Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Level 1

10 points

iphone 2.0 problems.

well, this is just lovely. i didn't save my text, so i get to retell the story. and i'm not going to shy away from some of my editorial either, since i think that good dialogue (not empty crabbing) is a valuable part of these forums.

i have a 1st gen iphone that i upgraded to 2.0 when it was released. i had little to no problems at first. sure, i had a couple of apps here and there that were unstable, but that was either the app's fault or manageable.

all of a sudden on thursday i started having problems with the device. every single non-apple app that i've bought crashes seconds after opening. i assert that it can't possible be the apps, since it's highly unlikely that all of my purchased apps are bad. other problems are that when i load music into the phone, it shows up in the iphone interface window in itunes (in the colored bar at bottom), but when i disconnect the phone... no media anywhere.

my solutions have been to all of the ones you could possibly read about: hard reset, restore, restore without backup... the big one was deleting mobile support files and preferences, uninstalling itunes, and restoring the phone from freshly downloaded firmware but only after a new install of itunes, permissions repair and a restart.

you would think that would start me with brand new completely clean slate. nope. same problems.

i'm convinced that the problem is that a restore isn't actually a true restore and that it only replaces certain files of the system, possibly leaving behind corruptions and other crap. i can't imagine why else wiping things new and doing complete restores with no backups and installing the apps fresh, would do this... i mean seriously.

i'm miffed at the amount of time i've wasted with the tragically long syncing that i've had to do repeatedly. i'm miffed about the hours troubleshooting. and i'm miffed that my phone hardware is completely fine and that this is absolutely a software issue. i think that's a valid point to consider as the backdrop for troubleshooting any of this, and pressing for more lasting solutions. why was it released under these conditions?

anyhow... that leaves me where i am. no apps work. no media is available, and "fresh" restores don't help. does anybody have alternative solutions that they can suggest? i'm open to anything. let's talk!

j

<Edited by Moderator>

20" Core 2 Duo, eMac 1.0, CoreDue Mini, Imac 17" Core 2 Due, MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.4), i have stupid tons of peripherals

Posted on Aug 2, 2008 12:11 PM

Best reply

Michaelworks

Level 3

695 points

Posted on Aug 2, 2008 12:29 PM

My first question is whether or not you performed the iTunes update on Thursday (it came out this week). Second, did you download the software to go to 2.0 using iTunes, or did you get the pre-release that was found on their servers (it turned out to be for the 3G and not 2G). So where am I going with this? I would find where iTunes stores the original download, delete it, and cause iTunes to think it needs to download the correct version, as if you hadn't previously updated. The store also allows you to "re-purchase" applications and download them again. This would allow you to delete all of them and start fresh. If my comments above don't cause any ah-ha's, it may be that an app update is corrupt and messing everything up. I am a firm believer that system maintenance be a regular part of ownership. I run Onyx on my Mac's and it seems to save me from all or many of the issues that other users have from Apple updates. I do the same for my Windoze systems using my tried and true utilities. I think the same needs to be done on the iPhone. If you have used the same system to jailbreak your wife's phone that you have issues with 2.0, you have no guarantee that the jailbreak software remnants aren't the culprit. I suggest that you sectionalize your troubles, testing each area and eliminating them one-by-one from the equation.

Michael

View in context

356 replies

SMR

Level 2

215 points

Aug 4, 2008 5:26 AM in response to p+j

Yes, most definitely, CALL THEM. Get on the phone and explain what is happening and what led to it happening.

A couple of other things I also did:
I removed any playlists that were getting placed on the device that I didn't tell it to put on there.
I removed all music videos from any music playlists.
I moved all music videos to their own playlist.

I don't know if that could cause a problem or not.

I also haven't connected via wifi or gone into the iTunes store in the phone...

I hope that this helps...

wgoosey

Level 1

29 points

Aug 4, 2008 7:29 AM in response to Gary Franz

As I said before, I've had that happen three times in three days. I had it fixed pretty well, or so I thought, by doing a restore from a backup done just before the 2.0 firmware update. This seemed to be fine for 24 hours. Then I bought another app and added a couple more during a sync and "whack" gone again.

