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Fixing the iPhone sync freeze

Posted 28 December 2007 @ 4pm in Troubleshooting

Several users are experiencing an issue where the iPhone synchronization (sync) process freezes partway through, never completing and sometimes causing a crash in iTunes. There are a few promising new fixes for this issue, as follows:

Kill CrashReport process (Mac only)

  1. Leave your iPhone connected (or plug it in if it is not already connected).
  2. Launch the application “Activity Monitor” located in /Applications/Utilities
  3. Look for the process called “MDCrashReportToo” (by searching in the upper right corner or organizing by name) and select it.
  4. Quit the MDCrashReportToo process and re-attempt the sync in iTunes.
  5. Deselect all sync options and isolate the problem
  1. Leave your iPhone connected (or plug it in if it is not already connected).
  2. Deselect all sync options. This requires going to the Info, Ringtones, Music, Photos, Podcasts and Video tabs and unchecking every box.
  3. Sync your iPhone. Note that this may result in deletion of some data from the iPhone.
  4. Re-attempt a sync with all of your normal options. If it fails, try checking only one or two sync options and repeat the process until you find the problematic sync data.

Disconnect from the Internet

  • Simply break your system’s network connection (unplug an Ethernet cable or turn off wireless connectivity if necessary) and re-attempt the sync.

For more potential sync issue fixes, see the following previous articles:

Feedback? info@iphoneatlas.com.

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5 Comments

Posted by robfol
29 December 2007 @ 4pm

“Quit the MDCrashReportToo process”

This worked for me - sync started immediately I force quit this process THANKS

Posted by tsfreedman
30 December 2007 @ 7am

It’s possible that these freezes could be related to reported problems with USB devices under Leopard. The iPhone cradle, of course, is a USB device and I have had numerous occasions where I had to unplug and replug the cradle in order for the sync process to work.

Posted by Rick Auricchio
30 December 2007 @ 9am

No, it’s definitely something happening at one of Apple’s servers. Since most of the company is on vacation for the holiday week, it’s possible there’s nobody there to notice the fault.

The problem is affecting plenty of Tiger users, including myself.

Posted by Rick Auricchio
2 January 2008 @ 8pm

By the way, it’s working fine for the past day or two.

Posted by lightyear04
6 January 2008 @ 6pm

This can also be due to unacknowledged Sync alert windows regarding .Mac sync service items such as keychains, widgets and the like which are occurring behind the active iTunes window. I have had a number of times encountered an iPhone sync that seems to “hang” and when I minimized the iTunes window, there was a .Mac sync alert window simply waiting for the user to acknowledge the addition or deletion of widgets, etc. Once I either approved or canceled the alert, the iPhone sync proceeded as normal in iTunes. This is not an error it is just that the Alert window is not being brought to main focus and the user is unaware of the request being made of them.

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