2.0.1 Killed All My Apps - possible solutions for SOME

[macduke]

Updated thread title and adding this bit...this worked fine for me, only inconvenience so far is that I haven't used the app store on the iPhone. I will load some apps from this tonight to test. I have been stable for 4 1/2 days now, even with the original version of Netshare installed and various new app syncs to iPhone. Let me stress, I had really serious problems and tried all the troubleshooting tips I could think of and found online. I was doing a restore every night for about a week. Now I'm gold. The other setting I changed was using terminal to disable auto backups. On your mac open up terminal in the Applications > Utilities folder. Quit iTunes and type this into terminal and hit enter:

defaults write com.apple.iTunes DeviceBackupsDisabled -bool true

Reopen iTunes and sync. It shouldn't take as long as it skips the backup. I was wondering if my constant canceling of the backups somehow corrupted the application data that was being copied over. You can still manually backup if you choose by right clicking or option clicking your iPhone on the left and selecting "Back Up". Its a handy trick that I love. I will try doing a backup 2 days from now after I have confirmed that the app store on the iPhone is fine. Then I will be back to normal iPhone use. I'm staggering my testing to make sure that things are stable to pinpoint the problem if anything new happens. I'm being as patient as I can with this. I'll list out real quick what I did EXACTLY to make it work, ever since the restore:

1.) Did a restore the day before
2.) Synced all files
3.) Everything worked fine until the afternoon the next day, just like always
4.) Held down an icon on the home screen until it wiggled, clicked on every (x) of every app. Halfway through iPhone reboots. Some of the deleted apps came back from the dead. About a 2/3 the way through it crashes again, reboots and have about 10 apps left. Delete the rest and reboot.
5.) Went into iPod on iPhone and confirmed that media was back!
6.) Made a list of all my apps so I could remember them
7.) Deleted every app in iTunes except Netshare and phoneSaber...moved to trash
8.) Went through my list and redownloaded them all
9.) Used terminal command to disable auto backups and shut down iTunes and rebooted my MBP
10.) Reopended iTunes and just synced new apps, not Netshare or phoneSaber
10.) Everything stable for 2 days
12.) Synced some new apps, only downloaded in iTunes
13.) Installed Netshare, original file, stable for 2 days

Future tests:

14.) Will be testing iPhone app store downloads tonight to see if that corrupts the apps
15.) Will try transferring purchases back to iTunes after 2 days
16.) Will try a back up 2 days after that

Hopefully the last 3 will work, then I will be 100% fixed. Right now I'm about 95%...just slightly inconvenient to always use iTunes to install.

Last update:

I think we may have found a solution!!

After corresponding with Steve Jobs and Dan Erlewine, Manager, iTunes & iTunes Store Customer Experience, I think we may have found a permanent fix. At least until iTunes updates to 7.7.2...lol.

Go through your iPhone and manually remove every single app by holding down on an icon until it wiggles and then press the (x) button on the corner of each one. Doing this was pretty buggy on my iPhone and needed two restarts to complete. Then go into your iTunes account and delete every single app. Before deleting, make sure that the app is still available in iTunes. Apps such as PhoneSaber and Netshare are now gone, so I saved those to test.

Basically, updating to iTunes 7.7.1 corrupts some data in the app files...probably DRM which is why your iTunes media also disappears. After removing every app, before redownloading them with no 3rd party apps on my iPhone made all my media on my iPod reappear. After redownloading the new files to iTunes on my MBP (NOT IPHONE) they all worked again. It's been a little over 3 days now and everything is still working fine. Mind you, I was doing restores EVERY DAY so this is a good sign. I also reinstalled the NetShare app that I kept and thank God it wasn't corrupted. So apparently this only affects certain apps. As to which apps, I'm not sure. It may be random. Either way my apps and media are back!

One thing that I have done though is I HAVE NOT USED THE APP STORE ON THE IPHONE. I will be testing this after I go another day using Netshare stable. There might be problems with the app store on the iPhone interfering with the DRM from 7.7.1. I have used the app store to browse apps and view them, but have only used iTunes on my MBP to install. So if you use this method and have problems, avoid the built-in app store.

I hope this helps some of you that are going through iPhone hell right now. I feel for you and this could potentially be the fix you are looking for. Apple confirmed with me that before using this method, I had used every single troubleshooting technique that they could think of. Good luck everyone!

- duke



Here is my original post in this thread:

The title pretty much says it all. None of them will open. They all crash. Even after rebooting. I have no idea what in the hell is causing this. Its making me mad because this happened yesterday and I restored and loaded all my apps and everything was working fine until I upgraded it just now. I'm pissed. This is getting really tiring.

[iphone3g28]

Same thing here, not one App will work besides the ones that came with the phone. I've tried to remove and reinstall, but nothing is working.

[macduke]

Same thing here, not one App will work besides the ones that came with the phone. I've tried to remove and reinstall, but nothing is working.

What apps do you have installed? Did you ever have a corrupt install that caused the iPhone to not be able to finish installing and did it give you a message about connecting it to iTunes to finish installing the update? This happened to me yesterday. After restoring it was fine but now its dead.

[eddiec312]

Best thing for both you would be to just do a complete restore via Itunes.

I updated to 2.0.1 and everything works fine for now. Funny though, I still got typing lag via SMS app only. Doesn't bother me all too much but Apple will get it right eventually right?

[Excellerator]

Same problem here on my 3G, I also noticed that my Ipod mode has nothing in it. But according to Itunes its all still there. What do I do to fix that?

[macduke]

Same problem here on my 3G, I also noticed that my Ipod mode has nothing in it. But according to Itunes its all still there. What do I do to fix that?

Holy crap, I didn't even realize all my music and videos were gone too!! Alright, Apple, stop screwing up my phone every other day...dammit. This is getting to be effing ridiculous.

[Excellerator]

Holy crap, I didn't even realize all my music and videos were gone too!! Alright, Apple, stop screwing up my phone every other day...dammit. This is getting to be effing ridiculous.

I agree. This is ridiculous!!!! I have had this phone for only a couple weeks now and have had to restore it 3 times.

[macduke]

I agree. This is ridiculous!!!! I have had this phone for only a couple weeks now and have had to restore it 3 times.

It didn't used to be like this. I'm probably more tolerant because I've been using the iPhone since the first launch and know how great it is. I have just never had so many problems until 2.0 and my 3g. Its sad that you never got to use an iPhone that "just works" as the original one mostly did.

[Jase2008]

Updated my firmware just now and fingers crossed all my apps and ipod content is there and workin fine.....


Will update if this changes.

[doug0365]

Updated my firmware just now and fingers crossed all my apps and ipod content is there and workin fine.....


Will update if this changes.

I wasn't so lucky none of my apps works.... they just open and close right away. I had to manually delete it from the my itunes & iphone and then install the app again and that seem to fix it. But The apps that I payed for like Enigmo and Solitare city charged me again for download. I thought you could re-download your purchases again?? I sent a email to apple about this.. Oh and by getting my apps to work I lost all my settings within the apps.. :mad: So far Iphone 2.0 has and still is buggy

[mcorf]

No issues with my wife's 2G or my 3G phone. Everything works fine.

[transer]

Same problem here. Preinstalled apps work just fine, but all third party apps crash immediately. iPod is empty too.

What's most annoying for me is that my phone worked almost perfectly with 2.0, just a rare crash. Now very little works!

[hawaiiHEMI]

this happened to me with ver 2.0 and i tried to install ver 2.0.1 and still the same..

[Medic]

Everything works fine on mine as well. Not had any of the problems described. 3G reception same, GPS works, everything in iPod...that others are experiencing such issues is more than strange. Have you jailbroken your iPhone by any chance? :rolleyes:

[jpvaz]

I think i'm one of the lucky people out there...

Firmware 2.0.1 toke less then 4 minutes to download, dispite the fact that it was a 250Mb file, toke about 15 minutes to install, didn't have to recover any data from a previous backup, didn't get any "corrupt backup file" messages like some people got, my app's didn't revert to previous versions like they did with some users that updated iTunes, all the apps are fully working, changing menu pages if way faster then before, boot time is way less then before....

Now i just need time to test out the other 2 major problems i had, GPS accuracy and SMS/EMAIL dictionary (could not personalize it, and teach it new words).

All in all... i'm happy.... for now....

Update: the 2 major problems i had are not solved. If i type the letter A it still changes it to AO as it does with several other letters and words despite the fact that i press the little X when it tries to correct the word, and now the GPS does not work 95% of the time, and when it works it has a accuracy margin of over 1 kilometer....

All in all... i'm not very happy... for now...

http://gallery.me.com/jpmvaz/100072/photo1218018308269/web.jpg?ver=12180183080001

[macpbr98]

Uggh - me too...

Apps don't launch except the pre-installed ones. iPod Library is completely gone but they all show up and play fine within iTunes (using the files in my iPhone)

GPS didn't work at first but then I did a reset using preferences. But still have no apps working.

Did another reset but manually - hitting the power button and home buttons for 10.

Most apps still crashing some work now like tip but most apps totally crash.

Doing a restore now...

>:-(

[Excellerator]

I did a restore and all is much better now. I wonder if there is some sort of bug in the upgrade process???

[transer]

I finally was able to get apps working. In iTunes, with the iPhone connected, I selected the restore option, which reset my phone back to the factory settings. I then restored from a backup, and viola (well, after 30 minutes of waiting) everything appears happy again-not a single app crash since.

[macpbr98]

I finished the restore and re-synced all my apps.

All seemed to be working just fine. I was reconfiguring my apps (logging into my accts) etc.

And just out of nowhere, my iphone is busted again! :-(

Apps are showing the first screen and then shutting back down. Exact same symptoms as before.

UgggggghhhhH!!!

[iphonics]

hey all, i talked to some one at iphone support and they walked me through some steps to 'FORMAT' the iphone... note: you WILL lose everything including CONTACTS... but it works perfectly now and its super quick!!!
if you wanna try it its SETTINGS>GENERAL>RESET>ERASE CONTENT AND RESET SETTINGS..... takes about an hour! plug it into itunes and it will automatically update to 2.0.1 MAKE SURE YOU SELECT .... SETUP NEW IPHONE!!!!! and then everything will work... it did for me at least!

[ewiley28]

Don't get too excited though. I've done that and the problem came back after I installed 3rd-party apps again. Based on what I've gotten from apple support and genius bar, the only thing you can do is not install any 3rd-party apps on your phone (included ones that apple took money for as well). The genius guy also recommended not setting up mobile me to sync with the phone because that was one of the things they were looking at as a possible cause.

This really doesn't sound like a viable solution to me. But, what else can you do? I haven't seen any reference to this error in blogosphere or news or any acknowledgment by Apple that it exists. It seems to be pretty recognizable (the part where your phone reads as having no content in the iPod, but the space is still taken up from the stuff you synced seems to be the identifying feature), but maybe it's in a small component of phones? I'm really surprised that those who are reviewing apps for blogs have not mentioned the problem because they likely have had and do have a lot of apps on the phone.

[macpbr98]

Don't get too excited though. I've done that and the problem came back after I installed 3rd-party apps again. Based on what I've gotten from apple support and genius bar, the only thing you can do is not install any 3rd-party apps on your phone (included ones that apple took money for as well). The genius guy also recommended not setting up mobile me to sync with the phone because that was one of the things they were looking at as a possible cause.

This really doesn't sound like a viable solution to me. But, what else can you do? I haven't seen any reference to this error in blogosphere or news or any acknowledgment by Apple that it exists. It seems to be pretty recognizable (the part where your phone reads as having no content in the iPod, but the space is still taken up from the stuff you synced seems to be the identifying feature), but maybe it's in a small component of phones? I'm really surprised that those who are reviewing apps for blogs have not mentioned the problem because they likely have had and do have a lot of apps on the phone.

So what the heck is going on then? This is huge. And it is absolutely ridiculous for Apple (or anyone else) to say don't download non-native apps! I really hope Apple fixes this...

[mrgoat]

Exact same thing happened to me yesterday and today. pulled the phone out of my pocket, tapped an app, and it crashed. GPS thought it was about 600 miles away and all of my music | podcasts | videos were "unavailable" but i only had 8 gb of free space. Something is definitely screwed up in the new patch. Also none of my backups will work to restore the phone (even those made after the upgrade) so i have to set it up new each time. :mad:

[andyblila]

I plugged in the iPhone downloaded the update and installed. No problems whatsoever. Every App works and the lag times are gone. Plus reception is up. I did reset the phone after the install. :D:apple::D

[ewiley28]

I plugged in the iPhone downloaded the update and installed. No problems whatsoever. Every App works and the lag times are gone. Plus reception is up. I did reset the phone after the install. :D:apple::D

Is your iTunes 7.7.1? That's actually my current theory about what's wrong with them based on what I've read today. It went up late late Thursday night and these problems started being reported Friday.

Now, this could very easily be wrong, and if you are still using 7.7.0 and have this bug, I'd love to hear it because it means this theory is wrong.

I haven't taken the time to find the file and go through the process of downgrading to 7.7.0 to see if it fixes the issue, but it definitely is something I'd recommend trying if you're stuck.

[andyblila]

Is your iTunes 7.7.1? That's actually my current theory about what's wrong with them based on what I've read today. It went up late late Thursday night and these problems started being reported Friday.

Now, this could very easily be wrong, and if you are still using 7.7.0 and have this bug, I'd love to hear it because it means this theory is wrong.

I haven't taken the time to find the file and go through the process of downgrading to 7.7.0 to see if it fixes the issue, but it definitely is something I'd recommend trying if you're stuck.

Yes, I am using 7.7.1. That is what Apple suggested you use, so I don't understand why anyone would update their phone and not iTunes?

[illitrate23]

just to add some extra info - this also happened with i updated my 1st gen iPhone to 2.0.1
and so as a test, i updated my iPod Touch to 2.0.1 and exactly the same problem - apps crash after they load their front screen - even Apple's Remote app.

i've tried restoring twice now. am currently removing all apps and going to try installing just one

but i think tonight i'm gonna see if i can downgrade to 2.0 - it really seems to me as if there is something wrong with this latest version

[iphonics]

so far ive had ZERO problems with my phone after following the instructions from Rogers iPhone Support.... the ERASE ALL CONTENT AND RESET SETTINGS worked like a charm.... ive re-uploaded all of my apps and ive tried each and every one of them and they work just fine.... Syncing with iTunes 7.7.1 is quick and painless!!

[jedimaster115]

Holy crap, I didn't even realize all my music and videos were gone too!! Alright, Apple, stop screwing up my phone every other day...dammit. This is getting to be effing ridiculous.


That happened to me, too. Out of nowhere, I exit a working app, next one doesn't work. They all don't work. I soft reset, then hard reset, nothing. And I notice my media is gone.

This is because the iPhone, for whatever reason, resets your DRM permission. Apps are covered as are movies, TV, music, etc. And if your media isn't DRM-protected, the iPhone, I guess, just assumes it is and shuts it all down. Not sure yet how to fix it but it DEFINITELY SUCKS. The whole point of the iPhone is it's a computer for when you're away from my computer. But if I can't go 1 ********** 24 HOUR CYCLE WITHOUT HAVING TO RESTORE IT, WHAT ********** GOOD IS IT?!?!

And this is the 2nd incarnation of the device. It's supposed to get less buggy, not MORE SO! I hope people get fired for this and I hate people getting fired cuz it just sucks and people gotta provide for their families, but when you ******* up like this, you deserve it.

I hope people from Apple read my post because as a longtime Windows user and almost-Mac-convert until this iPhone debacle, there is one crystal-clear truth arising from this litany of *******-ups:

APPLE IS BECOMING MICROSOFT!!! Apple the company was so smugly superior for years. And it was largely justified. It can recover. But it needs a floor-to-ceiling overhaul of its corporate culture it appears.

I was gonna buy an iMac and make the switch but I see no reason to do so now. If my tech is gonna suck and be buggy all the time, I'll stay with the crappy hardware I know. Apple has lost a customer.

But enough of my rant. Hope this helps people.

[quigleybc]

Damn jedi, you're fired up....


i get you though, maybe not quite as mad though


Ya, add me to the list of iphones that killed ALL my apps after 2.0.1


kept all my music though....

anyway, did a restore and it seems to be ok now

but that really sucked


it's a really buggy platform

[pcpshortbus]

Is your iTunes 7.7.1? That's actually my current theory about what's wrong with them based on what I've read today. It went up late late Thursday night and these problems started being reported Friday.

Now, this could very easily be wrong, and if you are still using 7.7.0 and have this bug, I'd love to hear it because it means this theory is wrong.

I haven't taken the time to find the file and go through the process of downgrading to 7.7.0 to see if it fixes the issue, but it definitely is something I'd recommend trying if you're stuck.

i have 7.7.0 and im having problems with the non-native apps after upgrading to 2.0.1 as well. the ipod is working fine and all my songs are still there, but as soon as i try to open an app up it has the same problems as anyone else.

[andyblila]

That happened to me, too. Out of nowhere, I exit a working app, next one doesn't work. They all don't work. I soft reset, then hard reset, nothing. And I notice my media is gone.

This is because the iPhone, for whatever reason, resets your DRM permission. Apps are covered as are movies, TV, music, etc. And if your media isn't DRM-protected, the iPhone, I guess, just assumes it is and shuts it all down. Not sure yet how to fix it but it DEFINITELY SUCKS. The whole point of the iPhone is it's a computer for when you're away from my computer. But if I can't go 1 ********** 24 HOUR CYCLE WITHOUT HAVING TO RESTORE IT, WHAT ********** GOOD IS IT?!?!

And this is the 2nd incarnation of the device. It's supposed to get less buggy, not MORE SO! I hope people get fired for this and I hate people getting fired cuz it just sucks and people gotta provide for their families, but when you ******* up like this, you deserve it.

I hope people from Apple read my post because as a longtime Windows user and almost-Mac-convert until this iPhone debacle, there is one crystal-clear truth arising from this litany of *******-ups:

APPLE IS BECOMING MICROSOFT!!! Apple the company was so smugly superior for years. And it was largely justified. It can recover. But it needs a floor-to-ceiling overhaul of its corporate culture it appears.

