Why Does an iPod Take So Long to Sync?
What does the iPod need to sync?
When an iPod syncs to iTunes, it does several things. In fact, it starts syncing before iTunes even loads. When you first plug in an new iPod or iTouch, your computer automatically installs the proper drivers needed for your system to recognize, interact and use the device. Once installed, it also tells the computer what to do when the device is plugged into it. During this process, it also syncs the iPod to your computer via iTunes whether the software is open or not.
iPod syncing allows music, other media and system data to be transmitted between the iPod and the computer. This means that if you are not manually managing music, iPod syncing takes care of all of this without you worrying about it. This makes it easy for someone with limited computer knowledge to use an iPod without worrying too much about how to transfer music and data to the device.
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Why does the iPod take so long to sync?
There are several reasons why iPod syncing could take so long. In most cases, it is because erroneous data is being transferred to the device not from it. Erroneous data comes from mismatched ID3 tags, large album artwork and other data-based information not necessarily media. In some cases, media may force the sync process to take longer but if you are utilizing USB 2.0 technology, this rarely is the case. Sometimes problems with your iPod or iTouch's hard drive can cause it to sync longer than necessary.
How can you speed up the sync time?
There are several ways to speed up an iPod syncing. First, make sure you are using the latest version of iTunes and have updated your device with the latest firmware. Next, make sure your ID3 tags and artwork are either not there or completely done. Missing artwork, ID3 tags and other mismatched information encoded into your files can make it harder for the sync to happen seamlessly. Finally, if you notice your device is syncing longer than usual, you might want to check out the iPod or iTouch itself. It may have been damaged or the hard drive might be damaged.
Want to know more?
- Does your iphone take FOREVER to sync/backup?
A blog on some tricks to speed up sync time. - How Long Does Your iPod Take to Sync?
More discussion on the iPod syncing issues that arise through iTunes. - Why does the 3G iPhone take so LONG to sync?
Discussion on why the iPhone takes so long to sync. - Why does itunes sync take so long after 2.0 upgrade
Discussion on Apple's forums about why iTunes takes so long to sync after firmware updates. - Fluther: Why on earth does my iPod classic take so long to ...
Another discussion on why the iPod Classic takes so long to sync.
I'm going on two hours, and it is still only on step 1. I have to hold the laptop exactly right the whole time, so that the power cord doesn't come unplugged (battery is pretty much dead), and the laptop doesn't overheat like it did after an hour of attempting to sync yesterday. So much for going to bed early.
I've got a 16Gb iPad that is 80% full of books, music, and video. The sync process takes over 3 hours! And if I plug the iPad in a few days later without having added or removed any apps or other content (all i've done is run a few apps and read a few books), the automatic sync process kick in for again for a few hours! To take that long iTunes must be transferring gigabytes of information - 99.9% of which is not needed to be transferred as it exists unmodified on both iTunes and the iPad. If the sync/backup process only transferred what is different since the last time I plugged in, it would take mere milliseconds. Man, do I hate iTunes for this, and Apple's lousy programmers! It is soooooo annoying that I feel like smashing my iPad across the edge of the desk and breaking it in two. At least I wouldn't have to wait for the sync anymore.
almost on 24 hours and still going Windows/XP
24 hours and still going...Windows/XP
4 hours in and on song 1410 of 10399...
Mine only takes like 20 mins to sync?? And i have like 3000 songs..and I thought it took long haha
Great hub that you have made. I run out of adjectives
I got board surfing the web on my planets so I thought I would connect threw a random Earth Network I was surfing what you people call google on what ipods look like on your current time and I found this article so anyway I think I will comment on my "ipod".
I currently live on planet Zarvo it's 1 trillion light years outside of you guys solar system so it's unlikely you will reach it in your time. Anyways I don't got a ipod instead I have a lil chip inside my brain that can hold well over 100 million nanobytes so does half the people here on my planet. What you all call terabytes, petabyte. I 50TB of music and 1000, in movies. I Don't think anyone aged 18-45 will see nanobyte in their lifetime since I been reading future web archives past 2011 nothing seems to show up past the yottabyte which does not show up in ipods/computers tell 2096. Well whoever ip I am on I bet it going to get banned since whoever runs this site will see this post as spam.
The hint that worked best for my is to make sure Convert highter bit rate songs is not checked. Synced 4000 songs in about 20 minutes.
my ipod hasn't been synced in a while and as of rightnow is has been syncing for over 48 hours
I am going on 24 hours myself and am hopeful that this is a one time issue and that it goes faster the next time. How do you test a hard drive on an ipod touch?
going on 45 hours.
Damm
Katelyn 19 months ago
I've been waiting about 3 hours for mine to sync. *slams head on table* =_=