Sync Problems on 8GB iPod Touch

[flg8or99]

Hi - I received an 8GB iPod Touch for my birthday in May and it's been pretty good.

Lately, though, I can't consistently get stuff to sync to it. I can't get videos to sync to it at all. I go into iTunes (one of the worst pieces of software ever, IMHO) pull the .mp4 videos (which used to sync onto and play on my iPod just fine) into the library, check the boxes and do a sync, and they don't go over.

I've noticed that I also don't have an "apply" button in the lower right of iTunes like many say I should have - but I've never had it and it used to work.

I've got iTunes 7, and it used to work.

If I put a CD in my computer's drive, it imports all the songs into my iPod, no problem. But there are songs in my library that won't sync over, and even if I click the box next to them and then sync, sometimes they go over and sometimes they don't.

And now I can't even get photos to go over - I can't even find the iTunes section to put photos in anymore.

Reading the horror stories about the new software (thanks, you make an upgrade and make us pay $10 for it? Well done there.) makes me skeptical that throwing more money at the problem will be a solution.

So any help anyone could give would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[jhollington]

Hi and welcome to iLounge.

Lately, though, I can't consistently get stuff to sync to it. I can't get videos to sync to it at all. I go into iTunes (one of the worst pieces of software ever, IMHO) pull the .mp4 videos (which used to sync onto and play on my iPod just fine) into the library, check the boxes and do a sync, and they don't go over.
Firstly, do these videos play in iTunes itself?

How are you selecting your videos for synchronization to your iPod? You need to connect the iPod, select it in iTunes, and then ensure the videos are selected for synchronization on the appropriate tabs: Movies, TV Shows, or Videos tab (depending on the type of content and model of iPod). Videos you import yourself without specifically changing the "Video Kind" will be tagged as "Movies" by default, and will therefore be controlled from the "Movies" tab (traditional iPods) or "Videos" tab (iPod touch and iPhone).

By default, iTunes does not synchronize ALL videos to your iPod unless you specifically tell it to. Further, each iPod you connect to iTunes will have different synchronization settings specific to that iPod, so just because these synced to your old iPod does not mean that they are set to sync to your new one. Check the sync settings.

You may want to check out our article on Managing Videos in iTunes (http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/the-complete-guide-to-managing-itunes-videos/) for some more information on how this all works.

I've noticed that I also don't have an "apply" button in the lower right of iTunes like many say I should have - but I've never had it and it used to work.
The "Apply" button only appears after you make changes to the sync settings themselves. The "Sync" button in the bottom right corner will switch to a pair of "Cancel" and "Apply" buttons if there are unsaved changes to your sync settings.

If I put a CD in my computer's drive, it imports all the songs into my iPod, no problem. But there are songs in my library that won't sync over, and even if I click the box next to them and then sync, sometimes they go over and sometimes they don't.
Again, ensure that these songs are included in your sync settings. If you're only syncing certain playlists, these tracks need to be in those playlists.

And now I can't even get photos to go over - I can't even find the iTunes section to put photos in anymore.
This is in the same place it's been in since iTunes 6: Select your iPod and look for the "Photos" tab in the sync settings. You don't manage photos directly through iTunes, of course -- you only tell iTunes which folders or application to draw your photos from.

Our Complete Guide to Displaying Photos on iPod + iPhone (http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/the-complete-guide-to-ipod-photo-pictures/) has some more information on how this works.

[flg8or99]

Hi and welcome to iLounge.

Thank you!

Firstly, do these videos play in iTunes itself?

Yes, they do.


How are you selecting your videos for synchronization to your iPod? You need to connect the iPod, select it in iTunes, and then ensure the videos are selected for synchronization on the appropriate tabs: Movies, TV Shows, or Videos tab (depending on the type of content and model of iPod). Videos you import yourself without specifically changing the "Video Kind" will be tagged as "Movies" by default, and will therefore be controlled from the "Movies" tab (traditional iPods) or "Videos" tab (iPod touch and iPhone).

Yes, I do that.

By default, iTunes does not synchronize ALL videos to your iPod unless you specifically tell it to. Further, each iPod you connect to iTunes will have different synchronization settings specific to that iPod, so just because these synced to your old iPod does not mean that they are set to sync to your new one. Check the sync settings.

I don't have an old iPod. This is the first one I've ever owned. Doing what you have described used to work on this iPod, the only one I've ever owned.

I think checking the sync settings may be the first place to start, but I don't know how to do that. I'll look around. Thanks.

The "Apply" button only appears after you make changes to the sync settings themselves. The "Sync" button in the bottom right corner will switch to a pair of "Cancel" and "Apply" buttons if there are unsaved changes to your sync settings.

In the bottom right corner, I have "Quickly browse your iTunes library" and "Eject disc" buttons, but that's it. No cancel. No apply. No sync.

Again, ensure that these songs are included in your sync settings. If you're only syncing certain playlists, these tracks need to be in those playlists.

Okay, I'll have to check that out because I'm not 100% sure what you're talking about. Again, this all worked from May until about mid-to-late July just fine.

This is in the same place it's been in since iTunes 6: Select your iPod and look for the "Photos" tab in the sync settings. You don't manage photos directly through iTunes, of course -- you only tell iTunes which folders or application to draw your photos from.


I can't find "sync settings" anywhere. Not in preferences, that I can see. If you can advise where I can find that, that would be helpful. Thanks again!

[jhollington]

Okay, let's back up a step....

When you connect your iPod, is it appearing in your iTunes source list at all? Normally you should see it under a "Devices" heading which appears between your iTunes Store categories and your Playlists. It will only appear when the iPod is actually connected to your computer, of course.

Selecting the iPod from this source list should show the iPod configuration settings in the main window. This should show a Summary tab, as well as tabs for Music, Videos, Photos, etc. This is also where you would see a Sync (or Apply/Cancel) buttons.

If the iPod isn't appearing in iTunes at all, then this means that iTunes isn't detecting it, and of course therefore nothing is going to sync to it. This could be caused by any number of other problems, including a conflict with some other USB device you've recently installed, a USB driver issue of some other kind, a bad USB cable, or a USB port/hub problem.

[flg8or99]

I got it sorted. You know what the problem was?

That infernal "upgrade to the latest iPhone software for $9.99" ad. It had come up for so long and I never realized because of my screen real estate that I could say "no, thanks" and go back to the stuff that's underneath (the stuff you normally see when you click on your iPod in the left hand column).

So, yeah, it recognizes it. The settings are there. I'd been trying to click checkboxes in the library things and thinking THAT would sync it the next time, but, of course, it doesn't.

I was able to get all the videos and all the photos and all the podcasts over to my iPod that I was looking for. Thank you.

Now, I do have a problem with some stuff in my music library that doesn't go over. Some of the songs have a little exclamation point inside a gray circle and those seem to transfer over. Or something. I still can't tell. But not all the songs in my library, even the ones that have their checkboxes checked, transition over to the iPod for some reason. I'm tempted to blow all the songs off the iPod and start again with a new file folder with all the .mp3s in them.

The only other thing my iPod does that bugs me is it keeps resetting its time zone to Denver (I live in Arizona). My work ISP is Qwest, which is in Colorado, so I don't know if our Wi-Fi network is telling it "Hey, you're in Denver!" or what, because it does it at home sometimes, too (where Cox is my ISP).

And it will occasionally have the date and time just randomly reset to some different date and time. Which is annoying, but not maddening, because I don't use it much for a clock or a calendar. I just wish it didn't do that.

But thanks for your help! It's good now.