I guess we are lucky at this college. I was handed 4 iPad2s that had not been managed. The first 2 were at iOS4.3.5 and having tried many times to update, the first failed with error 9 as everyone is experiencing. That brought me to this thread.
I had to use the iPhoneCarePro - purchased version of iReboot, to get one out of restore mode. The other two iPads were at 6.1.3 and these successfully updated to iOS 9.2.
Clearly there must have been an update on the iPad itself between iOS4.3 and iOS6.1 which made a change to the update process and now prevents the latest updates from going onto the iPad?
I found the iPadUpdater log for the latest update attempt:
Under <Username>\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPad Updater Logs
Here is the last section of the log - some people enjoy this techie stuff.......... But to those who don't, the Bold text may be remotely interesting!
[14:32:59.0362] requested restore behavior: Erase
[14:32:59.0362] overwrite InstallDiags to false
[14:32:59.0362] fixed TcpWindowSize (131072) can cause restore failure if too large
[14:32:59.0377] device did not return saved USB log
[14:32:59.0377] device did not return saved panic log
[14:32:59.0377] connected to service com.apple.mobile.restored
[14:32:59.0377] using protocol version 13
[14:32:59.0377] unable to open device_map.txt: No such file or directory
[14:32:59.0377] board config = k93ap
[14:32:59.0377] no value returned for BootArgs
[14:32:59.0377] _copyDeviceProperty() failed for restore bootargs
[14:32:59.0393] no value returned for MarketingPartNumber
[14:32:59.0393] _copyDeviceProperty() failed for mpn
[14:32:59.0393] requested restore behavior: Erase
[14:32:59.0393] value query for 'HardwareModel' returned 'K93AP'
[14:32:59.0393] Established proxy for device ID 7
[14:32:59.0424] <Restore Device 000000005BC948D0>: operation 28 progress -1
[14:33:09.0343] RestoreOS mode device disconnected
[14:33:09.0343] RestoreOS device removed before restored completed
[14:33:09.0343] recv(6428, 4) failed: connection closed
[14:33:09.0343] unable to read message size: -1
[14:33:09.0343] unable to read message from device
[14:33:09.0343] AMRAuthInstallDeletePersonalizedBundle
[14:33:09.0389] <Restore Device 000000005BC948D0>: Restore failed (result = 9)
[14:33:09.0436] Restore completed, status:9
[14:33:09.0436] Failure Description:
[14:33:09.0436] Depth:0 Error:AMRestorePerformRestoreModeRestoreWithError failed with error: 9
[14:33:09.0436] Depth:1 Error:The operation couldn’t be completed. (AMRestoreErrorDomain error 9 - Failed to receive message from device)
I can see why they say about cables and anti-virus issues from the lines I have highlighted saying the device was disconnected.
The device either rejects the latest version of iOS or the message it passes back to iTunes is not accepted to allow the update to continue.
I tried one last time with an online chat to Apple Support. Whilst he was very helpful, I can't see any progress happening on this issue.
They recommend the iPad needs to be repaired. But I don't think anyone is going to pay for a repair - might as well spend the money on a new iPad!!
Not good news for individuals or those with large numbers of iPads in this position.
I'm sure there must be a way of Apple releasing a software program to replicate the update that must have happened between iOS4.3 and iOS6, but there doesn't seem to be a way of getting this request through to them.