How to downgrade iOS 6 to iOS 5.1.1 ipad2?

so the final answer is that there may be (is) a way to downgrade your device back to ios 5.1.1

however, there is no way to downgrade that is supported by apple, so apple wont let us tell you. there is an answer but you wont find it here. One note of caution:

jailbreaking, hacking, or in any way altering your device IS legal, but WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY!!!!!

so any tampering you do is at your own risk!

use google and see what you can get. we cannot help you here. but there is help to be found.

might I suggest cult of mac or cnet for any further information.

good luck on your hunt.

God bless

Hi, easy2do

These kind of questions fall into the "If you have to ask, you shouldn't be doing it" type.

Familiarize yourself with Apple's SHSH blob system and TinyUmbrella. You cannot downgrade without breaching iOS TOS anyways, but . . . you can't, even if you wanted to.

I'm surprised no one else has suggested this yet since it's pretty simple, but I fixed my iOS6 issues with a reset. Admittedly, this was kind of a Hail Mary pass that even I didn't think could work in a million years, but my iPad 2 is about 98% back to normal ("normal" being its wondrous state of responsive, fast functionality in iOS5).

Make sure you have everything Cloud backed up (obviously), then perform the reset using the "Erase All Content and Settings" option. When the device reboots and brings you to the "Set Up" walk-through, make sure you set up as a new iPad, not restoring from a previous backup (remember, all your data and apps can be re-downloaded from the Cloud).

Granted, I spent about three hours after this re-downloading apps, magazines, books, and music and re-inputting my Mail settings and Dropbox configuration, etc., but it was all worth it.

The only thing I did differently this time around is that I opted not to re-download any apps I hadn't used in more than six months, so goodbye Grand Theft Auto, Goodreader, and a bunch of other space hogs. My completely unscientific, uninformed, wild-guess theory is that iOS6 requires more of the disk space for temp files during its operation (that may be a very Windows-like perspective). I have about 70% of my disk space free (pre-reset it was more like 10%) and it's purring like a kitten.

jesse237 wrote:

I'm surprised no one else has suggested this yet since it's pretty simple, but I fixed my iOS6 issues with a reset. Admittedly, this was kind of a Hail Mary pass that even I didn't think could work in a million years, but my iPad 2 is about 98% back to normal ("normal" being its wondrous state of responsive, fast functionality in iOS5).

Make sure you have everything Cloud backed up (obviously), then perform the reset using the "Erase All Content and Settings" option. When the device reboots and brings you to the "Set Up" walk-through, make sure you set up as a new iPad, not restoring from a previous backup (remember, all your data and apps can be re-downloaded from the Cloud).

Gla you got it fixed. I just want to clarify, for anyone else reading this that what you did was not a reset. A reset is done by holding down the Home and power buttons until the silver apple appears. No data is lost. Just don't want anyone to get all panicky when someone suggests reseting their phone. 🙂

Also, considering the title of this thread some might think that what you did was a downgrade! Or was it?

No, they just restored the phone to factory settings and reloaded everything. Pretty standard, if annoyingly time consuming troubleshooting step.

Right, it certainly wasn't a downgrade -- I should have clarified that it's a workaround that solves many of the problems listed in the OP without downgrading. (Of course, you can't do anything about making the new App Store less ugly, but on the scale of device problems, I would guess that's probably at the bottom.) 🙂 But sluggish turns, low-res video, all the rest: fixed.

Just speaking for myself, this got me to a much happier result than buying an iPad 3 or hoping that iOS6 gets fixed soon -- the other two officially supported options right now, apparently.

@Meg -- I thought the process I outlined was considered a reset since that's what you choose in Settings to make it happen.

I certainly wasn't trying to be critical. 🙂 I just wanted to clarify because reseting gets recommeded A LOT. It's the one of the basic steps in troubleshooting. I don't want people who are uncertain to think that we were suggesting the erase their entire device. I agree that it's a bit confusing that reseting the device does not require going into the reset menu. What you did, if you had done it through iTunes would most likely have been referred to as restoring as new.

Best of luck.

Oh, no offense taken! 🙂 I guess I'm confused because I am suggesting that people erase their entire device. The Home-plus-Power-Button reset did nothing for me, probably because it doesn't actually relieve the new OS of whatever stresses it's facing trying to deal with the older device and months' worth of data and settings.

The great thing about iOS with Cloud enabled is that, with no file hierarchy like you have on a computer, you're not really in danger of permanently losing data unless you inentionally have an app that creates one, like Stash (am I right about that?).

Yes, sometimes erasing the entire device is the solution. I've had to do it once on an iPod Touch. iCloud has made the process much easier, though.

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You need ios 5.1.1 firmware for your ipad then go to the itune in your computer and click on your device then press shift first then restore if you using window if you using mac press option first then restore then choose your firmware then click it and click ok then you need to wait.

Hi Steven604111

would i be able to restore to ios4 from 5.1.1 as i have an Ipad 1 and thats what its running but my apps crash all the time

Let alone the wifi problem. Two weeks and no solution whatsoever.

Add one more, I still use two PPC Mac mini computers, so I am no longer able to sinc with my iPad 2. Are my mac Mini too old? Well, Apple could have kept the good and fair habit of informing users of the effects and recommendations that come with any new release, even Microsoft warns you whenever you upgrade any software. Shame on the Tim Apple.

easy2do: sorry boss, I did the same mistake from 4.3.1 to 4.3.2 and then from 5.1.1 to 6. last time i posted something regarding downgrades and they filtered my post because " i dishonored the apple`s policies"

even i kept my 5.1.1 on a diferent computer it doesnt helps. since steve is no here anymore their hardware and firmware stabillity has been decreased. google it you may find the awnser.