A problem... is there a reason why, since upgrading my iPhone 3GS to IOS5, that my 3G and WIFI signal seems to cut out constantly. When ever I try to use the internet (WIFI or 3G) the phone seems to go into a cycle of 'no signal' 'searching' 'full signal'.
Anyone else had this issue? Any ideas what might be the problem / solution?
iPhone 3GS, iOS 5
i don't know if apple sent the instructions out or not, but my 3gs randomly rebooted itself while in airplane mode at my office... airplane mode allowed wi-fi to maintain signal -- but couldn't be used as a phone! quite the expensive paperweight if you as me... i never heard a word from apple other than, "buy a new phone, yours is out of warranty" -- excellent customer service btw -- so i waited a few days before 'upgrading' my hardware and lucky enough, it 'fixed' itself. i haven't asked any questions since then but this is still a massive issue and as far as i know, it has yet to be addressed by apple directly. shady biz people, shady biz.
Amy - so far it's been about 6 hours. If it stops working or the issue comes back, I'll post it here. I actually wouldn't be surprised if it comes back, it's effectively the same thing I did when I restored it to a new iphone the second time. But it does seem like the reset all settings approach, (assuming it works consistently) is easier and faster than a restore from backup or a erase all approach.
Good luck.
Update: Since I completed the wipe and setup as new on Sunday (2 days ago), I haven't seen the problem return. This in itself doesn't mean anything since the problem returned at random but it's promising.
PauloSR wrote:
How do he do wiped it back to bare OS???...
Can you then do a synchronization in iTunes of the old data?
I was in the Apple Store so they put the OS on for me but you can also do it yourself. It appears the easiest way to do it is to connect it to your computer and press the restore button from within iTunes. This will cause the OS to be extracted and loaded onto the device. You'll next be presented with the option to restore the device from a previous backup or setup as new. Go with the setup as new option and you'll end up with a device that looks like it just came out of the box from an OS perspective.
Your second question, the answer is yes but with some caveats. You'll be able to sync the phone with your itunes library so there's no danger in losing any purchased content like music, videos or apps. The bad news is if you use any apps that have file storage as part of them, you'll have to re-setup all the files you keep in those applications. You'll also lose any notes you may have in the Notepad app and you'll lose all of your pictures from your camera roll. These items can be put back on the device but it takes a little effort on your part.
Good luck!
Thank you very much for your answer...
cunnincr wrote:
Your second question, the answer is yes but with some caveats. You'll be able to sync the phone with your itunes library so there's no danger in losing any purchased content like music, videos or apps. The bad news is if you use any apps that have file storage as part of them, you'll have to re-setup all the files you keep in those applications. You'll also lose any notes you may have in the Notepad app and you'll lose all of your pictures from your camera roll. These items can be put back on the device but it takes a little effort on your part.
This is the part that scares me. I have so many notes, files in apps, and even some scores/profiles in games that I really don't want to lose. How did you go about getting the pictures from your camera roll back? I'm thinking of trying this option but need to figure out how to get everything back. I can copy all the notes to iCloud and a couple of the programs have their own FTP style backup options but the pictures...I don't know about them, nor the game profiles.
Thanks for the report and I hope you will keep us all posted on the status of your phone.
swmbkrn wrote:
cunnincr wrote:
Your second question, the answer is yes but with some caveats. You'll be able to sync the phone with your itunes library so there's no danger in losing any purchased content like music, videos or apps. The bad news is if you use any apps that have file storage as part of them, you'll have to re-setup all the files you keep in those applications. You'll also lose any notes you may have in the Notepad app and you'll lose all of your pictures from your camera roll. These items can be put back on the device but it takes a little effort on your part.
This is the part that scares me. I have so many notes, files in apps, and even some scores/profiles in games that I really don't want to lose. How did you go about getting the pictures from your camera roll back? I'm thinking of trying this option but need to figure out how to get everything back. I can copy all the notes to iCloud and a couple of the programs have their own FTP style backup options but the pictures...I don't know about them, nor the game profiles.
Thanks for the report and I hope you will keep us all posted on the status of your phone.
I didn't have that many notes, about 12, so I e-mailed them all to myself and then once I had the device setup as new and connected to e-mail I copied the text back into the notes application. I don't play many games so i can't help you with the game profiles. Wouldn't those things be copied to/from gamecenter?
For the pictures, the easiest way for me was to copy them all to my laptop into a directory. I sync with a windoww based PC. When you plug the phone into a windows computer, it gets recognized as a storage device/camera and prompts you to open in explorer or a couple other options. Select the open in explorer option and you'll see an explorer window containing all your pictures. Select them and drag them to a location on your hard drive. This happens outside the iTunes auto start and sync. If sync starts, wait until it finishes before attempting to copy the pictures.
