iTunes could not connect to this iPhone because an unknown error occurred (0xE8000065)

Feb 27, 2010 - 86 Comments

itunes iphone error 0xE8000065

“iTunes could not connect to this iPhone because an unknown error occurred (0xE8000065)”

Ahhh! That’s the message I got earlier when trying to connect my iPhone to my iMac, something I haven’t seen before. I searched around a bit online and found out that this is not a Mac OS X specific problem, many people running Windows XP and Windows 7 encounter the same error. While I couldn’t find a definitive answer as to what causes it, I have my own speculation: power issues.

Many of the complaints and descriptions regarding the error describe swapping around USB connections and ports to resolve the issue, and I think this helps to corroborate my suspicion with power management. With this is mind, here’s how I got the ‘unknown error’ to go away and finally connect my iMac to my iPhone again: I just let the iPhone charge more. The battery had been very low, and I have auto-sync enabled, so I imagine the iPhone just didn’t have an adequate charge to maintain a connection.

Now again, all of this is just pure speculation based on my experience and reading other peoples encounters with the same problem. So if you’re running into this “0xE8000065” error with iTunes and your iPhone (also some people report problems on their iPod Touch…) try the following to troubleshoot:

* Change the USB port the iPhone is connected to the computer with
* Let the iPhone charge sufficiently before trying to access it through iTunes
* Turn the iPhone on and off

If it’s persistant, you could even try resetting the PMU/SMC controller on the Mac.

Anyway, if you encounter this error hopefully these tips work to resolve it for you as well, let me know!

.

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Posted by: William Pearson in iPhone, iTunes, Troubleshooting

86 Comments

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  1. Matt Sandig says:

    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3221

    This is how apple does it and it worked thx apple (for once xD)

  2. Stefan says:

    Hi everyone! I restarted the phone (iPhone 4), plugged the USB into a different port, AND i signed out of iTunes and signed back in. I did all three of these at the same time and hoped it would work and it did!! I want to thank the guy who said to try these methods, it worked. PS, to sign out of iTunes click on the iTunes store tab and find sign out option; do the same to sign back in. Thank you once again :) good luck to all!

  3. Paul says:

    Hey all,

    I turned off my photo stream and rebooted my phone. That was enough to fix it for me…

    iPhone 4s

  4. dunno anythin says:

    but i’ve already fully charged my iphone 4 but it still happened……

  5. cynthia says:

    thank you so much!!! changing to a different usb dock worked for me yay…thanks guys x

  6. Joe Oxspring says:

    AH! i love you guys! saved my ass. my ipad was stuck mid-update. i tried everything and nothing worked, but then i held lock and home for 10(ish) seconds untill it rebooted, plugged it into a new port and it worked! thanks

  7. The Fat & The Furious 5 says:

    I recommend signing out of itunes and rebooting your iDevice, this method worked perfectly and i have some of the comments above to prove it. :)

  8. Munish says:

    Guys!!!

    I loaded new IOS 5 for IPhone and i got the similar error in connecting the i Tunes. Reason was my SIM was PIN locked. When inserted unlocked valid SIM the error went away.

    Hope it helps the users.

    Thanks

  9. Valerie says:

    I turned off and on my iphone again and it worked! But the strange thing was that when I was using my computer (windows 7) and my phone wasn’t even plugged in, the same error message kept on showing up! I have no idea why because I did not enable wifi syncing either so it was kind of strange.

  10. insider says:

    thanks a lot, I solved my prob regarding this matter :-)

  11. Hassan says:

    iPhone 3G jailbreak IOS 4 was. Connected to iTunes using Windows 7. Has been updated in iTunes. Internet cut off during the update. iPhone no longer can connect to iTunes. How I get continue by update?

  12. rota says:

    but if you delete wifi sync on the pc.. how it will work??

  13. belgium says:

    For jailbreakers: the problem is Wi-Fi sync installed on your computer. I deleted it, did nothing else and it worked fine again!

  14. Sami says:

    All I had to do was turn it off then turn in back on

  15. am says:

    holding power and home worked!

  16. am says:

    it doesn’t work, please guys help me. :(
    my ipod just show some white ring that means loading. ive plugged in to my laptop and it still loading. ah goddamit.

