Tom Wolsky

Q: Can't restore from backup because there isn't enough free space

Trying to restore from the last backup and get an error message that there isn't enough free space. How can the backup be larger than the capacity of the phone? What is the user supposed to do?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.2), Mid 2012 2.6G i7

Posted on Jan 8, 2016 11:10 AM

Close

Q: Can't restore from backup because there isn't enough free space

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

Previous Page 2 of 3 last Next
  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Jan 8, 2016 2:12 PM in response to fromsouth
    Level 10 (118,227 points)
    Apple TV
    Jan 8, 2016 2:12 PM in response to fromsouth

    The last time I connected the phone just now, I got this message

     

    iTunes cannot sync photos to the iPhone “Tomi6+” because your Photos Library is not yet available. Please try again later.

     

    What does that mean "not yet available?"

     

    It's having its hair done?

     

    P.S. There is none of this iCloud Photo Library syncing garbage going on. I don't do that.

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Jan 8, 2016 2:13 PM in response to fromsouth
    Level 10 (118,227 points)
    Apple TV
    Jan 8, 2016 2:13 PM in response to fromsouth

    I did, but now the back ups are all failing, because of the not yet available Photos library.

  • by fromsouth,

    fromsouth fromsouth Jan 8, 2016 2:20 PM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 5 (4,806 points)
    iCloud
    Jan 8, 2016 2:20 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

    Restart both phone and computer reconnect and verify that you didn't turn the photo library on recently and still uploading your photos.

  • by Ingo2711,

    Ingo2711 Ingo2711 Jan 8, 2016 2:26 PM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 7 (25,824 points)
    iPhone
    Jan 8, 2016 2:26 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

    If you open "photos" on the MacBookPro, do you still see the albums you want to sync to the iPhone?

    There used to be issues with syncing photos from the computer to the iPhone in the past, deleting the photo cache folder solved that.

    About the iPod Photo Cache folder - Apple Support

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Jan 8, 2016 3:25 PM in response to fromsouth
    Level 10 (118,227 points)
    Apple TV
    Jan 8, 2016 3:25 PM in response to fromsouth

    No uploading.

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Jan 8, 2016 3:26 PM in response to Ingo2711
    Level 10 (118,227 points)
    Apple TV
    Jan 8, 2016 3:26 PM in response to Ingo2711

    Yes, all the albums are there in Photos. I'll try the cache.

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Jan 8, 2016 5:24 PM in response to Ingo2711
    Level 10 (118,227 points)
    Apple TV
    Jan 8, 2016 5:24 PM in response to Ingo2711

    Dumped the iPod Cache thing, but it didn't seem to have much effect.

     

    This really puzzles me: If the amount of free space on the device is so critical, why on earth does Apple have an iTunes function to fill the free space with music?

     

    ScreenSnapz005.png

  • by Ingo2711,

    Ingo2711 Ingo2711 Jan 9, 2016 1:40 AM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 7 (25,824 points)
    iPhone
    Jan 9, 2016 1:40 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

    I think you should try to reset the phone back to factory settings, set up the personal details manually and try to restore from the latest backup.

    If this does not work, some of the data you want to sync could be damaged.

  • by Ingo2711,

    Ingo2711 Ingo2711 Jan 9, 2016 2:09 AM in response to Ingo2711
    Level 7 (25,824 points)
    iPhone
    Jan 9, 2016 2:09 AM in response to Ingo2711

    To find out which files are damaged, check the size of  "other", then sync only music. If no problems, add photos, check again.

    Finally sync the 3rd party apps. If still no issues, use the backup to restore. In case the message comes back, the backup has been corrupted and can't be used anymore.

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Jan 9, 2016 4:19 AM in response to Ingo2711
    Level 10 (118,227 points)
    Apple TV
    Jan 9, 2016 4:19 AM in response to Ingo2711

    Went through the separate sync process. There was no indication of any problem or corruption. Except the restore fails because of lack of space.

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Jan 9, 2016 4:20 AM in response to Ingo2711
    Level 10 (118,227 points)
    Apple TV
    Jan 9, 2016 4:20 AM in response to Ingo2711

    I have had to do this a few times in the past with earlier phones and OSs, and it's a major pain, a complete and embarrassing failure in the software to function properly.

  • by fromsouth,

    fromsouth fromsouth Jan 9, 2016 5:45 AM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 5 (4,806 points)
    iCloud
    Jan 9, 2016 5:45 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

    Tom Wolsky wrote:

     

    Went through the separate sync process. There was no indication of any problem or corruption. Except the restore fails because of lack of space.

    Sometimes restore actually fails until you restore/erase it and then works, it has to work if you have 5 GB of available space.

    Just to give other idea for other - I have seen it often when people use wifi sync. Sync starts - they leave the house or room and sync stops in the middle.

    That is why it happens more with phones then devices we do not take out of the house. Always recommend to disable wifi sync. Way worse then "just kink in the cable".

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Jan 9, 2016 6:17 AM in response to fromsouth
    Level 10 (118,227 points)
    Apple TV
    Jan 9, 2016 6:17 AM in response to fromsouth

    I Never wifi sync. Always hard wire, and that's not reliable with lightning connector.

  • by Ingo2711,

    Ingo2711 Ingo2711 Jan 9, 2016 10:14 AM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 7 (25,824 points)
    iPhone
    Jan 9, 2016 10:14 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

    At this point it would be the best to take a fresh start. Reset the phone back to factory settings, iTunes will download a new version of the iOS for your phone, that way you can be sure that the firmware has no defects.

    After that, set up the phone manually, add your mail accounts and other settings and data and sync the apps you need to the phone.

    Same for music, photos and other data that you can sync via iTunes.

    You may lose app data and settings, but since this is a fresh start, the problem with the growing "Other" should be gone.

     

    Since you had this problem with different devices in the past, it might be possible, that each backup you made and restored the newer phone from, still included the damaged data. This caused this "other" section to get bigger again, and the issue just got transferred from phone to phone, until you had to restore again to temporarily fix it.

    If the problem stops after that fresh start, this might have been the reason for that.

     

    When you had to restore the devices in the past, due to the "Other" section, did you get the same "not enough space" message?

     

    To make sure this is not hardware related,  create a backup after setting it back to factory settings, and try to restore from that new backup. In case the "not enough free space" message comes back, your phone might have a hardware problem.

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Jan 9, 2016 10:24 AM in response to Ingo2711
    Level 10 (118,227 points)
    Apple TV
    Jan 9, 2016 10:24 AM in response to Ingo2711

    AAdd your mail accounts, you say that so blithely. It would be if it weren't for the horror story that is Mail on the Apple OSs.

     

    THanks for all you time. I will keep your messages and consider how to go forward, hopefully without using a scorched earth option on this functioning device.

Previous Page 2 of 3 last Next