"The iPhone cannot be synced. The required disk cannot be found."

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"The iPhone cannot be synced. The required disk cannot be found."

I have been having this problems since I got my iphone last year. Early on the phone would sync after 2-3 tries but as of the last 2-3 months I have been only able to sync it 2-3 times even after trying all the solutions presented by the troubleshooting and reading forum posts that seem to have a similar or near similar problem.

The first message I get after having the phone sync is
"The iPhone cannot be synced. The required disk cannot be found."
After itunes attempts to sync again I get a different message that says
"The iPhone cannot be synced. An error occurred while writing to the device."

Ive ran the diagnostic and this is what I got:
Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
EVGA__ 132-YW-E179-FTW
iTunes 9.1.0.79
QuickTime 7.6.6
FairPlay 1.7.16
Apple Application Support 1.2.1
iPod Updater Library 9.0d11
CD Driver 2.2.0.1
CD Driver DLL 2.1.1.1
Apple Mobile Device 3.0.0.102
Apple Mobile Device Driver 1.46.0.0
Bonjour 2.0.0.34 (214.3)

iTunes Serial Number 5DD5EE0A2E39800E

Current user is an administrator.
The current local date and time is 2010-04-21 16:55:29.
iTunes is not running in safe mode.

Video Display Information

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260

** External Plug-ins Information **

No external plug-ins installed.

The drive E: Memorex 52MAX 325216AJv2 Rev RW$5 is a USB 2 device.

** Network Connectivity Tests **

Network Adapter Information

Adapter Name: {5EC41707-0E19-4943-9EBF-169BD17E249E}
Description: NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller - Packet Scheduler Miniport
IP Address: 192.168.15.4
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.15.1
DHCP Enabled: Yes
DHCP Server: 192.168.15.1
Lease Obtained: Wed Apr 21 16:35:40 2010

Lease Expires: Wed Apr 21 17:35:40 2010

DNS Servers: 192.168.15.1
192.168.15.1

Active Connection: LAN Connection
Connected: Yes
Online: Yes
Using Modem: No
Using LAN: Yes
Using Proxy: No

Firewall Information

Windows Firewall is on.
iTunes is enabled in Windows Firewall.

Connection attempt to Apple web site was successful.
Connection attempt to iTunes Store was successful.
Secure connection attempt to iTunes Store was successful.
Secure connection attempt to iPhone activation server was successful.
Last successful store access was 2010-04-21 16:15:50.

** CD/DVD Drive Tests **

No drivers in LowerFilters.
UpperFilters: GEARAspiWDM (2.2.0.1),

D: SONY DVD RW DRU-V200A, Rev 1.60
Drive is empty.

D: SONY DVD RW DRU-V200A, Rev 1.60
Drive is empty.

E: Memorex 52MAX 325216AJv2, Rev RW$5
Data or MP3 CD in drive.
Found 1 songs on CD, playing time 255:57 on CDROM media.
Track 1, start time 00:02:00
Get drive speed succeeded.
The drive CDR speeds are: 4.
The drive CDRW speeds are: 4.

** iPod/iPhone Connectivity Tests **

iPodService 9.1.0.79 is currently running.
iTunesHelper 9.1.0.79 is currently running.
Apple Mobile Device service 3.0.0.0 is currently running.

Universal Serial Bus Controllers:

Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller. Device is working properly.
Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller. Device is working properly.

FireWire (IEEE 1394) Host Controllers:

Texas Instruments OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller. Device is working properly.

Most Recent Device Not Currently Connected:

iPod nano (4th Generation) running firmware version 1.0.4
Serial Number: YM9023TZ5BF

iPhone 3GS running firmware version 3.1.3
Serial Number: 879230PW3NP

** iPhone/iPod Touch Sync Tests **

Sync tests completed successfully.

If anyone has a possible solution please let me know as its getting very frustrating not being able to update my phone.

Message was edited by: powerweb11

Personlized, AMD Quad core

Posted on Apr 21, 2010 5:13 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Apr 28, 2010 3:29 AM in response to powerweb11

I get this problem too - it appears to continue to sync for a while, but I have problems with deleting files on the iphone and various inconsistencies. How did you find the diagnostic you ran?

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Answer 2

powerweb11 Author

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Apr 30, 2010 4:01 PM in response to powerweb11

Go to the Help tab on top and run diagnostic at the bottom. When you are done with the diagnostic it gives you the option to save a copy.

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Answer 3

roueski

Level 1

0 points

May 9, 2010 4:14 AM in response to powerweb11

I had the same problem and fixed it.

"The iPhone cannot be synced. An error occurred while writing to the device."

I think it is caused by downloading too many apps, or large apps, and then when syncing over USB it doesn't recognise the iPhone and you get "The iPhone cannot be synced. An error occurred while writing to the device."

To fix this:

1. Ensure iTunes is closed & iPhone is disconnected but keep USB cable connected to iPhone
2. hold down CTRL + SHIFT on your keyboard
3. connect USB cable to PC and wait. If iTunes doesn't start for a minute then start it (keeping hold of CTRL + SHIFT)
4. if it wont let you start iTunes or all your icons are selected then release CTRL + SHIFT
5. when iTunes starts it may ask you about safe mode or something similar, say yes
6. Your iPhone should list as a device as normal, click sync.