  17. Bev says:

    Well 9 minutes left of the download and itunes lost connection to my iphone. Did the same thing again and it seems to have picked up where it left off. Why did I ever think iphone was the product to have?

  18. Rona says:

    this may have done the trick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! from this poster:

    chris says:
    November 28, 2010 at 5:30 am

    IF it does, THANK YOU Chris from the bottom of my heart! you are awesome!!!!

    1.hold power and home till shutdown

    2.continue holding both buttons till the apple comes up. then let go of power but still hold home till it comes to the usb

    connecting to itunes

    • Bev says:

      This worked for me also. I have WASTED two whole days trying everything on every help page on the web. And this simple fix seems to have worked. Won’t know for sure until dowload is complete, but this is the closest I have been the whole time. It’s time for me to upgrade in my service plan….seriously looking at other smart phone options. Apple has ISSUES!!!!!

    • Isabel says:

      THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. My iTouch was unresponsive for awhile, any application I clicked on from the home screen just shook a little and sometimes the screen went black. When I tried turning it off, it was frozen on a black screen and a loading sign for ages. Changed the USB port as well, but holding power and home worked like a charm.

  19. Rona says:

    my iPhone 3gs was locking up and the apps on the device wouldn’t launch. i tried to reset the network settings on the device and it didn’t help. i got the spinning white icon in the middle of the device and when i plugged it into my windows xp laptop, itunes showed the OxE80000A error. I can’t seem to fix it.

    trying this suggestion and it didn’t work for me:

    Go to My Computer –> Click properties –> Go to Device Manager

    Go to Universal Serial Bus Controllers and you should one saying Apple Mobile Device Controller (or something similar)

    Right click, uninstall –> Unplug your Iphone and wait a few seconds and plug it back in

    When it says install the drivers select search specific location, locate the mobile phone driver which is normally located in C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Mobile Device Support\Drivers

    *note if you don’t have the drivers just download it again from the apple website

    Click ok and voila the problem should be fixed now you should be able to sync with Itunes again…. hope that helps

    switched ports on laptops, didn’t help. can’t turn iphone off and on. it’s just stuck on that spinning white icon.

    help! thank you!

  20. sam says:

    when ever i plug my iphone 4 into the usb cord it say it cannot connect my iphone to itune because an unknown error occurred (0xE800000A). can anyone help me so i can connect my iphone 4 to itunes on windows xp.

  21. farzad says:

    just turn it on and off
    it’s THAT simple!

  22. MitchCorbeil says:

    I have an iPhone 3GS with 4.3.3 software. running the latest itunes.. im getting the error code -0xe8000065 aswell, any advice on what to do?

  23. SoulzZ says:

    thanks a lot saved me from lot of hassles. Life saver.

  24. Genardas says:

    I just did windows troubleshooting lol

  25. Fr. Ignatius says:

    I have been having this problem for some time (6 months). Here is how I have gotten around it…but it has not fixed the problem itself. It just allows me to Backup my iPod Touch and Sync it to whatever I have on iTunes. At the time, that is the most important, right?

    I have an iMac G5 (PowerPC) running Leopard (10.5.8) and iTunes 10.2.2 (12). Just in case people are wondering.

    This is what I keep sending to Apple through iTunes (when I have to Force Quit iTunes – see below why).

    The iPod Touch 2G was backing up (endlessly). It got to 95% (sometimes 80%, or there abouts) and stayed there (for hours and hours, [one time, I left it for 27 hours]). Now that is patience. I was doing other things for the whole time, so I didn’t notice the length of time, but when I was ready to leave, it had not moved (the progress bar). I stopped the Syncing process from the iPod Touch, then tried to stop it from iTunes (nothing happens). I then ejected the iPod Touch (it warns me not to do this), but that just forced iTunes to FREEZE. I then Force Quit iTunes. [I then send them this message that I have sent to them ten to fifteen times] I then press the On/Off button and the Home button together on the iPod Touch, it then gave me a “spinning wheel” on the iPod Touch’s screen (endlessly). I then repeated the above (pressed the On/Off button and the Home button together on the iPod Touch), then it gave me a the Apple symbol. It then rebooted. I then startup iTunes. It verifies the iPod Touch. I then “backup” the iPod Touch, but it rejects it. I then do it again. It accepts it this time. I then Sync the iPod Touch. It then works. It is a pain. It doesn’t fix the problem, but it allows me to Backup and Sync (for the time being).

