Podcasts won't sync unless 'subscribed'

Not sure if this is a bug, or the way itunes is meant to be, but several podcasts I had downloaded from the itunes store appeared in my 'podcasts' list in the library, and I could play them on my mac, but they would not sync to my ipod (clickwheel model).
Turned out that while I had downloaded these episodes, I had not "subscribed" to the podcast by clicking on the 'subscribe' button above the podcast. When I subscribed to the podcasts, they began syncing to the ipod just fine.
I am assuming this is some sort of bug in the software: why should I be restricted from listening to single episodes from unsubscribed shows on my ipod but not on my mac, even if there were some reason itunes wanted to force me to subscribe to shows?

First I have heard of this problem. Could it be something specific to Mac version.

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Podcasts won't sync - error "no longer exist"

i connected my ipod to sync to itunes. for some unknown reason, itunes was blanked out and when it synced, it wiped everything off my ipod. i reuploaded everything from my hard drive and subscribed to/downloaded podcasts. however, now when itunes syncs with my ipod, i get a message that the podcasts no longer exist so it won't sync. help! i miss my podcasts!!!

It has nothing to do with being authorised, that doesn't affect Podcasts. Plus, you already have them on your computer.
Did you have to change the settings for the Sync Podcasts? If you did, then you may need to perform another Sync to make sure the "change" has been implemented.
If not, then:
Have you previously managed to Sync Podcasts with this iPod?
Are they Podcasts, downloaded as Podcasts through iTunes?
Are they iTunes U programmes?
Are they video Podcasts?
Do you see any error messages when you Sync the iPod with iTunes?
Where, on your iPod, are you looking for the Podcasts?

Podcasts won't sync to the podcast portion of the built in Music App on my iPod Touch. How do I fix this?

Ever since I downloaded the new Apple Podcast App my Podcasts that I subscribe to in iTunes have not worked correctly. I have deleted the Apple Podcast App because it does not work well and I'd rather have the functionality with Podcasts that the sync from iTunes to the built in Music App has. However, now I can't get the podcasts I subscribe to to show up in the original app. My iTunes says that all the podcasts are being synced and it is checked to sync them and even the data storage indicator bar at the bottom shows the amount of space being taken up as if the podcasts did sync but when I go into my iPod Touch in the music app they are not there. How do I fix this? Thanks!

What you're really doing is trying to create a new icloud account using an ID that is not currently associated with a user's account. A device can only do this a fixed number of times (3 or 5, don't remember), after which you must use a different device or computer to create the account.

Purchased, mp3 and Podcasts won't sync to 160 gig classic

I have a six-month-old iPod Classic 160 gig, with about 90 gig of music and 10 gig of video on it. In the last two weeks, though, iTunes tells me that 109 tracks won't sync, with the error message "because they cannot be played on this iPod." Some of them, homegrown movies, I understand, but others are either podcasts downloaded through the iTunes store, purchased music (Sheryl Crow's new album) or recently ripped tracks that I did through iTunes using either 128 AAC or Apple Lossless. Most of the ones I've noticed to date were imported in the last 2-3 weeks, and play fine on iTunes, just not the iPod.
I've tried restoring the iPod and deauthorizing then reauthorizing the computer. Neither works. The next step, I think, would be to rebuild my library, but I have tons of playlists I don't want to recreate (or export/import one-by-one, which is how it looks like have to do it).
I can't help but wonder if this is something related to the latest updates to iTunes, seeing as how it's a such a new phenomenon, and there seem to be several similar posts (although not exactly my situation) in discussions.
I welcome any and all suggestions!
- Paul