It will then start the sync as normal and you may find it will transfer only one or two apps and you may get the dreaded error message again as I did. However, persist with the above steps and eventually it sync'd all my apps with no error message. Because I have only just done this I haven't downloaded any more apps so it might be a frequent thing but better than the error message.

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Answer 4

Ragewind

Level 1

0 points

Jun 2, 2010 6:52 PM in response to powerweb11

I've found out why this happens

1: The Cord you are using to connect the phone is messed up, borrow another one to test or buy a new one.

2: for some reason you have a faulty USB port. It may work with other items (HDD's, printers etc) but you will get the error when trying to use iTunes with that port. Choose another port.

3:Make sure your USB drivers are updated and see 2.

Hope this helps.

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Answer 5

Jun 15, 2010 4:16 PM in response to Ragewind

Negative... that didn't work. Tried 2 different iPhone USB cables on 2 different ports and I get the same error message.

I know it's not the cables because Windows XP recognizes the iPhone and iTunes recognizes the iPhone

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Answer 6

GKloncz

Level 1

0 points

Jun 23, 2010 7:22 PM in response to Sarge1024

After several versions of iTunes and a year of not being able to Sync my iPhone with my x86 version of iTunes, I finally got it to fully sync. I have been attempting to sync via a USB cable through a fully loaded USB hub. I switched the cable from the hub to the USB port on the computer itself and it's finally syncing!!! I think the issue could be one of three things; 1) syncing through a hub (this one was powered), 2) syncing through a fully loaded hub, or 3) a sporadically faulty hub that mostly manifests itself through large data transfers.

I hope this helps!

Gary

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Answer 7

Dawn Oz

Level 1

0 points

Jul 10, 2010 3:39 AM in response to powerweb11

I ended up getting assistance from Applecare. One of my problems was that I thought they were referring to a real disk, rather than a virtual disk (music). Also I had a new computer and the builder hadn't told me where the audible files were. Turned out they were stored in three different places in the old computer (the audible files decide this). So, my beloved iPhone now has OS4 and is behaving itself. Recommend Applecare. I think Apple need to give clearer instructions about this problem, not to mention the dreaded exclamation mark.

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Answer 8

Jul 13, 2010 10:05 PM in response to powerweb11

I was having the same problem until i plugged the apple usb right to the computer. Dont use an extention usb from your computer then to the apple usb. That worked for me anyway. Hope that helps.

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Answer 9

Jul 14, 2010 5:32 PM in response to Ragewind

YES!!! thanks so much! I was using a modified 1G cradle because it ****** me off that they changed the shape just enough to force us to buy all new accessories. just using the cable w/o cradle eliminated this error message. One more error message to go...

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Answer 10

Aug 4, 2010 10:31 AM in response to powerweb11

I had a similar problem after moving my iTunes library from my PC to my Macbook by backing up to DVD. If I removed the DVD from the drive and then plugged in the iPhone, I'd see this error. I was able to make it go away by running File>Library>Organize Library...>Consolidate. There must've been some reference to the physical DVD.

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Answer 11

Roland_F

Level 1

4 points

Sep 4, 2010 9:03 AM in response to powerweb11

I had this problem. I eventually solved it by switching the phone off completely and rebooting it. Perhaps I had too many apps open at the same time when trying to sync initially.

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Answer 12

gpinto

Level 1

4 points

Sep 21, 2010 9:30 PM in response to Roland_F

Looks like this can happen in multiple scenarios. For my what seems to have happened was the fact that I got a new computer and had not sync'ed up my phone with the old computer in a long time. When I connected my iPhone to the new computer, I was also prompted to upgrade to iOS 4.1. I did so, and my phone ended up with the default apps. When it started syncing, it tried to move the apps that were in the new hard drive into the phone and it failed.

To fix my issue, I synced back with the old computer and got all my apps back in the phone. Then I synced again with the new computer and, after Googling for a while, right clicked on the phone icon in the right column and chose to "Transfer purchases". They sync is happening right now and it seems to be chugging along.

Best luck to all of you...

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Answer 13

p0pp3d

Level 1

0 points

Oct 11, 2010 12:10 PM in response to Ragewind

This works !

I had the same problem .. i deleted a few apps, took cd out of drive used a new cable (mine was fudged) and used a different usb port ..

Something changed it lol

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Answer 14

Oct 19, 2010 11:54 AM in response to powerweb11

After running the diagnostic utility, I unplugged my iOS4 3gs phone, plugged it back in, and it seems to be running like a champ. Not sure if you did this or not, but the 5 apps I had deleted reinstalled to my phone, and everything else imported perfectly.

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Answer 15

jeff7376

Level 1

0 points

Nov 16, 2010 6:22 PM in response to Drewburger

Hey I've had stacks of trouble syncing with my system (pc windows xp) I changed the USB port on the back of my tower to the original one I had been using before I got some hardware fixed/replaced and it worked straight up!
Hope this helps some one

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