Level 1 (0 points)
313music
Re: iPad Safari crashing regularly
Nov 3, 2012 12:28 PM (in response to jimsimp3)
I've been in the midst of this exact problem with Apple Technical Support. This has been an ongoing problem for over 6 months. My observations and recommendations are below for those experiencing this problem:
If you're positive you have this problem, then scroll down to 'Recommendations'
Observations on 1st Generation iPad
1. As noted in several messages, the issue is an out-of-memory condition that results in a "black-screen" or crash that returns you to the home screen
2. The issue is easily reproducible by browsing to any web site that has a large number of graphics, photos, videos, etc. (which is about 1 out of every 5 you visit these days) and scrolling down to load the content, pinching-and-zooming the content and/or clicking on a particular photo or video to take it full-screen
3. This was NOT observed until the last upgrade to iOS (5.1.1) which enabled iCloud and several of the Spotlight Search features. It happened infrequently on iOS 5, and was never observed on iOS 4.
4. Erasing your iPad and returning it to the base configuration most likely WILL NOT resolve this issue. Erasing and restoring it from iTunes or iCloud backup won't work either. This is a memory constraint and application memory management problem.
5. You can confirm the above by connecting your iPad to iTunes and reviewing the crash logs. These will reside in one of three locations depending on your operating system:
a) OSX - /Library/Logs/CrashReporter/MobileDevice/<YourDeviceName>
b) Win7/Vista - C:\Users\<YourUserName>\AppData\Roaming\Applecomputer\Logs\CrashReporter/Mobile Device/<YourDeviceName>
c) WinXP - C:\Documents and Settings\<YourUserName>\Application Data\Apple computer\Logs\CrashReporter/<YourDeviceName>
On OSX you will see files with .crash and .xml extensions. In Windows, you will see .crash, and .log files. Look for files that have names showing 'LowMemory' in the title. You will probably also see files from 'MobileSafari' and 'MobileMail' as the out-of-memory condition will also crash the apps prior to blacking-out.
Here is an excerpt from one as an example:
Incident Identifier: 8371919F-E50E-4598-A354-A869D0E26A6F
CrashReporter Key: 7f275b3255a34f50735843bb607f213607a9d5e7
Hardware Model: iPad1,1
OS Version: iPhone OS 5.1.1 (9B206)
Kernel Version: Darwin Kernel Version 11.0.0: Sun Apr 8 21:51:26 PDT 2012; root:xnu-1878.11.10~1/RELEASE_ARM_S5L8930X
Date: 2012-09-17 17:17:38 -0700
Time since snapshot: 79 ms
Free pages: 448
Active pages: 1591
Inactive pages: 996
Throttled pages: 40397
Purgeable pages: 0
Wired pages: 19594
Largest process: MobileSafari
Processes
Name UUID Count resident pages
securityd <1a3f5034fb623ac896bfd78f6c11ea3f> 188
networkd <80ba40030462385085b5b7e47601d48d> 174
MobileSafari <20dbadfe9b1133d6b6770d43e6413d8a> 19678 (active)
MobileMail <eed7992f4c1d3050a7fb5d04f1534030> 9505 (jettisoned)
notifyd <f6a9aa19d33c3962aad3a77571017958> 157
...
If possible, grab all of these files and place them into a ZIP file and keep them in a separate directory so they don't get deleted. This is the information that Apple Support/Engineering will ask you for, though I'm fairly certain that they know about this issue and are deciding what (if anything) they want to do about it.
Summary & Recommendations:
As pointed-out earlier and in many other comments in this thread, the issue is an out-of-memory condition. This is most prevalent on the iPad First Generation; which only has 256MB of internal application memory. Don't confuse this with the amount of available flash storage on your iPad (16GB, 32GB, 64GB), this is internal memory that iOS uses. The iPad 2 doubled this memory to 512MB and the New iPad & iPad Mini further doubled to 1024MB, but even with that extra memory, this issue can still occur in the right conditions.
This issue is NOT specific to Safari. You will see the same results on alternate browsers like Chrome, Penguin and Safari. You can see this same type of failure using the eMail application if there are attachments with pictures, videos, etc. in the emails.
