iPad sync stuck

[shooter.tx]

So I tried to back up my iPad yesterday in anticipation of transitioning from iOS 4.3.1 (IIRC) to 4.3.3

It wasn't finished by the time I had to leave work, so I left it plugged in and went home.

Imagine my surprise when I arrived at work this morning to find... it was still syncing!

I can't click on the little "circled x" button in iTunes, and the status is "Syncing [iPad name] (Step 5 of 5)" -- it is still "Determining tracks to sync" (which is exactly where it was when I left it yesterday afternoon.

It does say "Sync In Progress" at the top of the iPad screen, but the "Slide To Cancel" slider switch at the bottom won't work (the touch screen itself seems to be completely unresponsive).

And I don't know if this helps any, but in the top-right of the screen, where the battery/charging icon is located, it says "Not Charging."

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

The most relevant thread I could find was this one:

"2nd gen iPod touch stuck - please help!"

 

[patrickj]

Sync can freeze up at times, as you're clearly seeing. You don't have many choices. Just unplug the sync cable from your iPad, then restart it if necessary to get it responding again and start over.

You should be able to skip the backup stage of sync as it sounds like that part completed before the sync froze.

 

[shooter.tx]

Sync can freeze up at times, as you're clearly seeing.

Understatement of the year!

I just got back to my office after a two-hour meeting, and there has [finally!] been some movement.

It now says "Starting Sync" and has the little candy-cane bar at the top of iTunes.

You don't have many choices. Just unplug the sync cable from your iPad,

Wouldn't this damage... something?

then restart it if necessary to get it responding again and start over.

You should be able to skip the backup stage of sync as it sounds like that part completed before the sync froze.

I don't know if it's relevant, but before every back-up, I go to my "Users > [me] > AppData > Roaming > Apple Computer > MobileSync > Backup" folder and copy/paste the hex-named folder (i.e. my last backup) to another location. So I've got ALL of my backups, not just the latest one (just in case that one is now corrupted).

Also, from the file/folder path I just posted, it's pretty obvious I'm on a Windows machine, lol...

 

[patrickj]

Understatement of the year!

I just got back to my office after a two-hour meeting, and there has [finally!] been some movement.

It now says "Starting Sync" and has the little candy-cane bar at the top of iTunes.



Wouldn't this damage... something?



I don't know if it's relevant, but before every back-up, I go to my "Users > [me] > AppData > Roaming > Apple Computer > MobileSync > Backup" folder and copy/paste the hex-named folder (i.e. my last backup) to another location. So I've got ALL of my backups, not just the latest one (just in case that one is now corrupted).

Also, from the file/folder path I just posted, it's pretty obvious I'm on a Windows machine, lol...

It shouldn't damage anything to just pull the plug on a sync. I've done it many times if it has frozen up. Your backup process shouldn't have any impact on this issue.

If it's made some progress now you can just wait on it, but that number of hours for a sync is ridiculous. I would kill it.