    I then tell them to please fix this. I also tell them that it will not help me if they do it through a iOS update, since my iPod Touch (2G) will only stay at 4.2.1 FOREVER. If you fix it through iTunes, that would be great. Thank you.

    On thing that I did notice on the comments, that I do have a Logitech Camera (Web Camera). So that may be the problem. I will have to look into that possibility.

  26. ahmedco says:

    Restarted the phone, and it’s done !
    ‘ iTunes really suckssss ‘

  27. Mark says:

    Hi Pete,
    I love to blame Apple but each time I have had had this error it has been due to my own tinkering. It seems that there are a number of causes but unapproved 3rd party apps have been the cause for me. WiFi Sync also caused my problem on 2 occasions. Once I had a nokia that I was also syncing with Itunes than caused the error. The last time I caused the problem was after restoring from a bood disk following a hard drive error.
    When I have fixed the problem previously I first looked at the startup programs that interacted with Itunes and or its library and disabled them or uninstalled. Itunes then just worked and the error disappeared. There may be other causes and or solutions.

  28. Ryan says:

    Thanks Guys – WiFi Sync Caused my my problem – uninstalled and now works perfectly

  29. Ptee says:

    Worked perfect aftet rebooting and changing usb drives runing windows 7 and I touch 3g

  30. Pete says:

    You’ll have to forgive me but I think “turning it on and off” is pretty rediculous when it comes to a “solution” as it is far from it.

    Firstly, you mean OFF AND ON again, not ON AND OFF

    Secondly, having to turn your phone off everytime you want to do something suggests a problem

    Thirdly, it doesnt even truely work! Its hit and miss which suggests the act of rebooting your phone isnt really whats fixing it.

    There are tons of forums and threads around commenting on this problem / error message and yet its still not fixed. Very poor from Apple as their own responses have been the usual “uninstall / reinstall itunes” and such nonsense.

    So does anyone actually have a serious and sensible fix for this problem?

    Love the iphone, hate the issues. Flawed for many reasons and the samsungs mainly and now other phones are very quickly catching up but without all the flaws and problems!

  31. cameron agema says:

    i unplugged my iPod touch signed out of iTunes and turned iPod off. restarted my computer turned iPod on plug it in, it says “Backing up”… then Syncing apps music… and then iTunes freezes and i have to shut my computer off and disconnect the iPod to even close or get back on iTunes. This problem only happens when iPod is connected, this is my 3rd brand new (just got today) iPod thinking it would be fixed but problem still exists. WHAT DO I NEED TO DO! HELP ME!! (P.S. i have Vista)

  32. mohamed says:

    turning it off and on done the job i really appreciate it thanxs again

  33. Mike G says:

    …and these same recurring issues from the 3G to the 3GS to the 4 are exactly why I finally ditched the iPhone altogether.

  34. robi says:

    i switch the phone off an close the iTunes
    and restart iTunes and phone .. then it works fine.
    in the whole process phone was all the time connected to computer.
    im using windows 7 , iphone 4 itunes 10

  35. Rach says:

    HELP ME PLEASE.. I have tried just about everything to fix this stupid error. It’s happened once before and I fixed it but what I did to fix it last time isn’t working this time.

    I changed the USB and everything and turned it on and off. It’s an iTouch not an iPhone though. But I’m beyond frustrated with this please help me!!!

    THANK YOUU SOO MUCH!!!

  36. HUMZA says:

    man this didn’t work on my iphone?

  37. Daniel says:

    My iPod has a bigger issue. I tried using a different USB cable – that didn’t work, I tried turning it off and on – but I can’t because it’s stuck in the middle of turning off, I tried trying to delete the photos – but I can’t do that because my iPod is stuck in the middle of turning off. I’ve searched sites everywhere to find a solution but they all give the same answers. I need help.

  38. Rasor says:

    I found that I had to uninstall WiFi sync. Then all was good in the world again!

  39. Judy says:

    My ipods buttons dont work. The home button works but the sleep/wake button, and the volume buttons dont work so i cant trun it off what do i do?

  40. igmez says:

    just unhook cable then connect it again dats wat i did

  41. Halvin says:

    I got this due to the cable i was using. I think it was damaged. Changed the ports a few times but still got the error. ipod wouldn’t even charge. Used a different USB cable and haven’t had the problem since.

