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Massive problems in iPad setup

I'm hoping the community can help me with this one. I have set up dozens of iOS devices, and have never had this many issues. They've always gone off without a hitch.


I bought my daughter a new 9.7 inch iPad Pro. Her previous iPad was an iPad 2 or 3 running iOS 7.1, and she has the latest version of iTunes for Windows (I know, I know...)


It was not possible to upgrade the old iPad to iOS 9 because there wasn't enough space on it. The new iPad has iOS 9.3.1


We restored the last backup of the old iPad to the new iPad. I figured if it installed iOS7 on the new one, we would upgrade to 9 after the restore. It did restore, and the new iPad did say the version number was 9.3.1


But then she could't download apps from the App Store, and she couldn't sign in with her Apple ID. It was also having other issues, such as constantly dropping the WiFi signal.


So we did an Erase All Settings. My plan was to set it up as a new iPad instead of restoring from the 7.1 backup. I successfully wiped the iPad. It would not move past the Apple ID sign in screen. Either an error message popped up (Could not connect to the Apple ID server), or it simply has the "waiting" circle in the upper right corner. I then restored to factory settings through iTunes instead of on the device itself, but ended up stuck at the same screen.


Another curios thing: the iPad is named "OfficeMax's iPad", even after the restore. The thing is, I didn't buy the new iPad there. It is possible that I bought the old iPad there in 2011 or so, but the name was changed at setup to my daughter's name. So the "OfficeMax's iPad" name is another mystery to me.


I've scoured the community pages, and I've tried several fixes to similar problems, but I did not find someone with the same scenario.


An Apple Store is not nearby, so the Genius Bar is not a viable option.


I would greatly appreciate any assistance I can get. This was a birthday gift, and I'd really like to get it to work for her.

Posted on Apr 29, 2016 10:21 PM

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5 replies

Apr 30, 2016 12:18 AM in response to roger111

Hi

Go to settings on old lpad download latest ios update 9.3 then backup to iCloud go to iCloud back up now .

Do the update over your WiFi .

Reset new ipad back to factory settings then restore over

Your WiFi use backup during restore when asked.

We have 3 iPhones & 4 ipads always use wifi for restore / backup

Not used our PC for over 2 years for them all done over WiFi .

Cheers

Brian

Apr 30, 2016 12:43 AM in response to Briansyddall

Thanks Brian. Like I wrote, at the moment there is not enough space on the old iPad to upgrade to iOS 9 (seriously, she has it crammed to within an inch of its life). Complicating the whole thing is that we are on two different continents, and I'm trying to get this accomplished over FaceTime.


I certainly understand the logic in the procedure. First order is making some room to work with on the old iPad. I'll let you know how it goes.

May 5, 2016 12:12 PM in response to roger111

Thanks to everyone for attempting to help. I didn't resolve the original issue. I was finally able to restore to factory settings, and I set up the iPad as a new one rather than restoring from the 7.1 backup, and then manually moved everything onto the new iPad (apps, music, photos and so on). I still don't know what the original issue was. Thanks again for responding to my distress call, though 🙂

Massive problems in iPad setup

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