How to squash a syncing bug in iTunes 9.1.1

iTunes 9.1 brought a feature to all iPods that had previously only existed for the Shuffle: the ability to sync lower bitrate, 128 kbps AAC versions of songs. With only a modest reduction in sound quality, enabling this feature saved nearly 2 GB of space on my 16 GB iPhone 3G. After enabling it, the feature works by re-encoding songs on the fly to the lower bitrate the first time you sync your iPod. This will likely be followed by a very lengthy first sync as hundreds or even thousands of songs are downsampled to 128 kbps AAC, but all subsequent syncs are supposed to skip this step altogether unless you make major changes to your music library.

Since iTunes 9.1.1, however, I've noticed that there's been an extremely lengthy sync operation every single time I've synced my iPhone, with hundreds of songs that were already on my iPhone being re-encoded again for no apparent reason. Fortunately I haven't been the only one with this bug, and the folks at Mac OS X Hints found a solution to iTunes 9.1.1's syncing bug.

If you've been experiencing this issue, it's likely you're running an earlier build of iTunes 9.1.1. Go into iTunes -> About iTunes, and the window that pops up should give you the build number. If it says "iTunes 9.1.1 (11)" you have the build with the syncing bug. According to Mac OS X Hints, this syncing issue arose because iTunes 9.1.1 (11) changes the Modification Date on a song every time you play it.

The solution is simple: go to Apple's iTunes page and re-download iTunes. Once installed, the build number should be iTunes 9.1.1 (12), and the syncing bug should go away. This new build isn't being pushed out to people who downloaded iTunes 9.1.1 (11), so it won't show up in Software Update; you'll have to go get it manually. If you haven't enabled the option to convert higher bitrate songs to 128 kbps AAC on your iPod or iPhone, you have no reason to download iTunes again, and you can carry on as normal. This solution is only for those who have enabled this option and run into the syncing bug described above.

For me, the first sync after installing iTunes 9.1.1 (12) still re-encoded 600+ songs, but that was likely because I'd interrupted the process during the last sync. Subsequent syncs haven't needed to encode those songs all over again, so in my case, the problem seems to be fixed. As always, your mileage may vary.

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Source: http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=201005051741266…

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iTunes 9.1 brought a feature to all iPods that had previously only existed for the Shuffle: the ability to sync lower bitrate, 128 kbps AAC...

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Albert

I'm having major problems synching my IPOD to Itunes 9.1.1 on my PC. Every time I plug my IPOD, a message stating "The software required for communicating with the IPOD is not installed correctly. Please reinstall Itunes to install the IPOD's software." I've tried reinstalling Itunes, resetting my IPOD, and every other tip on the Apple website but with no avail. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!

May 10 2010 at 8:55 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Stefen

This has been happening to me for a while now. I called apple and asked why and they said it was because it was updating the songs "rating" from the itunes store. That didn't make any sense. My iPhone would re-sync hundreds of songs. Im so glad this wasn't only me! I thought i was going crazy! Thanks TUAW!

May 08 2010 at 12:09 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Mystic

Downloading the new version fixed most of the songs that were syncing, but I still have 1 that continues to sync everytime! Also it determines gapless playback of about 50 tracks everytime!!

May 07 2010 at 9:11 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Dan Gould

My artwork is all screwed up now. Never had a problem before 9.1.1. Can't seem to fix it, not even with v12.

May 07 2010 at 5:49 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

david

THANKS!

From what I can tell it use to scan for "gapless playback info" on every sync.

May 07 2010 at 4:39 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Mike Hill

I've had this problem on my iPod Nano 5G, as well as the iPad. In both cases it seemed that the same songs were copied over and over again. I disabled the option on the iPad.

Have downloaded and reinstalled iTunes 9.11 on the MBP. I had the same problem after the install with the Nano 5G. Most if not all of my music was ripped from CD's using iTunes. Some has been purchased from the the iTunes store.

Have unsync'd all music, and I'm currently resync'ing to the 5G. Will post the results.

I'm trying to recall when I first enabled this option for the Nano, I think it was before the 9.11 upgrade.

May 07 2010 at 3:53 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Sherman

My sync issue is less serious. The songs don't re-encode every single time I sync, but for whatever reason, the Gapless Determination for the AAC songs runs every time I sync. It adds an extra minute or so, so it's not a huge deal, but stil. Anyone have the same problem?

May 07 2010 at 3:39 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Sherman's comment

L. Wolfe

If you have custom ringtones then that's what's likely causing the issue with iTunes running gapless determination.

Here's a solution to issues syncing ringtones (Credit: Ygor Lemos).

"In order to solve this you will have to do the following for each ringtone:

First of all, go to iTunes Preferences and in General, click on the Import Settings button ( after "When you insert a CD" ).

Select the following options:

Import Using: AAC Encoder
Setting: High Quality (128 kbps)

You can enable error correction if you want, it will make no difference.

Now, do the following.

Go to Ringtones, drag your ringtone to your desktop.
Rename the .m4r file to .m4a
Delete the Ringtone ( and move to trash ) on iTunes.
Drag your .m4a renamed file back to iTunes.
Select the file and on iTunes Menu go to: Advanced -> Create AAC Version
A new file will be created ( If you go to Info on iTunes you will see that the file is now 128kbps )
Delete the old .m4a from your iTunes ( and move to trash )
Delete the old .m4a file from Desktop
Empty your trash
Now drag the copy created on iTunes ( the 128kbps one ) to the desktop again
Delete it from iTunes ( and move to Trash )
Rename the .m4a file on your Desktop to .m4r
Drag the .m4r file back to you library
Resync your iPhone
Go and select your ringtone on your iPhone Settings -> Sounds Menu
That's it folks... I did it to my 12 Custom Ringtones and It works nicely !

Remember to turn back the Setting to iTunes Plus on your iTunes Settings so when you copy a CD to your library the quality will be far better."

May 07 2010 at 4:06 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Dan

Just wondering for those who use this feature: Does iTunes convert the songs and make a copy? I have my iPod that I put all my Apple Lossless Files on and I don't want to lose these but it would be nice to just have some MP3's on my iPhone so I can fit more.

May 07 2010 at 2:51 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Dan's comment

Chris Rawson

iTunes doesn't actually do anything to the original files on your computer. So if you've got Apple Lossless files, you'll still have them; the only place the 128 kbps AAC files will exist is on whatever device you've set up to have them. So if you set the option on your iPhone but not your iPod, the iPhone will have 128 kbps AAC, while the iPod and your computer will both have Apple Lossless.

May 07 2010 at 3:45 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

h0mi

having a very different sync issue... no problems with itunes but explorer on 3 different computers/oses (1 lacking itunes altogether) will not recognize my phone and allow me to pull pictures off the phone

May 07 2010 at 2:22 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

tuaw

This update fixed the music re-sync problem for me, but it wasn't related to the modification date. After syncing my Touch, I could unplug it and immediately replug it in, and it would still re-sync 109 of 612 songs every time.

I'm still having a problem where it can't down-convert one of my songs (error code -208, whatever that is. Apple doesn't publish the meaning of error codes, according to an Apple Care tech I spoke with about a different iTunes error I was getting).

May 07 2010 at 1:05 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply