An unknown error occured (-23).

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Level 1

16 points

An unknown error occured (-23).

Hello, tried to sync my iphone after being away for a week and have encountered an error message. Two error messages in fact.

First one goes: "Attempting to copy to the disk "xxx's iphone" failed. An unknown error occured (-23)."

After clicking 'OK' button this second message appears: "iTunes could not copy "The Time Machine" to the iphone "xxx's iphone" because the fie could not be found."

Am well confused. I check all my disks, backups, and everything is as should be so am at a loss to explain why suddenly i encounter this error.

help plz.

Thxs,

MacBook White (early 2009), Mac OS X (10.6.6), iPhone 4 Black 16Gb + iPod Black 60Gb + iShuffle Black 4Gb

Posted on Jan 29, 2011 1:02 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Carolyn Samit

Level 10

165,615 points

Jan 29, 2011 1:24 PM in response to pweester

Hi,

See this thread. (Topic error 23)

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=12265137&#12265137

Carolyn 🙂

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Answer 2

pweester Author

Level 1

16 points

Jan 29, 2011 1:26 PM in response to Carolyn Samit

Yikes - hardware failure - OMG!

Should I start crying ?

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Answer 3

Jan 29, 2011 1:41 PM in response to pweester

You need to take the iPad in for service.

🙂

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Answer 4

pweester Author

Level 1

16 points

Jan 30, 2011 2:38 AM in response to Carolyn Samit

its an iphone. the weird thing is that it seems to sync properly. i just get both of those messages at the very end.

I did a restore this morning and it restored the whole thing, but again, i get those two messages at the very end.

i guess i'l have to bring it in to the shop this week....very sad. its only a few months old ! 😟

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Answer 5

pweester Author

Level 1

16 points

Jan 30, 2011 3:06 AM in response to pweester

How do I attempt a restore from another computer?

Do I log into someone else's itunes using my account & proceed to restore the phone to factory settings?

after that is done, do i just go back to my macbook and restore from backup to get all my data & settings back?

thxs,

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Answer 6

wjosten

Level 10

95,321 points

Jan 30, 2011 3:10 AM in response to pweester

Do I log into someone else's itunes using my account & proceed to restore the phone to factory settings?

Correct. Just don't sync after the restore completes. You can update software or restore an iPhone on any computer. What you don't want to do is sync if this is not the computer you normally sync with. If you get restore error 23 on a different computer, this would confirm a hardware failure. You can also make an appointment at an Apple store. The geniuses will be able to confirm a hardware failure instantly.

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Answer 7

pweester Author

Level 1

16 points

Jan 30, 2011 3:14 AM in response to wjosten

thxs, i'll do the restore from another computer then head to a store if necessary.

i've already tried different cables with no luck.

i found the definition for error 23: openErr / Requested read/write permission doesn't match driver's open permission, or Attempt to open RAM serial Driver failed.

I did check permissions on my drive etc...is there anyway to check/test connectivity between itunes & the iphone? I seem to remember there was a diagnosis that could be run to check connectivity but can't seem to find it anymore.

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Answer 8

wjosten

Level 10

95,321 points

Jan 30, 2011 3:17 AM in response to pweester

is there anyway to check/test connectivity between itunes & the iphone?

The fact you're getting that error message confirms all is OK in regards to this.

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Answer 9

pweester Author

Level 1

16 points

Jan 30, 2011 3:19 AM in response to wjosten

Ok thxs, I'm off to a friends house to try a restore from another computer. i'll post up later with results.

fingers crossed.

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Answer 10

pweester Author

Level 1

16 points

Jan 30, 2011 7:01 AM in response to pweester

Hello, I am happy to say the solution to the problem has been found - and it is not (thankfully) hardware based.

In fact this is what happened.

The file name 'The Time Machine' got me thinking - at first I thought this was lined to my backups but digging deeper it turns out that this 'file' which couldn't be found was in fact an ebook!

Also, the fact that I was able to add and remove items to my iphone then sync it made me think that, if it is hardware, then how come I can add/remove items to and from my iphone.

So removing this ebook from my itunes solved the problem. That simple.

Now, as for the error 23 I believe the reason this error appeared was because of this ebook. Originally it was a book which was in txt format which had been renamed with extension '.epub' and imported into itunes. I believe that it was this that led itunes to tell me there was some sort of read/write data failure (error 23).

So all in all its a good day. It was not hardware based and it all works as it should.

yipee!

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