Itunes -9813 Error - No Root Certificate

Stephen S

Registered
Alright, I need someone smarter than me to give me some help!
Below, is everything that I know...

I'm on a G4 laptop, running 10.3.8 and iTunes 4.7.1.

My problem popped up approx. 4-5 weeks ago. I'm not sure exactly when, or what I did to cause it. But I think I updated to 10.3.8 from 10.3.7 around that time.

The symptoms are as follows:
• I can browse the iTunes Music Store and listen to samples
• I have been downloading songs successfully since iTunes was created
• I can play previously purchased songs.
• I cannot purchase songs or sign-in to my account, as of 4-5 weeks ago.
• I have not experienced any other problems in other programs (ie. I can visit secure websites without trouble, etc...)
• I have a second computer (iMac DV) running 10.3.5, and it connects to my account, and downloads songs without problem.

Whenever, I click "Buy Song" or "Sign-In" in iTunes, i get this error:
"iTunes could not connect to the Music Store.
An unknown error occurred (-9813)"

By definition, a -9813 Error is:
errSSLNoRootCert - No root certificate for the certificate chain.

I have read in many forums, where people get similar error text, but with a 502 Error. From what I can tell, that is simply a busy system usage error that goes away if you try again later. I've actually had that error sporatically over the last few years without trouble. But, this 9813 Error will not go away... it's different.

From the research I've been able to do, everything points to SSL Certificates. Unfortunately, I don't really know anything about these. I also looked into my Keychains (X509Certificates & X509Anchors) I replaced these with the 10.3.5 files withour eliminating the problem, so I put the originals back into the folder.

I have already wiped iTunes off of my computer, and reinstalled 4.7.1 without eliminating the problem.(By 'wiped', I mean I took out the app, the prefs, the libs, the receipts, etc...)

I really think it has something to do with Certificates (mainly because the error's definition states that I don't have a 'root certificate'), but I'm lost as to what I should try next.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me!
Stephen
 
After much trouble, with Apple and my computer... I have a solution that worked, so I'm posting it for all to learn from.

If you are running 10.3.8, and ever get a -9813 Error or need to restore your root certificate settings, here is the solution:

• Go to Applications>Utilities>Keychain Access
• From the dropdown menu, select Window>Keychain First Aid
• Select the "options" button
• From the General Tab, select "Reset My Keychain"

This will revert your keychain to the factory default settings, and giving a fresh 'root certificate'

Done... no thanks to Apple.
 
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