This time I did the full device wipe and didn't restore from backup. I went through the pain of setting up my bluetooth and network password (boy those long passwords are tough) and so far, 12 hours later we're still good to go. I'll let you know if it holds together as I get more adventurous later in the day.

goose

p+j Author

Level 1

10 points

Aug 4, 2008 7:35 AM in response to wgoosey

i have a feeling if you hook it up for a sync or to put media on it you'll get bit again. that's my suspicion, at least. keep us apprised!

there may be a workaround. if it works we'll post it, of course.

pmonahan

Level 1

0 points

Aug 4, 2008 8:08 AM in response to p+j

Anyone hear anything from Apple? They must be following these threads and know what is happening to all of us. No apps work, no video or music. They must have an update on the way to resolve this.

wgoosey

Level 1

29 points

Aug 4, 2008 9:05 AM in response to p+j

Well, things are still OK. I have reloaded all my media and a bunch of applications, photos, contacts, etc. All is fine so far. Of course, I've been here before as well. Every time its happend to me it has been after I've loaded another app by way of itunes. Downloading direct from the app store seems OK. There is no one app that I can say is the problem. When it goes, NONE of the apps work and the media says its not there. In Itunes, the phone still looks full.

I have to agree that this is not a hardware problem since I'm still using the old phone that has been flawless for almost a year.

goose

pmonahan

Level 1

0 points

Aug 4, 2008 12:01 PM in response to wgoosey

Looks like you may have a resolution here that most of us are hesitant to attempt since it requires much time are resetting of preferences. How did you do a full device wipe? I assume that you mean that you reset your iPhone back to the original factory condition and uploaded all your data, settings and apps from scratch. Please provide details of how you went about wiping your iPhone clean.

Thanks for your help, I look forward to hearing from you as to a long term fix, who knows how long it will take for Apple to provide us with help. Others have suggested installing a new app and rebooting. This has not worked for me after many attempts.

SMR

Level 2

215 points

Aug 4, 2008 12:38 PM in response to wgoosey

Hey wgoosey, did you have any video files on your device that were showing up in the music playlists? I did and it seems that might have been the problem.

TV shows and movie files get placed in their own directory inside of iTunes while music videos show up in the music lists, I believe that this was what caused me my problems are when the iPod part of the phone found an unsupported video file inside my music playlist, it went kaput. Why this would affect my apps I don't know, unless the entire system got corrupted.

I made sure that I deleted all of my old smart playlists and any playlist which contained any video files (generally music videos), or at least remove the video files from the playlists. Once that was done, I created a new playlist which only contains my videos.

I had my phone go bad on my last Friday and re-syncing did me no good. I went through the entire secure wipe of the phone and re-installed everything one part at a time. Since I moved all of my playlists around I haven't had a problem since...

To do a full system wipe: go into Settings->General->Reset and select the "Erase All Content and Settings" option. Then kick back for two hours if you have a 16GB phone or an hour if you have an 8GB phone. Then go through the process of setting up a new phone. DO NOT use any backed up versions as they too may be corrupted. It takes some time and patience, but it worked for me.

wgoosey

Level 1

29 points

Aug 4, 2008 1:19 PM in response to pmonahan

Hi P Monahan,

As SMR has posted... to wipe the phone ON THE PHONE go to Settings->General->Reset and select the "Erase All Content and Settings" and sit back and wait. This is painful since things like bluetooth pairings, favorites, defined ringtones, network passwords, app passwords, etc all disappear. On the other hand it cleans your set-up and gets rid of crap you now now you don't want any more.

So far so good. I've been watching videos all day and a little music and used a few apps with no hicups Currently I'm downloading 4 app updates directly to the phone do see if that breaks it. One thing at a time. If I'm going to break it, I want it to be before I get everything all set up again 🙂

goose

wgoosey

Level 1

29 points

Aug 4, 2008 1:27 PM in response to SMR

SMR,

I can't speak to before since I didn't look in my playlists. Since the unit said there was no media I'm not sure I could have even looked at them. If I look now and look in iTunes playlists everying seems to be as it should be. I'm not in the habit of having music videos an I don't bother with playlists for video in general so I don't think this could have caused my problems. Actually, while I used smart playlists for my old 30Gig ipod extensively I never really keep enough music on the iPhone to make me want to have them there. I only have 2 smart lists I think and one regular playlists that feeds them. None have ever shown any weirdness on the phone other than being "not there" 😟

goose

wgoosey

Level 1

29 points

Aug 4, 2008 1:41 PM in response to wgoosey

Spoke too soon. Dead again!