Now after you finish the restore & setup as new device, go into iTunes with the phone connected. Go to Photo's and select sync photo's checkbox. You'll have to browse to the directory where you previously copied the files into. This will get them back on your phone but they will not appear in your camera roll, instead they'll show up in a new album. Maybe there's a way to get them back onto the Camera Roll that someone else can share with us.
Good luck!
I thought I would share with you. It has been 1 week now since I have encountered signal problems.
I usually have my cellular data switched off. While out I used the internet service of my provider (turned Cellular data on and activated it) After which, my phone stopped having signal problems. That was it!
Previously I had tried to reinstall software. Worked for about 3 days. I also changed my sim card- didnt work at all.
Hope this fix works for you!
My problem has spanned across two iPhones- 3GS & 4s both issues started on iOS 5.0
My 3GS was temporarily fixed with a reset, but it reaccurred.
I was shocked when the problem occurred on a new 4s. Happended twice, temporsrily fixed with factory restores t only to return. Went to genius bar, they switched my iPhone for another, and how it has happened twice. On the newer 4s.
The tech thought it could be something going on with my restore files, so the first time it occurred on the newer 4s I restored from scratch without restoring my files. The problem not only came back, but it came back quicker, 3 days as you all have been reporting.
I don't know what to do anymore. I believe I have gone through all of the logical motions of isolating what the problem is, and it's evident that it's a software issue in iOS, especially noticeable in 5.0 and above.
It's time to cal APPLE and push them to get this done And get it done right.
I updated my 3GS to iOS5, then soon after I started experienceing the signal loop so I wen`t to my carrier (Rogers) and somebody there said that it was a broken phone and I would have to contact Apple support. Of course all my technical support had expired so I couldn`t do that.
So far I`ve tried restoring, changing the sim card, turning off location services, turning off 3G and data, and I even tried resetting all the settings. None of it has even worked temporarily but since it only started after I upgraded the iOS then it can`t be the phone`s fault right?
Anyway has anyone contacted Apple to see what they say about this other than "replace the phone"?
Well, maybe a solution is on the way.
I heard that some people were facing problems with iPhone 4S and "No Sim Card" problem. It seems it has been fixed in iOS 5.0.1 (9A406). They said that you just have to update your phone and the problem blows away.
I did a restore yesterday and unfortunately my iOS 5.0.1 still remains (9A405). However, this shows us that Apple maybe working in those problems that are really annoying.
PS: I tried restores, set up as new phone, reset configurations and all other stuff there people has suggested here. None of them has worked. I still have the signal loop when I open an app that need to uses my location.
I posted this same response in under the Signal Search Loop discussion thread the other day.....
Went to the Genius bar again yesterday. Started by reviewing my case history with them:
12/31 back at the Genius bar. This time I'm told the problem is with the provisioning on the phone, they say it's an AT&T problem. Genius Kenneth is very helpful and calls AT&T on our behalf to verify ICCID and IMEI numbers. Genius Kenneth suspects that since the problem is following the phone number across multiple devices that the problem is due to provisioning issues. Genius Kenneth requests that AT&T reprovision the phone and resets the network settings on the phone. AT&T agent was rude and not customer service oriented but eventually reprovisioned the phone. Now we're back up and running but we all know that only time will tell if the fix is permanent
Out of curiousity, did you try the "reset all settings" option at any point before Kenneth did it? (not a full restore or wipe, but expressly trying reset all settings. I wonder if the AT&T "provisioning" had anything do with it in the end. I had the problem quite a bit (see earlier in the thread) and I reset all settings on Nov 28th. Since then it's been fine. Either way, I hope it's fixed for you.
In the beginning, when it first happened, I tried so many things. I wanna say that I did a reset all before I did the full restore as it seems like that's the logical progression that I'd follow but I can't remember with 100% certianty. I'm glad to hear that worked for you. I think it's a good sign that you did that on 11/28 and are still trouble free. None of my "corrections" ever lasted more than a month. If the problem hits me again, I will definetly do the reset all before I do anything else.
As bad luck would have it, my wife's 4S just started the signal search loop again. This is after the 2nd genius bar visit and a guess that the problem was a provisioning issue from AT&T. As stated above, the genius verified ICCD and IMEI numbers with AT&T and ask that the phone get re-provisioned. That visit was on 12/31 and today the signal search loop problem returned. My wife reset network settings on the phone and still the signal search loop remained. She then did a reset all settings and still the signal search loop remained. She'll restore the phone when she gets home which we know is only a temporary solution. We have a 3rd genius visit scheduled for Sunday.......3rd time's a charm right?
IOS5 and Phone Signal Issues
