Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Unable to Sync Photos; Error -50

by MHOsborn Dec 14, 2009 11:41PM PST

I see a large number of users in Apple's Discussion Boards are unable to sync photos to their iPhones and iPods, receiving an error -50 when attempting to do so.

Syncing of all other data works fine.

I, too, am experiencing this issue. I don't know if this is an iPhoto, iTunes, or Mac OS X 10.6.2 issue. (Am running the current version of all three).

This problem occurred several months ago, but was fixed with a Software Update. Obviously, something broke it again.

Oddly enough, I've yet to see anything on the MacFixIt page about this.

Discussion is locked

12 Posts
- Collapse + Expand Details
- Collapse -
Not seen this error personally,
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Dec 15, 2009 5:47AM PST

Anyone mention a Restore of the iPod/iPhone?

P

- Collapse -
Don't Think It's an iPhone/iPod Issue
by MHOsborn Dec 15, 2009 9:14AM PST

I don't think this is an iPod or iPhone issue, as all other content syncs fine...it's just photos that seem to be causing problems. If I tell iTunes not to sync photos, everything works fine. Restarting and resetting the iPhone had no effect on the problem.

Unfortunately, this issue is compounded by another problem (though I've no idea if the two are related). I only have the option of syncing all photos, albums, etc....or none of them. The option to select specific albums is grayed out on my iMac for some reason. (Others have noticed this behavior as well).

Below are some links from Apple's discussion boards:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2263147&tstart=0

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2263747&tstart=100

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=10724668&#10724668 (old, but still valid!).

- Collapse -
No fix, or even decent suggestions,
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Dec 15, 2009 9:28AM PST

sorry I can't help.

Keep us posted if you find anything

P

- Collapse -
Will Advise
by MHOsborn Dec 15, 2009 9:37AM PST

I will probably call Apple Tech Support tomorrow nite, if for no other reason than to ensure Apple's aware of this issue and are working on (another) fix.

- Collapse -
Problem Solved; It's an iPhoto Issue
by MHOsborn Dec 16, 2009 8:02AM PST

After reading the posts contained in this Apple Discussion topic (90 posts, so this isn't an isolated incident):
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2121223&tstart=50

I was able to determine the problem was caused by the latest iPhoto update. Apparently, this update doesn't like certain slideshows and/or music in the slideshows.

I deleted several slideshows and turned off the music in all remaining slideshows. Two things happened:

1. No more error -50 when syncing my iPhone.
2. I now have the ability to sync only selected albums, etc. This wasn't available before I "pruned" the slideshows. (Strange...I wouldn't have thought these two bugs were related!).

- Collapse -
(NT) Nice piece of sleuthing.
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Dec 16, 2009 8:57PM PST
- Collapse -
Credit Goes to Apple Discussion Boards
by MHOsborn Dec 16, 2009 10:29PM PST

Actually, I can't take any credit for the workaround I discovered. It was pretty much right there on the Apple Discussion forum for iPhoto. (I'd not checked that board...instead, I found some info in the iTunes and iPhone boards).

It's clearly an iPhoto issue, though, and I'm hoping Apple can issue a patch soon.

- Collapse -
-50 ipod sync iPhotos issue -- FIXED!!!
by ponokona Apr 11, 2010 6:45AM PDT

You are brilliant! I was just about to give up. I changed the folders I was sync'ing to in my iPhoto and it worked! Now I have photos on my ipod once again.

- Collapse -
Unable to Sync photos
by l4xam Feb 2, 2014 11:25PM PST

I too have been having this problem for over a week now. on and iphone 4s, an iphone 5s & also my ipad 3. i have tried everything i can think of including restoring my ipad back. I use a macbook pro and as i also have a windows 7 laptop I tried using that to resolve the problem but again without success. I wondered whether to delete itunes (or iphoto) all together and reinstall but dont want to lose anything. hope its resolved soon.

- Collapse -
(NT) This problem was fixed 4 years ago
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Feb 3, 2014 6:54AM PST
- Collapse -
Unable to sync photos on ipad or iphone 5s unknown error (-5
by l4xam Feb 4, 2014 6:06PM PST

sorry - but the problem is obviously back again - it has only just happened to me (january 2014)

- Collapse -
(NT) Start a new thread containing all the relevant information
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Feb 4, 2014 8:33PM PST
Back to iPhones, iPods, & iPads forum

CNET Forums

Operating Systems
Software
Electronics & Gadgets
Hardware
Tablets & Mobile Devices
General Help
Brand Forums
Roadshow Autos
Off Topic

Other Forums

Forum Info