I was gonna buy an iMac and make the switch but I see no reason to do so now. If my tech is gonna suck and be buggy all the time, I'll stay with the crappy hardware I know. Apple has lost a customer.

But enough of my rant. Hope this helps people.

That's a shame bro. I recently converted and love both my Macbook and my iMac. I don't think you'll be disappointed there.

[iphonics]

hey all it's now day 2 and every thing is still working great!!
Settings > General > Reset > Erase all contents and settings
Takes about an hour and you will lose everything once more but
It hasn't given me a problem since... iTunes 7.7.1 iPhone 2.0.1

[donlab]

I too experienced the same problems after upgrading. Except that some of my apps still worked.

- deleted some media to free up space as my phone was completely full after sync
- deleted and reinstalled the non working apps on my phone.

[ivan123]

I have had the iphone 3g since launch. I've been having the same problems - no music in iPod, 3rd party apps not launching. I've done the reset settings/content thing 3 times and restored once, and upgraded to 2.0.1 each with the same problems usually once every couple of days. And now I'm back to square one, i'll have to sync all my apps/music/etc all over again.

[andyblila]

I think if people updated iTunes and then the iPhone there would be less problems. I have had no errors and my phone is working better!

[macduke]

OP UPDATE:

So I've had to restore my iPhone every night this week.

I emailed Steve Jobs, and he emailed back:

From: sjobs@apple.com
Subject: Re: Serious iPhone problems
Date: August 8, 2008 1:03:48 PM CDT
To: *****@me.com

Please make sure you're running the updated software.

Steve

So that didn't really help since the updated software is what caused the problem. So I got on the phone with Apple support this afternoon. I went through every single troubleshooting tip that I've done and the only one he said I missed was this:

I went through and deleted every app on my iPhone. This was really buggy and caused my iPhone to restart a few times. After restarts, the iPhone would still have a bunch of the apps come back to life. So I just kept deleting them, unchecking them from iTunes, syncing, until they were finally all dead. After doing that, I checked my iPod and all my songs and videos were back! So its definitely something to do with the apps themselves. Then I deleted every app in iTunes (save for NetShare and PhoneSaber, since those aren't available anymore) and tried resyncing one app...AOL Radio. It synced within seconds, which was damn fast. Opened it, and it loaded up fine.

So right now I'm in the process of uploading all my previous apps, save for NetShare and PhoneSaber, just in case they are somehow corrupted. The sync isn't done yet, but I'll let you know if I have any more problems. If I go for a few days with no problems, I will try to bring back NetShare and if that kills it, I'll just repeat the previous steps and I guess I'll have to live without it. But for now this is what Apple told me to do so hopefully it works for you people also. BTW the guy on the phone didn't even know what NetShare was. Anyway...I'm really getting sick and tired of all the time I've spent this week. After it crapped out last night, I just gave up the restore method. I'm definitely going to be wary of firmware and iTunes updates from now on!!

I think this is a problem with iTunes 7.7.1. Either the DRM on it is effed up, or it corrupted some or all of my existing programs when it updated itself by putting in faulty DRM. It could be random programs on our phones, and after opening that is what kills it. I also think it might have something to do with the built in App Store on the iPhone. Have any of you had problems after updating or installing new apps while ON the iPhone itself? Anyway, here is a list of apps I had installed so we can match to see if there is one that is causing all these problems:

1password
aim
ambiance
aol radio
band
battle at sea
bible
breakclassic
crash bandicoot
cro-mag
crossword light
cube runner
dreigit
ebay
facebook
five dice
gflash+
gpscompass
ichoose
inetworktest
iprocrastinate mobile
instapaper
jawbreaker
iwant
labyrinth
level
lockbox
listomni
lumina
mylite colored
netshare
onetap movies
pandora
paypal
people
phonesaber
recorder
remote
shazam
sketches
speedbox
sportacular
super monkey ball
talking spanish phrasebook
tap tap revenge
tip
touch4: fs5
urbanspoon
weatherbug
wedict
ypmobile

Hope this helps and that Apple issues some serious updates soon before I lose my freaking mind!!

[andyblila]

OP UPDATE:

So I've had to restore my iPhone every night this week.

I emailed Steve Jobs, and he emailed back:



So that didn't really help since the updated software is what caused the problem. So I got on the phone with Apple support this afternoon. I went through every single troubleshooting tip that I've done and the only one he said I missed was this:

I went through and deleted every app on my iPhone. This was really buggy and caused my iPhone to restart a few times. After restarts, the iPhone would still have a bunch of the apps come back to life. So I just kept deleting them, unchecking them from iTunes, syncing, until they were finally all dead. After doing that, I checked my iPod and all my songs and videos were back! So its definitely something to do with the apps themselves. Then I deleted every app in iTunes (save for NetShare and PhoneSaber, since those aren't available anymore) and tried resyncing one app...AOL Radio. It synced within seconds, which was damn fast. Opened it, and it loaded up fine.

So right now I'm in the process of uploading all my previous apps, save for NetShare and PhoneSaber, just in case they are somehow corrupted. The sync isn't done yet, but I'll let you know if I have any more problems. If I go for a few days with no problems, I will try to bring back NetShare and if that kills it, I'll just repeat the previous steps and I guess I'll have to live without it. But for now this is what Apple told me to do so hopefully it works for you people also. BTW the guy on the phone didn't even know what NetShare was. Anyway...I'm really getting sick and tired of all the time I've spent this week. After it crapped out last night, I just gave up the restore method. I'm definitely going to be wary of firmware and iTunes updates from now on!!

I think this is a problem with iTunes 7.7.1. Either the DRM on it is effed up, or it corrupted some or all of my existing programs when it updated itself by putting in faulty DRM. It could be random programs on our phones, and after opening that is what kills it. I also think it might have something to do with the built in App Store on the iPhone. Have any of you had problems after updating or installing new apps while ON the iPhone itself? Anyway, here is a list of apps I had installed so we can match to see if there is one that is causing all these problems:

1password
aim
ambiance
aol radio
band
battle at sea
bible
breakclassic
crash bandicoot
cro-mag
crossword light
cube runner
dreigit
ebay
facebook
five dice
gflash+
gpscompass
ichoose
inetworktest
iprocrastinate mobile
instapaper
jawbreaker
iwant
labyrinth
level
lockbox
listomni
lumina
mylite colored
netshare
onetap movies
pandora
paypal
people
phonesaber
recorder
remote
shazam
sketches
speedbox
sportacular
super monkey ball
talking spanish phrasebook
tap tap revenge
tip
touch4: fs5
urbanspoon
weatherbug
wedict
ypmobile

Hope this helps and that Apple issues some serious updates soon before I lose my freaking mind!!

I can't believe Jobs replied!!!

[PNutts]

Same issue hit me tonight. I seem to have the most problems with my iPhone after I update applications on the iPhone instead of using iTunes (which is what I did tonight and immediately experienced the problems).

I'm going to erase the iPhone per the instructions in this thread and then sync my stuff back instead of restoring from a backup. I have to believe this problem will be addressed at some point, but after the 30 day return window closes it becomes my problem. :(

And if this isn't fun enough, iTunes 7.7.1.11 (x64) on Vista SP1 became unstable yesterday after running for many months with no issues. That may be part of the problems I'm having. Last night I did a restore and a re-sync and loading the apps was v-e-r-y s-l-o-w.

My list:
Abacus Soroban
Animals Sound Machine
AOL Radio
Arcade
Banner Free
BreakClassic
Bubbles
BubbleWrap
Crazy Lighter
Crazy Mouth (lite)
Cube Runner
Currency
Dial Zero
Dizzy Bee
Earch3D
Epocrates RX
Flashlight
FlipJudge
Hangman
iChoose
iPint
Jared
JawBreaker
Kaleidoscope Lite
Knock on Wood
Koi Pond
Labyrinth Lite Edition
LiveSportz
Lucky 7 Slots
Magic iBall Deluxe
Marble Mash
Marble Mash Lite
MathQuizK
Mobile News Network
Moo
Moonlight Mahong Lite
More Cowbell
myLite Colored Strobe
National Threat Advisory
NYTimes
Pandora Radio
PapiJump
PassGen
PearMe
PegJump
PhoneSaber
Pocketpedia
Preschool Adventure
Puluwai Real Estate
Quick Voice Recorder
red:green
Save Benjis
Scribble
Shazam
SimStapler
Snow
Solitare City
Speed
Speedtest
Spell Number
SportsTap
Super Monkey Ball
Tanjas SOS Flashlight
Tic Tac Toe
Tides
To Do
TouchReflex
Units Convertor
Urbanspoon
WeatherBug
Weight Tracker
Whip
Yes|No Free
15 Puzzle

[nimda0]

I havent had any issues with this on either of the iphones I bought.

[kheovnien]

i had the same problem where every downloaded app would crash instantly after booting it up. i went into the app store and downloaded an update to hangman and voila! :D it worked. so i tried another app (without updating) and it worked too! all my apps work now without reinstalling them. maybe u just have to open up the app store to interact with it and it fixes it or something? anyways, it's worth messing with especially if u have a lot of pages full of apps to re-install.

[jarvijarv]

I think if people updated iTunes and then the iPhone there would be less problems. I have had no errors and my phone is working better!

i agree! i just dowloaded 2.0.1 last night from iTunes on my MacMini. It took over 3 hours, but i let it do it's thing and left it alone. Prior to this, i made sure all my apps i installed were UPDATED asap (you know, when those red numbers show up on your Apps icon). After it was completed, my iPhone 3G restored everything PERFECTLY and FLAWLESSLY (to my relief :D, after reading all these problems people were having)!!!

i do notice a difference with 2.0.1, navigating thru my iPhone 3G's icons seems ALOT faster!!!...and so far no crashes!!! :D

[ucfgrad93]

No issues with my wife's 2G or my 3G phone. Everything works fine.

Same here, no problems on my 2G iPhone.

[Ferret]

i had the same problem where every downloaded app would crash instantly after booting it up. i went into the app store and downloaded an update to hangman and voila! :D it worked. so i tried another app (without updating) and it worked too! all my apps work now without reinstalling them. maybe u just have to open up the app store to interact with it and it fixes it or something? anyways, it's worth messing with especially if u have a lot of pages full of apps to re-install.

I had this problem (it just cropped up last night, and I did the update as soon as it came out and stuff worked before last night). Anyway, I was dreading restoring my phone because it takes forever. So I tried updating Hangman and it worked! Thanks for saving me so much time and frustration!

[andyblila]

I think Apple probably needs to be better about instructions. Tell people to update iTunes and then the iPhone etc...

[Excellerator]

NOT AGAIN!!!! I just did a sync with Itunes 7.7.1 and now once again NONE of my third part apps work and the Ipod library is once again wiped out. Well according to Itunes its still there, but the phone doesn't see it. Apple you have got to fix this!!!!! I am beginning to hate this phone.

[darkfiber]

I think if people updated iTunes and then the iPhone there would be less problems. I have had no errors and my phone is working better!

Well that isn't the problem, at least it wasn't for me.

I bought my 16GB iPhone 3G yesterday. I had already upgraded to iTunes 7.7.1 (or whatever the latest one is) before I even bought the phone (I also checked for updates before connecting the iPhone. When I got home I connected the iPhone to iTunes and it prompted me that there was a new firmware (2.0.1). I went ahead and had it install the firmware. While it was connected it installed the Apps I had already downloaded to iTunes in the previous week. After that was done all my Apps worked fine (except for a few glitches I would attribute to bugs in the individual apps. This morning the App store icon on my phone claimed that 3 of my Apps had upgrades available. I thought that was odd since I already checked for the latest versions via iTunes on my PC and synced my phone. I tried to upgrade the Apps through the App store on the phone. It upgraded 2 (Midomi & Diggerific as I recall) but it wouldn't upgrade Aurora Feint over the air because it was too big. Anyway after all that later on I went to use an App and the app would load then quit back to the home screen immediately. I then tried many of the 37 other Apps I have on my iPhone and they all shutdown immediately after running them. As others have reported all the programs that came with the phone originally, Phone, Mail, Safari, iPod, Maps, Clock etc... work fine. Just the App store apps no longer work.

Not sure what to do. I dread having to wipe the iPhone and do a complete reinstall.


UPDATE I think found a solution that works I read a post on the Apple forums that said to use the App Store on the iPhone itself.

All I did was use the App Store on the iPhone, I picked a small free App (in this case Binary Clock). After it downloaded, all my apps now work fine!

I have to wonder if some DRM got hosed up and the phone got in some state that thought I wasn't authorized to run any app. After I connected to the App store and downloaded another app that seemed to reauthorize it.

UPDATE # 2 Sadly it happened again. All my apps were working fine. Then I Synced my iPhone to my PC and downloaded a ton of new apps. When that was done they were all working fine. After an hour or so of playing with my apps they suddenly stopped working. I then went to the App Store on the phone and downloaded a small free program. After that program downloaded I tried it but it exited right away back to the home screen. I think tried some other apps. I appears that my older apps I installed aren't working but the newer apps I installed are working. Maybe this has to do with that "split account" issue that they are talking about?

[Excellerator]

I was reading on Apple's support forums that people think the problem is with the 7.7.1 upgrade. Now that I got it working again - by downloading the free single on Itunes on the phone. I am not going to sync with the computer at all until 7.7.2 comes out.

[BrightestBear]

My 3G is having the same problem with the third party apps crashing and not showing any music on the iPod. My husband's 3G is working fine, though. We're using iTunes 7.7.1, we both synced yesterday, and we have the same apps insalled.

I got a replacement 16GB phone on Friday because my old one had some problems. I never had this trouble with apps with the old one, but the new one only worked properly for a day before all this trouble. Makes me think it's something defective in certain phones.

Anyway, I've tried downloading a free app from the app store on the phone, but that hasn't gotten things working again. I'm dreading the complete restore, especially if the problem comes back again. :(

For what it's worth, the app I clicked on when the problems started was Characters, which my husband downloaded and has something to do with World of Warcraft. I got it when I synched with iTunes after him. Everything worked fine before I clicked on that app.

Oh, and I was on 2.0. I'm getting 2.0.1 with the restore I'm doing right now.

[Elan]

I'm having the same problems. I erased everything and started from scratch, and it was fine for two days, but now same things. So lame.

[BrightestBear]

This thread (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1644897) would lead me to believe that the problem is the iTunes update. Some people have gotten rid of the problem by downgrading from 7.7.1 to 7.7. The thread has instructions to do so. I'm giving it a try right now and hoping for good results. Apparently, we're not alone with this maddening problem.

[andyblila]

I have updated a 3G, a 1st Gen, and an iPod touch. I haven't had this problem on any of them and I am using iTunes 7.7.1

[HefferMikMan]

I've been having problems with my apps as well. They open up to the start screen, and just crash. It was really annoying me, and now i'm even more frightful knowing it is happening to others as well. At first the problems were just in the newly apps I had installed, but it seems to have infected some of my older apps as well, like PhoneSaber (which I downloaded the day I got my 3G)....that app used to work fine...maybe I swung it too hard...

And you know, when I downloaded that iPhone update I almost didn't want to, and I even read the description for what they had improved "Fixed Bugs", more like "Created Bugs", and inserted them into my phone to reak havok upon my beloved apps.

[BrightestBear]

So far, downgrading to iTunes 7.7 has worked for me. Here are the instructions from the Apple support forums: (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1644897)

reset from within the device (settings>general>reset>reset all content and settings)

while that's cooking, go into your machine and ditch these files:

/System/Library/Extensions/AppleMobileDevice.kext
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DeviceLink.framework
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MobileDevice.framework
/Library/Receipts/AppleMobileDeviceSupport.pkg

once those are gone, then delete the itunes application. restart the machine, and reinstall your 7.7.

that requires you having a 7.7 copy, which i just so happened to have.

so there are 3 keys to making the fix stick

1) reset the device hard core from within
2) get rid of supporting files and
3) DOWNGRADE to 7.7


And this is the link to download iTunes 7.7. (http://ja1me.net/hotness/itunes77.dmg)

This got the two "infected" iPhones in my house up and running again with no problems last night. I don't know if it's a long-term fix, but I'm hopeful ...

[sagittaru]

after upgraded to 2.0.1 from my previously pwned 2.0, did all the steps in winpwn 2.0.0.4, restored backup from my previously synced pwned 2.0 data.
All runs smoothly, all settings, sms, photos, musics, all apps are back to originally synced state, but on 2.0.1 :)

[warburg]

So what the heck is going on then? This is huge. And it is absolutely ridiculous for Apple (or anyone else) to say don't download non-native apps! I really hope Apple fixes this...

This is really difficult to understand. I have the 16gb 2g phone and did the upgrade to 2.0.1. I have 16 third-party apps, and have had no problems with any of them or with anything else on the phone—not yet at least.:o

[andyblila]

So far, downgrading to iTunes 7.7 has worked for me. Here are the instructions from the Apple support forums: (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1644897)



And this is the link to download iTunes 7.7. (http://ja1me.net/hotness/itunes77.dmg)

This got the two "infected" iPhones in my house up and running again with no problems last night. I don't know if it's a long-term fix, but I'm hopeful ...


This is confusing! I have 7.7.1 and updated 3 devices. No problems at all????

[darkfiber]

This is confusing! I have 7.7.1 and updated 3 devices. No problems at all????

I think I read in one of the Apple forums that it has to do with some users having a "split account," whatever that means. So this issue may not affect everyone.

In any case all my apps are now working fine currently (I had issues on Saturday). I haven't done anything outside of syncing with iTunes and downloading apps from the App store on both iTunes (PC) and the App store on the iPhone itself (no re-installs etc....)

