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Manual iPhone software downloads

I work IT for a company that has a dozen iPhones. When an update comes out, downloading a 250Mb update for each phone is tedious at best. When the 2.1 update came out, I remember someone posting a link to do a manual download of the software that I could then point each phone to, for one download and multiple patches. (Very time saving.) I cannot find a manual download link for the 2.2 software. How does one locate these download files every time a new patch comes out?

Also, trying to press on missing this information, I hooked an iPhone up to my PC with iTunes and did a "down load only" of the 2.2 software. I cannot locate where iTunes downloaded it to though. Will it stay resident in my system now, and I can hook up phone after phone for the update from my system, or will it try to re-download the 2.2 software for each phone?

Also, I'd just like to know where iTunes does download these patches to, and if they're retrievable.

Thanks.

G5 1.6, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Nov 26, 2008 11:19 AM

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Posted on Nov 26, 2008 11:49 AM

Here are the manual download links:

iPhone 3G v2.2 Firmware Update

Original iPhone v2.2 Firmware Update

(The location is indicated in the system logs after iTunes downloads the update.)

The file is saved to this locations:

MacOS: ~/Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates

WinXP: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPhone Software Updates

You can move the file to other computers if you like. Press the option key (Mac) or shift key (Windows) when clicking Update in iTunes to be prompted to locate the manually downloaded file.
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Question marked as Best reply

Nov 26, 2008 11:49 AM in response to ProphetSix

Here are the manual download links:

iPhone 3G v2.2 Firmware Update

Original iPhone v2.2 Firmware Update

(The location is indicated in the system logs after iTunes downloads the update.)

The file is saved to this locations:

MacOS: ~/Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates

WinXP: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPhone Software Updates

You can move the file to other computers if you like. Press the option key (Mac) or shift key (Windows) when clicking Update in iTunes to be prompted to locate the manually downloaded file.

Nov 26, 2008 11:53 AM in response to neuroanatomist

When you click on option (MAC) or shift (Windows) and select a firmware, does it do an upgrade installation or a full installation. This is the only thing I'm curious about, because it would be a pain if it didn't do the update installation but wiped out everything and did a fresh install of the firmware. I know there is the backup file for that reason, but people might also lose any app data stored on their phone that they maybe didn't backup, or go through the pain of loading all the music and videos back onto the iPhone.

Thanks

Nov 26, 2008 12:13 PM in response to ProphetSix

Can I start the download and then stop it to get the patch file location in the logs, or do I have to download it once, and then just copy it over from the download location?


Good question - unfortunately, I don't know the answer.

However, there's an easier way to get the direct download location - just keep THIS LINK handy (it's usually updated within a few hours of an update release).

Nov 26, 2008 12:14 PM in response to ProphetSix

You could also search the files on your computer for any file with a "ipsw" extension, and you will now know where iTunes stores the firmware files. Basically the firmware files are a zip file with the ipsw extension. When you manually download it on a MAC it will mount the ipsw file automatically if you have this option setup in Safari and will throw the original ipsw firmware file in the trash. You can set Safari to not automatically mount the ipsw files so that when you manually download the firmware file it will be in it's unzipped form.

Nov 29, 2008 3:17 PM in response to ProphetSix

I am trying to download the current iphone update via itunes and this link and neither are successful with download stopping at 176MB or less every time. Anyone know why? This has happened with previous updates but has resolved itself much quicker in the past. Is this likely to be a server overload issue??? I have tried with antivirus and firewall turned off.

Manual iPhone software downloads

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