All was well on the phone after I downloaded 4 updates directly to the phone. I think hooked up to my MBP to sync. I had previously disabled backups so that wouldn't muck things up. I think did the sync and all seemed well. It removed some videos I had watched and added a couple podcasts. After the sync I randamly selected the app Twitteriffic. The splash screen came up and the beast froze. I had to cold start it. When it came back the phone was gone at first "no service" and the apps do that try to start and crap out thing.

A minute or so later ATT came back and the unit found my wireless. Safari works... as do all the Apple apps that are part of the firmware. All third party apps are toast.

Looks like another restore is in my future....sheesh...

goose

SMR

Level 2

215 points

Aug 4, 2008 2:00 PM in response to wgoosey

You mention something that makes me wonder...

The first time I had my phone go out on me, I was actually downloading updates through the app store on the phone when it died.

I haven't used the app store or the iTunes store on the phone since with no trouble.

wgoosey

Level 1

29 points

Aug 4, 2008 4:18 PM in response to SMR

SMR,

Yes, this IS an interesting observation. I don't recall the 1st to times. However the last two both involved direct to phone installs. The 3rd failure was a new purchase and the last one involved 4 apps being updated.

I'm restoring now. I certainly will NOT do that again and we'll see if, like you, the problems end. I sure hope so. I can live without that.

Have you also noticed that the number of updates available shown on the phone and that shown in iTunes is VASTLY different? I've also had iTunes tell me hat ALL apps needed updating. You KNOW that's wrong. Not ready for prime time!

goose

Aug 4, 2008 4:34 PM in response to p+j

iPhone update 2.0.1 showed up in my iTunes when I got home from work, and I'm downloading the 242MB file now to check out.

p+j Author

Level 1

10 points

Aug 4, 2008 6:08 PM in response to Allen Huffman

well, this is sort of comical... and sort of a pyrrhic victory.

i'm downloading the new firmware right now. and i'll bet a million dollars it fixes this and many other issues.

still... just for the sake of my pride, i would like to report that i did, in the 11th hour, find a fix. it's a cumbersome fix, but it worked reliably.

reset from within the device (settings>general>reset>reset all content and settings)

while that's cooking, go into your machine and ditch these files:

/System/Library/Extensions/AppleMobileDevice.kext
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DeviceLink.framework
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MobileDevice.framework
/Library/Receipts/AppleMobileDeviceSupport.pkg

once those are gone, then delete the itunes application. restart the machine, and reinstall your 7.7.

that requires you having a 7.7 copy, which i just so happened to have.

so there are 3 keys to making the fix stick

1) reset the device hard core from within
2) get rid of supporting files and
3) DOWNGRADE to 7.7

it works beautifully. and now that i've figured all of that out, here is firmware 2.0.1 to hopefully correct everything.

oh well, it was a fun exercise. and if for some reason 2.0.1 doesn't fix our ish... then i'll open up my servers for everybody to DL a copy of itunes 7.7 and partake in the fix.

many many thanks in helping figure this out to fellow poster gary franz.

sigh...

also... if this firmware upgrade does fix the issues, i will have to admit that 5 days turn around on repairing a major MAJOR bug is pretty good on apple's part. so, here's hoping.

jaime

Aug 4, 2008 6:19 PM in response to p+j

it didn't fix it, i just updated to 2.0.1 on my ipod touch and none of my apps work. oh, and look, no music. i thought 2.0.1 was going to fix it, but i guess i was wrong. i am really p *ed off
and this is the 4th time it happened to me in 3 days, im getting really tired of restoring or erasing all content and settings on my ipod

iphone 2.0 problems.