[John Musbach]

I just got my new 16gb iPhone 3G last Monday, dutifully upgraded to 2.0.1 and now some 3rd party apps don't work. Some of them do, but others do not. This is very frustrating since some of the now nonfunctioning apps I paid for so at this point I'm just leaving the nonfunctioning apps on my iphone in the hopes that this is the result of some change in the SDK and thus updated releases will resolve the issue. *crosses fingers*

[macduke]

OP UPDATE - SOLVED

So the last update I posted worked. It has been several days and no problems. Basically what we think happened is that the iTunes 7.7.1 update corrupts some of the app files--perhaps the DRM. I erased all apps from iPhone and iTunes and redownloaded. I did keep Netshare, and after using my iPhone without Netshare, to test stability, I finally installed it and haven't had any problems with it either. After replying to Jobs before I found a fix with Apple tech support, he forwarded my email to Dan Erlewine, Manager, iTunes & iTunes Store Customer Experience. This is what he wrote:

I was passed your email this morning and wanted to follow up and make sure that we're able to get resolve this issue. I'm hoping that you can provide some information first to help me identify the cause of the problem.

First, what is your iTunes Account ID do you use to make purchases from the iTunes Store, and is that the same iTunes Account your phone is synched with?

Secondly, you mention that the content on your phone is unplayable. Does that include when your iPhone is not tethered to your computer, or is it only when the iPhone is connected to iTunes?

Regards,

Dan Erlewine
Manager, iTunes & iTunes Store Customer Experience
derlewine@apple.com | 408-218-****

Now that is pretty impressive. I am very satisfied with how Apple has been dealing with my problems. To have Steve Jobs and a high up manager for iTunes contact me directly is rather telling of Apple and their high standards of excellence. I was about to lose it and now I'm getting my sanity back. I hope this fix works for the rest of you. Apple had confirmed with me that before trying this last approach I had used every troubleshooting technique they could think of. Hopefully no more problems will crop up. I had a problem today receiving a couple pushed emails from MM but that just might be something unrelated. That is working again as of this evening.

Good luck everyone...there is light at the end of this tunnel!!

[BrightestBear]

I think I read in one of the Apple forums that it has to do with some users having a "split account," whatever that means. So this issue may not affect everyone.

Interesting. I've got a split account, and my phone went haywire about 12 hours before my husband's did.

Anyway, reverting back to iTunes 7.7 has kept us problem free for a day and a half. Whew!

[Excellerator]

NOT SOLVED: I haven't even hooked up my iPhone to the computer at all and here I am back at the no 3rd party apps and no music crap again. Its a damn DRM issue and I hope Apple get this fixed. It makes the Iphone's 3rd party software TOTALLY unreliable. You can't use it for anything important because it may not work in an hour.

[macduke]

NOT SOLVED: I haven't even hooked up my iPhone to the computer at all and here I am back at the no 3rd party apps and no music crap again. Its a damn DRM issue and I hope Apple get this fixed. It makes the Iphone's 3rd party software TOTALLY unreliable. You can't use it for anything important because it may not work in an hour.

Dude, it doesn't matter. You obviously hooked up your computer and iPhone at some point. Just follow my directions, and don't use the app store on your iPhone. Trust me, I worked about 30 hours this last week and have been on the phone with Apple engineers. I did everything imaginable and this is the only permanent fix. I've done all the temporary fixes and it doesn't work. Plus this method is actually faster than a restore. I also used the terminal command to disable auto backups on the iPhone. Google it.

[edtorious]

well add me to the list of people now with broken 3rd party apps :mad: I will try and fix it when I get home from work based on the suggestions here and I hope it works. :(

[John Musbach]

OP UPDATE - SOLVED

So the last update I posted worked. It has been several days and no problems. Basically what we think happened is that the iTunes 7.7.1 update corrupts some of the app files--perhaps the DRM. I erased all apps from iPhone and iTunes and redownloaded. I did keep Netshare, and after using my iPhone without Netshare, to test stability, I finally installed it and haven't had any problems with it either. After replying to Jobs before I found a fix with Apple tech support, he forwarded my email to Dan Erlewine, Manager, iTunes & iTunes Store Customer Experience. This is what he wrote:



Now that is pretty impressive. I am very satisfied with how Apple has been dealing with my problems. To have Steve Jobs and a high up manager for iTunes contact me directly is rather telling of Apple and their high standards of excellence. I was about to lose it and now I'm getting my sanity back. I hope this fix works for the rest of you. Apple had confirmed with me that before trying this last approach I had used every troubleshooting technique they could think of. Hopefully no more problems will crop up. I had a problem today receiving a couple pushed emails from MM but that just might be something unrelated. That is working again as of this evening.

Good luck everyone...there is light at the end of this tunnel!!I am currently in the process of waiting for iTunes to remove every 3rd party app off my iPhone. I will then redownload all the apps via iTunes and resync, *knock on wood* this will result in the 3rd party apps working again. I'll be sure to post the results here.

[Excellerator]

I am currently in the process of waiting for iTunes to remove every 3rd party app off my iPhone. I will then redownload all the apps via iTunes and resync, *knock on wood* this will result in the 3rd party apps working again. I'll be sure to post the results here.


I am doing the same here at the moment. Why does it take 2 hours to just remove apps......that is crazy.

[macduke]

I am doing the same here at the moment. Why does it take 2 hours to just remove apps......that is crazy.

I would manually remove them on the iPhone itself. That's the method that worked for me and it only took about 15 minutes, but required 2 reboots while the iphone crashed. Hope this similar method gets you the same result. Once all your programs are gone, go into your iPod to see if your media is back. That was the sign for me.

[macduke]

I am currently in the process of waiting for iTunes to remove every 3rd party app off my iPhone. I will then redownload all the apps via iTunes and resync, *knock on wood* this will result in the 3rd party apps working again. I'll be sure to post the results here.

Also make sure you move all the apps on iTunes into the trash individually. I tried redownloading without deleting them first and that didn't work for whatever reason.

[darkfiber]

Now my iPhone won't run any of the 80 apps I have installed from the App store. When this happened last Saturday I was able to download a file from the App store on the phone directly and that allowed all the apps to work again. Just today I was at work showing people my apps and a little later that stopped working again. That is weird that they would work one minute and not the next and I didn't sync to iTunes or anything. I tried to download a few apps from the App Store directly to the phone again but that didn't seem to help. :-(

[John Musbach]

So my apps have been redownloaded and sync'd via iTunes (App Store not used at all on iPhone) with all previous copies moved to trash and trash emptied. Unfortunately this trick did not work for me, now none of my 3rd party apps will launch. In fact, I just opened safari and before http://www.download.com finished rendering it crashed! What the heck?!

[darkfiber]

I am not going to go through all that hassle of deleting apps and reinstalling etc... Apple has got to have some sort of solution for this so I am just going to wait until they do. I can deal as long as the core functions of the phone work (phone, ipod, Safari and the apps that came with the phone) and they do.

[John Musbach]

UPDATE: One of my apps, gpscompass, was not installed during the sync with the following entries being made in the console:

8/12/08 1:48:05 PM [0x0-0x265265].com.apple.iTunes[5578] 2008-08-12 13:48:05.841|AppleMobileSync|5588:2953318400|SocketStreamHandler.c:_SocketLogCallback| ERROR: SocketRecv (data): error 9: Bad file descriptor
8/12/08 1:48:05 PM [0x0-0x265265].com.apple.iTunes[5578] 2008-08-12 13:48:05.843|AppleMobileSync|5588:2953318400|StreamHandler.c:_ReadFunc| ERROR: Error reading data: Can't read data
8/12/08 1:48:05 PM [0x0-0x265265].com.apple.iTunes[5578] 2008-08-12 13:48:05.843|AppleMobileSync|5588:2953318400|DeviceLinkConnection.c:_DLHandlerThreadMessagePortCallb ack| ERROR: Could not receive message: '(null)'
8/12/08 1:48:05 PM com.apple.usbmuxd[166] usbmuxd[166]: MuxSendToClient send failed for 0x103d40: 32 - Broken pipe
8/12/08 1:48:29 PM firefox-bin[238] Cannot find factory 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
8/12/08 2:18:35 PM [0x0-0x265265].com.apple.iTunes[5578] Could not receive size of messageInvalidRespon
8/12/08 2:18:35 PM [0x0-0x265265].com.apple.iTunes[5578] se
8/12/08 2:18:35 PM [0x0-0x265265].com.apple.iTunes[5578] Could not receive size of messageMobileDevice: AMDeviceCopyValue: There was an error getting the value from lockdown
8/12/08 2:18:35 PM [0x0-0x265265].com.apple.iTunes[5578] Could not receive size of messageInvalidResponse
8/12/08 2:18:35 PM [0x0-0x265265].com.apple.iTunes[5578] MobileDevice: AMDeviceStopSession: Could not stop session with device: kAMDInvalidResponseError
8/12/08 2:27:54 PM AppleMobileDeviceHelper[5579] exception while performing selector allClients on server: NSInvalidSendPortException [NSMachPort sendBeforeDate:] destination port invalid
8/12/08 2:27:54 PM [0x0-0x265265].com.apple.iTunes[5578] 2008-08-12 14:27:54.617 AppleMobileDeviceHelper[5579:807] exception while performing selector allClients on server: NSInvalidSendPortException [NSMachPort sendBeforeDate:] destination port invalid
8/12/08 2:42:55 PM AppleMobileDeviceHelper[5579] exception while performing selector allClients on server: NSInvalidSendPortException [NSMachPort sendBeforeDate:] destination port invalid
8/12/08 2:42:55 PM [0x0-0x265265].com.apple.iTunes[5578] 2008-08-12 14:42:55.551 AppleMobileDeviceHelper[5579:807] exception while performing selector allClients on server: NSInvalidSendPortException [NSMachPort sendBeforeDate:] destination port invalid
8/12/08 3:45:12 PM AppleMobileDeviceHelper[5579] exception while performing selector allClients on server: NSInvalidSendPortException [NSMachPort sendBeforeDate:] destination port invalid
8/12/08 3:45:12 PM [0x0-0x265265].com.apple.iTunes[5578] 2008-08-12 15:45:12.550 AppleMobileDeviceHelper[5579:807] exception while performing selector allClients on server: NSInvalidSendPortException [NSMachPort sendBeforeDate:] destination port invalid

Going into the preferences of the iPhone I see that under the app sync settings it chose to move the setting from sync all apps as I had set it to selected apps and it had unselected gpscompass, I reselected sync all apps and resync'd and while my iPhone didn't seem happy about it (it vibrated twice and put up the gear on the sync screen for a noticeable amount of time, it then kicked me to the unlock password screen and when I got to tab two of the app icons it put up the gear again and again vibrated twice eventually kicking me back to the unlock screen ...it displayed the icon thereafter but everything except making calls still doesn't work now) but it appears on my iPhone now. I am very unhappy about the instability of 2.0.1 and hope 2.1 is significantly improved. I just hope I won't have to reset my iPhone for fear that it'll become a victim of the known bricking issue associated with 2.0.1 as well.

As far as I'm concerned the OP got lucky, this problem is most definitely not resolved and is a bug in 2.0.1 that only Apple's engineers can resolve

[Excellerator]

I am back running. This is how I got back up and running:

1) Synced the iPhone up to the computer.
2) Unchecked sync applications
3) Did the sync to remove the applications.
4) Unplugged the iPhone from the computer.
5) Turned the phone off and then on.
6) Checked ipod media to see if it was there. (Yes, its back!!)
7) Rehooked up to the computer.
8) Resynced with sync applications back on.
9) When done, hit eject (just taken a precaution here!!!)
10) All was back.

I did not delete the apps on Itunes first and redownload them since I knew they were all ok. They worked before and I knew they would now. Hope this helps.

[John Musbach]

I am back running. This is how I got back up and running:

1) Synced the iPhone up to the computer.
2) Unchecked sync applications
3) Did the sync to remove the applications.
4) Unplugged the iPhone from the computer.
5) Turned the phone off and then on.
6) Checked ipod media to see if it was there. (Yes, its back!!)
7) Rehooked up to the computer.
8) Resynced with sync applications back on.
9) When done, hit eject (just taken a precaution here!!!)
10) All was back.

I did not delete the apps on Itunes first and redownload them since I knew they were all ok. They worked before and I knew they would now. Hope this helps.

Trying this now, will update when done

[redjay412]

well...i talked to apple today and they say its a hardware problem from what they have seen with other peoples ipods...they said to send it in and they will send me a "new" one (im gonna be ticked if its a refurbushed one)...to op...if you have to change anything about your settings or how you do things...its not a permanent fix...its a detour...i personnaly am not gonna take a detour if apple is gonna fix it for free and hopefully give me a new ipod...also..i know most of the people that work at apple are idiots...but im not gonna try anymore...ive tried every "solution" on this website...and guess what...not a single one worked...so yea...im gettin me a new ipod...yall should try also

[John Musbach]

well...i talked to apple today and they say its a hardware problem from what they have seen with other peoples ipods...they said to send it in and they will send me a "new" one (im gonna be ticked if its a refurbushed one)...to op...if you have to change anything about your settings or how you do things...its not a permanent fix...its a detour...i personnaly am not gonna take a detour if apple is gonna fix it for free and hopefully give me a new ipod...also..i know most of the people that work at apple are idiots...but im not gonna try anymore...ive tried every "solution" on this website...and guess what...not a single one worked...so yea...im gettin me a new ipod...yall should try alsoExcept, we're all using iPhones. :confused: Oh, and still working on trying the latest solution ...apps are currently installing.

[macduke]

well...i talked to apple today and they say its a hardware problem from what they have seen with other peoples ipods...they said to send it in and they will send me a "new" one (im gonna be ticked if its a refurbushed one)...to op...if you have to change anything about your settings or how you do things...its not a permanent fix...its a detour...i personnaly am not gonna take a detour if apple is gonna fix it for free and hopefully give me a new ipod...also..i know most of the people that work at apple are idiots...but im not gonna try anymore...ive tried every "solution" on this website...and guess what...not a single one worked...so yea...im gettin me a new ipod...yall should try also

If your iPod worked fine before 2.0.1 or iTunes 7.7.1, then I highly doubt that it's a hardware problem.

Updating post now...

[redjay412]

Except, we're all using iPhones. :confused: Oh, and still working on trying the latest solution ...apps are currently installing.

im using an ipod touch..so not everyone is using an iphone..unless im missin what your meanin by that

[redjay412]

If your iPod worked fine before 2.0.1 or iTunes 7.7.1, then I highly doubt that it's a hardware problem.

Updating post now...

like i said...most of the folks that work for apple are idiots...so im sure its not a hardware problem...but its a problem thats their fault...so i honestly dont care whats causin it as long as it gets fixed...and so if they dont have a solution then they have to get me a new ipod

[darkfiber]

well...i talked to apple today and they say its a hardware problem from what they have seen with other peoples ipods...they said to send it in and they will send me a "new" one (im gonna be ticked if its a refurbushed one)...to op...if you have to change anything about your settings or how you do things...its not a permanent fix...its a detour...i personnaly am not gonna take a detour if apple is gonna fix it for free and hopefully give me a new ipod...also..i know most of the people that work at apple are idiots...but im not gonna try anymore...ive tried every "solution" on this website...and guess what...not a single one worked...so yea...im gettin me a new ipod...yall should try also

I think this is a case of Apple's left hand not knowing what its right hand is doing. One one hand Apple says it is an issue with "split accounts" and maybe iTunes 7.7.1 and on the other hand it is a hardware issue? Which is it?

I just can't see how the behavior we are seeing in this particular issue with apps immediately quitting when run could be a hardware issue. In my case all the core functions and apps that came with the phone work fine. What doesn't currently work are just the 80 apps I have downloaded. This to me seems more like an issue with software (DRM). As if for some reason I don't have permission to run any app. I touch on the app I want to run, it loads, then it realizes I don't have permission to run the app then immediately quits. At least that is how it seems to me.

We shall see.

[John Musbach]

like i said...most of the folks that work for apple are idiots...so im sure its not a hardware problem...but its a problem thats their fault...so i honestly dont care whats causin it as long as it gets fixed...and so if they dont have a solution then they have to get me a new ipod
The thing is, that I've read posts from people who have traded in their iPod/iPhone in hopes that it was a hardware problem and that didn't resolve the issue. This problem appears to be purely firmware based and hopefully will be resolved once and for all with the release of firmware 2.1.

[redjay412]

The thing is, that I've read posts from people who have traded in their iPod/iPhone in hopes that it was a hardware problem and that didn't resolve the issue. This problem appears to be purely firmware based and hopefully will be resolved once and for all with the release of firmware 2.1.

crap...i lost my happy high...lol...well...ill update yall when i get my new one in

[redjay412]

I think this is a case of Apple's left hand not knowing what its right hand is doing. One one hand Apple says it is an issue with "split accounts" and maybe iTunes 7.7.1 and on the other hand it is a hardware issue? Which is it?

I just can't see how the behavior we are seeing in this particular issue with apps immediately quitting when run could be a hardware issue. In my case all the core functions and apps that came with the phone work fine. What doesn't currently work are just the 80 apps I have downloaded. This to me seems more like an issue with software (DRM). As if for some reason I don't have permission to run any app. I touch on the app I want to run, it loads, then it realizes I don't have permission to run the app then immediately quits. At least that is how it seems to me.

We shall see.

lol...also...i talked to one of the guys and he was sayin that apple doesnt want people to run the third party apps...got me mad cause why would they put an appstore on the home screen and on itunes if they didnt want people to...im 100% sure apple wants people to buy apps cause they get money too...so i hung up on that dude...lol..kinda goes along with you sayin that you dont have permission to run your apps

[darkfiber]

lol...also...i talked to one of the guys and he was sayin that apple doesnt want people to run the third party apps...got me mad cause why would they put an appstore on the home screen and on itunes if they didnt want people to...im 100% sure apple wants people to buy apps cause they get money too...so i hung up on that dude...lol..kinda goes along with you sayin that you dont have permission to run your apps

I wonder if by "3rd party apps" the guy meant apps running on jailbroken phones?

Regardless, this isn't an issue with badly written 3rd party apps. In my case, at this very moment not a single one of the 80 apps I have installed will run. They all load up then immediately exit to the home screen. That behavior is some sort of other software issue.

[redjay412]

I wonder if by "3rd party apps" the guy meant apps running on jailbroken phones?

