IPhone – Why doesn’t iTunes detect the iPhone

data synchronizationiphoneitunesmacosusb

When I connect my iPhone 3GS to my computer, iTunes does not detect it. The phone displays the green battery meter indicating it's charging, System Profiler detects an "iPhone" connected to the USB bus, and I can even open iPhoto and pull some pictures off of it.

It doesn't appear under "Devices" in iTunes at all, nor does it appear in the Organizer window in Xcode.

I've tried:

  • Using a different sync cable.
  • Using a different USB port.
  • Restarting the phone.
  • Restarting the computer.
  • Connecting the phone to a different computer.

(I'm on OS X 10.6.6 and iTunes 10.1.2)

Best Answer

Run Activity Monitor (Applications/Utilities); do you see the iTunes Helper service running? Make sure you set the view to "All processes", not "My Processes". If it's not running, that's your problem. Re-install iTunes and away you go.