Some recommendations:
a) The Apple Geniuses are great, but they won't be particularly helpful on this issue. They are told to stay within the guidelines and best practices of Apple Support which is usually: erase your system and reload iOS. While this solution works for some things, it won't really help with this issue. HOWEVER, if you can get one of them to return the iPad to iOS4 or iOS 5, that will help a lot with this issue - DO NOT do the update to iOS 5.1.x or you will end-up back where you started.
b) If you need to run iOS 5.1.x, you can help to reduce (but not eliminate) the crashes by turning OFF iCloud and everything under Spotlight Search.
b) If you still have your device covered under an AppleCare Plan, open a ticket with them immediately and document the issue - indicate early-on that you want a replacement unit.
c) If you don't have an AppleCare Plan, you need to call Apple Corporate (+1 408-996-1010) and ask to speak to Customer Relations -- they are the only group that can work with out-of-warranty / out-of-support products. In fact, even with an AppleCare warranty you will probably need to end-up talking to Customer Relations
d) Be sure to convey the lack of usability of the iPad. You can show specific evidence of this through the crash logs (step #5 above) which will indicate just how many times your iPad has crashed with this problem. In my specific case, there were over 50 crash files -- there would have been more had I not erased the unit several times.
e) Work through the process. Yes, you are frustrated, and you don't want to have to explain this for the 100th time, and you know that erasing the unit won't fix this ,etc. etc. but the company requires that you work through the established processes in order to document the failures and escalate up the chain of command. (next step)
f) Escalate! If you still have access to AppleCare or Support, use them. Start a case and then when the rep tells you you need to erase and reload the unit, tell them you want to escalate to a supervisor. If you're at a supervisor, ask to escalate to Customer Relations.
An alternate method of reaching Customer Relations is to write a letter -- NOT an email, or a Fax, an old-fashioned letter with a stamp and everything. Document your issue, your dissatisfaction with the product and the company and ask that someone from Customer Relations contact you. Mail that letter to:
Apple Computer
Consumer Customer Relations
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, California, USA
95014
ONCE YOU REACH CUSTOMER RELATIONS:
Remember, most of the customer relations folks are not technical. They won't understand all the technical crap you've gone through, BUT they will benefit greatly from a well-document support ticket (see above).
Be sure to point-out repeatedly how very un-Apple-like this problem is, express that you've been a long-time supporter and purchaser of Apple products and that this issue is having you consider alternate products like Android and Windows Surface, etc. Also state that you'd like to have them carbon-copy and escalate the issue to the PRODUCT MARKETING MANAGERS for the iPad and iOS.
Unlike the Apple Store (who can only offer you repair or like-for-like unit replacement), Customer Relations has some flexibility to work outside the standard support procedures.
Customer Relations will likely offer to replace the unit for you. You should stress to them that this most likely WILL NOT fix the problem, and that you'd rather return the unit to Apple for credit towards a different product.
In my particular case, they initially required me to do a unit replacement (even though I told them it would not fix it and would cost Apple unnecessary dollars) before acknowledging the larger problem and asking what I wanted Apple to do.
I asked them to replace my iPad First Generation with an iPad Mini. They refused. (Hey, I had to ask) We went back and forth on what would make me happy, but ultimately I asked for a gift card from Apple in the amount of fair market value for the iPad (your value will vary depending on the model, but the longer you wait, the less it will be worth of course. For me, the fair market value established was $250. I only believe this was agreed to because I have a long product purchase history with Apple, and they'd rather see me stay a happy consumer than a noisy complainer about their poor product.
Anyway, the gift card allows ME to decide what technology I'm going to purchase, whether or not it is an iPad product remains to be seen.
Some will argue that this makes no sense and that I should just drop Apple altogether, but my counter to that is that every iPod, MacBook, iPhone and monitor I've purchased have worked great, and that the iPad is the first real product of frustration. If it was my ONLY purchase, I would probably be more inclined to go to an alternate platform. Other will argue that I could have simply put the unit up on eBay, sold it and bought something else. While that is true, the above process and documentation through Customer Relations ultimately builds a larger case with Apple Support and Engineering that this issue needs to be fixed. You can imagine that Apple doesn't want to start doing a large number of these "customer satisfaction product refunds", so as soon as someone in management takes notice that dollars are going OUT of Apple in support of this, someone in the iOS Engineering team will be brought-in to fix the issue, especially if it is affecting the newer iPad platforms.
I wish you luck with your resolution - I will keep you posted on my final decisions and closure with Customer Relations.