Regardless, this isn't an issue with badly written 3rd party apps. In my case, at this very moment not a single one of the 80 apps I have installed will run. They all load up then immediately exit to the home screen. That behavior is some sort of other software issue.

thats true..now i will be happy to admit that im not as good with some of this stuff as some of yall are...but is it possible that 2.0.1...or the corrupted version of 2.0.1 messed up something in the hardware by embedding a virius type file...like i said...it may sound stupid...but please dont laugh...lol

[Excellerator]

This to me seems more like an issue with software (DRM). As if for some reason I don't have permission to run any app. I touch on the app I want to run, it loads, then it realizes I don't have permission to run the app then immediately quits. At least that is how it seems to me.

EXACTLY!!!!! Its the same thing I think. It doesn't seem to matter if its from the computer or the iPhone either. Its a DRM issue, plain and simple.

[macduke]

like i said...most of the folks that work for apple are idiots...so im sure its not a hardware problem...but its a problem thats their fault...so i honestly dont care whats causin it as long as it gets fixed...and so if they dont have a solution then they have to get me a new ipod

And like I said, I've been in contact with actual Apple engineers, not telephone idiots or the so called "geniuses". Steve Jobs replied to my email and got me in touch with some people who actually know what they are talking about. They are aware of the problem and I'm sure working on a fix.

Post updated with some more notes, exact list of things I did in order.

[macduke]

EXACTLY!!!!! Its the same thing I think. It doesn't seem to matter if its from the computer or the iPhone either. Its a DRM issue, plain and simple.

The Apple engineers I spoke with believe this is the case as well.

[redjay412]

ok...this is kinda interesting...i left my ipod sittin here plugged up to my computer...when somethin really weird happend...my ipod was not doing anything with itunes or anything just simply charging...whenever the screen lit up and the gear started turning...well...the gear stopped turning but the image of the gear was still there....i waited around 5 mins and then did a hard reboot of my ipod...(holding sleep and home button for several seconds)...now the apple logo is on the screen and has sat here for close to ten mins without coming off of the apple logo screen...i restarted it and still just sits here

[edtorious]

well add me to the list of people now with broken 3rd party apps :mad: I will try and fix it when I get home from work based on the suggestions here and I hope it works. :(

ok, I'm home and I'm trying to fix my apps. First thing I did before doing what is suggested here is resync my iphone with itunes. It didn't work. So I restored my Iphone and right now itunes is reinstalling my applications on my iphone.

One thing I noticed though is in my Itunes on the left side where the Iphone icon is, I clicked on the arrow beside the Iphone to open the submenus I guess of the Iphone, basicaly it has a bunch of 'folders' labeled the same as my library 'folders' on my itunes i.e. 'music', 'movies', 'tv shows' and etc... EXCEPT FOR APPLICATIONS:confused: My library has them but under the devices on my iphone it's not showing a 'folder' for applications. Now I do not know if the folder applications was in there before this problem because this is the first time I've looked in there, so I'm asking somebody here who got a working applications on their iphone to connect theirs on the itunes and see if there is suppose to be a folder 'applications' under devices on the iphone?

[John Musbach]

I am back running. This is how I got back up and running:

1) Synced the iPhone up to the computer.
2) Unchecked sync applications
3) Did the sync to remove the applications.
4) Unplugged the iPhone from the computer.
5) Turned the phone off and then on.
6) Checked ipod media to see if it was there. (Yes, its back!!)
7) Rehooked up to the computer.
8) Resynced with sync applications back on.
9) When done, hit eject (just taken a precaution here!!!)
10) All was back.

I did not delete the apps on Itunes first and redownload them since I knew they were all ok. They worked before and I knew they would now. Hope this helps.This solution worked for me :D

[macduke]

ok...this is kinda interesting...i left my ipod sittin here plugged up to my computer...when somethin really weird happend...my ipod was not doing anything with itunes or anything just simply charging...whenever the screen lit up and the gear started turning...well...the gear stopped turning but the image of the gear was still there....i waited around 5 mins and then did a hard reboot of my ipod...(holding sleep and home button for several seconds)...now the apple logo is on the screen and has sat here for close to ten mins without coming off of the apple logo screen...i restarted it and still just sits here

See this thread (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=537393&highlight=apple+logo+screen). You may have to put your iPhone into DFU mode.

[John Musbach]

See this thread (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=537393&highlight=apple+logo+screen). You may have to put your iPhone into DFU mode.There's a very long thread about this issue here too: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1600894

[redjay412]

See this thread (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=537393&highlight=apple+logo+screen). You may have to put your iPhone into DFU mode.

yea...i had thought about doin this...im saying screw it...ive put my ipod into dfu mode close to 30 times this week...restored it about 15 times...and erased all settings and content once...i say screw it...im packing it up into the box apple sent me...and hopefully i will have a working ipod in a couple days...thanks for the help...just wanted to put my 2 cents out there to see if possibly it could help anyone out...will try to update when apple sends new ipod

[Excellerator]

This solution worked for me :D

Glad to hear it worked for you too. I guess I am just staying away from getting apps from the phone for a while. I don't want to keep doing this every other day.

[John Musbach]

Glad to hear it worked for you too. I guess I am just staying away from getting apps from the phone for a while. I don't want to keep doing this every other day.
Ditto

[Ferret]

I'm asking somebody here who got a working applications on their iphone to connect theirs on the itunes and see if there is suppose to be a folder 'applications' under devices on the iphone?

I just checked mine and there's no applications folder there either. I deleted all of my third party apps and am syncing now in hopes that they'll all work and all of my music, videos and podcasts will show up on my phone. If one shows up after the sync, I'll let you know.

[macduke]

One thing I noticed though is in my Itunes on the left side where the Iphone icon is, I clicked on the arrow beside the Iphone to open the submenus I guess of the Iphone, basicaly it has a bunch of 'folders' labeled the same as my library 'folders' on my itunes i.e. 'music', 'movies', 'tv shows' and etc... EXCEPT FOR APPLICATIONS:confused: ..... so I'm asking somebody here who got a working applications on their iphone to connect theirs on the itunes and see if there is suppose to be a folder 'applications' under devices on the iphone?

Everything on my iPhone is working and there is no applications subfolder when you click on the arrow to expand it. There is, however, my applications tab at the top.

[John Musbach]

I don't have a applications subfolder for my iphone either, only the Applications folder at the top. My guess is that Apple felt that having such was unnecessary clutter since you can specify which specific applications (or all) you want sync'd in the iphone's settings in iTunes.

[edtorious]

well, restoring my Iphone fixed the crashing of my 3rd party applications. :rolleyes:

I just have to redo the settings and some but it's ok. And also I guess there really is no subfolder applications under the iphone but it just kinda weird if you know what i mean. Oh well, no harm done I guess but hopefully everything works now...;)

[John Musbach]

well, restoring my Iphone fixed the crashing of my 3rd party applications. :rolleyes:
Seriously, I hope 2.1 fixes this problem because this should not be a problem we should be faced with ...especially from Apple who pride themselves on products that are extremely user friendly and easy to use. Until 2.1 is released I won't be buying anymore 3rd party apps, that's for sure. :(

[MacDryCleaner]

Hi -

I have deleted apps on iphone

I have deleted apps in iTunes

I have done a full restore

My music and all media are back.

I have taken a solemn pledge to not buy from the AppStore from iPhone ever again. From now on, side loading from iTunes is the law of the land.

Now, the apps I deleted. Do I add them to the library again from my iTunes folder or download them from itunes (which will cost me again, no?)

Also, in my iTunes folder I have multiple versions of the same programs. For example, AtBat 1, 2, 3 etc. Which one do I import?

Thanks,
Great Tips, hope it works this time. I've been doing restores every other day for weeks.

[Ferret]

Now, the apps I deleted. Do I add them to the library again from my iTunes folder or download them from itunes (which will cost me again, no?)


I deleted all of mine from the phone and the applications folder and then downloaded them all from iTunes again. Even the ones that I got while they were free but are now paid items were still free downloads. So I think you're safe to re-download and they won't charge you again.

I agree with you about not downloading [or updating!] apps using the iPhone. I'm going to hold off on that again until the next firmware update.

[John Musbach]

Hi -

I have deleted apps on iphone

I have deleted apps in iTunes

I have done a full restore

My music and all media are back.

I have taken a solemn pledge to not buy from the AppStore from iPhone ever again. From now on, side loading from iTunes is the law of the land.

Now, the apps I deleted. Do I add them to the library again from my iTunes folder or download them from itunes (which will cost me again, no?)

Also, in my iTunes folder I have multiple versions of the same programs. For example, AtBat 1, 2, 3 etc. Which one do I import?

Thanks,
Great Tips, hope it works this time. I've been doing restores every other day for weeks.Download the apps again via iTunes not the App Store on the iPhone, when you click the Buy button at first it will prompt you to confirm the purchase but once you click Buy again it should then tell you that you already paid for the app and ask if you want to redownload the app for free at which point you of course click yes. You shouldn't have duplicates, you'll probably be ok just selecting all the duplicates and deleting them, just before you sync be sure in the App sync settings for your iPhone that the all apps bubble is selected. If this procedure does not work for you (it did not for me) I recommend trying this one instead: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=6027309#post6027309. Good luck! :)

[macduke]

OP UPDATE - Built-in App Store Testing

So I went into phase three - downloading and installing 3rd party apps directly from my iPhone.

1st download: GPS Tracker
Result: Progress bar went to 100% within 2 seconds, crashed and rebooted phone, took 3-4 minutes to restart, continued installation fine after reboot and all apps work ok.

2nd download: Touch Reflex
Result: Downloaded and installed in a few minutes. No issues.

3rd download: iMaze Lite
Result: Progress bar went to 100% within 2 seconds like GPS Tracker. Kept installing for several minutes. Opened safari to browse the web. Browsed web for about 5 minutes, then while scrolling it locked up. Small horizontal bars appeared at the bottom and I could not move anything. Rebooted manually and had Apple logo for 6-7 minutes. Rebooted manually again and had Apple logo for about 15 minutes. Rebooted manually again and had Apple logo for 3-4 minutes and phone booted up properly. Uninstalled greyed out iMaze Lite sitting on the last page of my apps, 0% progress bar and says "Loading...". Can't delete it. I didn't even really want this game, just testing. Almost took out my whole phone. Yikes. Update: Just went into the app store on the iPhone, it prompted me for my password without buying anything, exited and did the soft reset trick of holding down the home button and that caused the iMaze Lite to pop into existence. Holy crap.

Looks like the iPhone's built in app store may be a problem, but maybe not THE problem. So far other 3rd party apps work and iPod media is intact. I'll give it a day and if my apps start crashing again, then I'll know it was the app store. Everything has been butter until i started using the app store. I had a sneaking suspicion it was that all along.

At least 2.1 is supposed to come out in September, right? Bug fixes and push notifications will make my day. Sad that 2.0.1 caused more problems than it fixed.

Edit: iMaze - what a crappy game!! Terrible...

[edtorious]

OP UPDATE - Built-in App Store Testing

3rd download: iMaze Lite
Result: Progress bar went to 100% within 2 seconds like GPS Tracker. Kept installing for several minutes. Opened safari to browse the web. Browsed web for about 5 minutes, then while scrolling it locked up. Small horizontal bars appeared at the bottom and I could not move anything. Rebooted manually and had Apple logo for 6-7 minutes. Rebooted manually again and had Apple logo for about 15 minutes. Rebooted manually again and had Apple logo for 3-4 minutes and phone booted up properly. Uninstalled greyed out iMaze Lite sitting on the last page of my apps, 0% progress bar and says "Loading...". Can't delete it. I didn't even really want this game, just testing. Almost took out my whole phone. Yikes. Update: Just went into the app store on the iPhone, it prompted me for my password without buying anything, exited and did the soft reset trick of holding down the home button and that caused the iMaze Lite to pop into existence. Holy crap.

Looks like the iPhone's built in app store may be a problem, but maybe not THE problem. So far other 3rd party apps work and iPod media is intact. I'll give it a day and if my apps start crashing again, then I'll know it was the app store. Everything has been butter until i started using the app store. I had a sneaking suspicion it was that all along.

At least 2.1 is supposed to come out in September, right? Bug fixes and push notifications will make my day. Sad that 2.0.1 caused more problems than it fixed.

Edit: iMaze - what a crappy game!! Terrible...

I try to avoid doing anything else on my Iphone everytime I download and install apps from Apps Store thru my Iphone also when updating apps thru Iphone. I let the apps finish loading and installing first before I do anything because if I do try something else while apps are installing my iphone locks up. :p

[redjay412]

so i dont understand...if you have a way to get a new ipod/iphone...why not do it...it may not fix the problem...but if i can get a new warrranty and new ipod...im gonna do it....just curious

[edtorious]

well, restoring my Iphone fixed the crashing of my 3rd party applications. :rolleyes:

I just have to redo the settings and some but it's ok. And also I guess there really is no subfolder applications under the iphone but it just kinda weird if you know what i mean. Oh well, no harm done I guess but hopefully everything works now...;)

Well I'm sad to report that my 3rd party apps are not working again :mad: It was working last night and this morning after restoring my Iphone last night. I was playing with one of the apps but it crashed (note: it didn't crash like what was happening yesterday). So I rebooted my Iphone and voila! my 3rd party apps are no longer working again :(. So how about you guys? Have you tried playing with your 3rd party apps after you were able to fix it?

I should probably do what was suggested here then, just delete my apps from my Iphone and from Itunes library and redownload the 3rd party apps. But then I guess a fix from Apple is really needed for it to work normally. :rolleyes:

[Excellerator]

Have you tried playing with your 3rd party apps after you were able to fix it?

By using the instructions I did above, my 3rd party apps are still working today. I have even added new ones (by computer - not iPhone).

[edtorious]

By using the instructions I did above, my 3rd party apps are still working today. I have even added new ones (by computer - not iPhone).

Well better pray that one of your apps doesn't crash and then all of your 3rd party will no longer be working like what happened to me :( But if one of your apps crash and your other 3rd party apps still works, let us know though.;)

[macduke]

Well I'm sad to report that my 3rd party apps are not working again :mad: It was working last night and this morning after restoring my Iphone last night. I was playing with one of the apps but it crashed (note: it didn't crash like what was happening yesterday). So I rebooted my Iphone and voila! my 3rd party apps are no longer working again :(. So how about you guys? Have you tried playing with your 3rd party apps after you were able to fix it?

I should probably do what was suggested here then, just delete my apps from my Iphone and from Itunes library and redownload the 3rd party apps. But then I guess a fix from Apple is really needed for it to work normally. :rolleyes:

Saw that coming from a mile away. I restored so many times and everything works fine for about 1/2 to 3/4 of a day. By the afternoon / evening the next day everything is always broken again. The method I outlined in this thread is the only fix I know of for people who can't get the restore / reauthorization / adding new apps methods to work.

Apple needs to introduce an interim update before 2.1 that fixes these issues. 2.0.2 and iTunes 7.7.2 please!! Then we won't have to mess with anything.

By the way, my apps are still working after that scare yesterday with the built in app store. Normally, they should have been dead by now. If everything is fine tomorrow then I will begin phase 4 testing, transfering apps back to iTunes and backing up.

[Excellerator]

Oh, isn't it fun. You get the "oh just one more app" syndrome and the when you install it you have to hold your breath and hope it works. I do hope Apple fixes this soon too. I always feel like I am walking on egg shells.

[darkfiber]

Oh, isn't it fun. You get the "oh just one more app" syndrome and the when you install it you have to hold your breath and hope it works. I do hope Apple fixes this soon too. I always feel like I am walking on egg shells.

This is why I have decided not to do anything more at this point. Even though none of the 80 plus App store apps I have on my iPhone work, I am just going to wait for a fix. I just don't have time to delete apps, reinstall apps etc... I will deal with it for the short term as long as the core functionality (phone, safari, ipod, email and the base apps) of the phone works (and it does).

[aimfire]

I had very simaler problems and suspected it had to do with iTunes 7.7.1 update - because before that update, my iPhone, apps - all worked fine.

My phone would crash during syncs, but a normal reboot would fix it... after about 1-2 weeks of this, my phone would not reboot at all and just hang on the "apple screen" forever. I did 5 backup restores on the phone, nothing worked.

Read some of the info here and on the Apple support forums... and this is what is working for me now:

Deleted:
/System/Library/Extensions/AppleMobileDevice.kext
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DeviceLink.framework
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MobileDevice.framework
/Library/Receipts/AppleMobileDeviceSupport.pkg

And then after, deleted iTunes 7.7.1 itself, reboot Mac...

Installed fresh copy of 7.7

Put the phone into "recovery mode" by holding down Home button while connecting to dock

Had iTunes restore phone to original settings, then chose to set up as a "new phone".

Warning: This will wipe out *everything* on your iPhone!
I lost some photos, but I use MobileMe, so all my contacts, calendars, etc. synced back up.

Been about 24 hours now, I've done 3 syncs and iPhone is running GREAT!
No more freezes, crashes - all apps working fine... I'll even go as far to say that 2.0.1 firmware feels.... "snappier". ;)

As others have said, it really seems that iTunes 7.7.1 is the main problem here. Something definitely gets screwed up during syncing, not sure if it's the DRM or what... Go back to 7.7 and you might be fine.

note: I always install my apps through iTunes on Mac - NOT from App Store on iPhone.

[John Musbach]

Well better pray that one of your apps doesn't crash and then all of your 3rd party will no longer be working like what happened to me :( But if one of your apps crash and your other 3rd party apps still works, let us know though.;)After my apps started working again yesterday Labyrinth crashed as I was in the middle of downloading more levels for it but AFAICT everything still works.

[darkfiber]

Now, not only do none of the 80 apps I downloaded work, all my music and videos that were on my iPhone are now gone??? All I did was power off the iPhone and then restart it.

[ziggie216]

crap, i'm having the same problem as well.. one min it was working.. fews min later, it just suddenly doesnt work again. I have tired reflashing my phone twice and after each time, the app would work for awhile and then back to the same problem that everyons is having. The whole reinstalling the app over and over is driving me nuts.

[BrightestBear]

I had very simaler problems and suspected it had to do with iTunes 7.7.1 update - because before that update, my iPhone, apps - all worked fine.

My phone would crash during syncs, but a normal reboot would fix it... after about 1-2 weeks of this, my phone would not reboot at all and just hang on the "apple screen" forever. I did 5 backup restores on the phone, nothing worked.

