Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPhone 4 Won't Back Up

S

smeg36

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 16, 2009
216
6
When I connect my iPhone 4 to iTunes I get this message "iTunes could not back up the iphone because a session could not be started with the iPhone". This happens on multiple computers. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling iTunes. I've done a restore on the iPhone 4. My 3gs backs up with no problem. I have an appointment with the Genius Bar on Monday, but was wondering if anyone has ideas to try and solve this before I go in. Thanks for any suggestions.

Edit-It syncs just fine. It's only the back up that doesn't work.
 
No one has any ideas I could try to get a successful backup? Threads are getting buried so fast right now, I hope someone can help.
 
So I went in for a Genius Bar appointment today to address this issue. They basically told me there was nothing they could do about it because their computers don't allow them to work with backups to prevent customer data being stolen. So I called Apple Tech Support. I've spend a couple hours on the phone with a supervisor trying to troubleshoot this problem, so far without success. He said he's never heard of it before, and spent a lot of time talking with other people there trying to figure it out. None of them knew how to resolve this, so he is talking to the Engineering now, and is going to call me back. I suspect this is going to end in a replacement phone as the issue seems to be something with the phone itself.
 
Got a solution for the failure to backup your iPhone 4

I just got off the phone with Apple Tech Support.
And they have a solution for the error message. It is due to a corrupted backup file so do the following:

1) Go to iTunes:preferences:Devices
2) In the "Device Backups" window select your last backup on that device. If you have other iPhones (I had my old iPhone 3G backup listed) they will show up as well...so choose the device your having issues with.
3) When you've selected the correct device and the last backup the botton that says "Delete Backup" will darken. Click it.
4) Go thru and say "OK" when prompted.
5) Go back into your iTunes app window and **right click** on your device that is having back up issues.
6) In the pop up window choose "Backup".

That should do the trick. If you have lots of apps like I do (28GB of mostly apps and some music)...it will take awhile.

-rang
 
I've tried that, and it didn't work for my specific problem. Thanks for the suggestion. I still have a pending case with Apple, but haven't heard back from them in a few days.
 
rang said:
I just got off the phone with Apple Tech Support.
And they have a solution for the error message. It is due to a corrupted backup file so do the following:

1) Go to iTunes:preferences:Devices
2) In the "Device Backups" window select your last backup on that device. If you have other iPhones (I had my old iPhone 3G backup listed) they will show up as well...so choose the device your having issues with.
3) When you've selected the correct device and the last backup the botton that says "Delete Backup" will darken. Click it.
4) Go thru and say "OK" when prompted.
5) Go back into your iTunes app window and **right click** on your device that is having back up issues.
6) In the pop up window choose "Backup".

That should do the trick. If you have lots of apps like I do (28GB of mostly apps and some music)...it will take awhile.

-rang
Click to expand...

^This

If you really don't want to lose your backup (as in, your iphone is completely blank and you are relying on this one and only backup to restore your settings/photos/etc), you can make a copy of your backup folder found in C:\Documents and settings\user\application data\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup

Just copy the latest backup (check the time stamp for latest date modified) to your desktop and you can use other programs to remove the necessary data from this folder and its files
I've also found a copy of this backup found in C:\Documents and settings\user\application data\Apple Computer\iTunes\Mobile Backups

Your OS may vary.
 
Update - This issue persists, even after multiple attempts with tech support. They think they'll have to replace the phone.
 
Restart

I got the same error message with my 3GS. It wouldn't back up, but sync just fine. A restart solved the problem for me.
 
Well it didn't on mine. Apple finally replaced it with a new phone yesterday. The new phone backs up just fine. So whatever the problem was, it had to be something with the hardware. I can't imagine how the hardware would cause this problem, but it happened even after a restore, so it must have been. I'm happy now that everything is working fine.
 
Wow...I'm having this problem, too. What happened to all your data on your phone that you couldn't back up?

smeg36 said:
Well it didn't on mine. Apple finally replaced it with a new phone yesterday. The new phone backs up just fine. So whatever the problem was, it had to be something with the hardware. I can't imagine how the hardware would cause this problem, but it happened even after a restore, so it must have been. I'm happy now that everything is working fine.
Click to expand...
 
I manually backed up my photos and videos. My contacts and calendar sync with Gmail. I lost everything else.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back