Paulza wrote:
... iTunes tells me that 109 tracks won't sync, with the error message "because they cannot be played on this iPod." Some of them ... are ... podcasts downloaded through the iTunes store
Podcasts are completely independent of Apple and iTunes, they're not from iTunes itself. All iTunes does is list the podcast and tell iTunes where to go and find it if you ask to download it. There are other (non-iTunes) Podcast catchers which do the same thing for other MP3 players. So I think that when listing podcasts on iTunes, Apple/iTunes does not consider it's playablity - because it's a podcast and that's the way of Podcasts! Also, the podcaster has probably not produced these podcasts specifically for the iPod and so has not realised that they don't work on our iPods as you and I expect them to.
You could try sending feedback to the podcast creator, explaining that their Podcasts don't play on the iPod itself. They may +_or may not_+ do something about it.
I've had this problem with both audio and video Podcasts. There is an option to convert selections for the iPod which I have tried for the videos, (click on the top menu and *Advanced/Convert selection for iPod/iPhone*. However, this process takes forever and I gave up trying it. I simply watch them in iTunes. I cannot actually remember what I did for the audio Podcasts, but if I right-click (in Windows that is..) on an audio Podcast, I see the option to *convert selection to AAC*. I don't promise that it will work, but you could give it a try.
As for the Sheryl Crow album , if it was purchased from iTunes, I would expect it to play on the iPod without converting it. The same goes for tracks ripped using iTunes on your PC. I can't explain that, perhaps someone else can?
Regards,

Some podcasts won't sync to iPhone

Got a iphone 3GS running 4.0 iOS and when i synced my iPhone to the iTunes, some of the podcasts wouldn't sync. ALL the podcasts are the same format! all are mp4. I double checked. I have no idea why they won't sync. Any ideas?

Interesting... I'd be curious to know whether other subscribers to the podcast experience any similar issues. Regarding the situation with playback on the computer, I'd suggest checking to make sure your computer meets iTunes' system requirements, in terms of processor speed and RAM. To locate this information on your machine, right click on My Computer and choose Properties. The details of the requirements can be located by going to http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/.
If you meet the system requirements, I'd attempt a clean reinstall:
Go into Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs
Remove these applications:
1. Apple Software Update
2. Apple Mobile Device Support
3. iPod for Windows (may or may not be there, either way is fine)
4. iTunes
5. QuickTime
Restart the computer
Download & Install the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301/
Launch the Utility: Start > Programs > Windows Install Clean Up
Select any of the above mentioned applications, and click Remove
Restart the computer again
Download & install iTunes again from here: http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/
If this still does not resolve the issue, you could update your video drivers on the computer via your Device Manager, or by consulting the website for your PC's manufacturer.
You might also want to unsubscribe/resubscribe to the podcast, which should afford you the option to re-download the episodes. If and when you do this, temporarily disable your anti-virus and firewall software to avoid any possible interferences that might be causing you issue.
Regarding the episodes that will not sync to the iPod, you could try right clicking on the file and choosing the option to Convert Selection for iPod. This ought to give you two copies of the file in iTunes... then connect the iPod to sync it, and see if the episode syncs to the iPod.
CG

Some video podcasts won't sync after using iPod to move music to new comput

Hi -
I used my iPod to move my music (and podcasts) to a new computer (from a PC laptop to a Mac Pro). Now when I try to resync it (on either computer) some video podcasts are not synched from iTunes to the iPod. In some cases, all podcasts from the same subscription fail to sync; in other cases, some podcasts synch and others from the same subscription don't. All of the podcasts that fail to synch are video podcasts.

yeah i'm having the exact same problem so thought i'd up this rather than start a new thread. for me, one particular video subscription won't sync at all, and another is fine apart from three videos. particularly annoying as it took an absolute age to actually download them, and now they won't sync.
anyone got any bright ideas?

ITunes 11: Newest podcasts won't sync with iPhone?

I have an iPhone 5 - I abandoned the Podcasts app in favor of just syncing my podcasts through iTunes and listening to them in the Music app.
But since the iTunes update last night, I haven't been able to sync the newest downloads of my podcasts (my settings are to automatically sync unplayed episodes of selected podcasts and delete them from my device once they've been played, upon the next sync.)
I tried the usual re-set, restart of both iTunes and my iPhone. I've even selected a new podcast, and old unplayed episodes of it sync perfectly fine. But there are two or three podcasts that won't sync their newest episodes with my device.
Has anyone else run into this?

