Xcode fails to get the task for process XXX. How do I solve this? (iPhone SDK 4.0)

Question

I have the following error when I try to run a new project on my ipod:

Error launching remote program: failed to get the task for process 312.
The program be         


        

Answer 1

Check that you're doing signing using a development provisioning profile, not a distribution one.

Answer 2

If your certificates are not quite right or have become not quite right, this problem can start to happen and you can go round and round playing with provision and entitlement files to no effect. (In nearly all cases, you don't need an entitlement file.)

I'm talking here about debugging on a tethered device in "debug" mode, not any sort of "release" mode.

Here's how I finally determined this was the problem and fixed it:

1) Try to create the simplest Xcode project possible and in Target...General set it up for your "Team". (If you find this impossible to do, that already is a sign of this sort of problem.)

2) Tether your device and try to run on it. Normally, this would go smoothly, but if the opening screen appears on your device for a second or two and then the app crashes and Xcode says it can not attach to some positive task id, then you may have the sort of problem I had.

3) So I then went to another Mac with Xcode and did the same thing, letting Xcode 5 automatically get the needed credentials. (I'm using a "wild card" * app id for all of this.) In my case, much to my surprise the simple app I created on the new Mac ran on the tethered device just fine keeping up its opening screen indefinitely. What a relief. So I then went to keychain access on the new machine, exported all of the relevant keys into one file and then exported the relevant certificated to a .p12 file. I also made a copy of the new working project to take back to the first Mac.

4) Back at the first Mac using the app for the second Mac, it had trouble with the Team ID when I looked at the Target...General screen. Your symptoms might be different, but the point is I couldn't rebuild the app from the second Mac on the first Mac.

5) So I then opened up Keychain Access (possibly not necessary) and double-clicked on the files I brought over, first the one with the keys and then the one with the certificate, providing the p12 password when requested. (Some of this may not actually be necessary, but I'm not sure which and I am describing what worked for me.)

6) I did step 4 again and this time it worked fine! I then found that the other programs that were giving me the "failed to get task" problem now worked fine, too. I just wish I could get back all the time I lost before I tried the process described here.

Conclusion, something was wrong or had become wrong with the certificates or the keys on the first Mac. It was subtle enough that I could still do builds, make ad hoc releases, etc. but I could not run on a tethered device. Though I don't think it is a factor, I was using a corporate developer account and this Mac was set up to do development for several other developer accounts (and these did not display the problem).

Answer 3

It turns out that using a different provisioning profile (one with a wildcard rather than one without) solved this issue.

The key point is to use a Developer profile rather than a Distribution profile.

Answer 4

Go to the Apple Developer Center and make sure that your developer certificate has not expired. Mine had expired so I renewed it and then went back into Xcode (5.1.1) and under accounts preferences I viewed the details of my apple account and hit the little refresh button at the bottom. My iOS development signing identity showed up and I was back in business.

Answer 5

1.Run the Application using development certificates in both debug and release area in code signing identity.

or

2.Use the development certificate in debug area and distribution certificate in release area.

Answer 6

Removing distribution profiles from device in Organizer solved this issue for me