Read some of the info here and on the Apple support forums... and this is what is working for me now:

Deleted:
/System/Library/Extensions/AppleMobileDevice.kext
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DeviceLink.framework
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MobileDevice.framework
/Library/Receipts/AppleMobileDeviceSupport.pkg

And then after, deleted iTunes 7.7.1 itself, reboot Mac...

Installed fresh copy of 7.7

Put the phone into "recovery mode" by holding down Home button while connecting to dock

Had iTunes restore phone to original settings, then chose to set up as a "new phone".

Warning: This will wipe out *everything* on your iPhone!
I lost some photos, but I use MobileMe, so all my contacts, calendars, etc. synced back up.

Been about 24 hours now, I've done 3 syncs and iPhone is running GREAT!
No more freezes, crashes - all apps working fine... I'll even go as far to say that 2.0.1 firmware feels.... "snappier". ;)

As others have said, it really seems that iTunes 7.7.1 is the main problem here. Something definitely gets screwed up during syncing, not sure if it's the DRM or what... Go back to 7.7 and you might be fine.

note: I always install my apps through iTunes on Mac - NOT from App Store on iPhone.

Ditto. I put iTunes 7.7 back, and it's still going strong four days later. And I've downloaded new apps ... from the App Store on my phone. Shocking, I know.

[darkfiber]

I had very simaler problems and suspected it had to do with iTunes 7.7.1 update - because before that update, my iPhone, apps - all worked fine.

My phone would crash during syncs, but a normal reboot would fix it... after about 1-2 weeks of this, my phone would not reboot at all and just hang on the "apple screen" forever. I did 5 backup restores on the phone, nothing worked.

Read some of the info here and on the Apple support forums... and this is what is working for me now:

Deleted:
/System/Library/Extensions/AppleMobileDevice.kext
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DeviceLink.framework
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MobileDevice.framework
/Library/Receipts/AppleMobileDeviceSupport.pkg

And then after, deleted iTunes 7.7.1 itself, reboot Mac...

Installed fresh copy of 7.7

Put the phone into "recovery mode" by holding down Home button while connecting to dock

Had iTunes restore phone to original settings, then chose to set up as a "new phone".

Warning: This will wipe out *everything* on your iPhone!
I lost some photos, but I use MobileMe, so all my contacts, calendars, etc. synced back up.

Been about 24 hours now, I've done 3 syncs and iPhone is running GREAT!
No more freezes, crashes - all apps working fine... I'll even go as far to say that 2.0.1 firmware feels.... "snappier". ;)

As others have said, it really seems that iTunes 7.7.1 is the main problem here. Something definitely gets screwed up during syncing, not sure if it's the DRM or what... Go back to 7.7 and you might be fine.

note: I always install my apps through iTunes on Mac - NOT from App Store on iPhone.

I wonder if there is a similiar solution for those running iTunes under Windows?

[darkfiber]

Ok, I found a temporary solution.

What ended up working for me was to delete 1 single app from iTunes on my PC (I have over 80) under Library --> Applications. Then I synced with my iPhone (thus removing that single app from my iPhone). Then I redownloaded that same App from the iTunes store on my PC and synced again to put the app back on my iPhone. Now all my apps work. I think what is happening is that somehow the phone thinks it was not authorized to run those apps and a resync fixes it. What the cause is (the latest version of iTunes 7.7.1.11?) isn't known I don't think. As a bonus the music I had on my iPhone is now visible (it was gone before). How long they continue to work is another question. I wonder if I should now downgrade iTunes to 7.7 (from 7.7.1.11)??

[redjay412]

well...its official...after sending in my ipod touch for this same problem...they couldnt do anything to fix it so they are sending me a new ipod...hope everything works out for yall...thanks for all the help

[aimfire]

Been about 24 hours now, I've done 3 syncs and iPhone is running GREAT! No more freezes, crashes - all apps working fine... I'll even go as far to say that 2.0.1 firmware feels.... "snappier". ;)

As others have said, it really seems that iTunes 7.7.1 is the main problem here. Something definitely gets screwed up during syncing, not sure if it's the DRM or what... Go back to 7.7 and you might be fine.
Sorry folks - I take it ALL back!! :mad:

About 36 hours later, back to same problems again... and this is with the "downgrade" to iTunes 7.7. In addtion to having the 2-3 hour long backups, I'm having problems pretty much everytime I sync the phone now - particularly when installing or uninstalling apps with iTunes. BTW, dosn't seem to be linked to any particular one app... happens randomly on any of them.

I've been watching iPhone more carefully during the syncs... First the iPhone will freeze and crash while installing/uninstalling an app... Which then triggers iTunes to freeze up and I get the beachball of death which eventually leads to iTunes itself crashing.

I've done several restores from backups, even installed fresh and had iTunes set up as a "new phone". 3 days now of this... getting sick of it.

I'm really starting to think it has more to do with firmware 2.0.1 now... Just from reading the threads here, seems like people are having problems installing apps from both iTunes and the iPhone itself. I never had problems at all with 2.0... Is there anyway to "downgrade" back to that??

So I don't know... I LOVE the iPhone, but all this stuff keeps coming out with the problems with 2.0.1 and now the whole 3G chip mess... :rolleyes:

Losing my patience with this, so unless Apple comes out with a new firmware by next week, then I'm going back to Apple store and exchanging this one out - I'd rather just have a new fresh phone to deal with rather than spending days/hours doing restores and all that... losing my patience here.

[darkfiber]

well...its official...after sending in my ipod touch for this same problem...they couldnt do anything to fix it so they are sending me a new ipod...hope everything works out for yall...thanks for all the help

Well unless that replacement has newer firmware than 2.0.1 (or maybe 2.0) you are potentially going to have the same issues with it.

[darkfiber]

Sorry folks - I take it ALL back!! :mad:



Did you try my workaround in post 120 above?

While it may not be a permanent fix, it is way easier to do that all those restores.

[aimfire]

Did you try my workaround in post 120 above?

While it may not be a permanent fix, it is way easier to do that all those restores.
Problem is, I can't even to get it to sync without the phone crashing halfway through.

I know that exchanging the phone won't magically solve all my problems, but will give me a fresh pallette to work with. Yes, I know I could just do a fresh restore from scratch.... again... but it will take me less than an hour to return the phone vs. 4+ hours trying to mess around with this nonsense.

Believe me, I'm an Apple guy, and I hate returning things (I'm also a stock-holder!) but... their problems shouldn't be mine. I've given up 3 days trying to fix this mess of a phone.

[darkfiber]

Problem is, I can't even to get it to sync without the phone crashing halfway through.

I know that exchanging the phone won't magically solve all my problems, but will give me a fresh pallette to work with. Yes, I know I could just do a fresh restore from scratch.... again... but it will take me less than an hour to return the phone vs. 4+ hours trying to mess around with this nonsense.

Believe me, I'm an Apple guy, and I hate returning things (I'm also a stock-holder!) but... their problems shouldn't be mine. I've given up 3 days trying to fix this mess of a phone.

And as it turns out my solution was short lived. It was working fine today and then suddenly some of my apps stopped working. I didn't even sync or use the App store.

[FPARYAN]

No issues with my wife's 2G or my 3G phone. Everything works fine.

Same here with my 2G... still have a little lag on the SMS and from time to time the smooth "genie" effect going back to the home screen hiccups but at least my apps and Phone book open right away...

[redjay412]

Well unless that replacement has newer firmware than 2.0.1 (or maybe 2.0) you are potentially going to have the same issues with it.

not nessicarily though...it could be like the other 95 percent of the ipod touch users that didnt have this problem...you gotta realize that only a small percent of people actually had this problem...so potentially i wont have the same problem...there is a chance...but a slim chance

[BrightestBear]

Edited: The problem I originally mentioned has fixed itself, without any reboots or syncing from me. Weird. But I'm glad it's working again! Go 7.7 downgrade!

[redjay412]

I've been an evangelist for the downgrade to iTunes 7.7 ... until now. My rollback plan worked for five days. On the sixth day (today), several of my third-party apps won't open. The ones I use pretty regularly seem to work fine, but the ones I almost never open won't stay open. My music is still there.

So it's not exactly the same problem, but it's similar. And since it's not affecting the important apps, I guess I can live with it and hope 2.1 will bring a fix. But damn, I shouldn't have to "live with" things not working properly on my Jesus Phone.

try takin it to att and gettin a new one

[MacDryCleaner]

I just wanted to report to the group that I followed MacDuke's solution step by step.

I'm three days in and my iPhone is working really really well. As a matter of fact I'm gonna say it's like working with my original iPhone all over again. Very smooth and my contacts come up really quickly now that I am not syncing with mobile me anymore. Hmmm.

So, I say try it .... although a bit time consuming it seems I spent my time well. I do a physical sync now instead of using mobile me (until there is an update) and I don't download any apps onto the iPhone over the air ... I do everything through iTunes instead which is really not a big deal.

I'll keep you posted. If this doesn't hold I'm gonna just go get another iPhone.

Way to go MacDuke! Your hard work is appreciated.

[BrightestBear]

try takin it to att and gettin a new one

I'm pretty sure the problem is with the software, not the hardware. We didn't have problems until the 2.01/7.7.1 updates. Besides, I bought it at Apple, and that's too far a drive for a problem that isn't seriously affecting the phone's performance.

[redjay412]

I'm pretty sure the problem is with the software, not the hardware. We didn't have problems until the 2.01/7.7.1 updates. Besides, I bought it at Apple, and that's too far a drive for a problem that isn't seriously affecting the phone's performance.

i talked to my brother which works at att and he says that an att store can take an iphone and replace it if they see that there are obvious problems even if it wasnt bought at the that particular att store or if it was bought at an apple store...another thing is...although it may be software problems...you cant fix it...so take it to someone who can...you paid a good amount of money for a good device...you should be able to use that device as it is advertised...not as well as it will run cause they product is broken...that is...if its still under warranty...like ive also said in my other posts...apple cant even fix the problem...what makes you think you can...most of the people that work for apple are idiots...but im sure theyd rather send back the same device but with good working software then a brand new ipod/iphone...so...if your still too ignorant and lazy to go get it fixed then live with your broken iphone

[Excellerator]

Just an update, three days ago I posted this fix:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=6027309#post6027309

And as of today (3 days later) its still working correctly (knock on wood) and I am using Itunes 7.7.1 still under Windows. I wonder if it is different for Mac users??????

[darkfiber]

Just an update, three days ago I posted this fix:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=6027309#post6027309

And as of today (3 days later) its still working correctly (knock on wood) and I am using Itunes 7.7.1 still under Windows. I wonder if it is different for Mac users??????

I did the same thing tonight with the addition of uninstalling iTunes 7.7.1 and installing 7.7.0.

As of right now all my apps work and the iPod sees my music and videos. Everything seems to be working fine.

We shall see how long it lasts. Hopefully long enough for Apple to have a permanent fix for this issue.

[melsailsnorth]

Brand new to the forum, but I've been through much of the same over the last week & figured I'd pitch-in, as Apple certainly doesn't want to acknowledge the problem as being much of anything.

I did clean reinstalls on my first 3g 4 times on my laptop then another 4 times on my imac. The last few were without adding any extra apps.

Aside from the "usual" apps not starting, I would eventually experience the black boot screen that would 'stick' and not ever leave. After several calls to Apple, and even an email to Jobs himself "he did reply believe it or not, and said they were hot on a fix although it was effecting less then 2% of the phones", I finally just traded the first phone in on a new one. The Apple store was nice enough to give me a new "black box" as opposed to a refurb after reading Steve's email...

At any rate, I have now first backed-up the phone immediately to itunes, then only added a few select apps. So far no probs... The new phones coming out already have the update. I would have liked to try backing up to the older iTunes, but I have not taken the time to find the download.

It will be interesting to see how long this fix lasts. I have read so much speculation that it's hard to piece together if there is a single "rogue" app out there or if its something to do with the updates. My guess would be the ladder, since this has seemed to come-on so abruptly, and is so wide spread.

Wish we could hear more from people's set-ups who are running an extensive amount of apps, yet have not had any trouble... Its hard just reviewing the crashes but not looking at the set-ups that are somehow not affected.

melsailsnorth

[BrightestBear]

...so...if your still too ignorant and lazy to go get it fixed then live with your broken iphone

I appreciate all efforts to help get my phone up and running. I do not appreciate being called ignorant and lazy, thank you.

Strangely, all my apps are working again this morning, with no effort on my part. Maybe my iPhone was just having a bad day.

[darkfiber]

so...if your still too ignorant and lazy to go get it fixed then live with your broken iphone

Arrogant and lazy? Or smart enough to figure out that this is a software problem and not a hardware problem? Smart enough to know that if we swap out our phones with another phone the exact same thing will potentially happen that is being caused by either the 2.0.1 firmware or iTunes 7.7.1. Besides, how many lazy people do you know that would wipe and restore their phone multiple times and try a number of other things that has taken hours to get their phone working? Lazy to me is someone who gives up and swaps their phone for a new one thinking that is going to fix it. The only thing you can hope for is that by the time you get a new phone that Apple releases either new firmware or a new version of iTunes that fixes the issue. But of course at that point the fix will be available to everyone as well who didn't waste their time by sending in their perfectly good phone (and chance that they would get a bad phone with hardware issues or defects).

I followed the suggestion I posted above and now my phone is working fine.

[darkfiber]

It will be interesting to see how long this fix lasts. I have read so much speculation that it's hard to piece together if there is a single "rogue" app out there or if its something to do with the updates. My guess would be the ladder, since this has seemed to come-on so abruptly, and is so wide spread.

melsailsnorth

A rogue app is a possibility. That would explain why my phone would be working one second and then suddenly apps would stop working (and not having synced the phone with iTunes on a PC/Mac or used the app store on the phone).

If my phone starts to have issues I may just remove all apps and install just a few of my favorites (instead of the 70 plus I have now) to see what happens.

[redjay412]

Arrogant and lazy? Or smart enough to figure out that this is a software problem and not a hardware problem? Smart enough to know that if we swap out our phones with another phone the exact same thing will potentially happen that is being caused by either the 2.0.1 firmware or iTunes 7.7.1. Besides, how many lazy people do you know that would wipe and restore their phone multiple times and try a number of other things that has taken hours to get their phone working? Lazy to me is someone who gives up and swaps their phone for a new one thinking that is going to fix it. The only thing you can hope for is that by the time you get a new phone that Apple releases either new firmware or a new version of iTunes that fixes the issue. But of course at that point the fix will be available to everyone as well who didn't waste their time by sending in their perfectly good phone (and chance that they would get a bad phone with hardware issues or defects).

I followed the suggestion I posted above and now my phone is working fine.

honestly...lazy is someone who would rather sit in a office chair for hours apon hours tryin to fix something that there is no permanent fix to...then to get in there car...drive to the closest att location and get it fixed and stop complaining about their broken iphone...i didnt give up...its a thing of...yall didnt have a working solution...so i had to have my ipod back workin as someone who uses the mail application on a day to day basis...a ipod that was saying connect to itunes for a majority of the day wasnt helping...although i am without an ipod for a week...i had tried doing it yalls way for several days before i even called apple

[meagain]

RedJay - MANY are having this problem. I'm having it on my 3g AND 2g iPhone which I've had since initial launch that worked flawlessly.

I'm going to sync my 2g in another computer to see what happens.

[redjay412]

RedJay - MANY are having this problem. I'm having it on my 3g AND 2g iPhone which I've had since initial launch that worked flawlessly.

I'm going to sync my 2g in another computer to see what happens.

that had nothin to do with me...so whyd you say my name...i know many are having this problem...i never doubted that...im saying...just go get it fixed since you dont know how to fix it...thats being ignorant...thanks for proving my point for me

[BrightestBear]

I think meagain is objecting to your implication that everyone who is having trouble with what is clearly a software issue is lazy because they haven't demanded that Apple/AT&T give them a new phone. That's just ridiculous and insulting.

[redjay412]

I think meagain is objecting to your implication that everyone who is having trouble with what is clearly a software issue is lazy because they haven't demanded that Apple/AT&T give them a new phone. That's just ridiculous and insulting.

I know its a software issue...ive never said that i think its a hardware issue...but what im saying is that none of yall have found a permenent fix...so your lazy and ignorant for trying to fix somethin yourselves when you cant...im sure you would have found a way by now...or apple would have fixed the problem by now...so my thing is...if you cant fix it...which you obviously cant...get it fixed the right way

[jarvijarv]

As of right now iTunes is down...when it comes to downloading apps. Some of my apps on my iPhone 3G took a dump, so when i wanted to redownload thru my Mac, the red exclamation mark saying iTunes is temporarily down came up.......TELL me i'm not the only one experiencing this!!:confused:

[BrightestBear]

I know its a software issue...ive never said that i think its a hardware issue...but what im saying is that none of yall have found a permenent fix...so your lazy and ignorant for trying to fix somethin yourselves when you cant...im sure you would have found a way by now...or apple would have fixed the problem by now...so my thing is...if you cant fix it...which you obviously cant...get it fixed the right way

And your proposed solution is that we get new phones that are likely to suffer the same software problems? That's just silly, and it's no solution at all. Do yourself a favor and stop calling people names.

[meagain]

I know its a software issue...ive never said that i think its a hardware issue...but what im saying is that none of yall have found a permenent fix...so your lazy and ignorant for trying to fix somethin yourselves when you cant...im sure you would have found a way by now...or apple would have fixed the problem by now...so my thing is...if you cant fix it...which you obviously cant...get it fixed the right way

And I'm supposed to take my 2g and return it 13-14 months after I bought it?
Please.

[redjay412]

And I'm supposed to take my 2g and return it 13-14 months after I bought it?
Please.

maybe you should try reading all of my posts...once again...your an idiot...i said from the very beginning...only if its still under warranty

[melsailsnorth]

[QUOTE] "maybe you should try reading all of my posts...once again...your an idiot...i said from the very beginning...only if its still under warranty." -- by Redjay417




I'd just like to say that (although I have just started to post myself), I've been reading this thread from it's inception.

You guys (and girls) have gone "above and beyond", and have been a tremendous help (so much more then Apple support)!!!

