Constant syncing every time itunes is open?

[plaidhippo]

Hello all,
I noticed several problems with the Take 2 update of the Apple TV, but one of them bothers me more than the others.

Since I updated the system to Take 2, every time I launch iTunes, it constantly tries to sync various content on to the apple tv. The problem is, none of this content is any different - no songs have changed, no movies have been watched, either on iTunes or on the apple tv. Every time, it seems to be different songs or movies, but it is always, always trying to sync something. has anyone seen behavior like this? I'm afraid to turn off itunes because i don't want to screw up the apple tv, but my poor computer needs to sleep for a bit!

If anyone has seen this happen, and hopefully knows how to fix the problem, please let me know!

Thanks,
Ashish

 

[harcosparky]

Maybe it's just checking for changes?

I have TV shows Sync'd with " all unwatched " as an option.

Say tonight iTunes is closed and I watch 2 episodes on the Apple TV.

Next time I fire up iTunes it might check to see what I have watched on the Apple TV and remove it.

My question for you would be .... When it tries to resync, how long does it take?

I just shut off iTunes and reopened it. It did do a 'resync ' that lasted a few seconds.

I dont believe it was really trying to resync any media but was more or less 'checking in ' with the Apple TV ..... kind of like telling the Apple TV .....
" never fear, iTunes is here ! ".

 

[Peace]

It does this because you can now purchase TV shows on Apple TV and it auto syncs back to your Mac.
So when you start up iTunes the Apple TV looks to see if it needs to sync.

 

[MikieMikie]

Hello all,
I noticed several problems with the Take 2 update of the Apple TV, but one of them bothers me more than the others.

Since I updated the system to Take 2, every time I launch iTunes, it constantly tries to sync various content on to the apple tv. The problem is, none of this content is any different - no songs have changed, no movies have been watched, either on iTunes or on the apple tv. Every time, it seems to be different songs or movies, but it is always, always trying to sync something. has anyone seen behavior like this? I'm afraid to turn off itunes because i don't want to screw up the apple tv, but my poor computer needs to sleep for a bit!

If anyone has seen this happen, and hopefully knows how to fix the problem, please let me know!

Thanks,
Ashish

Ashish,

Trying to sync and actually re-syncing are two different things. Which is your iTunes doing?

 

[plaidhippo]

Mike,
It is syncing. Currently itunes is open and it is syncing a tv show that i have not opened on either apple tv or itunes for months. It does the same thing with songs, "syncing" anywhere from a few to hundreds of songs at a time, regardless of the fact that i haven't listened to anything. After letting itunes finish syncing, I can close and open itunes again, and it will start syncing again, sometimes even with the same files. I don't know what you mean by "resyncing", i've never seen it claim that specifically, but all of the content that it tries to "sync" has been on the apple tv for months and hasn't been watched or listened to, so it shouldn't need to "resync" in that sense. Am I missing something? Your help and responses are appreciated!
Ashish

 

[harcosparky]

You might have a setting wrong somewhere.

Start on the SUMMARY tab ( in iTunes/Apple TV .... what is selected there?

I have CUSTOM SYNC selected, and nothing else.


Automatic Sync - might cause what you are experiencing as it allows iTunes to decide what gets sync'd. It gives priority to newer items, but if there is room it will go after older stuff.

When I first started mine up I selected " Custom Sync " then went on to each tab, Movies, TV Shows, Music, Podcast, Photos, and de-selcted all sync'ing. After de-selecting all sync'ing I hit the APPLY button to effect the change.

After that I then went to each tab again and decided what I wanted to sync, and told iTunes to start the sync.

 

[MikieMikie]

Mike,
It is syncing. Currently itunes is open and it is syncing a tv show that i have not opened on either apple tv or itunes for months. It does the same thing with songs, "syncing" anywhere from a few to hundreds of songs at a time, regardless of the fact that i haven't listened to anything. After letting itunes finish syncing, I can close and open itunes again, and it will start syncing again, sometimes even with the same files. I don't know what you mean by "resyncing", i've never seen it claim that specifically, but all of the content that it tries to "sync" has been on the apple tv for months and hasn't been watched or listened to, so it shouldn't need to "resync" in that sense. Am I missing something? Your help and responses are appreciated!
Ashish

Unfortunately, this is not a problem with Apple TV (any more than it would be an iPod or iPhone problem). As harcosparky suggested, the problem lies in iTunes.

I would suggest that you start of by setting your iTunes to sync only a few images and not sync anything else. Try that for a few iTunes restarts and see if it "solves" your problem. It most probably is due to one of two things having to do with iTunes:

1. Your library is on a network drive, like an AirDisk, or is plugged into a different computer on your local network, or
2. Your automatic sync settings on iTunes is doing this, and you need to slap it around a little to figure out which setting is doing it.

In my case, having my library connected to an AEBS caused a complete re-sync every time I started iTunes. I finally had to pull the plug on the drive and relocate it to my computer.

 

[plaidhippo]

Actually, I think you may have hit the nail on the head right there! I haven't got time to remove and resync everything right now, but I noticed it often has trouble with files that are on a backup drive. My library is split between music on the local hard disk and a large external HD that stores movies and tv shows. Maybe that is what is causing the issue? I may try your experiment, simply remove the movies for now, but putting them back on the apple tv will llllooonnngggg time since i'm still running a b network!

Anyway, it would be interesting to hear if others who have a drive that isn't always on (like my mbp that is not usually connected to the external), and see if they have similar behavior.

Thanks for the quick responses all!
Ashish

 

[mike12806]

Actually, I think you may have hit the nail on the head right there! I haven't got time to remove and resync everything right now, but I noticed it often has trouble with files that are on a backup drive. My library is split between music on the local hard disk and a large external HD that stores movies and tv shows. Maybe that is what is causing the issue? I may try your experiment, simply remove the movies for now, but putting them back on the apple tv will llllooonnngggg time since i'm still running a b network!

Anyway, it would be interesting to hear if others who have a drive that isn't always on (like my mbp that is not usually connected to the external), and see if they have similar behavior.

Thanks for the quick responses all!
Ashish

Wish Apple could knock-down these issues with it's programs interacting with network drives.....i.e the Time Machine/AEBS issue. Why can't there be some sort of logic that realizes this is an "external drive", and act appropriately?

 

[MikieMikie]

Wish Apple could knock-down these issues with it's programs interacting with network drives.....i.e the Time Machine/AEBS issue. Why can't there be some sort of logic that realizes this is an "external drive", and act appropriately?

In another thread I announced my abandonment of my "AirDisk."

I think Apple is trying to push too much out the door and is understaffed.

Very disappointing.