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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

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356 replies

p+j Author

Level 1

10 points

Aug 4, 2008 6:26 PM in response to blackbelt534

did you try doing a reset within the device first? did you restore from a backup?

you might try doing that reset, and then forcing it into DFU mode, and then restoring it again, with the new firmware.

i'm still holding out to see...

wgoosey

Level 1

29 points

Aug 4, 2008 6:46 PM in response to blackbelt534

I'm not ready to give up quite yet. I was in the process of restoring 2.0 and the apps were half loaded. I aborted when 2.0.1 showed up and updated to it. This process didn't wipe the iphone though. And, indeed, the apps didn't work. But I then did a full restore now using 2.0.1 and when it got done my music was back. I'm loading the apps right now so I'll know soon if I'm at least back to functional. It'll take a day or so to know if its fixed or not...

goose

p+j Author

Level 1

10 points

Aug 4, 2008 6:48 PM in response to wgoosey

i'm with you, and so far i've had a good feeling about it.

p+j Author

Level 1

10 points

Aug 4, 2008 6:49 PM in response to p+j

even if it doesn't work initially, i'll retry it after dumping the support files and doing a device wipe (which i admittedly didn't do myself).

SMR

Level 2

215 points

Aug 4, 2008 6:54 PM in response to blackbelt534

Well, I did the update and still no problems. 8GB music, 4.3GB video, 357MB Other

So far so good. I hope that it all works out for everybody.

wgoosey

Level 1

29 points

Aug 4, 2008 7:42 PM in response to wgoosey

Well, I'm back up and running under 2.0.1 and the apps run and the music is there. I'm not ready to say it will stay that way but for now, I'm crossing my fingers and soldiering on.

On interesting thing I noted. All the old backups I've made in the Backups folder were about 200MB in size. I did a right click/backup on my phone now and the backup folder that is created is only about 40MB in size. Wonder if they started leaving stuff out to make it faster? The complaints about long backups were deafening. A from scratch backup of my phone now took about 20 minutes. I've found it much less irritating if you go to the backups folder and do a get info on the backup and watch it grow as it completes. At least you can see progress and keep your patience or lack thereof in check!

goose

Aug 4, 2008 8:27 PM in response to wgoosey

I'm a few steps behind everyone. My old backup from 7/22 was over 500MB, and my new is at 300MB and climbing. We'll see how it goes.

I did a Restore tonight, thinking I wanted to try again and get all my SMS histories, etc. back, and it said "Restore and Upgrade" or something, so now it looks like I have 2.0.1 and my old 7/22 files (huzzah!), and apps work.

So, I sorted a bunch of icons, and now am backing up, then I'll get the rest of my photos, etc. on there and the rest of my apps and hope for the best.

-- Allen

Thursday when my iPhone crashed, I went home over lunch to try to restore. It took so long, I had to leave the phone and return to work. My friend coined it "appdiction" so I registered www.appdiction.com which I'll be turning in to an iPhone blog 😉

p+j Author

Level 1

10 points

Aug 4, 2008 9:31 PM in response to p+j

well... ominous things. my apps work great. my music, not so much. not there. i very deliberately placed my whole GnR collection in the phone and a triumphant beginning. the phone registers no music.

so we'll see tomorrow. i consider that a problem. maybe i did something wrong. i'm going to do a clean system wipe from inside the phone and do it again. we'll see then.

i'm thrilled the apps work. but...

as a side note, i'm not a fan of the sync times. seems like they should have a better way to move the apps and data between. i mean, some of these apps are what... 50K? what's the transfer rate of 50K via USB 2.0? i wonder what the systems are doing that they don't just drop the data in place and let us hit the ground running. i sync my journler application data via idisk every time i open it and it takes less time than one app. interesting. still... they work. music, no. we'll see. i'm hesitant to say fixed just yet.

Aug 5, 2008 6:54 AM in response to p+j

No dice. Things appeared to be working fine, then I synced one more time this morning and then no apps run, and no media files. Again. So basically, every day since Thursday this has happened, 2.0 or 2.0.1. (Well, except Monday, when I had just spent most of Sunday wiping and restoring and basically not touching the phone, so I'm guessing it would have done the same.)

This time, though, I can't blame it on a crash/reboot like I've thought was the case every other time. I never saw such a thing. I had my stuff being resynced (mail, photos, apps) then went to sync the music files, and they showed up in iTunes as being copied, but as soon as I disconnected and checked, they were not in the phone.

I'll have to swing by our local Des Moines Apple Store sometime and see if they know anything more than what we know here.