I had this issue as well. After trying various things, here's what I did to solve the problem:
- rebooted both the computer and the iPhone (not sure if this is necessary or not)
- turned off syncing of the affected podcasts (in iTunes, click on the device, then click the "Podcasts" tab at the top and then in the Podcasts list I unchecked the specific podcasts that were not syncing
- sync the iPhone (by pressing the Sync button at the bottom right of the iTunes window)
- turned syncing of the affected podcasts back on
- sync the iPhone again
Hope this helps.

Ical won't sync unless I upgrade to ML?

OK, Mac Pro 2007, Snow Leopard. I can no longer sync ical and other things from mac to iphone. I relied on this every single day. I'm told I may not be able to upgrade to Mountain Lion with my machine. Graphics card was upgraded (ATI Radeon HD 5770) so I could connect a 24" display. The icloud sync is the only reason I want to upgrade. I am so mad they took away manual sync. It will only sync ical via icloud and icloud won't sync this OS.
any suggestions, any way to go back to old itunes, lose icloud, I wouldn't care.

Yes, I got my answer. Apple Support was nice enough to help. Turn off ical on the iclound settings on iphone, then a manual sync to ical is available in itunes, otherwise it's not.

My new iPod won't sync unless I have iTunes 10.7 or later, but there is no such version. iTunes 10.6 is the latest. What's going on?

I plugged in my new iPod and a message said that it would not sync unless I have iTunes 10.7 or later, but there is no such version. I checked for updates and iTunes 10.6 is the latest. What's going on?

You need to upgrade the computer's OS to at least Mac OS X 10.6.8, which requires an Intel Mac with at least 1GB of RAM.
(81105)

Video podcasts won't sync.

I subscribe to The Soup Video Podcasts. I had no problem syncing them to my ipod 3G, until I had to replace my harddrive. I erased the songs on my ipod, and synced it with itunes after I had replaced the songs. Now, everytime I sync my ipod, it won't let me put the podcasts on because it says my ipod does not support the videos, but they worked fine before I had to replace my harddrive. Any suggestions?
edit: I'm not sure if videos will sync. I haven't tried yet.
Message was edited by: hey_diana

It might be that the format of the video is not compatable with iPOD - MEANING... that the video is not in MPEG-4 format. You could try to download a video conversion program to change the format. Or use Quicktime Pro.
Try to Google for: "video convert to/for ipod" if you don't have Quicktime Pro, or any other software that can do the same.

Video Podcasts won't sync to iTouch with iTunes 9.0.1.8

There's obviously a bug in iTunes where some video podcasts (ESPN Mike & Mike, ESPN PTI Big Finish for example) do not sync. I get an error saying they are not copied to the iTouch because they cannot be played on this iPod - which is most likely not true. What's going on? Anyone know of a fix or having similar issues?

That's not a bug in iTunes. The message tells you what the problem is - those videos cannot be played on the iPod. That's because they are not in the correct format. My iTunes message actually said the "format was not supported".
There are two options: try converting the video for iPod use. Highlight the video, one at a time, and click on *Advanced/Create iPod or iPhone version.* Each conversion takes quite a while.
The other option (possibly the better one) is to email the Podcast producers to let them know that their video Podcats cannot be played on an iPod. They may not know! I had a look on the PTI website and they seem keen to provide Podacst Feeds for iTunes. This is not quite the same as providing for an iPod.
Podcast producers have been known to issue videos that play in iTunes (via Quicktime), but not on iPods. So if you do email them, let them know where you got the Feed (that is, how you subscribed/downloaded - via iTunes or via their website and iTunes) and detail exactly what doesn't happen.
I've just tried downloading episodes from each of the programmes you mention and they do both fail to transfer to my iPod. But as I said, it's not a bug and it is true. As portable media players (of which iPods are just one type) have evolved, so have the video standards and now some formats simply cannot be played on some devices.
Good luck.
Phil

ItunesU podcasts won't sync to ipod

Hi,
I've tried to follow the instructions about how to sync podcasts from itunesU to your ipod. It says to select your device when it appears then click on the itunesU button and select the podcasts you want to sync and click "apaly". Well if I'm selecting the device then when I select the itunesU folder I have deselected the device. More to the point, there is no "apply" feature appearing. What am I doing wrong? Shouldn't it automatically sync the same way music does?