It's rare that I read a thread that does not get "prayed upon" by someone who's infectious tongue (in this case "fingers") threatens to shadow the progress, camaraderie and hard work that has ultimately lead to much less "down time" for our phones.

I use my iPhone in my medical/ lifeflight practice, and (although I have backups) it could be said that the integrity of these calls can have "life and death" consequences.

I sincerely appreciate all the hard work, and respectfully ask that our progress not be dissuaded by such ignorant comments.

Melsailsnorth (FlightRN and Director of RVsions Medical Services)

[melsailsnorth]

Incidentally, that "2%" that has been mentioned, might be coming from
the email that I received in response to my email to Steve Jobs.

I have no idea if it's an accurate estimate, and I don't even know if the emails
that "go-to" and "come-from" sjobs@apple.com are actually being read and written by him.

I just needed to "vent" my frustrations, and I'd rather take it to the top,
then carry it around with me...

For all I know, he may have a whole team answering his emails... but at any rate, he signed it "Steve", it came from the aforementioned website,
and he "literally" said that I was "nuts" for thinking this was a "widespread"
problem, and that It was only effecting 2% of his phones.

My response was that 2% of more then a million phones is a lot of missed calls. how many of those have been emergencies or really critical. in my humble estimation, 2% failure rate is unacceptable. This software (if it turns out to be software related) should have been properly tested BEFORE BEING RELEASED.... You don't use the public, who are out there living their lives, making a living, and relying on this equiptment, to "Beta test" this stuff without their consent.

I just don't think they are really looking at the reality of how integrated and essential our cellphones have become. Just because I happen to be scraping people off the freeway and forwarding their info on to the medical team thats awaiting their arrival, does not mean there are not a HOST of other "just as important" things that people are doing with these phones and relying on them to work. When my phone has bricked over the last week, I could not even make emergency calls with it. In all the years, I've just never been up against a phone that just "bricked" to this extent.

I felt like asking Jobs if he'd ever consider handing a gun, loaded with 2% of it's bullets, to his kids since this is such an "acceptable" failure rate for his customers.

[darkfiber]

My response was that 2% of more then a million phones is a lot of missed calls. how many of those have been emergencies or really critical. in my humble estimation, 2% failure rate is unacceptable. This software (if it turns out to be software related) should have been properly tested BEFORE BEING RELEASED.... You don't use the public, who are out there living their lives, making a living, and relying on this equiptment, to "Beta test" this stuff without their consent.

I just don't think they are really looking at the reality of how integrated and essential our cellphones have become. Just because I happen to be scraping people off the freeway and forwarding their info on to the medical team thats awaiting their arrival, does not mean there are not a HOST of other "just as important" things that people are doing with these phones and relying on them to work. When my phone has bricked over the last week, I could not even make emergency calls with it. In all the years, I've just never been up against a phone that just "bricked" to this extent.

I felt like asking Jobs if he'd ever consider handing a gun, loaded with 2% of it's bullets, to his kids since this is such an "acceptable" failure rate for his customers.

I understand your frustration. But I just wanted to point out something I read in the iPhone user guide on page 39...

Emergency Calls

Important: You should not rely on wireless devices for essential communications, such
as medical emergencies. Use of any cellular phone to call emergency services may not
work in all locations. Emergency numbers and services vary by region, and sometimes
an emergency call cannot be placed due to network availability or environmental
interference. Some cellular networks may not accept an emergency call from iPhone if
it doesn’t have a SIM, if you locked your SIM, or if you haven’t activated your iPhone.

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/iPhone_User_Guide.pdf

If I needed a phone for emergency uses as you do in your profession, I probably would be using something that is more specialized (and rugged) for just making calls with proven reliability and not a sophisticated "smart phone" type device that only has been on the market for a year (from a company that is pretty new to the cell phone business). The more complicated the device the more chance there is going to be a problem.

[melsailsnorth]

I certainly hear what your saying, and I'd be pretty silly not to agree.

I had not run by their waiver, and appreciate it. Just to clarify, as I mentioned in our previous posts, we do "in fact" never go out in the field with rugged back-ups.

The people at Apple just went to great lengths to tout the iPhone to our profession. We were sent an add that specifically targeted the medical community that gave us a glimpse of all the applications that we could be using at the hospital and out in the field even. By all accounts, they were clearly sending a message that this was a platform that was "ripe" for our picking and ready to become part of our arsenal.

My frustrations with the "bricked" phones reflect the potential problems should someone be caught in ANY emergency situation with only their phone at their disposal which may or may not act-up.

Again, though, point well taken...

melsailsnorth

[darkfiber]

I certainly hear what your saying, and I'd be pretty silly not to agree.

I had not run by their waiver, and appreciate it. Just to clarify, as I mentioned in our previous posts, we do "in fact" never go out in the field with rugged back-ups.

The people at Apple just went to great lengths to tout the iPhone to our profession. We were sent an add that specifically targeted the medical community that gave us a glimpse of all the applications that we could be using at the hospital and out in the field even. By all accounts, they were clearly sending a message that this was a platform that was "ripe" for our picking and ready to become part of our arsenal.

My frustrations with the "bricked" phones reflect the potential problems should someone be caught in ANY emergency situation with only their phone at their disposal which may or may not act-up.

Again, though, point well taken...

melsailsnorth


One of these bad boys should make the iPhone 3G pretty rugged...

http://www.speckproducts.com/products/toughskin/iphone-3g/141

:)

[arrrggghhh]

Both my girlfriend and I have 3g iphones and have to do at least one restore daily on each phone. I've tried just about everything, with no luck so far. I didn't see it anywhere in the thread, but has anyone else had success turning off the app store on the phone? I'm currently trying that option. I'm going out of town for a while, I can't have my phone on the apple logo the whole time....

[darkfiber]

Both my girlfriend and I have 3g iphones and have to do at least one restore daily on each phone. I've tried just about everything, with no luck so far. I didn't see it anywhere in the thread, but has anyone else had success turning off the app store on the phone? I'm currently trying that option. I'm going out of town for a while, I can't have my phone on the apple logo the whole time....

What version of iTunes are you running?

[arrrggghhh]

What version of iTunes are you running?

7.7.1

I turned the app store off the phone by using the restrictions panel in the settings. I tried using a version of itunes before the app store, but it wouldn't let me set up my phone on it.

[redjay412]

We were sent an add that specifically targeted the medical community that gave us a glimpse of all the applications that we could be using at the hospital and out in the field even.

melsailsnorth

Dont you mean ad rather then add....cause im sure someone didnt send you an addition symbol or someone that had A.D.D. ...and if you cant remember that...its advertisment

[BrightestBear]

7.7.1

I turned the app store off the phone by using the restrictions panel in the settings. I tried using a version of itunes before the app store, but it wouldn't let me set up my phone on it.

One suggestion would be to roll back to 7.7. Some people have had luck with that.

[melsailsnorth]

"Such a relieving thought that I have spent the better part of a 20 year flight
career saving these type of people from themselves and their numerous escapades..." It's alright... you've got to have compassion for someone with so much time on their hands, (not to mention the inferiority complex and nonexistent self-esteem) all of which enable them to derive some sort of twisted pleasure (probably Freudian) from trying to get a rise out of anyone without having to risk the actual confrontation. Sorry, dude... Get some therapy or buy a puppy or something (but please don't beat it)."

Something tells me this infection's going to fester, so I'm going to sign-off.

Great post, though, and a lot of good info... As hard of a pill as it is to swallow, it's not just much of the EMS (emergency services) that are utilizing Cellular communications more and more. An educated guess would put about 80-85% of all our military communications via the entire armed forces are being made via cellular and satellite services. Although much of the military (as does our EMS and police force) still try and cling to some of the older radio's and frequencies, you find more and more lean towards
these newer (and, yes, more reliable) services. My brothers a cop, and he even says over half of his communications are now via his cell phone.

It's an alluring technology (the smart phone, that is). If I can transmit a report to my receiving doctor, and at the same time transmit a "real time" image of a patients 12 lead ekg, vitals, field labs, medical history, etc., it can really push my profession forward and save lives. On the flip-side, that technology should be fail-safe
enough so that "should the added technology go down", all communications are not at risk. This is where I really acknowledge the comments with regard to back-ups, etc...

Thanks again for the thread, and helping my phone to "live another day"

And, sorry redjay4whatever... I'm going to have to let you go back to pestering these other poor lads. Good luck with that.

[arrrggghhh]

One suggestion would be to roll back to 7.7. Some people have had luck with that.

Yeah, that's next on my list of options. Our phones have held up for a full day! I can't think of the last time this has happened...

[darkfiber]

Yeah, that's next on my list of options. Our phones have held up for a full day! I can't think of the last time this has happened...

UPDATE 9-12-08: Upgrading to iTunes 8.0 AND updating the iPhone to version 2.1 should be your first option if you have the issue described below.

My situation yesterday was that none of my apps worked and the iPhone said that I had no content on the iPod (which wasn't true as I had 6GB of music and a bunch of videos.)

So here is what I did (I followed someones advice from a post earlier in this thread or maybe it was on the Apple forums)...

1. Synced the phone to iTunes 7.7.1
2. Then selected the phone in the devices list on iTunes
3. Selected the Applications Tab and unchecked "Sync Applications"
4. Pressed the Sync button at the bottom of the page which then removed all apps from the phone.
5. After that was done a few apps were still left on the phone so I deleted them on the phone itself.
6. I disconnected the phone from the USB cable and powered it off then powered it back on.
7. When the phone started up I then was able to get to my music and videos on the iPod part on the phone.
8. I then uninstalled iTunes 7.7.1 from my PC and rebooted the PC.
9. When the PC booted up I installed 7.7.0 of iTunes which you can get here...

http://rapidshare.com/files/133199773/iTunesSetup.exe (windows)

http://ja1me.net/hotness/itunes77.dmg (mac)


(All of my settings and library were still there in iTunes when 7.7.0 loaded by the way. So you don't have to worry about losing that stuff.)

10. I then connected the phone and selected the phone in the devices list on iTunes.
11. Selected the Applications Tab and checked "Sync Applications"
12. Pressed the Sync button at the bottom of the page which then added back all the from the phone.

After that all my apps work as does the iPod (and they still do).

We shall see how long it lasts.

UPDATE: As of 9-8-08 this is still working and I even updated to firmware 2.0.2 and have downloaded apps via the App Store on the phone itself as well as downloading new apps (and upgrades) via iTunes 7.7.0 on my PC.

UPDATE 2: On of 9-9-08 I installed iTunes 8.0. However, it is too soon to tell if this new version will fix the issue or not. Firmware 2.1 is also coming out on Friday 9-12-08 and maybe it fix the issue. In any case, I plan to also install firmware 2.1 as soon as it is available. I will keep updating this post whether I have any issues or not in the coming weeks.

UPDATE 9-12-08: I have upgraded to 2.1 of the iPhone firmware. Others who had the issue of apps not working upgraded to 2.1 and that fixed their problems.

[dhartshorn]

I skipped the bulk of the messages, so this may have been mentioned, but I wonder if I solved the same problem or a different (and ordinary) one by just authorizing my computer for my Store account.

I don't sync much and I did a Mac drive swap last weekend. Instead of pulling over prefs, etc. with the automated tool, I did my usual manual copy of a few items like mail and iTunes. I wanted as clean a start as possible without starting completely from scratch. In the past, I've had no trouble but I don't recall that I've ever had iTunes Store content on an iPod. I just rip my own.

I upgraded to 2.01 yesterday and lost all my third party apps, as discussed. But my data (all non-Store) was fine. Just a failure of all my apps to work. I followed all the advice of the first couple pages and got nowhere. The best I could do was install an app via the phone but it wouldn't sync out to the Mac. On the last round (of several), I happened to bump into the Authorize Computer menu item and it cured my ills. I did a sync before I updated, but it looks like that may not backup unauthorized apps and just mask the problem.

Anyway, perhaps it's worth a shot.

[darkfiber]

See my post just above yours. The solution that has worked so far for me that I tried doesn't require a complete restore etc...

[arrrggghhh]

See my post just above yours. The solution that has worked so far for me that I tried doesn't require a complete restore etc...

We'll, my last try didn't work either... None of the apps worked this morning, and the music was gone. I was enjoying my full day of a working phone! I am going to try your method now. Thanks for the info.

[meagain]

Well I KNOW the problem is either the last iTunes or iPhone update. My flawless 13 month old 2g is now affected.

Darkfiber - is it still working well? All apps work ok even after re-sync or adding more? And, to confirm, you didn't have to back up contacts or anything to revert to 7.7.0? That's really all I care about losing.

[meagain]

iTunes doesn't want to remove the apps from my phone. Under 'applications', sync is NOT checked. On the 'Summary' page, I've tried 'sync only checked songs/video' and 'manually'. Nothing removes the apps.

Anyone have an idea why or what I'm doing wrong? EDIT: I checked 'Sync Applications' then unchecked all the apps and it seems to be removing them.

[arrrggghhh]

OK, i tried uninstalling itunes and reinstalling 7.7.0 and started a new phone. Synced my apps to it, and music and when i started it up, the music was there, but none of the apps would start right off the bat. ARRAHRHGGHH!H!H this is driving me crazy! When I go to the applications tab under the iphone, it is grayed out and won't let me check or uncheck any box...

[meagain]

are the apps still there in the 'applications' section above the 'store' section on the left?

[arrrggghhh]

Yeah, actually I just resynched the phone and it somehow got them working again. Maybe there's something to this 7.7.0 version!

[meagain]

Didn't work for me. I followed the more intensive directions here by kbell-tiger
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=7841716#7841716 deleted & installed the older iTunes. Apps don't work.

I want to delete my iTunes library as I think it's corrupt and those instructions don't do it I think? I REALLY want to nuke this iTunes totally. My goofy iTunes has doubles for playlists listed. 2 'Movies', 2 'recently played', etc. I've no clue why or how to fix it.

I'm now trying a crazy idea of loading ALL my apps even though they won't work, plugging them into my 'clean' 7.7 iTunes on my laptop and "transfering" the apps on the phone into that computer. Then I'll select a few, sync, and see if they friggin' open.

[darkfiber]

I downloaded some new apps tonight and after I disconnected the phone I played with some of the new apps and they wouldn't load. But I then powered off the phone and turned it back on and they were ok.

[John Musbach]

I downloaded some new apps tonight and after I disconnected the phone I played with some of the new apps and they wouldn't load. But I then powered off the phone and turned it back on and they were ok.Yesterday I upgraded 6 apps and installed 1 new one via iTunes and so far AFAICT everything is still running smoothly.

[ewiley28]

Anyone upgrade to 2.0.2 and see things fixed? I know it may be only working temporarily because 2.0.2 hasn't been up yet, but I'm curious to know if it addresses the issue at all.

[darkfiber]

Well I KNOW the problem is either the last iTunes or iPhone update. My flawless 13 month old 2g is now affected.

Darkfiber - is it still working well? All apps work ok even after re-sync or adding more? And, to confirm, you didn't have to back up contacts or anything to revert to 7.7.0? That's really all I care about losing.

So far so good. The only scare I had was with the game "CannonGame" that crashed on startup. However, when I powered down the phone and restarted it the game loaded fine.

I also downloaded an app for the first time since I went back to iTunes 7.7.0 via the App Store on the phone itself. We shall see if that causes any issues.

Now we have 2.0.2 firmware that just came out. Who knows if that will permanently fix this issue.

[darkfiber]

Anyone upgrade to 2.0.2 and see things fixed? I know it may be only working temporarily because 2.0.2 hasn't been up yet, but I'm curious to know if it addresses the issue at all.

I have a feeling we won't know until we run it for a week or so with no issues. Although I thought the issue was more with iTunes 7.7.1 more than the firmware. Too bad Apple is so darn secretive with their bug fix list.

[det2004]

How long should a restore take? I'm having trouble with my iPhone apps too, so I decided to do a restore. The status bar went most of the way across, but then seemed to stop, it looks like it is still sitting in the same spot, been about 5 minutes so far. iPhone screen still says sync in progress.

[Excellerator]

NOT FIXED IN 2.0.2!!!!

I just upgraded to 2.0.2 and now I am back to no 3rd party apps or Ipod media. I will have to do my little trick of removing all the apps again. I was about 5 days without a hitch until I tried that damn "upgrade" that doesn't even seem to fix a damn thing.

UPDATE: Since I just did a full backup before the upgrade I am going to try to restore and then go from the backup. Hopefully this works and keeps everything. I will keep my fingers crossed.

[0wen]

I can confirm that 2.0.2 still does not fix the 3rd Party App issues like the above poster mentions. I thought I would just sync up a new free game after I upgraded just to give it a try and it killed all my 3rd Party Apps, Videos and Music. This is really annoying since now it is fairly obvious it is a iTunes 7.7.1.11 issue unless Apple just did not bother trying to fix the problem with this upgrade but rather concentrate on locking out the Jailbrakers as it seems that this is all 2.0.2 is really good for.

With so many new Apple adopters for the 3G, this is really not making the company look too good as I know I am getting annoyed having to restore my iPhone every day to get the 3rd Party stuff to work after I sync it up.

[darkfiber]

I can confirm that 2.0.2 still does not fix the 3rd Party App issues like the above poster mentions. I thought I would just sync up a new free game after I upgraded just to give it a try and it killed all my 3rd Party Apps, Videos and Music. This is really annoying since now it is fairly obvious it is a iTunes 7.7.1.11 issue unless Apple just did not bother trying to fix the problem with this upgrade but rather concentrate on locking out the Jailbrakers as it seems that this is all 2.0.2 is really good for.

With so many new Apple adopters for the 3G, this is really not making the company look too good as I know I am getting annoyed having to restore my iPhone every day to get the 3rd Party stuff to work after I sync it up.

So your apps worked before you upgraded to 2.0.2? What version of iTunes are you running?

[det2004]

Just bought a new macbook air, and copied my iTunes library onto it. Authorized the computer and synced my iphone with it, now my apps won't work, it just goes back to the home screen after I click on the app.

