Apple Mobile Device Support won't Uninstall

Still not showing up in Add/Remove Programs?

If not, in iTunes, go "Help > Run Diagnostics". Uncheck all four boxes, click "Next" and then click "Next" again. Paste the contents of the diagnostics into a reply here.

(I want to check to see whether or not it thinks AMDS componentry is installed (even though it isn't according to Windows Installer, and if so, what the version numbers are on the componentry.)

Excuse me while I think out loud for a while.

*Soliloquy begins*

Apple Mobile Device Service not found.

It's not seeing the Apple Mobile Device Service. That's consistent with there being no program files on the PC for AMDS, which is consistent with it not being installed.

Apple Mobile Device 2.6.0.32
Apple Mobile Device Driver 1.45.0.0

It does think there is a old device driver. It can't be getting the version number for that like (say) Apple Software Update does, by taking a reading of the version number on the relevant msi. We don't have an AppleMobileDeviceSupport.msi on the system (according to Add/Remove Programs ... I'm willing to bet that CleanUp wouldn't be seeing an entry for AMDS either).

So where's it getting those version numbers from? One possibility is from old driver files or folders stuck down in the bowels of the OS. We know that's a possibility based on practical investigations of the XP versions of AMDS rollbacks. So even though we aren't seeing an AMDS rollback during the installation this time, it still makes sense to try a driver-scrape at this stage of proceedings.

*Soliloquy ends*

Okaay ... I think we're going to crank out the same technique I've used to fix a couple of AMDS installation rollbacks for earlier versions of AMDS. I'm afraid it's a bit of a performance (though nowhere near as much of a performance as the equivalent process on Vista or 7).

Try the instructions I give to Kil08 over here:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2424214

... does that allow the correct version of AMDS to install for you, Stone?

So AMDS still didn't install after the driver folders/files were moved?

Okay, best move those folders and files back off the desktop and back into their previous locations. Then we should at least get the iPod recognising and charging again.

I'm planning to brood a bit more about what is the next sensible step with this. But in the meantime, it might be worth getting an installer log to the Apple Engineers for a look. (Not a short term fix, but it can do no harm.)

As a preliminary, uninstall iTunes. (You can leave the other associated programs in place.)

(1) Download and save a fresh copy of the iTunes installer (iTunesSetup.exe) to your desktop:

http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

(2) Open a Command line prompt. In the Start menu, click "Run", type cmd and hit enter.

(3) Drag and drop the iTunesSetup.exe file onto the window so that the full pathname of the file is at the Command line prompt.

(4) Type in a space, then the following line:

/l*v C:\log.txt

(5) Hit return.

(6) The installer will create a log file:

C:\log.txt

Find that file and send it as an attachment to the following email address:

<royb@apple.com>

In the email to Roy:

A link to the thread on Apple Discussions where the issue is being discussed
The username you are using in the thread
The version of iTunes you are using or trying to use
The version of Windows you are using (mention service packs and whether or not you're 32-bit or 64-bit)
A concise description of the issue you are seeing
The exact text of the error message you are seeing

If I'm correct, your other post requested the other user to find two folders and two files. Now that I'm thinking about it, the netaapl.sys file was missing. The two folders and the one file were there. Could this contribute to the original problem?

I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think so.

My experimentations on the Lenovo with the driver-scrape technique indicate that the drivers don't get reinstalled (in the system folders) until an ipod/Touch/iPhone/iPad etc gets plugged in, and the drivers that get reinstalled depend on what kind of device you've plugged in.

For example, I've got an old original iPod Classic. With the newest versions of the firmware for that, it only just barely uses the usbaapl.sys driver incorporated in AMDS. (I think the only thing it uses it for is for the battery charge indicator that shows up in the Device pane of iTunes when the ipod is plugged in.) So after a driver scrape and reinstall of AMDS on the Lenovo, and then after plugging the iPod Classic in, I only get the usbaapl.sys componentry back.

So, what you're seeing (or rather not seeing) is possibly entirely normal on the set-up you've got ... or possibly just a symptom of the underlying AMDS issue rather than the cause.

Brooding is bearing some fruit (if you'll pardon the mixed metaphor). Will try to be back a bit later in the day with a couple of further suggestions.

Okay ... brooding complete. We're going to try a different tack, based on a different assumption.

Yesterday I was thinking we were dealing with a perfect storm of three independent issues ... a "standard" msi problem with AMDS, an ACL issue with CleanUp, and something mysteriously different producing the silent AMDS install failures.

Now I think we'll focus on as-yet-unidentified mysterious ACL troubles causing an "anomalous" missing msi message, the CleanUp install troubles and the silent AMDS failures. (Sort of using an Ockham's razor argument ... one underlying problem now seems more likely to me than three different independent problems.

So, I've got two further procedures in mind: one fairly straightforward, the other much more aggressive. Trying the straightforward one first.

Theory first. We know there's something funny probably-ACL-related going on with the HKEY CURRENTUSER keys for your usual user account (based on our trials with getting CleanUp installed from inside there. If those issues are causing the AMDS install troubles, and the putative-ACL issues are limited to your usual user account's HKEY CURRENTUSER keys, then we might be able to get past this by using the new test user account we set up yesterday.

The procedure. *In your usual user account,* try another complete uninstall of iTunes and related component, as per the standard documentation:

[Removing and Reinstalling iTunes, QuickTime, and other software components for Windows XP|http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1925]

(The idea here is to flush as many iTunes-and-related registry keys as possible before trying a reinstall ... unfortunately, it'll leave behind some AMDS-registry keys because when we removed AMDS using CleanUp, that will have left behind keys normally removed by the uninstall of AMDS.)

Now drag your iTunesSetup.exe file to a publically accessible location on the hard drive (like we did with the msicuu2.exe file yesterday).

Now log out of the old account and log into the new account. (Again, don't use fast user switching to move between accounts.) After you're in the new user account, locate your iTunesSetup.exe in there and try the install in there.

Do we get an AMDS installed from inside the new user account?

🙂 woohoo!

Okay ... fingers crossed it's going to be like CleanUp (once we have it installed, it's going to be able to be used from inside the usual user account).

Try logging back into your usual user account, and launching iTunes. Does it launch correctly, or do we get a different message this time, saying that the software for communicating with iPods has not been correctly installed?

(The different message is the one that I was wondering if you might have yesterday. It's one that I do tend to associate with ACL trouble. If we get it in the normal user account, the "aggressive" procedure I thought about this morning stands a good chance of getting us past it on an XP system.)