iOS 5 update deleted text messages

We can't PM here I don't think (unless i'm blind). I've got a copy of your post before they pulled it though.

I saved a copy of my backup and I tried to open it with a utility and it said backup file is incomplete, lol. Looks like I'm screwed, unless I want to go way back to May. I tried unencrypting the backup the utility said was bad and retrying, and it overwrote the SMS.db with the current, smaller copy.

For some reason I am not authorized to look at this page from my Mac. Seriously apple. We're trying to help here because you guys are not doing anything about it. Just remember twitter is the fastest way to get it around. Can't take me off of that!!

i used your exact method and i got all my text messages back and my current ones...but then i ran into the problem of not receiving any text messages. i could send them but not receive them. imessage would work so i could send and receive, but regular sms would only let me send and i would have no clue that over the course of a few hours i would be missing loads of texts which i would only find out when i restored the phone to the most recent backup. any clue how to fix that? i do have a jailbroken iphone4 that i am using. i actually had to go back to ios5 backup with my previous sms missing one because it was the only way i could receive text messages.

Hi schwinndoctor,

Few things :

Note: Full functionality will only come once IOS has converted your file to its new format. Some things that can stop this process from happening is prematurely accessing the database (ie.. Trying to open SMS), before it's rebuilt.

1) Did you replace the file SMS.db or did you delete it and then copy the new one in? The permissions of this file MUST be set as owner mobile

2) Did you perform the overwrite at the lock screen BEFORE accessing the phone, and then reboot (using "just boot") after letting it sit for a few minutes

3) Did you delete everything else in the /var/mobile/Library/SMS directory especially the write ahead log (*.db-wal) ?

If you could be bothered trying again .. Check the size of your SMS.db and make sure it's converted before trying to access it. Here's a typical scenario of file sizes:

Mine was:

Original iOS4.x database: 4.9MB

After Merging / Rebuilding: 4.1MB

After copying to ios5 and waiting for it to convert: 6MB

I only accessed the file once I saw the size was 6MB which occurred after powering down and then "just boot"ing

If it doesn't work then I'm sorry I've wasted your time. Apple have zero solution and this has worked for me on many phones now. Seems to be more common of an issue than originally thought.

Post back how you go

1) i replaced the file SMS.db and when i checked using ifile it said under ownership that owner was mobile. i hope that this sufficed.

2) what is the overwrite exactly referring to? replacing the sms.db file?

3) i did delete the two sms files before shm and wal

yeah i can check the sizes and see. i used this site http://smsmerge.homedns.org/ which you suggested and merged it through there. im currently looking through and one of my sms.db files says 1.7 mb, another says 15.4mb and the other says 22.8mb. im going to assume the 1.7 is referring to what I had before using your process which had the missing text messages, the 15.4 referring to what i had at the backup during 4.3 and 22.8 being the merge. also i used phoneview and it said i had over 100k messages on the phone and ive only had it for about 16 months. after using your process, it said sms inbox full must delete messages to receive new ones, and i deleted over 50 threads and still did not receive any messages.

I believe IOS 5 will not let you receive messages once your database has reached 15MB. Do a google search on "ios5 15MB"

yeah i figured cuz i read about the limit being 15mb or 75000 messages and people were saying delete the convos with the most files, such as pictures and videos and texts so bring myself down. i guess i would have to take out about 30000 messages or delete alot of convos with files in them to work. so do you think it should theoretically work if i delete alot of conversations? did you run into this problem of reaching that sms inbox is full limit?

Actually - the media is in a different folder. The limit applies to the database file only, which is an SQLite file. - you will probably have to delete some serious text

To answer your question, I haven't experienced limit restrictions first hand although I'd say this is your culprit because if there was a problem in the merging process and you had a corrupt database or stuffed your permissions up, then the app would either crash, or it would delete itself upon trying to send a message, or the phone would get stuck in a boot cycle and upon hard resetting you would have a blank database. The fact that it is there, working, you can send and receive iMessages, and you can send a text and it amends the file, shows me that it's all working ok. The fact you have in excess of 20MB file seems obvious that you won't receive anything. What surprises me though is why it didn't pop up with a warning box telling you this? I've heard it should pop up with a message.

Either way. Database is way too big. Half it's size and give it a try. (ps: 3 years worth for me is only 6MB... So I'm SURE you can find SOME messages you no longer need)

You can use disk aid or other extraction tools to actually produce some nice PDF backups for the ones that you delete. At least then you can load them into iBooks and search for things. Note: you will need to backup the oversized database in iTunes before using a tool like this... OR... Use your current backup and then follow the merge process again.

Good luck

Thanks for fighting the good fight. I finally gave up after not being able to get any alternative method to work. I did a factory reset on the offending phone. I of course chose not to restore any backup as that would have reinstalled the bad SMS database that Apple seems content to not fix despite having many ways of doing so. All in all it was not too bad. iTunes is decent enough to ask to reinstall all your apps. My wife's contacts and calendar were restored perfectly since I had set up her phone to use iCloud for everything, because she doesn't connect to the PC very often (partly due to the fact that she is setup on a laptop because iTunes annoyingly wont allow multiple instances to run on different user accounts on Windows machines so that is easier than having her use my PC - which would actually be easier for everyone).

Restoring her phone turned out not to be that big a pain. What was a pain was waiting for a month for a fix that never came. I'd have done this on the first day had I known no fix was comming. I wasted a lot of time trying to fix this. Like you said it takes a lot of effort to keep things running, especially when you are responsible for several people and their devices. It is disappointing that she might have lost a few important texts. But we'd have gladly lost them a month ago rather than not be able to send or receive texts for that whole time. In fact my wife ran into an acquantance who she rarely sees who had happened to text her something which she'd have never known about thanks to suffering from this huge bug for a month.

This has not been handled well at all. I have lived long enough to know no person and no company is perfect. But I'd have hoped for better with such a serious issue (in terms of impact) that frankly can't be that hard to fix. Between this SMS failure, constant Safari crashes on my iPad, iTunes wireless syncs most frequently not starting for both my iPhone or iPad (which pops up an error modal dialog in iTunes that must be closed on the machine), the inability to run two iTunes simultaneously on a Windows machines, and the many ways that iTunes dissapoints in terms of features and functionality they are not winning over this Windows user.

Benhefron - how do I reach you to get the database rebuild instructions?

Neliason - Did your wife have any heartbreak about losing data in apps? I know how to save any text messages that are important for me. But what has stopped me from a restore without back-up is all the data that I have stored with in apps. Some apps have ways to export to data. However other apps will lose history and settings and progress. Wish I could get the clean start I need without losing my current state of all my apps.

Ok so i am in my iphones back up right now and there is no file called sms.db/// can someone chime in? thanks

Yep, in the backup folder, the files are named by hashes of the location rather than the real filename. You're looking for the file "3d0d7e5fb2ce288813306e4d4636395e047a3d28".

She hasn't said anything about anyting being lost yet other than having to pair her bluetooth headset today (which is pretty easy anyway). Really besides using it for phone calls she mostly justs texts and surfs the web.

Gotcha. If she mostly talks, texts and surfs web, then no, she probably doesn't use many (or any) apps that keep data. Thanks for sharing your story.