  42. kosrat says:

    my iphone is damaged how to repair it

  43. chris says:

    Hey i found that connecting to a different computer does the trick if u put it in to recovery mode

    1.hold power and home till shutdown

    2.continue holding both buttons till the apple comes up. then let go of power but still hold home till it comes to the usb connecting to itunes

  44. bruce says:

    Bingo! Changing to a high power USB port worked. Thanks!

  45. Nenad says:

    This happens if your running an expired version of Windows 7 Beta.

  46. Sean says:

    If you have this error and using XP it’s due to the USB drivers thinking it’s a camera and not a phone! I found this out on another website but this is the most up to date thread so I thought I would share my solution with takes about 5mins max!

    ——————————————–

    Go to My Computer –> Click properties –> Go to Device Manager

    Go to Universal Serial Bus Controllers and you should one saying Apple Mobile Device Controller (or something similar)

    Right click, uninstall –> Unplug your Iphone and wait a few seconds and plug it back in

    When it says install the drivers select search specific location, locate the mobile phone driver which is normally located in C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Mobile Device Support\Drivers

    *note if you don’t have the drivers just download it again from the apple website

    Click ok and voila the problem should be fixed now you should be able to sync with Itunes again…. hope that helps

    • Hails says:

      I’m completely new at all this! Ive tried everything you all suggested but its not connecting! It keeps connecting & then disconnecting. My iphone is jailbroken & unlocked running on 3.1.2! Help please i want to sync my new music and pictures!

    • cameron agema says:

      it worked for a second but the iPod doesn’t show up under devices! what now?

  47. Danny says:

    Wow, well I’m getting that error in iTunes, but my iPod is stuck with the white ring just constantly circling. There’s no iTunes or Apple Logo, just a blank screen with a white ring meant for loading. Please, help.

  48. Louisia says:

    thx u billion time for this trip
    i’m so confuse for a long time about this and u can help me ^^

  49. nickolay says:

    hi all.
    i have received my new iphone4 2 days ago. and when i installed my itunes and connected the iphone to the computer it gave me same problem and it still dose.

    i have tried switching it of and on, changing usb, uninstalling windows media player and components and still same thing. :(

    can anyone help me out plz.

  50. AMDi says:

    I got the same error code after jail-breaking 4.1. I just used another USB port and my iphone synced with iTunes.

  51. Sandy says:

    The changing of usb port trick worked absolutely fine, thanks a lot dude, saved few many bucks.

  52. Ron says:

    Same as Cimba:
    “I got this error # in Windows, battery charge and turning the iPhone on and off seems to do the trick, thanks!”

  53. JUST TURN ON AND OFF says:

    JUST TURN ON AND OFF
    JUST TURN ON AND OFF
    JUST TURN ON AND OFF
    JUST TURN ON AND OFF

  54. THANK YOU!! says:

    thank you so much i have been trying to fix this for dayss!! i just changed the port and then it worked! haha such a simple solution. what i used to do was to install and then reinstall it, too much a fuss.. THANKS alot again!! :)

  55. subash kc says:

    thanks broooooooooooo !!! wohooooooo its really worked as i had turned iphone off /on then connected to itunes :-) ……… hope more bests from you guy:,) .thumbs up !!!

  56. zach says:

    nice dude thanks ….. switched ports and boom it worked

  57. Molly04 says:

    Thanks so much. I was at a total loss at to what to do with my iPhone. I was so surprised that changing the port would make all the difference!

  58. Daniel says:

    I’m pretty sure that it isn’t a power issue. I have a jailbroken device and I am getting the error when I use the USB cable, but also when I try to sync via wi-fi

  59. lil' joe says:

    haha , meant to put ‘and’ instead of ‘ans’

  60. lil' joe says:

    i actually love you :) thanks soooo much , i had the same problem ans thanks to you my iphone has been saved !! thanks again

  61. Rahul says:

    Hi friends these are some common issues to iphone due to
    – software update of iPhone/iTunes OR
    – if you try to connect iPhone to different computers
    – if you try to connect iphone to different versions of operating system like XP to Windows 7 OR
    – if you have Logitech camera/apps installed on your PC

    Thanks to all friends as I tried different solutions suggested by you all. But somehow it dint work for me. But finally when I used following process I found that my iPhone working smoothly.

