Problem backing up iPhone 4 before updating to iOS 5

Hi everyone,

I have the same problem too (1303). I was thinking it may be a connection issue or something to do with hosts file but running iTunes test show that everything with connection is ok. Apple we need your help on this one!

Cheers

Also getting the 1303 error during the backup. Also have the backup folder redirected to a different drive using a symbolick link... I'm betting the backup folder redirection is the common link we all seem to have with this 1303 error. Has anyone got around this error yet?

PROBLEM:

Originally, there wasn't enough space left on my system drive for the iPhone and iPad backups, so I moved them to the data drive and created a symbolic (hard) link on Windows 7 x64, which worked fine so far. Trying to update to iOS 5 I've also received error -1303.

SOLUTION:

After doing research on this error and finding this discussion thread, I decided (and managed!) to free up enough space on C: to move back the backup folder to the original location (C:\Users\<my username>\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup). Now the process seems to be running OK 🙂

Good luck!

I had the same problem last night and my iPhone 4 was wiped clean. I resolved the problem by deleting the corrupted backup file. Did the sync and it loaded up but I had to set up my phone again to the way i like my apps to be in certain folders and that is still in progess.

I have a new issue that some of my apps are not appearing as icons but if I do a spotlight search they are there and I can run them from the search. Why are the icons not appearing .

Hi All,

I talk with Apple Support. Solution for error code (-1303):

1. Create backup your iPhone.

2. Save the backup folder (eg.: another drive)

3. Click RESTORE button in iTunes -> Your iPhone will updated to iOS5, and will be empty (like when you bought)

4. After restore iTunes ask : Set up as new device or Restore from Backup...

5. If you select Restore from Backup your device will be the same (some minutes later) like before you start the process, except your iPhone has a new iOS5.

It worked for me.

Regards.

That's great Xeninacra!!!

But I just 2 quick questions...

1. How do I know the file is corrupted?

2. How can I "copy" my backup file (and where to find it) just in case something happens?

Thanks again everyone for your help and sharing your knowledge.

In most cases it appears that the backup file isn't corrupted, iTunes just might not be seeing the symbolic link and just determining that it has nowhere to send the backup files. That's what happened with mine, so I just copied all of the previous backups, to be sure none was corrupted, to a different hard drive, to have just in case.

I then did a regular backup and then tried to update and got the same 1303 error. So I just powered through, knowing I had a fresh backup on file and it updated, then it restored and everything works fine now. They even updated all my programs so that they're all back in the same folders as before and everything. It was a bit of a pain, but I'm glad it's done now.

Oh and when I tried to do the same thing with my iPod, the same error occurred, so I think it may just be the symbolic link thing all around.

It could be that when they were loaded back on, but not all in folders, that some extended beyond the 10 page limit, so they don't show up, but they are installed. When this has happened to me in the past, I would just go into itunes and arrange all the folders in there, so that I got everything the way I wanted and removed any apps from the 11th page on and everything showed up correctly.

It seems like all of us did. We are, the uber nerds...lol

That sounds right Nunya, but where can I find that Backup folder to copy it somewhere else (you know, just in case). I can't find it 😕

I also have a link to the mobilesync directory on a second drive (not enough room on the SSD C: drive for all of this crap), and I'm having the same problem, error -1303 when trying to back up the iPad before updating to iOS 5.

I ended up just clicking "Cancel", creating my own backup, moving the backup to a subdirectory (as a safeguard), creating another backup (again, safeguard, I've been burned in the past by not doing this), and finally updating to iOS 5. When it prompted I just told it to go ahead and erase the iPad, and when it was done updating I restored from the backup I had made by hand. Worked without a problem.

Apple really needs to get their backup situation sorted out, it is absolutely pathetic. I have updated the firmware on my iPad about 4 times, and EVERY SINGLE time it has errored out halfway through, leaving me with a blank iPad running the new firmware. Luckily I've gotten in the habit of backing it up by hand before updating the firmware, so I can just restore after it fails. Unfortunately the last time I did this, it failed during the restore as well, which left me with a still-blank iPad, BUT it had already registered the name of the iPad on the unit, which means after the restore failed and I closed and re-opened iTunes to try again, as soon as it detected the iPad it backed it up automatically, erasing my real backup that I had been trying to restore from with the backup from the blank iPad.

It's quite possibly the most laughable backup system I have ever encountered...a user should not have to use low level system utilities to create hard links to other drives so they can actually back up their device (since there's no way to set the location of the backup in iTunes), and a user should also not have to manually back up their backups so iTunes doesn't freak out and erase the ONLY backup that it maintains with no warning.

I sure hope they've fixed some of this in the new iTunes, but judging by this -1303 error, it looks like they might have actually made things worse than they were before, if that was possible.

It depends on which OS you're running. On my windows machine with Vista it was located under my username\appdata\Apple Computer\sync...something, and each folder had a name like 6a3b2eg543930rs089g0f9d9f9s8s9

Oops, my bad. I have Windows7 64bit

On Win 7, the backup directory is at:

C:\Users\[User]\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\

Each device that you back up will have its own directory, with a long hex string as a name. If you have multiple devices backed up, I usually just back up one of them and see which directory updates the timestamp, then write down somewhere what the hex string is for each of my devices. For example, my iPad is "5d330499ca52e16630c437c38ec180203b07a3d6", and my iPhone is "84f15be54f2cadb4bf23cdbb1b7a04c6ac512ffc".

Just make a subdirectory in MobileSync\Backup, and copy the backup folder for each device into it to make your own backup that iTunes won't touch. If you ever want to restore from one of YOUR backups (rather than the default one in MobileSync\Backup, just move the one in MobileSync\Backup out of the way, and copy the directory from your backup location back into MobileSync\Backup.