Is it possible to restore back to 9.2? Does anybody know the steps?
My Touch ID failed following the update to iOS 9.2.1. I need to restore back to the previous OS to confirm 9.2.1 is causing the problem.
If you have already installed 9.2.1 - there is no way to downgrade - you may want to consider backing your phone up to iTunes and then restoring as new. See if the problem resolves and if yes, restore from your back up
(1195)
Apple does not support downgrading the iOS. What troubleshooting have you tried? Have you reset your device? If not, hold down the Home and Power buttons at the same time and continue to hold them down until the Apple appears (this can take up to 30 seconds). Once the Slide to unlock screen displays, see if the issue is resolved.
Cheers,
GB
I have done everything, starting with a hard reset as you describe. I've spent my entire Sunday restoring my phone to factory settings under iOS 9.2.1, which is the OS that broke my phone. I have tried restoring and setting up new, and restoring and backing up to no avail.
Just got off a chat with a support rep who said as much:
"as I advised updates can reveal underlying hardware issues as the software advances. Also downgrading the software is not something that we recommend as you can leave your iPhone open to certain security risks and unexpected behavior, we are also not able to support the downgrading of the software. I’m very sorry"
I know Apple doesn't officially support this, so I may have to do something unofficial. It's no longer covered under warranty, so I'm not sure why they would care.
That said, does anyone know the unofficial way to downgrade?
You would have to go elsewhere to obtain that sort of advice as it would entail jailbreaking your phone. The TOU of this forum prohibits any discussions of unsupported processes, and you should be aware that if you jailbreak your device, you open yourself up to more issues than just voiding any warranty (or out-of-warranty) services:
You don't indicate that you tried turning off Touch ID altogether, and then putting in your fingerprint(s) again, so you would want to try that, if you haven't already.
You might also want to read this support article to see if that helps resolve your issue (see the section under "Get help with Touch ID):
Use Touch ID on iPhone and iPad - Apple Support
Best of luck,
GB
Actually no I don't have to jailbreak the iPhone currently. As it turns out it's a very simple process, fully supported by iTunes without doing anything extraordinary. All that is required is to select the proper download file, freely available from Apple, for iOS 9.2, and iTunes will happily install a brand new version of iOS 9.2 onto my previously upgraded iPhone. It only becomes jailbreaking when Apple stops signing installs of this OS.
I have not had a chance to test a new install of this to rule out any other problems with my previous backup. But otherwise I am successfully back to where I was before I upgraded to iOS 9.2.1, though Touch ID is still not functioning.
Thanks for your efforts to help, but as I said before, Touch ID cannot be activated at all, so there's no turning it off and on -- it's permanently off, unable to be set up. And thanks for the support article link, but all of those things apply only after setting up Touch ID which is impossible because of a continual failure error. And I did spend hours on the phone with Apple Support going through this as well.
I surprised they were still signing. It is usually only a couple of days. However as Apple indicated to you on the phone, this could have revealed an underlying hardware issue. You may try again to restore the device to factory, which will restore iOS 9.2.1 and if that will not correct it, then make an appointment at the Genius Bar of the nearest Apple store. If it is determined there is an issue, they may be able to replace the device under warranty, or if not under warranty, you would qualify for an out of warranty replacement.
Woodwyn wrote:
Thanks for your efforts to help, but as I said before, Touch ID cannot be activated at all, so there's no turning it off and on -- it's permanently off, unable to be set up. And thanks for the support article link, but all of those things apply only after setting up Touch ID which is impossible because of a continual failure error. And I did spend hours on the phone with Apple Support going through this as well.
OK, unless I totally missed it, I don't see anywhere where you stated that it could not be activated, nor anywhere where you specified exactly what issue you were running into. What is the error that you are getting? What do you mean when you indicate that there is no turning it off and on?
I'm not seeing anywhere where you are providing us with the actual issue you are encountering - only that it "failed". Can you provide us with a detailed account of what it is you are experiencing?
Cheers,
GB
Yes, they were still signing as of last night. I will restore it to factory 9.2 tonight if they are still signing, and set up as a new phone. If my Touch ID is still a problem, then I may go ahead and restore it back up to 9.2.1 with my latest backup before I take it into the Apple store for diagnosis, since that's what seemed to break it.
Well, since going back to iOS 9.2 didn't fix it, I'm not sure your theory is valid. But, it is your device and you can see about Apple looking at it. Good luck.
Well I did write this:
"My Touch ID failed following the update to iOS 9.2.1.", "I have done everything, starting with a hard reset as you describe. I've spent my entire Sunday restoring my phone to factory settings under iOS 9.2.1, which is the OS that broke my phone. I have tried restoring and setting up new, and restoring and backing up to no avail."
