FATAL ERROR (-69)

Look through this support article first:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1210

If that doesn't resolve the problem, look here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3221

Be sure to disable all firewall and antivirus/spyware/alien apps running on your PC.

I don't know what error "69" means. Apple doesn't publish error code translation (I'm assuming it isn't an inside joke).

Things can change in an interactive system for various reasons. It could be the iPhone update, but just as likely a change on your computer such as an update to Vista or your protection apps.

What is error 69...do you know?

Technically, I believe it's a "badCksmErr (addr mark checksum didn't check)", which unfortunately doesn't add much to the intelligibility of the error message:

[Mac OS System Error Codes: 0 to -261|http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1618]

In iTunes/iPod/iPhone contexts, I tend to think of it as meaning "there's probably a dodgy file in the mix somewhere, although sometimes other things might be afoot".

Most likely there is a corrupt file in itunes or on your phone. Trying to identify the file in question is problematic to say the least.

That system error code list is obsolete and applies only to Mac OS 9 and earlier, not iTunes or OS X. iTunes errors codes may not be the same for Windows and OS X versions either. There is no iTunes error code list published, and I wouldn't assume any relation to the Mac OS 9 System error codes.

Message was edited by: modular747

That system error code list is obsolete and applies only to Mac OS 9 and earlier

That's quite possibly the case.

not iTunes

Experience does not bear that out so well. Usually these codes do map onto similar errors in iTunes, including the iTunes for Windows errors.

For example, the generic I/O "disk could not be read or written to" message, as per:

['Disk cannot be read from or written to' when syncing iPod or 'Firmware update failure' error when updating or restoring iPod|http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1207]

... used to appear in iTunes for Windows as an error (-36), and maps on to the definition of the message quite well.

The -48, as per:

[iTunes for Mac reports a -48 error during iPod sync|http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1478]

... (related usually to a strange problem involving time zones) did indicate a duplicate file/folder.

The error 200 in iTunes for Windows:

[iTunes for Windows: iTunes cannot run because it detects an issue with QuickTime|http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1371]

... although generally caused by a damaged QuickTime, could indeed be caused by hardware or driver problems (usually when the drivers for the soundcard or integrated audio had been damaged or gone walkabout on the PC, resulting in iTunes/QuickTime being unable to locate the appropriate hardware on the PC.

A checksum message is what you'd expect to be seeing in the context of a damaged file, which is usually what the 69 indicates.

So it's a useful resource, I find, especially when in a basic principles troubleshooting situation. Of course, it isn't of so much help with the extremely generic error messages, like the -50 for example, where a truly startling number of things can cause one in a wide range of circumstances.

And the usual caveats with any error message list of any description hold. Just because an error message number "means" something, the phenomenon described by the corresponding error message isn't always the cause of the message.