I think you may have misunderstood the instruction.
Connect the iPod to iTunes and then select the device (which will appear on the left hand side). You should now see the Summary screen which shows (among other things) an icon for the iPod with detail about it, along with a capacity bar at the bottom of the screen.
Look at the top of the screen (not the left hand side) and you will see *Summary, Music, Movies, TV programmes, Podcasts, iTunes U, Books, Photos, Info.* Select *iTunes U* from that list. On this "pane" or tab, you will see *Sync iTunes U* and some options listed beneath that. Make sure the *Sync iTunes U* has a tick in the box and that you have chosen the options suitable for you from the list below it. (If you choose *Automatically include/all/items of/all collections* that will put all the iTunes U on the iPod.) Once you make any changes to these options, there should be either an Apply button and a Revert button, or a Sync button at the bottom right of the screen. (It depends on what changes you have made!) Make sure you click on the Apply or Sync button in order for your choice to be implemented.
To actually find the iTunes U episodes on your iPod depends on which iPod you have! I'm not joking! I only know about the iPod Classic and the iPod Touch (therefore the iPhone as well), so if you have any other model, I suggest you use the search facility on the iPod to find the episodes.
On the _iPod Touch:_ they're hiddden under the Music menu. So navigate to *Music/More/iTunes U.*
On the _iPod Classic:_ for some reason, I can only find iTunes U programmes in the Playlists menu. The Playlists menu can be removed from the *Main Menu* and the *Music Menu,* but I will assume (unless you tell me otherwise) that you can see the Playlists menu on the *Main & Music* menus. So navigate to *Playlists/iTunes U* and you should see the episodes.
Actually - on the iPod Classic you will notice the iTunes U epsiodes appear under both Artist and the Songs menus - a bit weird I think. However, iTunes U programmes (like Podcasts) are set by default to *skip when shuffling,* so if you want to play music on shuffle, don't worry because the iTunes U programmes will not play.
Has that helped?
Phil

Podcasts won't refresh when subscribed but will when unsubscribed?!?

The topic says it all.
Win 7 Pro 64 bit / iTunes 11.3.1 (the latest) / all other hardware well ahead of spec
In the past, I'd had an odd phenomenon when refreshing podcasts - old episodes would appear long after they'd been downloaded, played in their entirety, etc. Only 1-2 of them, easily deleted. A pain, but a minor one.
Now we have a showstopper - podcasts that are subscribed won't update. The update icon appears etc.
Then I unsubscribe. Suddenly the podcast in question (e.g. the episode for the most recent day) appears with the cloud download icon as usual. I can download it with no problem.
Now the insult-to-injury part: re-subscribing to the podcast makes the file disappear from my library!
It's the understatement of the year to say this is contradictory, Bizarro-world behavior. Devising a desperate, random workaround is all very well but hardly a desirable, permanent fix.
I have uninstalled. I have manually cleaned. I have reinstalled. I have burned incense but so far have stopped short of worshiping graven images.
This is the part where I take a bitter swipe at Apple but even the most phlegmatic user must wonder aloud how such chaos is possible especially given the enormous user base.

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Won't sync unless I erase my iPod

When I connect this pops up,
"The iPod, "Lydia's iPod" is synced with another iTunes Library. Do you want to erase your iPod and sync with this iTunes library?"
I believe this is because we recently had a hard drive failure, and I had to re-download iTunes onto our fixed computer... I DON'T want to erase and start from scratch! Is there a way to transfer all my music onto the new iTunes library?