But I understand the confusion.
As I said, after a complete restore to clean factory settings as I described above, I set it up as a new phone, and from the initial set-up assistant, the following occurs:
When I get to it, The Touch ID setup pane appears briefly, then instantly slides away revealing a new pane which states: "Touch ID FAILED, please go back and try again." And however many times they I try, it always fails, so I click set-up later and move on.
Then later from within the Settings/Touch ID & Passcode, I enter my passcode, and attempt to toggle on use Touch ID for: iPhone Unlock, which results in the exact same configuration pane, with the exact same failure error. The same is true for use Touch ID for iTunes. Until these are toggled on, there is no adding fingerprints or working with Touch ID at all. And Touch ID cannot be setup due to this failure.
The exact same thing happens when I restore from my pre-upgrade backup. I am forced to set-up Touch ID, and the setup always fails.
All was working perfectly prior to the update to iOS 9.2.1, and afterwards what I've described.
But that's not all that's wrong. When I arrived in the office this morning at 9:30AM I had a full charge. I did not use my phone all morning, and when I next checked my iPhone 3 hours later, the battery level had dropped to 70%. I then went to lunch, but did not use my iPhone at all. When I returned from lunch, I went into some meetings, and now at 3PM, 4 hours later, my batter level has dropped to 38%. Nothing has changed from my work environment, or where I've traveled with the iPhone today over the usual, yet typically I might leave work after a 9 hour day with more than 70% of my battery remaining on a light use day. Worst case scenario after heavy use is down around 30% after 9 or 10 hours. So it's losing about 10% of it's capacity every hour doing absolutely nothing.
Sadly 9.2.1 has completely screwed up my 1 year old iPhone. And clearly doing a clean factory restore has not fixed that. So if you have any other insight, I'd be happy to entertain it!
Oh believe me, I've definitely thought that one through. I'd love to know what this "weakness in the hardware" exposed by iOS 9.2.1 is and whether its somehow a permanent failure caused by software (not an engineer, but that somehow seems improbable from my lay knowledge), so I'm mainly going to see if they can perform a hardware diagnostic and give me a definitive answer, or perhaps solve the problem. Hate the thought of this being a failure of year-old refurbished equipment Apple gave me to replace my original purchase phone under warranty. Believe it or not, I'd be happier if they told me it was something I did, like dropping it that one time.
Maybe iOS 9.2 actually started "exposing" the problem, and 9.2.1 completed it, so reverting back isn't fixing it. Again seems improbable. But what I do know is the battery drain I'm experiencing since upgrading to 9.2.1 is real. I'm now down to 28% after only 6 hours, literally having checked the phone a few times, and not using it at all otherwise. At a minimum I need Apple to fix that, even if I can no longer use Touch ID, and have to go back to using my passcode to unlock every time. Looks like a new iPhone may be in my future -- can't wait to see what may be announced next month.
Go to Settings>Battery and see what the relative usage is. The change to a new iOS can sometimes turn on processes that you do not normally have on, so check your settings.
Cheers,
GB
Agree with Gail's thoughts. First check to see what is using the battery. There have been a number of threads about battery issues, and all seem to point at a particular issue with individual devices. One I just worked with in the last day or so had to do with the Facebook app. After deleting it and then adding it back again, they are back to great battery. Before changing, it was using 75% of their battery! If you restore the device to factory and then test without adding any additional content, it gives you the best chance to see if there is a hardware or software issues with the device. Your battery should be good if there is no additional content, however if it isn't, then there is probably a hardware issue, and that could be anything. Apple would have to diagnose that.
If the battery is good, try adding content back. You can do it manually, or you can try to restore your backup again, but if there is something corrupt in the backup, the problem will return.
TThanks for that suggestion. I have to admit I've never even looked at the battery monitor in settings. Unfortunately nothing listed there except the apps I normally use.
That is what I would expect to see there, however when looking at that list, what kind of battery percentages do you find at the top of the list. Something there is using much more than it should. This is where you can help find out what the battery problem is. Percentages over the last 24 hours, versus what you believe your amount of time using something is. A couple of days ago I helped a poster that said they were using the Facebook app, but was having a lot of trouble with battery. When asked the same question, he reported that 75% of battery in the last 24 hours was in Facebook. Despite other attempts, only deleting the Facebook app and then installing it again was able to correct the issue. I provide this only as an example of how things can go wrong.
How to restore back to iOS 9.2 after upgrade to 9.2.1?
