Q: Books won't transfer to new iPad
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Apr 19, 2016 12:39 AMby King_Penguin,I’ve since discovered that an iTunes Backup is incomplete by design these days, I’m guessing this a change since iOS7 maybe?
Nothing has changed, it's always been like that - nothing that can be in the iTunes/iBooks library on the computer (music, books, films etc) is included in the backup, the restore would look to find them in the library.
As well as backing up have you done File > Devices > Transfer Purchases to copy them over to your computer's iTunes, and then done File > Move Books From iTunes in your Mac's iBooks app to move them to that ? That should copy epubs and/or PDFs in your iPad's iBooks app, not just ibooks from the iBookstore. And as well as the book it should copy any music, films etc purchased from iTunes on the iPad over to your iTunes library - with iOS 9+ apps won't copy from a device.
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Apr 20, 2016 12:58 PMby cmscss,Thanks heaps for the reply, comments below...
Nothing has changed, it's always been like that - nothing that can be in the iTunes/iBooks library on the computer (music, books, films etc) is included in the backup, the restore would look to find them in the library.
You're right! I remember losing all my photos a few years back - what's the point in a Backup button if it creates a false sense of security? Truly heartbreaking.
As well as backing up have you done File > Devices > Transfer Purchases to copy them over to your computer's iTunes, and then done File > Move Books From iTunes in your Mac's iBooks app to move them to that ?
I transferred purchases (popup window) during the backup. The main issue seems to be that the books and pdfs on the old iPad are not on the Mac to begin with because they won't transfer. I can't drag them off the old iPad when it's mounted in iTunes and they don't sync manually or automatically.
If there was a way to do a proper backup, then a restore would sort these time-consuming problems. The value of Carbon Copy Cloner (or other backup/restore software) can't be overstated.
I've learnt the hard way with backups and I'll never understand the logic of a partial backup - it seems like a solution to a very different problem.
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Apr 21, 2016 12:46 AMby King_Penguin,You did both the Transfer Purchases in iTunes, and then did Move Books From iTunes in your Mac's iBooks app ?
The main issue seems to be that the books and pdfs on the old iPad are not on the Mac to begin with because they won't transfer.
If they were in your Mac's iBooks app you wouldn't need to do Transfer Purchases and Move Books, that is what they should (they have always done so for me) rectify. If you are iCloud Drive for iBooks that might be why it doesn't work, I'm not using it so don't know what it does/doesn't allow
The backup aims not to duplicate anything, there is no need storing books in the iBooks app and in the actual backup (nor all your music, films, tv shows etc in your iTunes library and in the backup) - it contains content potentially not stored elsewhere e.g. documents from apps, app settings, camera roll photos etc
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Apr 21, 2016 1:36 AMby cmscss,Sorry if I'm misunderstanding your answers but I'm still really confused sorry, here's the current situation...
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The books and PDFs I need only appear in iBooks on my old iPad. They don't appear in iBooks on my Mac or new iPad
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I've transferred purchases while backing up the old iPad and they still don't appear in iBooks on the Mac
3.
I've ensured that all devices are signed in using the same iTunes account
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I've ensured syncing is on but have also toggled it off, then on for all devices/mac
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I've signed out then back in of my iTunes account on all devices/mac
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With the old iPad mounted in iTunes, I've tried dragging and dropping the books into iTunes
7.
With both the old and new iPads mounted in iTunes, I've tried dragging and dropping the books from my old iPad onto the new one
8.
After transferring purchases and backing up the old iPad, then manually syncing the new iPad, only the books that I've purchased from the iBooks store (eight) appear on the new iPad?
I agree that none of this makes no sense. The consensus seems to be that Transfer Purchases should be the answer. FYI The books are a mixture of epubs and PDF downloaded from websites (like user manuals, product spec sheets etc).
And I still don't understand the backup feature sorry. Bypassing fiddly software that's not working by restoring at the file level, has always been much faster and easier for me. It seems like the iTunes backup feature is actually trying to solve a disk space problem.
Cheers
Ben
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Apr 21, 2016 4:45 AMby King_Penguin,After step 2 (after doing Transfer Purchases) you've opened iBooks on your Mac and done File > Move Books From iTunes in it :
The backup is to save space - if you have a 256 gig iPad with 150 gig of music and films/TV shows on it, do you really want that 150 gig in both your iTunes library and included in the backup ?
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by Ben Sciascia,Apr 21, 2016 11:19 AM
Ben Sciascia
Apr 21, 2016 11:19 AM
in response to King_Penguin
Level 1
(148 points)
Servers EnterpriseThanks heaps, I hadn't tried the transfer to iBooks function previously but when I did, I ended up with the same amount as before, 93 - there are 163 on my old iPad. But even though there are 93 on the Mac, is there a way to at least transfer these to my new iPad?
The backup is to save space - if you have a 256 gig iPad with 150 gig of music and films/TV shows on it, do you really want that 150 gig in both your iTunes library and included in the backup ?
Not being able to integrate iOS devices with your usual backup is the root issue and is only getting worse with increasing iOS storage. Why can't we back up and restore devices by mounting them? So much simpler!
The workarounds are confusing which is the last thing you want in a backup solution. Again, the iTunes backup button is a solution to a different problem - probably layers of problems.
