Q: iPad 2 [CDMA, iOS 4.3.5 (8L1)] update fails: unknown error occurred (9)

> The following Knowledge Base article offers up what that error

> indicates and provides some recommendations:

> [...]

   Thanks for the response, but, as I thought that I had made clear:

>    All the usual suggestions (different computer, USB cable,

> "/etc/hosts" file, and so on) had no effect or did not apply.

   Also:

>    A visit to the local Apple store was even less productive,

> duplicating the whole range of failures, [...]

   Beyond the OS itself, I have no "security software" on either my

MacBook or my Mac Pro, and I assume that the fellow in the red shirt at

the Apple store had none on his MacBook, either.  (He certainly seemed

to expect his update attempts to work.  He acted as if had done this

before, with more success.)

   Similarly, getting the same result with all combinations of my two

USB cables and two computers left me pretty confident that the problem

lay elsewhere.  Again, the fellow in the red shirt at the Apple store

used _his_ cable with _his_ MacBook, and got the same result.

   So, as I said, "All the usual suggestions (different computer, USB

cable, "/etc/hosts" file, and so on) had no effect or did not apply."

   My complaints remain:

   o Attempts to update from iOS "4.3.5 (8L1)" to 9.1 fail.

   o The resulting error message is worse than useless.

   o Apple's idea of a "diagnosis" in this situation appears to be to

swap the whole system (for $250) rather than to demonstrate an actual

hardware problem using some real hardware diagnostics (like Apple

Hardware Test for a Mac), or try to load some new firmware using some

alternative (simple) program in an attempt to work around whatever the

actual (software) problem with iTunes might be.

   I remain open to suggestions, but repeating the usual first-line

advice will, most likely, waste more of everyone's time.

   Thanks for the confirmation.

   I reported the results of my update attempts (failure, as described

above) to the iPad owner, along with my hypothesis that the actual

problem is some incompatibility between the current update software

(iTunes) and the old iOS version, rather than any actual problem with

the iPad hardware (as the Apple Store "experts" claimed to believe).

   Between the two of us, we had made at least three calls to Apple

Support and two visits to a local Apple Store, and the best we could get

was a $250 swap offer (to replace a device which, to a casual observer,

appeared to be working as well as it ever did).

   In a last-ditch attempt to get a less useless response, my friend

called the general contact number (1-800-MY-APPLE, not the support

number).  According to my friend, in response to another $250 swap

offer, he explained that before he would pay $250 to replace a working

iPad because of an iTunes software problem, he'd rather throw the iPad

into the garbage (where it belonged), spend $50 to get a comparable

Android device, and never again deal with Apple or any Apple products.

   This seemed to get the attention of the Apple agent.  As I understand

what happened next, after a little more conversation, which included an

admission that the actual problem probably was what I thought it was,

and a little negotiation,  my friend paid another visit to the local

Apple store, and came away with an iPad 3 (with current firmware, so

that it might be possible to keep it up-to date).

   I can't promise that this approach will work in general, but it might

be worth a try.  I can't prove anything, but it seems likely that most

of the old iPads in the field got more timely iOS updates, and that this

problem affects only a relatively small number of units with especially

old iOS versions.

   As a software developer, I understand the problems with trying to

maintain compatibility over a broad range of program versions, but

Apple's policy of removing access to older iOS and/or iTunes versions

makes such compatibility all the more important.

   Perhaps the actual problem here is different, but, if Apple does, for

whatever reason, choose to leave devices with older iOS versions

stranded, orphaned, and useless, then it would be reasonable to expect

Apple to replace such devices.  Unhappy owners of such devices would be

doing Apple a service by informing them of their situations.  Certainly,

Apple has, in the past, established special programs to deal with

defective hardware of various types:

      https://www.apple.com/support/exchange_repair/

   If this is a software problem which can be solved only by replacing

hardware, then such an exchange program might be more reasonable than

expecting victims to pay $250 each to solve it.  Or, Apple could provide

some kind of working iOS update method.  As usual, many things are

possible, and how Apple handles this problem is up to them.