Missing pairing record

Question

Level 1

5 points

Missing pairing record

I have been having this problem for a few days now. When I connect my iPhone to iTunes, I keep getting the message "iTunes could not connect to the iPhone because the pairing record is missing". Once i restart my computer and connect the iPhone it shows up in itunes, but as soon as i sync and disconnect, then try to reconnect, it says the same thing. Does anyone know what could possibly be causing this because I haven't be able to get much help. Has anyone else had this problem?

HP Pavilion laptop, Windows XP, 8GB iPhone

Posted on Mar 10, 2008 1:11 PM

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Answer 1

Mar 11, 2008 5:00 AM in response to LaBrent H.

Yeah, this happened to me too yesterday. When I restarted my computer, my phone synced again, however, right before finishing, something in the line 200 Megabytes of data was erased from my iPhone. I tried to restore the phone but it gave me the same response, "...pairing record is missing." I took it to the apple store to have my iPhone restored, which one of the geniuses did. Afterwards I tried syncing it again but it still didn't work. The genius suggested it may not be the phone but the computer. I believe my laptop caught a virus that was systematically deleting miscellaneous data. So I had to completely reformat the entire drive, re-installed iTunes, then bingo, it synced perfectly once again. If this seems a little too extreme, I suggest that you try and re-install iTunes and see if that works.

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Answer 2

LaBrent H. Author

Level 1

5 points

Mar 11, 2008 9:12 PM in response to Silencer7

I tried the genius bar and they couldn't help much either. I called this number: 1-800-MY IPHONE and they helped me. I didn't have to do that, but it turned out that one of my antivirus/antispyware programs all of a sudden weren't allowing the save of the pairing record. So After going through a couple of uninstalls and reinstalls I found the problem. There was something in my spysweeper that was preventing the pairing record from being saved. So I just uninstalled the spysweeper and my phone has been syncing fine since. I have been told that this has been a seldomly encountered but hard to resolve problem. It takes some time but an answer is out there. This is what worked for me, and you obviously found a solution also, hopefully the same will be for others.

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Answer 3

bithound

Level 1

0 points

Mar 11, 2008 9:47 PM in response to LaBrent H.

I had this happen to me the other day when I tried to sync. The solution for me was ultra-simple: I just removed the iphone from the cradle and popped it in again. There is a post a http://www.personafile.com/products that talks about this problem coming along with the new 1.1.4 software update. But offers no solution.

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Answer 4

Mar 11, 2008 10:47 PM in response to bithound

Yup, strangely enough, it happened to me again just now. I tried disconnecting the phone and re-connecting it again. It seemed to do the trick. Could this be some kind of problem with 1.1.4? Because I completely reformatted my computer, in order to repair this problem the first time.

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Answer 5

LaBrent H. Author

Level 1

5 points

Mar 12, 2008 10:47 AM in response to Silencer7

Sometimes restarting your computer may seem to work but this is usually a temporary fix.

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Answer 6

thefinch

Level 1

0 points

Mar 12, 2008 4:04 PM in response to LaBrent H.

I have had this problem since day 1 of upgrading my iPhone software to 1.1.4 and it is still not solved. I have downloaded and reinstalled iTunes 7.6, I've reinstalled my system software, done numerous re-boots, I'm using the USB hub on the back of the computer and my pairing record is STILL missing! Any other hints???

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Answer 7

LaBrent H. Author

Level 1

5 points

Mar 12, 2008 4:36 PM in response to thefinch

I would suggest that if you have any type of antispyware/antivirus programs running on your computer, deactivate them then try and connect your iphone. This was my problem, my spysweeper was preventing my pairing record from being saved. I had more than one antivirus program so I uninstalled them and now I'm just running my anti-virus and antispyware from one program and that did the trick for me. I didn't have to reformat or restore my entire computer. Most likely it's a problem with another program that's not allowing the pairing record to be saved. If you see that your iphone connects without that particular antivirus/antispyware enabled, then it may be that program that's causing the interference. Try it and see if it helps. It was a long process for me. I was on the phone with Iphone support rep for almost 3 hours to get this problem resolved.

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Answer 8

Mar 12, 2008 10:44 PM in response to LaBrent H.

Does the type of antivirus/antispyware program matter? I've got a webroot spysweeper w/antivirus along with macafee. What I find odd is that I've had webroot and macafee installed way before I got my iPhone. And this happened only this past week. Luckily missing pairing records haven't been happening to me...hopefully it stays that way.

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Answer 9

LaBrent H. Author

Level 1

5 points

Mar 13, 2008 6:50 AM in response to Silencer7

I'm not sure. It may have something to do with 1.1.4 because that was when it started happening to me. I'm not completely sure if that was the case for everyone with the problem, I'm speaking off of experience. I had webroot spysweeper with antivirus also, and i had to uninstall it because that was the program that was interfering with my iPhone. Now i just use trend micro antivirus with antispyware. When I uninstalled it, the connection and syncing was fine, but then as soon as I reinstalled it, the same thing happened. Once I uninstalled again, it was working fine again, and I haven't had the problem since. It did take a while to find out though. It was pretty much by trial and error, with uninstalling and reinstalling the different antivirus programs on my computer and trying to connect my iphone.

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Answer 10

Mar 13, 2008 6:55 AM in response to LaBrent H.

It is generally a bad idea to have more than one antivirus or antispyware program. This has noting to do with the iPhone -- security programs assume they are the only one running, and they will frequently interfere with each other.

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Answer 11

Mar 13, 2008 2:13 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

Ok so is it safe to assume that the problem lays with 1.1.4? Because this never happened before 1.1.4.

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Answer 12

Mar 13, 2008 2:23 PM in response to Silencer7

It may have been introduced by 1.1.4, but it certainly isn't a universal problem. I've only seen a few instances reported, and I don't have the problem on 1.1.4. Maybe the pairing record is new in 1.1.4? That might explain why it hasn't been seen before.

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Answer 13

Mar 24, 2008 9:12 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

Ok...seriously beginning to get a wee bit irritated. I know that this thread says that this problem has been solved, but, my iphone's still acting up. Whenever I sync it, on random occassions, something in the lines 190 Gigs worth of info on the "other" is deleted. It seriously can't be my laptop. I freakin' reformatted the poor machine the first time it said that the pairing record is missing. A genius suggested that my computer was perhaps malfunctioning and not my phone. Anyone else have this continuing problem?

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Answer 14

Mar 24, 2008 9:26 PM in response to Silencer7

Oops, did I say Gigs, I meant Megs.

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Answer 15

LaBrent H. Author

Level 1

5 points

Mar 31, 2008 7:50 AM in response to Silencer7

I have had this problem before. I solved it with rep from 1-800-MYIPHONE. I found that one of my antivirus/antispyware programs was preventing my pairing record from being saved. I went through and tried syncing my phone with one of the programs uninstalled until I found the one that was preventing my pairing record from being saved. I didn't have to reformat my computer or anything. This solved my problem. I ended up jus having to delete my other antivirus programs and jus stuck with one, which is sufficient. Like I said, this is what worked for me. You can try this and see if it works. My phone has been syncing fine since.

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