iPhone users report iOS 4.0.1 installation errors

iPhone users attempting to install the latest software update from Apple Thursday afternoon say that the process repeatedly fails. The reports cropped up on Apple's own support forums.

A user with the handle evan127 wrote Thursday, "So, this is the seventh time I've tried to restore. I keep getting error 9. I've tried both usb ports and another cable. Now I am trying a new user account. What else can I do?...I get 3/4 of the way through the firmware update and it gives me an error."

Other users reported similar experiences. "I'm having the same problem everyone else is reporting with the upgrade timing out 2/3 of the way through," wrote user stteve. "I've tried all the things recommended on the Apple site, from deleting software, trying another computer, etc."

Apple released iOS 4.0.1 earlier Thursday as a partial solution to the antenna-related problems that have dogged the iPhone 4 since its debut in June. But the system update is only meant to change the way the phone displays signal strength, and does not address the weakening or dropped signals when the phone is gripped in a certain way.

Problems installing 4.0.1 don't appear to be universal. Some users doesn`t have a problem with it. It's possible Apple's servers that are delivering the update are overloaded by many iPhone owners trying to download the update simultaneously.