iTunes 8 cannot back up iPhone ("session could not be started")

I get the same.

I've tried a Reset and then a Restore, but neither have worked.

Yesterday, after installing iTunes 8 it worked fine, but since rebooting the Mac I also can not get a backup, can't open session to iPhone. Rebooting the iPhone had no affect either.

zsomborg wrote:
Hi!

I've just downloaded iTunes 8, and try to sync my 16GB iPhone (2.0.2) But when it tries to back it up during sync (or when I explicitly press "Back Up"), it fails with a message: "iTunes could not back up the iPhone because a session could not be started with the iPhone."

http://homepage.mac.com/zsomb.org/cannot_backup.png

What could be wrong?

Probably it requires the 2.1 firmware that will be released sometime on Friday, 9/12/08

I reinstalled iTunes 8, with my 16G iPhone 3G connected, and it worked fine for backup again. Then I restarted the Mac and had the same problem. I have been running PhoneView on my Mac, which brings up its interface before iTunes. I took PhoneView out of the login startups, logged out and back in, and connected the iPhone again. iTunes did not automatically start, but when I started it, it DID sync and backup the iPhone.

Perhaps some 3rd party apps need to be updated for iTunes 8? Is anyone else having problems running other apps of a similar nature?

its not working with sync either, just stays in sync mode

Quitting PV worked for me too. 🙂

Ah. I have PV too.

I should have thought of that!

Same here... backs up fine, but hangs on "Syncing Contacts" - if I disable contact syncing, it hangs on bookmarks.

I do not use Phone View.

Is this a firmware issue??

Hey there,

You should be careful about posting a new question in a thread that's marked answered. If a helpful guy/gal is paying attention to that, they may skip the thread because it appears they don't need to contribute.

Anyhoo, I believe I had this crop up twice. The first fix involved some magic incantations (or at least everything up to that). The second time, I think choosing Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings cured it. You'll lose some stuff like saved WiFi bases and passwords, and favorites, etc. But all your apps stay intact.

hello how do u turn off phone view ??? sorry im new at this =P

If you have to ask how to turn it off, then I'm not so sure it's actually your problem. 🙂

Phoneview is an add-on Mac program by eCamm that connects to the iPhone to grab SMS, Call Log, music, etc. Apparently with the new iTunes, you can't have it connected to your iPhone.

If you are using it, then go into its preferences via the PhoneView menu and uncheck the "Launch PhoneView..." option, then quit it.

still doing it... i don't know what to do

Make sure that nothing else is connected to your iPhone. I don't know if there is another product like PhoneView that maintains a lasting connection, but obviously, iTunes is trying to make a connection to the phone and something is blocking it.

also, you can ctrl-click on the iPhone in your source list and choose Backup to do it manually.

G'luck

Hi,
A new version of PhoneView is now available which fixes the iTunes 8 conflict. Registered users should be getting upgrade notification via email by tomorrow.
Thanks,
Glen