SMR

Level 2

215 points

Aug 5, 2008 7:12 AM in response to Allen Huffman

One other thing I just thought of. I know it might be a silly question, but I know that this can affect flash/jump drives, are you actually hitting the little eject icon next to your device in iTunes before you unplug it? I don't recall if I did that the first time I had the problem, but I do know that I do it and have done it every single time since without reproducing the problem. Just a thought.

Aug 5, 2008 7:32 AM in response to p+j

(I personally don't hit the eject. For my old 80GB iPod, if you enable disk mode, you were required to unmount before unplugging, but if you weren't it disconnected automatically when iTunes was done syncing so you could just unplug. At least, that's what I think I remember.)

New observation: Since none of my apps work, and I'm stuck at work until tonight, I decided to just go delete them all and reboot. So, one by one I deleted each and every third party application, as well as web links I had added to the home screens. When I was done, I had the original screen, and one empty screen (should that be the case? it had nothing on it).

Then, I powered off, and turned it back on.

When I did, ALL MY APPS WERE BACK! The web links were gone, though, and the apps still did not run.

For a second try, I just deleted the one app at the bottom right of the main screen, and powered off then back on. This time, it was gone like it should. Very weird.

wgoosey

Level 1

29 points

Aug 5, 2008 7:59 AM in response to SMR

Historically I don't use the little eject button. Lately, out of pure paranoia I have been.

So far, things are OK for me. I installed 2.0.1 and then did the simple iTunes retore which reinstalled 2.0.1 and wiped the beast. I selected NOT to try and restore any backups. So far, all my apps, music, videos, etc are working OK. I'll use it as much as I can today and see what happens.

I will NOT be direct downloading any apps or updates directly to the phone. This "seems" to have triggered the failure the last couple times for me. I have no idea if this is really relevant but I'd really like one day of not screwing around with this phone! (I know, don't use it!)

I have hand that "delete apps.....they're back!" thing myself. It only happened once but it was indeed weird. I sure wish Apple would publish what is SUPPOSED to happen so those of us with the inclination and fortitude could help find a work-around.

Ah well, off to see if I can break it again. I'm very sorry to hear that 2.0.1 didn't just fix it but I was leary after reading the net about what it was supposed to help. I do think my apps install more quickly now and the backups are definitely actually tolerable now.

cya next time
goose

Aug 5, 2008 8:17 AM in response to wgoosey

Goose, are you running on a "clean install" now, with none of your old app settings, SMS logs, etc. preserved? That's the thing I don't want to lose. I already lost my place on South Park Imagination Land once and had to start all over, and after my recent fresh clean start-overs, I realized all the programs I'd been playing lost their history. It's one thing to just have to re-enter account information in a MySpace app or whatever, but another to realize you have to start all over on some stupid game just to see what's after level 15 😉

I allowed my 7/22 backup to restore on top of 2.0.1 (which is how iTunes did it when I first selceted "Restore" -- it said "Upgrade and Restore" or something, telling me about the new 2.0.1).

I then wonder if it's possible to start over clean, but locate the specific app backup files (SMS logs, game saves, etc.) from a backup directory and copy them over.

Also, now that MacFixIt (I think it was) has a deal about the app update issue. Mine kept wanting to update over and over again, and iTunes ended up showing like 8 copies of AIM. It ends up in the apps folder as "aim.ipa", "aim 1.ipa", "aim 2.ipa", etc. duplicating each time. Dunno. I will be checking in to that tonight.

wgoosey

Level 1

29 points

Aug 5, 2008 8:19 AM in response to Allen Huffman

I was web surfing around and found this thread on MacRumours. Sound familiar?

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=518383&page=4

Looks like a version of this problem has been going on for a month or so and everybody is dong what we're doing. Grasping at straws

p+j Author

Level 1

10 points

Aug 5, 2008 8:36 AM in response to wgoosey

the one difference in that (and other forums i've found) is that the problems they describe don't happen as ours do and that is in tandem with media that is on the phone yet magically unavailable. that's a key component, i think.

i may be splitting hairs, but as a clinical person i think the full understanding of the syndrome is going to be key for 1) us finding a work around (if it still is a problem) and 2) apple engineering a solution.

for all those still having problems i would suggest doing an internal device wipe, and then restoring as a new phone (no backups!). then you should have a clean enough slate to determine whether 2.0.1 actually fixed or not.

i myself have perfectly working apps for now, but still no media. so i'm guessing (?) that's because i didn't do like above: a device wipe first. so i plan on (sigh) doing that when i get home, thereby watching progress bars for interminable hours once again. then if i still have issues, i figure i can safely say 2.0.1 didn't fix our problem... until then i'm not willing to give up on 2.0.1

i really wanted to listen to GnR on the way to work today too 😟

iphone 2.0 problems.