iOS5: The iPhone ... Could not be synced because the sync session failed to start

iOS5 continues to be a problem.  One of the main complaints is an error encountered when attempting to sync an iPhone or iPod to iTunes:

"The iPhone [device name] Could not be synced because the sync session failed to start"

Several work-arounds have been suggested including simply restarting the iOS device. One procedure that seems to work well is to remove the device backups from iTunes.  Before you do this, make sure you backup your backups folder: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/

• Connect your device and open iTunes
• Go to Preferences/Devices
• Delete all backups
• Click "OK"
• Restart iTunes and attempt another sync

Sometimes you may see duplicate backups listed.  I found that by deleting all but one backup also allows the device to sync.

Apple's iOS troubleshooting page has some good tips:  http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2529

"You are unable to log in to the user account [account name] at this time.

Problem:  an AD bound Mac shakes off login attempts and returns a message that says:

"You are unable to log in to the user account [account name] at this time.  Logging in to the account failed because an error occurred."

There are two things to to try:

First, update the Automounter master map as outlined in this Apple KB article:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3346

Secondly, if the user has a home folder path specified in their AD profile (Profile tab), remove it.