I don't know why they suddenly became missing in iTunes, if you did not change the location of any of those song files. iTunes should continue to use those song files from that location.


All of the missing (exclamation point) songs are former Windows Media Player songs? That probably means all of your still accessible songs were purchased from iTunes Store (or imported into your iTunes library) at a later date.

SYNCRONIZING MUSIC FROM ITUNES TO IPOD NANO!

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