Cannot sync photos via iTunes or iCloud

[Riquez]

Hi there!

In iTunes; I select my iPad (mini) & go to the photo tab, then tick "sync photos" & apply. It begins to sync photos, but then at "step 4 of 5" an error pops up "could not sync error -50"

iMac, mavericks, iOS 7.1

I have followed the apple knowledge base articles on error -50 (this is misleading I believe because it relates to the store & my music, apps etc are all fine. It is ONLY when I tick photos that I cannot sync.
I also followed the apple article about photo syncing, but it did not help.

Things I have already tried*

iTunes Store: "Error (-50)" when downloading purchased content (error -50)

iTunes: Unable to sync photos (unable to sync photos)

After this, I restored my iPad. Everything is working again EXCEPT, I still cannot sync photos!
Additionally, after restore, I have another problem. In iPhoto on my iPad all the photos are missing. My iCloud stream says 1000 photos, my camera roll says 635 photos, but it's all just missing image icons.

Any ideas what I can do?

 

[abababababab]

A hard reset of the iPad helps in most cases.

HARD RESET : Press and hold the home and power button simultaneously for about 20-30 seconds until the Apple logo appears.

If this does not solve your problem, I'm quite clueless...

Welcome to iPF! Enjoy your time here!

 

[Riquez]

Thanks. Hard restart may have helped to kick iCloud into action. I am now seeing photos appear on the iPad photo stream.
I am still unable to use iPhoto on my Mac to sync photos though. I suspect now this could be corrupt iPhoto database - I will attempt to rebuild it & see where that takes me.

 

[abababababab]

Thanks. Hard restart may have helped to kick iCloud into action. I am now seeing photos appear on the iPad photo stream. I am still unable to use iPhoto on my Mac to sync photos though. I suspect now this could be corrupt iPhoto database - I will attempt to rebuild it & see where that takes me.

I'm sorry I cant help you now because I don't have an iMac and don't use iPhoto. Other members might know how to solve your problem.

I'm glad that what I said helped. In most cases such as an app not responding, unexpected loss of data, a hard reset usually solves the problem.

Good luck with your rebuilding! Please post the results! It may help somebody else with the same problem... that somebody may be me myself, if I get an iMac

 

[Riquez]

OK, for those that may follow I have a update - not a solution, but a workaround at least.

(iCloud photo stream WILL come back eventually, it just take a long time - so don't worry about that if you restore)

Anyway - (my report is Mac specific, but I am sure you can find the Windows equivalent with a quick search)

After speaking to Apple Support for about 2 hours, the issue has been narrowed down to a corruption problem in the computers iPhoto Library.
(did you recently recover your computer from a back up? fresh install your OS? - I did & it may well be due to that process. Thats MY guess.)

To confirm this:

Problem: When ticking "sync photos" in iTunes, your sync fails with the error "cannot be synced, unknown error -50". (syncing other data is OK, only when ticking photos is there a problem)

Test: HOLD alt/option (mac) & open iPhoto. You will be prompted to create a new Library. (the old one will be left untouched)
Import a few photos to your new library.
Quit iTUNES & re-open it. Connect your device & go to the photo tab. Click Sync Photos, you will see your new library. Sync - it should now work.
In iPhoto you can switch between your old & new Library using the FILE >Switch Library option.

Additionally: You may also import photos to your device by using iTunes "Sync Photos*From Folder* " option.
This is a workaround to get your photos onto your device without using iPhoto.


This is not a fix, my issue is ongoing. I am posting only to help future readers. In my case rebuilding the iPhoto Library (hold option/alt when opening iPhoto) was not able to correct the problem.