    I hope this works for you all guys. It worked for me.

    1. Delete all Photos/Videos from Camera Roll of your iPhone , which are not clicked through iPhone camera. (Delete photos/images which are saved through MMS/emails/snapshots)
    Path- Your iphone Home Screen> Photos> Camera Roll
    2. Delete all Photo/Image/Camera related apps which you have downloaded through itunes on your iPhone
    3. Switch Off and restart your iphone
    4. Take a fresh photo through iPhone.
    Path- Your iphone Home Screen> Camera> Tab camera icon
    5. Connect your iPhone to Computer through USB.

    BINGO!.. Your iPhone should connect with beep.
    OPPS!.. If it is still not connected follow below steps.

    6. Connect iPhone to Computer
    Activate your internet connections. (You need to have internet Connection)
    Go to My Computer
    Right Click on My Computer> Manage> Device Manager (on Left hand side)> Imaging Devices (On Right hand side)> Apple iPhone (Right Click)> Properties> Driver (Upper Tab)> Update Driver> Ok

    BINGO!.. Your iPhone should connect with beep.
    OPPS!..If it is still not connected follow below steps.

    7. Go to Control Panel and uninstall these Programs:
    Path- Start> Control Panel> Add or Remove Programs>
    A) Apple Application Support
    B) Apple Mobile Device Support
    C) Apple Software Update
    D) Bonjour
    E) iTunes
    F) Quick Time

    8. (Your have to make sure all hidden files are visible. Follow this link and follow instructions as per your operating system http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial62.html)

    Delete following files:
    Path- My Computer> Local Drive C:> Program Files
    a) Apple Software Update
    b) Bonjour
    c) Common Files> Apple (Delete Apple file ONLY)
    d) iPod
    e) iTunes
    f) Quick Times
    (Note: Some of the files may not be there because you have uninstalled Programs through Control Panel)

    Path- My Computer> Local Drive C:> Documents and Settings> Your Primary User(Administrator)> My Documents> My Music
    Delete following files:
    a) iTunes

    Path- My Computer> Local Drive C:> Documents and Settings> All Users
    Delete following files in C Drive
    a) Apple
    b) Apple Computer

    Path- My Computer> Local Drive C:> Documents and Settings> Your Primary User(Administrator)> Application Data
    Delete following files:
    a) Apple Computer

    Path- My Computer> Local Drive C:> Documents and Settings> Your Primary User(Administrator)> Local Settings> Application Data
    Delete following files:
    a) Apple
    b) Apple Computer

    9. Restart your Computer
    10. (DO NOT Install iTunes)
    Connect Your iPhone to Computer

    BINGO!.. Your iPhone should connect with beep.
    Now you can install new version of iTunes and then start using your iPhone

  62. Jag says:

    Turning the phone off/on worked for me in Windows XP. Thx!!!

  63. Sleepwalker says:

    I was getting this error. Then I sign out from app store and restarted iTunes… wow! it worked.

  64. Michael Mc says:

    Wow. I’d been having this problem with my iPad for a couple days. I kept looking around for an easier solution than restoring it to factory settings, etc. Tried a different USB port as suggested and bam! it worked. Thanks a lot!

  65. […] 『iTunes could not connect to this iPhone because an unknown error occurred (0xE8000065)』 […]

  66. bison says:

    to Andy,

    BINGO!

    I overwrote iPod Photo Cache Folder, then 0xE8000065 error goes away.
    Thanks!

  67. Cimba says:

    I got this error # in Windows, battery charge and turning the iPhone on and off seems to do the trick

    thanks!

  68. Andy says:

    Actually this is a bug between iphone and iphoto. To get it to work proper you must click into your mac / then iphoto library, then right click show package info. Then scroll down and drag the ipod photo cache onto your desktop. Once that is done sync your iphone and it will rewrite that ipod photo cache , the sync will go through and the file is good. After that delete the ipod photo cache that you placed on your desktop and all is well

    • Matt says:

      If you scroll down to the bottom of the iPod Photo Cache/iPhone photo cache folder there is a file called iPod Photo Cache/iPhone Phote Cache, or something along those lines, you need to delete that to connect your iPod/iPhone to iTunes. Hope this helped :)

    • Sarah says:

      What should i do if i don’t have mac.. i have a Dell Microsoft Windows XP

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