[jwflutterby]

I was just fine after the 2.0.1 update and everything else then today I started having this trouble with the apps opening then closing and the iPod being empty... One thing I did change was that I added an Exchange mail server account... how many other people with this issue are using an Exchange email account?? (just a thought)

[Excellerator]

I was just fine after the 2.0.1 update and everything else then today I started having this trouble with the apps opening then closing and the iPod being empty... One thing I did change was that I added an Exchange mail server account... how many other people with this issue are using an Exchange email account?? (just a thought)

I don't have an Exchange account and I have had this problem numerous times.

[0wen]

So your apps worked before you upgraded to 2.0.2? What version of iTunes are you running?

As my earlier post stated, I am running iTunes 7.7.1.11. All my apps where working fine in 2.0.1 after my last daily restore but I had high hopes that 2.0.2 would fix the bug so I synced up a new free game and it killed everything again. So I am currently doing a clean restore which takes a while since I have a lot of Apps. I do not bother trying to use a backup as my backups would exhibit the same problems in the couple of times I tried to use them.

[jwflutterby]

I don't have an Exchange account and I have had this problem numerous times.

ok, that kinda makes me feel better... at least i know checking my work email probably didn't break my iPhone, now i just need to figure out what did & how to fix it :(

[0wen]

ok, that kinda makes me feel better... at least i know checking my work email probably didn't break my iPhone, now i just need to figure out what did & how to fix it :(

For me, about the only fix is to not sync up any Apps after I get everything back up and running again. I have never had an issue adding songs or movies, it is only syncing up Apps that seems to cause this problem. That includes using iTunes to upgrade the Apps and syncing the newly updated App.

I think I may have had this sort of problem once or twice when using the old iTunes and the original 2.0 3G firmware but just restarting the iPhone would solve the problem. Now it becomes a daily occurrence if I get brave and want to try a new App I downloaded in iTunes and just a simple phone restart does not seem to solve the problem so a nightly restore while my phone is charging has become my new routine.

[meagain]

I'm convinced the apps crashing/not opening is due to iTunes. BUT I'm not entirely convinced going back to 7.7.0 is the fixer. I feel there is something funky in our libraries or the communication thereof.

Despite reverting to 7.7.0 from 7.7.1 and doing a fairly extensive proper removal of 7.7.1 - it did not fix the issue.
Only when I took the phone to my virgin, clean history/library iTunes 7.7.0 on my Air did my phone start well. If I knew how to wipe off every spec of iTunes & it's libraries, etc. off my iMac - I would. And I bet my apps wouldn't crash anymore on it.

It's not an iPhone update I want. It's an iTunes update.

[Excellerator]

I'm convinced the apps crashing/not opening is due to iTunes. BUT I'm not entirely convinced going back to 7.7.0 is the fixer. I feel there is something funky in our libraries or the communication thereof.

Despite reverting to 7.7.0 from 7.7.1 and doing a fairly extensive proper removal of 7.7.1 - it did not fix the issue.
Only when I took the phone to my virgin, clean history/library iTunes 7.7.0 on my Air did my phone start well. If I knew how to wipe off every spec of iTunes & it's libraries, etc. off my iMac - I would. And I bet my apps wouldn't crash anymore on it.

It's not an iPhone update I want. It's an iTunes update.

Its not just Itunes though. I had my phone working fine and didn't hook up to the computer at all. A few days later I downloaded an upgrade on the phone and blam, nothing worked and the ipod was empty. So it doesn't seem to be JUST an Itunes problem. I think its more of a DRM problem.

[meagain]

Excellerator - do you know the basic mechanics behind the DRM and how it could pertain or what your theory is here? I'm totally unknowledgeable on the DRM. I want to try to understand what might be happening.

Till then, I'm not changing a thing with my phone. It works. Not upgrading to 2.0.2 either.

[Excellerator]

Excellerator - do you know the basic mechanics behind the DRM and how it could pertain or what your theory is here? I'm totally unknowledgeable on the DRM. I want to try to understand what might be happening.

Till then, I'm not changing a thing with my phone. It works. Not upgrading to 2.0.2 either.

What I "THINK" happens is that the phone's DRM gets messed up. So when you hit an app it tells the phone that you are not autherized to use it, and it shuts down. It also blocks all access to the ipod media. I could be wrong but this seems like the deal to me.

EDIT: This just got me thinking, does anyone that has a jailbroken phone have this problem? I know it can be set up to run cracked apps, so maybe that removes this problem. Anyone to verify that?

[macduke]

I just wanted to report to the group that I followed MacDuke's solution step by step.

I'm three days in and my iPhone is working really really well. As a matter of fact I'm gonna say it's like working with my original iPhone all over again. Very smooth and my contacts come up really quickly now that I am not syncing with mobile me anymore. Hmmm.

So, I say try it .... although a bit time consuming it seems I spent my time well. I do a physical sync now instead of using mobile me (until there is an update) and I don't download any apps onto the iPhone over the air ... I do everything through iTunes instead which is really not a big deal.

I'll keep you posted. If this doesn't hold I'm gonna just go get another iPhone.

Way to go MacDuke! Your hard work is appreciated.

You're very welcome!

OP Update:

Everything is still working beautifully. Even built in app store on iPhone if I leave it alone while installing. Backup took forever before installing 2.0.2. Hopefully this new firmware doesn't bring back these issues, or I'll have to go through and redo my whole method.

Wow, it got a little ugly in here while I was gone. Someone got banned? Yikes. Well, lets try to keep it on topic kids. Looks like its about back on track right now. Anyone who else who fixed theirs having trouble with 2.0.2 now?? So far I'm rock solid across the board. I even installed the "Stitcher" news radio app through iTunes since 2.0.2 and it works fine. I'm so nervous though.

This was the biggest technological headache I've had since switching to Apple products, and definitely in the top 10 all time, which is saying a lot. I used to build a lot of PCs and spent most of today fixing registry and video card problems on my grandpa's old Win2k box. Talk about a nightmare. I kinda missed 'ol 2000 though, but just a little. :D

[sternlight]

Don't get too excited though. I've done that and the problem came back after I installed 3rd-party apps again. Based on what I've gotten from apple support and genius bar, the only thing you can do is not install any 3rd-party apps on your phone (included ones that apple took money for as well). The genius guy also recommended not setting up mobile me to sync with the phone because that was one of the things they were looking at as a possible cause.

This is disgraceful. I have had to wipe my iPhone about 10 times in the past 2 weeks to get 3rd party apps to launch without quitting after the splash screen. The Genius Bar can only suggest a complete erase each time, a 2 hour process. Sooner or later the bug comes back. It was fine until I did the latest upgrade. Then apps wouldn't launch and though my music files took up space they weren't seen by the player aoo ant not recognized by itunes as music files. Another erase of the iphone and reinstall and things were ok until I started using the geocaching app. Again, after that all 3rd party apps quit on launch.

The only other thing I can think of is that I move my apps around a lot to get those I use often on the first few pages. Maybe that fouls something up in the launch process or in DRM.

There is a conspiracy of silence about this I reported it to MacFixit and they ignored my report. Yet I saw several accounts of the same problem, not only here but also on threads about the new firmware update.

Apple's screwup with the iPhone 3G is massive and not limited to me.com. Perhaps if the full story ever gets out Wall Street will penalize them. That ought to clear a few minds.

Note that I have been a steady Apple customer since the second Lisa ever sold in Los Angeles Something is now very badly amiss and needs to be fixed.

David Sternlight, Ph.D.
Los Angeles

[A4pApEr]

I was facing this problem too for the last few days... and i had been looking for a solution to fix this, but no luck.

I tried to remove one of the free app call "Remote" from my iPhone just now and after that i did a syncing once to my iPhone with iTunes.

Guess what!~ Everything back to normal and working fine again! Apps are working and my media content is showing in my iPod.app!! This is weird!! =.=

Hopefully Apple can fix this bug real soon! :(

[ewiley28]

This issue still seems a little odd to me. I hadn't had luck with the delete, reboot, redownload trick before, but it had been suggested enough times that I kept trying. I've now come to the conclusion that in some circumstances, it will work the first time the bug appears after a sync. I've never seen it work following a reoccurence of the bug without syncing in between.

[darkfiber]

This issue still seems a little odd to me. I hadn't had luck with the delete, reboot, redownload trick before, but it had been suggested enough times that I kept trying. I've now come to the conclusion that in some circumstances, it will work the first time the bug appears after a sync. I've never seen it work following a reoccurence of the bug without syncing in between.

What version of iTunes you running?

[melsailsnorth]

Darkfiber, MacDuke, etc.

Just a quick "chime in" that I'm now several days into the suggested changes
"followed the longer version" and everything continues to work flawlessly!

Nice to read the last few days, and see that you got rid of who ever was breaking topic just to try and pick a lot of fights with such a hardworking and helpful group.

At any rate, I've been too busy to explore to see if Apple has yet owned-up to this problem, but the fixes outlined above still seem to be working great, and my phone was crashing several times a day prior to this...

Thanks again!

Melsailsnorth

[darkfiber]

Darkfiber, MacDuke, etc.

Just a quick "chime in" that I'm now several days into the suggested changes
"followed the longer version" and everything continues to work flawlessly!

Nice to read the last few days, and see that you got rid of who ever was breaking topic just to try and pick a lot of fights with such a hardworking and helpful group.

At any rate, I've been too busy to explore to see if Apple has yet owned-up to this problem, but the fixes outlined above still seem to be working great, and my phone was crashing several times a day prior to this...

Thanks again!

Melsailsnorth


Not a problem. Glad to help.

Also, this article from Gizmodo confirms that downgrading to iTunes 7.7.0 may be the answer until there is a permanent fix to this issue of apps not working...

http://gizmodo.com/5039718/downgrading-to-itunes-77-fixes-iphone-app-crashes-and-steve-speaks-again

[lvt]

iTunes 7.1.1, 3G iPhone 2.0.1

A week ago i was internally gloating that I had none of the problems everyone else was experiencing and "BOOM" I got hit. I was not looking forward to doing restores, etc and came across this thread, in particular Excellerator's post #73. Fix me up fine. Though I've been running a reduced set of apps (50 instead of 65) for the past week.

Over the past few days I have gotten up enough nerve to upgrade a few apps (had to have the new Koi Pond) and all was well. When 2.0.2 came through I downloaded it, but have not installed it. Why fix what is not broken.

This morning I added the Audi race app (I drive nicely outside the cones) and put Pandora Radio back on. All is well, backups take 20 minutes if I have made several changes, but no big deal. Late this afternoon I decided to setup Pandora Radio to listen to a KT Tunstall channel on the way home (btw the Belkin TuneCast charges and fm transmits fine with the 3G). Well, everything was crunched again, including "losing" all iPod media. I didn't lose iPod media the first time.

I did the Settings > Restore All trick at work to get my iPod stuff back and working, but the 3rd party apps were all still unrecognized. Hard reset multiple times. Got home, did Darkfibers take one app off, unplug, turn off and on, replug and put app back trick and all is working again.

I think the iphone is simply "dismembering" what it has on itsownself. I won't go to 2.0.2 after Excellerator's problem above, but I don't know if I want to downgrade to iTunes 7.0. Is it really more stable?

In the meantime, when I get a good backup (after a few days of running stable) I do make a copy of it on an external drive just in case I have to do a big restore. I'm also not adding apps via the phone, and after today doubt I'll be adding updating or any new apps unless some real killer one is introduced. I will also not put Pandora radio back on. Not blaming it, but not taking the chance either. I'll just have to listen to my own KT tunes natively on my phone.

[darkfiber]

The take one app off thing only worked for a short while (as I reported). What has worked for me for about 6 days now was going back to iTunes 7.7.0 using the steps in the link in my sig below.

[macduke]

OP UPDATE - EVERYTHING WENT TO HELL!!

Alright, so I had been going along fine for quite awhile with no problems. I updated to 2.0.2 on Monday night. Wednesday night I decided to add AIM back to my iPhone. It had been missing since I reloaded all my apps. I think I accidently unchecked the sync option. I haven't been using it much since there is no push yet. Anyhow, I synced it fine using iTunes. Then I was reading somewhere about how the iPhone 2.0.2 makes the restart time go from 2 minutes down to 30 seconds. So I decided to try it. My iPhone was still plugged in and iTunes said Ok to disconnect. I restarted the iPhone while it was still plugged in (still took 2 minutes) and after it came back none of my apps would work, iPod media was gone, etc. So I'm like OH GREAT. Tried rebooting one more time for kicks and giggles to see if it would work again, and this time the Apple logo screen would never leave, even after rebooting several times and letting it go for a few hours. Still not sure yet if it was AIM or the rebooting while connected that screwed it all up.

So I head up to the Apple store and got there about 20 minutes before close. I had to wait at the Genius bar for someone to help me since I had no appointment since I couldn't call anyone. I was also at my girlfriend's house and she doesn't have internet so I couldn't lookup the DFU mode fix. So the guy restores it and I tell him all my problems and he said he hasn't really heard of all these problems we're having. He was also a manager. He was really nice and even stayed past close about 20 minutes until we figured things out. I told him everything and he basically made up a problem (he saw my screen flicker briefly when setting up voicemail) to write off so I could get a new iPhone since the one I was describing was hard to relate and reproduce at the moment. Later I should have mentioned some of the battery problems I was having as a problem.

Anyhow, my new iPhone seems much more stable. I've had it for nearly 2 days now and adding apps has been much more pleasant experience. It also reboots 40 seconds faster and I've even loaded on about 5 more apps than the last one. I think tonight I'm going to downgrade to iTunes 7.7 just in case because when I first went to sync iTunes had some error 0xE8000013, but its been fine since then. I just don't want it to screw up my new iPhone since it is running so well. I'll let you all know if I have any more problems.

Geeze, what a headache. Apple customer service, however, is still the best!

[Excellerator]

Macduke, that sounds almost like what happened to me last night. All was working fine until I decided to update the apps on my phone. I synced to Itunes, and on one of the apps (I think it was Ambience) the phone decided to reboot on its own. I just let it wait for a little while to see if it would come back up, but it just stayed at the Apple logo. I then disconnected, and tried reboot the phone multiple times. No go, just stopped at the Apple logo. So there I was, putting it into DFU mode and then doing the 6 hour restore YET AGAIN!!! Luckily I figured out choosing the backup thing in Itunes, it allowed me to backup to where I was three days ago (when I did the 2.0.2 upgrade). So I have now basically told myself, I am not adding/removing/updating any apps until 2.1 comes out........(I should make myself write that 1000 times on the blackboard!!!) :D

[darkfiber]

My iPhone is still running fine after I did the iTunes downgrade to 7.7.0 about a week ago. I had a scare today when BoxOffice (now called "Now Playing") exhibited the same behavior when I had the issue apps closing immediately after loading a week ago. However it seemed to be just an issue with BoxOffice since I deleted it and then redownloaded it from the App Store on the phone. The app is now running ok.

[hnn]

So I have had to "All Apps lost" crashes, and then I have had to restart the iPhone from factory settings (Backup is so slow, i have never bothered, and factory restart is OK, I try to have everything synced in PC applications in parallell, just because of frequent crashes). And then I thought: Maybe I should try this trick of stepping back to itunes 7.7.0.

I uninstalled 7.7.1 and then I remembered... I HAVE to use 7.7.1 because that is the only version that syncronizes my calender with Outlook. So I have to continue living dangerously with 7.7.1...

I guess the only alternative until a fix arrives is to stop buying and updating applications. But I am such an application junkie....

[BrightestBear]

OP UPDATE - EVERYTHING WENT TO HELL!!
... I told him everything and he basically made up a problem (he saw my screen flicker briefly when setting up voicemail) to write off so I could get a new iPhone since the one I was describing was hard to relate and reproduce at the moment. Later I should have mentioned some of the battery problems I was having as a problem.

Anyhow, my new iPhone seems much more stable. I've had it for nearly 2 days now and adding apps has been much more pleasant experience. It also reboots 40 seconds faster and I've even loaded on about 5 more apps than the last one. ...

Uh oh. Was redjay actually right? ;)

[redjay413]

Uh oh. Was redjay actually right? ;)

yea...apparently so...GO REDJAY...lol

[dspiers]

Like many others I had the same symptoms: no music and crashing apps.
And not for the first time. I have been using iTunes 7.7.1 and 2.0.2.

Just did not want to do a restore again, or delete everything once again. Getting sick and tired of it. Rather do other stuff with my time. Half way in my deletion process I had enough and stopped. Still 5 pages of (web) apps left.

Then a similar post in this thread gave me an idea: I bought and downloaded the (free) single of the week on my 3G iPhone. And lo en behold, suddenly I had my iTunes music back on my iPhone and also, remarkably, my apps work again.

For now I will reinstall some of my deleted apps and see what happens. But unless there is a new version coming out form iTunes or FW, I will stay far away from iTunes and will download and buy only from the iPhone.


Maybe this trick might help other frustrated users like myself.

[Excellerator]

I will stay far away from iTunes and will download and buy only from the iPhone.

Been there, done that. It didn't work any better by using the phone only. I am now at the point I am not adding/upgrading any apps until 2.1 or 7.7.2 comes out. I am only using the current apps on my phone and webapps. I was sick of restoring every couple days.

[TechJunky]

I just had this problem for the first time. I'm running 2.0.1 and don't regularly sync or backup w/ itunes. Last night I decided to put a bunch of music on it. I didn't try any apps last night but this morning (after being powered down over night), no 3rd party apps would work. Always crashed to the home screen. All ipod music was still there though. I've never had to do a restore, and was not looking forward to it.

Just to make sure other apps worked, I opened app store and noticed I had an update for snake. Well, I updated and low and behold, all apps work fine afterwards. WTF? I don't know. But I thought I would post here for those trying to get to the bottom of this. I'll post back if my problem returns (and I suspect it will :( ).

[crimsontwo]

Downgrading to 7.7.0 works like a charm. No more problems with data disappearing and/or applications not launching. There's no need to refrain from installing anything before a fix comes out -- just downgrade.

[macduke]

So this is pretty crazy.

I downgraded to iTunes 7.7 and everything. I also deleted a ton of files. I actually went into the Mobile Apps folder and went crazy deleting things. I also haven't loaded NetShare. I was using Netshare quite a bit while I was having the ALOD issues since my girlfriend doesn't have internet and I was staying with her for the week. Does everybody else here have Netshare installed??

