Music and Video apps are empty - Corrupt data? Plus iTunes freezes

[SleepMaster]

I have an iPad 2 and a MacBook running OS 10.5.8

The iPod app and Videos app on my iPad are completely blank. The iPod app doesn't even show "Music" "Podcasts" "Playlists" etc in the left side bar, and the volume bar is there but the volume slider is missing. The play/skip buttons are there but they can't be pressed. The videos app is just grey and white spaces. When I go "About" in the settings, the photos videos and music stat says "Loading" indefinitely. But photos are working.
When I connect my iPad to my MacBook to sync, iTunes freezes immediately. The iPad doesn't show up in iTunes, iTunes simply freezes and shows the loading balloon, until you unplug the iPad. The iPad is still usable when connected to the computer.

All this started after a sync went wrong the other day. I left my iPad to sync and when I came back three error messages were piled onto top of each other. "Sync could not completed because the iPad could not be detected." "Sync could not be started because another sync session is in progress." etc. It was a complete mess. Everything crashed and froze so I unplugged everything. But it appears as though some syncing did happen, because my newer apps now appear in iTunes.

And finally, my iPad won't turn off anymore. The spinning wheel goes on forever.

I tried turning everything off and on again. I reinstalled iTunes. I reset the settings on my iPad. I synced my iPod classic (that had a problem at first but I fixed it) and I synced my wife's iPad on the separate user account on my MacBook.

Corrupted music and video? What are your recommendations? I was going to factory restore my iPad but I thought I'd come and get advice here first.

Thanks.

 

[twerppoet]

If you have not done so, try a reset first.

Reset: Hold down the power and home buttons until the Apple logo appears. The iPad will reboot. This usually takes a bit longer than a restart.

Also, close iTunes and restart your computer before connecting again (provided the reset stops the iPad problems).

 

[SleepMaster]

If you have not done so, try a reset first.

Reset: Hold down the power and home buttons until the Apple logo appears. The iPad will reboot. This usually takes a bit longer than a restart.

Also, close iTunes and restart your computer before connecting again (provided the reset stops the iPad problems).

Thanks for the reply. I already tried a hard reset several times. Unfortunately it didn't solve any of the problems.

 

[twerppoet]

Darn. I don't think I've got any other advice that will help. It sounds like you've got two problems. One with the iPad and another with iTunes. Normally I'd recommend a restore for the iPad, but with iTunes on the fritz you won't be able to get the iPad working again afterwards.

If you have access to another computer with iTunes you may want to try and see if that computer will at least recognize the iPad. Don't sync, just see if it comes up and gives you the warning about the iPad being associated with another computer. If it does, then concentrate on getting iTunes working first. Then you can look into doing a good backup and restore on the iPad.

But my main recommendation, if you've got an Apple store near, make a genius bar appointment. Or call Apple Tech support. If you are still within the first 90 days of your purchase it is free.

 

[SleepMaster]

I synced my iPod classic. And I synced my wife's iPad on her user account on the same computer. Does that suggest that the problem might just be the iPad?

Also just discovered now that new apps won't download. It says "Waiting" and doesn't change.

 

[twerppoet]

That does sound like the iPad.

Are you using it's power supply and cable when it gives you the charging error? You'll want a good charge on it before continuing.


Ok, make sure you don't have any data/files on the iPad that you can't afford to lose. Mail to them yourself if you need to.

You can do a restore on the iPad itself without iTunes. Go into Settings > General > Reset, and erase all content and settings. This should put it back in the same state your received it in. Then connect it to iTunes and follow the prompts. When you initialize it should offer a chance to restore from backup. Up to you. If the backup is damaged, which it could be from your description, it will fail and you'll restore again.

On the off chance that you are experiencing hardware failure, none of this will work and you'll have to contact Apple and see about a replacement.

That's all I've got, unless someone else has a better solution, advice.

 

[SleepMaster]

I went for Erase Everything. I'm still looking at the spinning shut down wheel after ten minutes. Apple's support website says this should only take a few minutes.

 

[twerppoet]

I went for Erase Everything. I'm still looking at the spinning shut down wheel after ten minutes. Apple's support website says this should only take a few minutes.

Try the reset again.


Reset: Hold down the power and home buttons until the Apple logo appears. The iPad will reboot. This usually takes a bit longer than a restart.

 

[SleepMaster]

I did the reset again and another erase everything. Everything erased successfully the second time. And it synced with iTunes just fine. I didn't restore from the backup because it might have been corrupted. Everything is fixed. I even synced it a few more times just to make sure. Thanks for your help!

 

[twerppoet]

No problem. Glad everything worked out.