Question re: deleting corrupt files stuck in "Other" without restoring??

GO TO ADMIN PANEL > ADD-ONS AND INSTALL VERTIFORO SIDEBAR TO SEE FORUMS AND SIDEBAR

GadgetGuru72

New member
Joined
Sep 13, 2004
Messages
2,497
Points
0
Location
Los Angeles, CA
Hi everyone-

It has been a long time since I've been to these forums. It looks like I still have a "moderator" badge, though. Things just got crazy busy, and I haven't been spending much time at any forums.

But, I have a problem, and know this is a huge community, so here we go ...

My iPhone is kind of a pain. Every couple of months while trying to sync new music from iTunes, it will get stuck in the "waiting for items to transfer" stage and just hang forever. If I kill the sync, the music files remaining on the phone become corrupted.

What I have done in the past is use a program like DiskAid or iFunBox to manually go in an delete the contents of the "Music" folder, and then go back to iTunes and put all my music back. This typically works, and I've been forced to do this about 3-4 times.

Well, it happened again, but with a new twist. This time, when I went to delete my 40GB of music, rather than just deleting it, it now shows up under "other" when I connect to iTunes. So, I now have 42GB of "other."

If I look in the general settings, it shows 0 songs. The music player shows no content. But, the available space on my phone is only 1.5GB because it thinks there is 42GB tied up in "other."

I connected back to DiskAid and iFunBox trying to find that 40GB of apparently corrupted music files, but I can't seem to find it.

So, my question to the group is ...

Is there a way to find and delete this 40GB of apparently corrupted music files *WITHOUT* doing a restore?

I know that I can restore from my most recent backup, but in an ideal world I'd rather not do that. I've been on vacation the last couple weeks, and if I do a restore from my most recent backup, I will lose the progress I made on a bunch of games.

I'm obviously perfectly willing to lose that progress and do a restore if it's my only option, but I wanted to post this question and make absolutely sure there are no easier methods.

I am not jailbroken, and have no desire to be, so options that require a jailbrake won't work for me.

If it matters, I am using the iPhone 5, with the latest iOS, the latest version of iTunes, and a Windows 8 machine.

Huge thanks in advance to anyone who can help me!!
 

rockmyplimsoul

Active member
Joined
Jan 3, 2006
Messages
5,483
Points
36
Location
In the Pub
Website
www.last.fm
Welcome back to the old haunts, not sure if we ever crossed paths but there are few new mods keeping things up around here (mostly me and cjmnews).

You might have a look at this thread (did you search before posting? LOL!!)
http://forums.ilounge.com/ipod-touch/280395-why-am-i-waiting-half-hour-changes.html

There is some discussion about your very issue, and unfortunately I think your situation requires a restore, hopefully with your latest backup if it didn't get corrupted. The long sync time is a problem for those with lots of music on their iOS device, and the long sync time seems to cause some to yank the cord prematurely (thus creating a large Other).

Take a look, and maybe add to that thread if you have related questions or comments.
 

GadgetGuru72

New member
Joined
Sep 13, 2004
Messages
2,497
Points
0
Location
Los Angeles, CA
I think we might have crossed paths early on, but judging from my ridiculously outdated forum signature, I didn't even have an iPhone yet when I stopped visiting regularly. Seems like ages ago now.

I did see that other thread, but it didn't seem related. My issue is/was not about waiting a long time to sync. When my sync gets hung up, it would say in the "waiting for items to copy" stage indefinitely. I once let it sit overnight for 7+ hours and it hadn't budged. Clicking the "x" to force stop the sync is my only option.

It definitely sounds like I'll have to do a restore. I don't think my latest backup is corrupted. I was just really hoping not to have to do that.
 

GadgetGuru72

New member
Joined
Sep 13, 2004
Messages
2,497
Points
0
Location
Los Angeles, CA
rockmyplimsoul-

Let me ask you another question ... one that will reveal that I am no longer deserving of the "GadgetGuru72" moniker. I may have to drop the "Guru" part.

I have a computer-based backup that is like 3 weeks old.

I also have an iCloud backup that is only 2 days old.

If I restore from the iCloud backup, I would likely avoid losing all the game and other app data that I am concerned about losing.

But, admittedly (and embarrassingly), I know next to nothing about iCloud backups.

It shows my latest iCloud backup is only 857.2MB. I don't use iTunes Match, so my music resides only on my laptop.

If I opt to restore from the iCloud backup, will that solve my problem? If the backup is only 857.2MB, I have to assume the corrupt files from "other" are not in that backup.

Would I also be correct in assuming that the iCloud backup will restore all my settings, apps, app data, etc., and then I would simply connect to my laptop to restore the music and ringtones?

I apologize, and fully realize these are ridiculous questions, but if you're willing to share the answers I'd greatly appreciate it.

I'll also have to do some of my own research on iCloud backups.

Thanks!!
 

rockmyplimsoul

Active member
Joined
Jan 3, 2006
Messages
5,483
Points
36
Location
In the Pub
Website
www.last.fm
No problem, you can still be a guru in my book ;-)

An iCloud backup contains what you'd need, although there are some differences between what gets backed up to iCloud vs. a local backup. You can compare what's backed up between these two articles and see that the list of things is longer with an iTunes (local) backup:

iTunes Backup: iTunes: About iOS backups
iCloud Backup: iCloud: iCloud storage and backup overview

Regardless of which backup you choose, the apps and media need to be re-installed from your computer. Because of that, and since you have a local backup, iTunes may prefer to use the local backup -- I can't say for sure if it gives you a choice. I've only done a restore from an iCloud backup once and that was initiated by the "Reset All Settings" right from the device, not computer. I had to later follow up with connecting to iTunes to finish loading all my content.

You can try restoring right from the device by using the "Reset All Settings" and load your iCloud backup, just make sure you're on Wi-Fi to speed the process up. Or, since you have nothing to lose (I hope!) restore from iTunes first and see if it gives you a choice to use your iCloud backup.

Good luck!
 

GadgetGuru72

New member
Joined
Sep 13, 2004
Messages
2,497
Points
0
Location
Los Angeles, CA
An iCloud backup contains what you'd need, although there are some differences between what gets backed up to iCloud vs. a local backup. You can compare what's backed up between these two articles and see that the list of things is longer with an iTunes (local) backup:

iTunes Backup: iTunes: About iOS backups
iCloud Backup: iCloud: iCloud storage and backup overview
Thanks! I'm wondering if the reason the iTunes backup list is longer is that the iCloud backup page includes many of the separately listed items under the broader "device settings" bullet point.

The iCloud backup page specifically states that you can use the iCloud backup to set up a new device or restore an old one. If it contains limited data, you would think they would explicitly state that if you have a local backup available, that is preferable.

Anyway, restoring from iCloud appears to be my only shot at not only getting my 40GB of space back, but also not losing all the app data and saved games from over the last couple weeks since my last local backup.

Maybe I'll start with an iCloud backup, cross my fingers and hope it works and, if it doesn't, restore from the local backup.

Thanks for all your help!!
 

GadgetGuru72

New member
Joined
Sep 13, 2004
Messages
2,497
Points
0
Location
Los Angeles, CA
Good luck!
So, I did the restore via iCloud, which put back everything but the music. I then connected to iTunes and put back the 42GB of music. I now shockingly have an extra 5GB of space, which must mean there were other corrupt files on there that I didn't know about.

Very easy from start to finish.

Thanks again for your help!!
 
Top