As a long - metre OS X drug user and troubleshooter for myself , family , and friends , I ’ve get a large bag of tricks to draw from when trying to figure out a problem with the system . Amongst the tools of the trade for OS X troubleshooting are repairing license , repairing the hard driveway , sample to replicate the job with a new drug user , trashing sure preference Indian file , checking for font corruption , checking wreck logs , disable login detail , reboot in safe mode , and just restarting . This is n’t a comprehensive list , of course of action , but it pass on you a common sense for the wide kitchen stove of tools you’re able to utilize to work a problem you may be cause with OS X.
Now let ’s consider the iPhone . Unlike OS X , the iPhone is a very closed environment from a user ’s perspective . Your only scene of the iPhone is the view you get when you turn it on . You are n’t allowed to directly interact with the system in any way , other than through the various options screens on the iPhone itself . When you dock your iPhone , you’re able to only work with it through iTunes ( and iPhoto for photo synching ) .
When everything works — as it did for basically everyone using the first - generation iPhone with iPhone firmware version 1.x — that ’s in force news . As a exploiter , you do n’t really need to see the details when thing are mold well . Just plug in the iPhone , let it synchronize , and you ’re in effect to go . But what about when thing are n’t working well ? As an instance , say with iPhone microcode 2.0 ?
The only solution for a logo-stuck iPhone
A fatal flaw
Many user , myself include , have had one especially black major result with the 2.0.x version of the software program . In my case , my earphone has — five time and counting now , including twice in the last two day — reach a state where it wo n’t get past the Apple logotype portion of the boot process . This typically happens when apply an update to an software , either via iTunes or on the iPhone itself . During the mental process , the iPhone will ad libitum bring up , and then get stuck during the boot mental process , showing just the Apple logo . In one typeface , I even rent it sit at that screen for four hours , just to verify it was in truth stuck — and it was . Coworkers and friends have had this same problem , as havehundreds of other people , so my experience is n’t an isolated incident .
The only resolution for a logotype - stuck iPhoneUnfortunately , if this particular glitch bites you , there ’s utterly no troubleshooting to be done since you ca n’t see anything other than the Apple logotype . Your only solution at this compass point is a full restore of the iPhone . check down the Home button on the iPhone , plug it into your USB cable or dock , and wait until you see the special screen shown at right , then issue the habitation clitoris .
iTunes will then tell you it ’s bump a phone in convalescence way , and you may then begin the long process of reestablish it . First iTunes will reinstall the latest variation of the iPhone ’s operating system , then it will mend your applications programme ( let in data you ’ve created in those covering ) from your last backup , and then — eventually — you’ll be capable to synchronize your music , videos , exposure , and other datum back to the iPhone .
One interesting aside : if you chance to have new image on the iPhone that you ’d like to sync with iPhoto , that may actually work . I was capable to sync new ikon , even with my iPhone showing the Apple logo . This imply that the phone is really boot — at least to some degree — but with a useless user interface .
An iPhone stuck on booting is , by far , the single most annoying hemipterous insect in the 2.0 software . I was hoping the recent 2.0.1 update would figure out the problem , but it ’s been just as common from me under the new one as with the original 2.0 software .
Troubleshooting other issues
So what can you do when you have these form of troubles with your iPhone ( or iPod touch , for that affair ) ? The forgetful answer is “ not very much . ” Because the system is shut to end - user accession , most of the traditional troubleshooting method acting do n’t go for — there ’s no agency to trash a given political platform ’s preferences files , for instance . If one of the iPhone ’s standard plan is dash , you ca n’t just reinstall it , because Apple does n’t bring home the bacon installers for Mobile Safari , for instance .
The estimable news , if there can be estimable word , is that the leaning of things you could do is very short , so there ’s not a lot of memorization or training necessitate to troubleshoot your iPhone . So without further time lag , here ’s a topnotch - short iPhone troubleshooting guidebook , list some of the things you could do if you ’re suffer trouble with your iPhone or iPod touch . This is n’t meant to be a authoritative list — I’m certain I ’ve overlooked some other possibilities — but it does cover everything that I try when my iPhone has troubles .
In increasing fiat of difficulty , here are the things I do to endeavor to retrieve from the various iPhone 2.0.x illness I ’ve experience :
Future tips
Those are the approaches we can take to iPhone woe at this time . As we learn more about the 2.0 political program — and as new updates come out — we can await our ability to deal with instability and other difficulty to broaden .
[ Rob Griffiths offers Mac OS hug drug troubleshooting pourboire in the Mac OS X weblog . ]
