Issue connecting to Iphone

Mockesock · 2026-01-28 11:14:21

Hi all,

I am trying to move some valuable files from an Iphone 13 mini to my pc running arch.
For this I tried following https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/IOS, however I get stuck at the pairing phase.

The prompt to trust this computer does appear automatically, however both "idevicepair validate" and "idevicepair pair" return

ERROR: Could not connect to lockdownd, error code -8

The device is recognised by as it appears in bus 1 device 5 in the output of "lsub":

Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 1397:0507 BEHRINGER International GmbH UMC202HD 192k
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 4b42:1226 KBDfans kbd67mkiirgb v3
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 1852:7022 GYROCOM C&C Co., LTD Fiio E10
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 05ac:12a8 Apple, Inc. iPhone 5/5C/5S/6/SE/7/8/X/XR
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 002: ID 0b05:5110 ASUSTek Computer, Inc. ASUS CW100 Wireless Keyboard Mouse Set
Bus 005 Device 003: ID 346d:5678    USB DISK 3.2
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Interesting to note is that among "Apple, Inc. iPhone 5/5C/5S/6/SE/7/8/X/XR" the correct device (13 mini) is not mentioned.

And here is the output of "systemctl status usbmuxd"

● usbmuxd.service - Socket daemon for the usbmux protocol used by Apple devices
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/usbmuxd.service; static)
     Active: active (running) since Wed 2026-01-28 11:34:10 CET; 14min ago
 Invocation: 5dbf4a9f6541499a9e692d76c27b1780
       Docs: man:usbmuxd(8)
   Main PID: 744 (usbmuxd)
      Tasks: 4 (limit: 17830)
     Memory: 3M (peak: 4M)
        CPU: 90ms
     CGroup: /system.slice/usbmuxd.service
             └─744 /usr/bin/usbmuxd --user usbmux --systemd

Jan 28 11:34:10 LuupDesktop systemd[1]: Started Socket daemon for the usbmux protocol used by Apple devices.
Jan 28 11:34:10 LuupDesktop usbmuxd[744]: [11:34:10.879][3] usbmuxd v1.1.1 starting up
Jan 28 11:34:10 LuupDesktop usbmuxd[744]: [11:34:10.880][3] Successfully dropped privileges to 'usbmux'
Jan 28 11:34:10 LuupDesktop usbmuxd[744]: [11:34:10.880][3] Using libusb 1.0.29
Jan 28 11:34:10 LuupDesktop usbmuxd[744]: [11:34:10.962][3] Initialization complete
Jan 28 11:34:10 LuupDesktop usbmuxd[744]: [11:34:10.962][3] Enabled exit on SIGUSR1 if no devices are attached. Start a new instance with "--exit" to>
Jan 28 11:34:10 LuupDesktop usbmuxd[744]: [11:34:10.978][3] Connecting to new device on location 0x10005 as ID 1
Jan 28 11:34:10 LuupDesktop usbmuxd[744]: [11:34:10.978][3] Connected to v2.0 device 1 on location 0x10005 with serial number 00008110-001908EA3C9380>
Jan 28 11:34:19 LuupDesktop usbmuxd[744]: libusb: error [udev_hotplug_event] ignoring udev action change

The last line of this output seems most telling, however I was unable to find my way to a resolution.

And here is the output of "journalctl -b | grep usbmuxd:

Jan 28 11:34:09 LuupDesktop systemd[1]: /usr/lib/systemd/system/usbmuxd.service:7: PIDFile= references a path below legacy directory /var/run/, updating /var/run/usbmuxd.pid → /run/usbmuxd.pid; please update the unit file accordingly.
Jan 28 11:34:10 LuupDesktop usbmuxd[744]: [11:34:10.879][3] usbmuxd v1.1.1 starting up
Jan 28 11:34:10 LuupDesktop usbmuxd[744]: [11:34:10.880][3] Successfully dropped privileges to 'usbmux'
Jan 28 11:34:10 LuupDesktop usbmuxd[744]: [11:34:10.880][3] Using libusb 1.0.29
Jan 28 11:34:10 LuupDesktop usbmuxd[744]: [11:34:10.962][3] Initialization complete
Jan 28 11:34:10 LuupDesktop usbmuxd[744]: [11:34:10.962][3] Enabled exit on SIGUSR1 if no devices are attached. Start a new instance with "--exit" to trigger.
Jan 28 11:34:10 LuupDesktop usbmuxd[744]: [11:34:10.978][3] Connecting to new device on location 0x10005 as ID 1
Jan 28 11:34:10 LuupDesktop usbmuxd[744]: [11:34:10.978][3] Connected to v2.0 device 1 on location 0x10005 with serial number 00008110-001908EA3C93801E
Jan 28 11:34:19 LuupDesktop usbmuxd[744]: libusb: error [udev_hotplug_event] ignoring udev action change
Jan 28 12:05:32 LuupDesktop usbmuxd[744]: [12:05:32.595][3] Removed device 1 on location 0x10005
Jan 28 12:05:32 LuupDesktop usbmuxd[744]: [12:05:32.601][3] usbmuxd shutting down
Jan 28 12:05:32 LuupDesktop usbmuxd[744]: [12:05:32.702][3] Shutdown complete
Jan 28 12:05:32 LuupDesktop systemd[1]: usbmuxd.service: Deactivated successfully.

Note that at 12:05:32 I disconnected the device. All output above was of course with the device attached.

The device is running IOS 18.3 (22D63) and can't currently be updated due to full memory (the reason why I am trying to move these files).
My arch system is of course up to date.

I have tried the following:

Rebooting both devices
Restarting usbmuxd
Reinstalling usbmuxd and libimobiledevice

None of which resulted in any change to the output above.

Can someone provide me with some direction to solving this issue?
If any more info is needed, I'd be happy to provide it.

Thanks for your time!

dan123 · Yesterday 01:56:24

Install the packages `ifuse` and `libheif` if they aren't installed already.

`ifuse` does iPhone connection stuff.
`libheif` is for codec support and converting to alternative formats. Check `libheif` optional dependencies if additional packages need to be installed for the codec to be supported. Eg `gwenview` optionally uses `kimageformats` which optionally uses `libheif`.

If you've got `usbmuxd.service` enabled and running, you don't need to use CLI tools for connecting.

Open your file manager (like Dolphin if on KDE Plasma) then your phone will appear. Click on the phone's name it and navigate to the DCMI folder.

Arch Linux

#1 2026-01-28 11:14:21

Issue connecting to Iphone

#2 Yesterday 01:56:24

Re: Issue connecting to Iphone

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