Can't backup: "a session could not be started" -- can't unlock escrow bag

A few days ago my iPhone 3GS running iOS 4.0.1 stopped backing up. iTunes tells me that "a session could not be started with the iPhone." Running the iPhone Configuration Utility to view the iPhone log is only slightly more enlightening:
Mon Aug 9 10:42:19 Antons-iPhone /usr/libexec/BackupAgent2[1364] <Error>: Starting service with bag=c75bee579ba88d47e8f28bc1dae594914d15bc93
Mon Aug 9 10:42:19 Antons-iPhone /usr/libexec/BackupAgent2[1364] <Error>: Can't unlock escrow bag: -3
Mon Aug 9 10:42:19 Antons-iPhone /usr/libexec/BackupAgent2[1364] <Error>: securelockdowncheckin() failed.
Mon Aug 9 10:42:19 Antons-iPhone /usr/libexec/BackupAgent2[1364] <Error>: 1364:1047541704|DeviceLinkConnection.c:DLLockdownCheckin| ERROR: Could not check in with lockdown: 10
Mon Aug 9 10:42:19 Antons-iPhone BackupAgent2[1364] <Warning>: ERROR: Error opening connection: Error Domain=com.apple.MobileBackup.ErrorDomain Code=100 "Could not check-in with lockdown" UserInfo=0x113260 {NSLocalizedDescription=Could not check-in with lockdown}
If anyone knows how to fix this (other than just wait for iOS 4.1 or later), I’d appreciate it; running without backups worries me slightly, though I don’t have tons of data on the phone. (I’d rather try to avoid reloading it, since my son would be annoyed if I lost his Doodle Jump and Angry Birds scores!)

So 4.0.2 came out and I couldn’t install it (from my laptop) because I couldn’t back up, so I got annoyed and figured out the solution.
First, delete your old backup. (You can do this manually from the ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup directory, or you can do it from iTunes, I believe.) It’s probably best to keep a copy of this, just in case.
Remove all files from the two directories ~/Library/Lockdown and /var/db/lockdown . (Quit out of iTunes first.) The next backup should (hopefully) succeed.

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