1). Connect your iPod to your computer. When you get the message that it is linked to a different library and asking if you want to link to this one and replace all your songs etc, press "Cancel". Pressing "Erase and Sync" will irretrievably remove all the songs from your iPod.
2). When your iPod appears in the iTunes source list change the update setting to manual, that will let you continue to use your iPod without the risk of accidentally erasing it. Check the "manually manage music and videos" box in Summary then press the Apply button. Also when using most of the utilities listed below your iPod needs to be enabled for disc use, changing to manual update will do this by default: Managing content manually on iPod and iPhone
3). Once you are connected and your iPod is safely in manual mode there are a few things you can do to restore your iTunes from the iPod. If you only want to copy your purchases to the computer that can be done using iTunes, you'll find details in this article: Copying iTunes Store purchases from your iPod or iPhone to a computer
For everything else (including purchases) there are a number of third party utilities that you can use to retrieve the music files and playlists from your iPod. You'll find that they have varying degrees of functionality and some will transfer movies, videos, photos, podcasts and games as well. You can read reviews and comparisons of some of them here:
Wired News - Rescue Your Stranded Tunes
Comparison of iPod managers
A selection of iPod to iTunes utilities:
TuneJack Windows Only (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
SharePod Windows Only (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod2PC Windows Only
iDump Windows Only
YamiPod Mac and Windows
iPod Music Liberator Mac & Windows
Floola Mac & Windows
iPodRip Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod Music Liberator Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
Music Rescue Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iGadget Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iRepo Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod Access Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
TouchCopy Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
There's also a manual method of copying songs from your iPod to a Mac or PC. The procedure is a bit involved and won't recover playlists but if you're interested it's available on page 2 at this link: Copying Content from your iPod to your Computer - The Definitive Guide
4). Whichever of these retrieval methods you choose, keep your iPod in manual mode until you have reloaded your iTunes and you are happy with your playlists etc then it will be safe to return it auto-sync.
5). I would also advise that you get yourself an external hard drive and back your stuff up, relying on an iPod as your sole backup is not a good idea and external drives are comparatively inexpensive these days, you can get loads of storage for a reasonable outlay: Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive

My podcasts won't sync from iTunes to my iPhone

I had been downloading podcasts onto iTunes, with several on auto-subscription, with any new ones auto-transferring to my iPhone each time I plugged it into the laptop via USB. A couple of days ago, I noticed that no new podcasts were showing up on my phone, checked iTunes against the ones on my phone and saw that several new ones on iTunes hadn't transferred. I tried a manual sync, which did not work - new episodes visible on iTunes but not on my iPhone. I tried going into the "Get Info" menu for an individual podcast, as mentioned on one of the other threads, to make sure that it was being recognized as a podcast rather than music or another medium - no change. I tried advice mentioned in another thread (the user who suggested it readily admitted it was a temporary patch job), of adding all past, present and future episodes of a podcast to ensure I get new ones; I saw old podcasts that I had previously deleted, now eligible for download from the cloud, but none of the newer episodes that I had not yet been able to download. The iPhone is a 5S, and software on iPhone, iTunes, the laptop (Macbook Pro, uncertain version) and the Podcast app have all been updated since this problem started as part of my attempt at fixing it.
Any other ideas for things I could do or try? I can't recall updating any component in the chain (laptop, iTunes, iPhone) recently, nor have I changed any equipment, any iTunes settings, any phone settings, or otherwise. These podcasts are a big part of what gets me through an hour and a half commute to work each morning, so any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Here's what I think happened because I am in the middle of it right now. I just bought a ton of videos and also updated my software. I think Apple cleverly decided that now you can not update it without now paying for the Icloud feature that allows you to share all your devices. You have to click Itunes match, I have never seen it before but when I clicked on it it was 24bucks. This is actually pretty lame in my opinion because it moved all my stuff off my ipad on to my imac and now im paying another 24 bucks to get it back where I wanted it .

Podcasts won't sync unless 'subscribed'

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