My iPhone has never behaved better. 2.0.2. It restarts in 38 seconds now, compared to 2 minutes before, even though it has 47 apps installed. That to me is insane. Apps haven't been crashing at all. Its like the phone has more RAM now. Its so amazingly stable. So its definitely something to do with corrupted files in iTunes. I found out there were many copies of older versions of files in that Mobile Apps folder. It was pretty weird in there. Also deleted lots of files in various iTunes libraries scattered about the computer. Also did true DFU restore and disabled backup after making first backup of settings + music and videos and then adding apps. I also NEVER TOUCH A DAMN THING while syncing or backing up. I have never canceled it ever since the DFU restore and deleting all those files. I think that part is very important. I also did some other things I'm pretty sure that I forgot to mention here. I basically compiled all the fixes everywhere and applied them all at once across the board onto everything in one big massive crazy fix that I can't even begin to describe that took 6-7 hours. I should have documented everything better but oh well.

So the only other thing I haven't done is installing apps directly from the phone. For right now I don't even care. I don't even want to try it. Not while my phone is working so perfectly. That ALOD was really pissing me off. Now that college has started back up again I'm actually putting lots of useful information into my iPhone. I don't want it to break again. I'll just wait until a few days after 2.1 and iTunes 8 comes out to upgrade and then I'll backup my data and then try some things out. Until then I'm perfectly content with a happy iPhone that must be patient until the evening to download all the cool apps that I find on Pinchmedia throughout the day. I don't want to call this a true fix, but its stable as hell the way I have it rigged now. Its whole behavior has changed. And it should have, after all the freaking time I've spent researching, experimenting, and talking with Apple engineers. Dammit.

Oh crap, posting this will probably kill my iPhone somehow. Its just how these things work. I'm not too crazy superstitious though.

*submits reply reluctantly*

[Excellerator]

Ok, now I am confused!!!! I have been running on a DFU restored phone since last Thursday and I haven't synced to the computer. I haven't been on the app store on the phone. No upgrades, nothing. Now all of the sudden my apps aren't working again and my ipod media is not showing. So now I am at a loss.

Here is what I have done at different times since getting this phone:

1) I went using just the phone to do any new apps or upgrades. This didn't work had to restore.

2) I was using just the computer to do any new apps or upgrades. This didn't work had to restore.

3) Tried not doing ANY upgrades or even visiting the app store. This didn't work.

Now what is causing this?????

[darkfiber]

Just an update to say that all my Apps continue to work fine and all my music and videos still appear on the phone since I downgraded to iTunes 7.7.0 about 12 days ago using these steps...

http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=6055900&postcount=161

I have synced to iTunes 7.7.0 numerous times and I have download apps via the App Store on the iPhone itself with no issues.

How long has this issue been happening and Apple STILL has not released a fix for it??

[Scott437]

I've had this happen twice now. Each time it wiped out my music 6+GB and all my apps. When I checked under my general tab the music files were obviously still there, but the phone would not recognize them. To resolve the issue I unchecked sync all music and apps (removed all from the iphone) and the rechecked and reloaded them all back on, nice way to spend 4 hours.... I have to say my last phone was a windows mobile device and never had problems like this.

[cyclingplatypus]

Then a similar post in this thread gave me an idea: I bought and downloaded the (free) single of the week on my 3G iPhone. And lo en behold, suddenly I had my iTunes music back on my iPhone and also, remarkably, my apps work again.


Great tip and it worked for me on iPhone Classic, thanks.

[TechJunky]

I just had this problem for the first time. I'm running 2.0.1 and don't regularly sync or backup w/ itunes. Last night I decided to put a bunch of music on it. I didn't try any apps last night but this morning (after being powered down over night), no 3rd party apps would work. Always crashed to the home screen. All ipod music was still there though. I've never had to do a restore, and was not looking forward to it.

Just to make sure other apps worked, I opened app store and noticed I had an update for snake. Well, I updated and low and behold, all apps work fine afterwards. WTF? I don't know. But I thought I would post here for those trying to get to the bottom of this. I'll post back if my problem returns (and I suspect it will :( ).


Well, I was right. It happened again today. All 3rd party apps crash to the home screen. Apple apps worked fine. I forgot to check my ipod music. A reboot didn't help. So, this time I went to the app store and didn't have any updates. So I deleted a free app (mobile AP news) and downloaded it again from the app store (via the iphone). All apps work fine now. It seems, at least in my case, that any download from the app store, whether an update or another app, restores function of all 3rd party apps.

[steamed.hams]

Like many others I had the same symptoms: no music and crashing apps.

Happened to me today, just as a number of people at work wanted me to show off all the cool features and apps. What a bummer.

[lvt]

OK, I was just starting to close things up, leave work & go home and my phone resets itself. i didn't even touch it. Blanks out and the apple logo pops up. Now apps are dead again! This happened last Thursday. Could Apple be sending out some "phone home" signal on a weekly basis that is screwing us all up?

Dark Fiber - I'm ready to go down to 7.7 with you!

Am home. Tried a simple remove one, no luck. Tried add a song, no luck. Ended up doing the Reset everything via the phone, then erased one app and all is back. But now I have to re-order all my apps again. What a pain in the patootie. I'm an apple supporter from way back but I am really getting tired of this crap. if I didn't love what the iPhone can do when it works, I'd go throw it at the first person i saw at the apple store.

Going it get it stabilized and then try the downgrade ......

[nagromme]

I know a patch is coming, but FWIW I have an odd circumstance:

I finally got an iPhone (and it's awesome when it works) but the no-3rd-party-apps thing has happened to me twice. The first time I had to delete all apps--from the PHONE, not using the nice iTunes checklist--and the resync them. No need to re-download. I did have to delete ALL apps. I couldn't just delete one and re-sync and get it working. Only deleting ALL apps would work. (And there went all my prefs, accounts, and other personal data associated with those apps.)

Now it's happened again, and the above process takes me forever so I am just doing without 3rd-party apps for a while.

But both times, it seemed to happen shortly after a "No SIM Card Installed" message on the phone. The first time I thought--must have jiggled loose, I'll eject and re-seat it. And that fixed the SIM message.

But now the same message (requiring another ejection of the SIM) occurred a day later, followed by all 3rd party apps crashing.

Probably coincidence--I probably have a dud SIM on top of the known app bug. But I thought I'd mention it.

(I also once had just SOME apps fail to launch. A simple power-down of the phone fixed that.)

I'd say for now, just avoid 3rd-party apps! Wait for the patch and surf Safari. I love some of these apps (and paid for them) but I don't have the time to fix them every day.

[Excellerator]

I'd say for now, just avoid 3rd-party apps! Wait for the patch and surf Safari. I love some of these apps (and paid for them) but I don't have the time to fix them every day.

That is what I am doing myself at the moment. I can't seem to keep them working for more than a few days so I said forget it. I hope 2.1 fixes this mess. I can put up with lags, apps crashings, etc, but not having all the apps and ipod media dieing all the time.

[lvt]

Excellerator did you downgrade iTunes? I still haven't tried it yet (sorry Darkfiber).

Went to the Somerset (MI) Apple store to get a power support air jacket and talked to an apple employee before I entered the mall. He commented on my KT Tunstall t-shirt so I brought out my phone to show him her autograph on it and a pic I took at a recent concert (want to protect it with the air jacket). My phone crapped out - wouldn't log in my pass code, and I had to reset it. Checked an app when I hit the store and voila - gone again along with my tunes. Right in the ****** apple store.

The couple of employees said to "just restore it, will take only 20 minutes!" I told them I'd try "our" way again as just putting my music and movies back on would take longer than 20 minutes.

I know what's on it, iTunes sees what's on it - as i said before, the phone just dismembers what is on itsownself!

[Excellerator]

Excellerator did you downgrade iTunes? I still haven't tried it yet (sorry Darkfiber).

Went to the Somerset (MI) Apple store to get a power support air jacket and talked to an apple employee before I entered the mall. He commented on my KT Tunstall t-shirt so I brought out my phone to show him her autograph on it and a pic I took at a recent concert (want to protect it with the air jacket). My phone crapped out - wouldn't log in my pass code, and I had to reset it. Checked an app when I hit the store and voila - gone again along with my tunes. Right in the ****** apple store.

The couple of employees said to "just restore it, will take only 20 minutes!" I told them I'd try "our" way again as just putting my music and movies back on would take longer than 20 minutes.

I know what's on it, iTunes sees what's on it - as i said before, the phone just dismembers what is on itsownself!

I haven't yet because I really didn't want to loose my Itunes library I built up. I wasn't sure if I would have to start all over or not. Anyone know? I am a Windows user. If so, I will just wait unti 7.7.2 or 8.0 comes out.

[lvt]

I haven't yet because I really didn't want to loose my Itunes library I built up. I wasn't sure if I would have to start all over or not. Anyone know? I am a Windows user. If so, I will just wait unti 7.7.2 or 8.0 comes out.

That's what keeps me from doing it too. But I'm a mac. Taking one song off brought back iPod functions. Taking off apps didn't help and I took off a bunch. Putting an upgraded one back on solved it. So I am running fewer apps (ok 25 is still fewer) and I took pix of my app pages so just in case I have to re-do them all (or any of them) again I will know what app goes on what page.

And KT's sig looks great under the Air Jacket. I'll have to dremel out my bluetooth dock a bit more now. Till then I have an old dock from the first color iPod (photoPod?) that fits for charging. I have a lego dock I made and plain cable for my syncing duties.

I do hope a new version of iTunes and 2.1 come out soon. Kevin Rose be right ....

[nagromme]

I don't want to mess with downgrading and have support files be weird in unknown ways for the future. Might be fine, but I'm not risking it.

So my new policy (after a factory Restore brought my apps back) is simply not to connect my iPhone to a computer at all! That won't kill me for a week or two while awaiting a patch. After all, I didn't have ANY iPhone last week, so having one with old calendar info isn't going to be any worse than that!

I also won't use the iPhone's own App Store, nor its music store. I don't want my library or DRM to be touched at all.

We'll see what happens!

[Excellerator]

I don't want to mess with downgrading and have support files be weird in unknown ways for the future. Might be fine, but I'm not risking it.

So my new policy (after a factory Restore brought my apps back) is simply not to connect my iPhone to a computer at all! That won't kill me for a week or two while awaiting a patch. After all, I didn't have ANY iPhone last week, so having one with old calendar info isn't going to be any worse than that!

I also won't use the iPhone's own App Store, nor its music store. I don't want my library or DRM to be touched at all.

We'll see what happens!

I tried that once too (no Itunes/no Appstore), worked for almost a week and then all of the sudden the same thing. So I am not sure what the heck is going on.

[lvt]

The last two times my phone has crapped out it had nothing to do with being connected to a computer. Once it just did it out of the blue, reset all by itself. Yesterday it locked up by not accepting my pass code number - right in front of one of the Apple Store teachers! Had to hard reset and all was "lost" after that.

Something is giving our iPhones Alzheimer's! The information is still in the brain, but the connection to get to the information gets disrupted. For me it has been fairly easy to get the connection back so it must be early-stage Alzheimer's.

[Excellerator]

Something is giving our iPhones Alzheimer's!

:D:D:D What a great way of putting it. :D:D:D

[darkfiber]

I don't want to mess with downgrading and have support files be weird in unknown ways for the future. Might be fine, but I'm not risking it.



On my Windows XP machine, downgrading just involved first uninstalling iTunes 7.7.1, rebooting, then installing iTunes 7.7.0.

Following these steps...

http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=6055900&postcount=161

All my 3rd party apps and my music and videos have been working fine for over 2 weeks now.

On occasion an app won't work, but power cycling the phone always fixes that issue.

[Excellerator]

On my Windows XP machine, downgrading just involved first uninstalling iTunes 7.7.1, rebooting, then installing iTunes 7.7.0.

Following these steps...

Thanks for clearing that up on the library. I will do this tonight then.....

[0wen]

I have had some good results with just deauthorizing and reauthorizing my PC in iTunes under the Store options. I have been able to upgrade my apps during the last few syncs and everything is still there as far as my songs and movies. I am using the 2.0.2 firmware and the latest version of iTunes but you may want to give this a try as I used to have to restore my iPhone from a new state after every app update sync would kill my 3rd party apps.

[Excellerator]

On my Windows XP machine, downgrading just involved first uninstalling iTunes 7.7.1, rebooting, then installing iTunes 7.7.0.


Back to 7.7.0 now, I will keep you posted.......

[dspiers]

it was good as long as it lasted. And that was a week.
Last time I got my apps working again by deleting and then downloading a song. I vowed to stay away from iTunes till there would be new SW out. So no more syncing via a cable for me.

Even-though I stayed away from iTunes, the problem came back suddenly: From one moment to the other: no more media (songs and video) and the apps are crashing again.

Also for some reason I can't download songs anymore directly from the appstore.

To say I am peeved off is an understatement. Also I can't be bothered to spend even more time on this to get it going. Just very very disappointed at Apple to turn a productivity tool into a huge time sinkhole.

Very disappointed.

[crimsontwo]

it was good as long as it lasted. And that was a week.
Last time I got my apps working again by deleting and then downloading a song. I vowed to stay away from iTunes till there would be new SW out. So no more syncing via a cable for me.

Even-though I stayed away from iTunes, the problem came back suddenly: From one moment to the other: no more media (songs and video) and the apps are crashing again.

Also for some reason I can't download songs anymore directly from the appstore.

To say I am peeved off is an understatement. Also I can't be bothered to spend even more time on this to get it going. Just very very disappointed at Apple to turn a productivity tool into a huge time sinkhole.

Very disappointed.

Why are we still discussing this? Downgrading to iTunes 7.0 and then (preferably) restoring your iPhone helped everyone and no one had problems after that.

Just follow the advice and you'll forget about your "huge time sinkhole".

[warburg]

it was good as long as it lasted. And that was a week.
Last time I got my apps working again by deleting and then downloading a song. I vowed to stay away from iTunes till there would be new SW out. So no more syncing via a cable for me.

Even-though I stayed away from iTunes, the problem came back suddenly: From one moment to the other: no more media (songs and video) and the apps are crashing again.

Also for some reason I can't download songs anymore directly from the appstore.

To say I am peeved off is an understatement. Also I can't be bothered to spend even more time on this to get it going. Just very very disappointed at Apple to turn a productivity tool into a huge time sinkhole.

Very disappointed.

Curiously, some of us are not having any of these problems. Is this happening only to the 3G phones? I have the 16gb model that came out in January, and thus far everything works smoothly, 50 apps and all.:)

[nagromme]

Why are we still discussing this? Downgrading to iTunes 7.0 and then (preferably) restoring your iPhone helped everyone and no one had problems after that.

Just follow the advice and you'll forget about your "huge time sinkhole".

Three reasons it's still worth discussing:

1. Because other tests and experiences may reveal OTHER solutions, or other things to eliminate, or maybe even hints as to the cause.

2. If (like me) you don't find an unofficial downgrade to be a trusted method with sufficient certainty of no future side-effects. A personal judgement call--I won't try to talk anyone out of it, but so far I'm fine without taking that step, and my fingers are crossed for a patch soon.

3. A restore won't work if your backup is corrupt. In my case, the problem included a corrupt backup, so I lost all my data. (Which luckily amounted to nothing but my voicemail password and 12 levels of progress in Enigmo!)

Curiously, some of us are not having any of these problems. Is this happening only to the 3G phones? I have the 16gb model that came out in January, and thus far everything works smoothly, 50 apps and all.:)

I don't think it's just 3G, but it's true that not everyone is affected.

I'd heard of the issue, so when it happened to me, I immediately had the irrational (and typical) idea that "it must happen to nearly everyone." And threads like this reveal many more in the same boat.

But I think we must be in the minority, or this thread would be getting 200 posts a day.

My guess: whatever causes it, once it happens, some data has changed (possibly within iTunes and then transferred to the phone as well) that you can't really fix (though a downgrade of iTunes may dodge the issue and ignore that data).

So some combination of actions/circumstances triggers this evil data change (whatever it is) and people who didn't experience the triggering actions/circumstances don't have the problem. Those who do are left floundering like us :p

[0wen]

It has been over a week now and the method I posted above about just deauthorizing and reauthorizing my iTunes is still working fine without any of the 3rd Party Apps crashing like I used to have. I am using the 2.0.2 firmware and the latest version of iTunes and basically have all 9 pages of App space full on my iPhone. It is a real easy process to do so you may want to give it a try and hopefully you guys will have similar success like I have been having.

[nagromme]

Thanks, 0wen. That is easy! I'll do it now preventively. It can't hurt, and maybe even after a patch comes it will help.

I think I'll do it now, in case I forget and plug my phone into my Mac. And I'll do it AFTER iTunes is patched (or becomes 8.0!) as well. THEN I will reattach my phone :)

[sternlight]

Why are we still discussing this? Downgrading to iTunes 7.0 and then (preferably) restoring your iPhone helped everyone and no one had problems after that.

Just follow the advice and you'll forget about your "huge time sinkhole".

We are still disvusing this because:

1. I and others had the problem BEFORE upgrading itunes.
2. No one (here) has yet explained for sure why the bug occurs. There has been lots of speculation, mostly pointing to Apple's DRM, but no hard evidence. Until we know the cause, we can't be sure any particular cure will work.
3. I was the poster of the "cut down your number of pages" solution. That workaround stopped working for me last week. In fact most "solutions" offered thus far have proven temporary; the bug always comes back. Maybe the sandbox isn't as bulletproof as we thought to bugs in third party apps that can mess up either the system or the DRM coding.

The only suggestion I've not tried thus far is the "deauthorize and reauthorize" one. Perhaps I'll try it. It is, however, getting close to next Tuesday when the rumor mill claims Apple will fix it.

I find it very curious that, given the widespread nature of this problem and its seriousness, that Apple has thus far not explained what is happening, nor even promised a solution. All we have is a vague claim by someone to have gotten a reply from Jobs implying that this might be fixed, but without enough context to identify whether he was talking about the crash on launch bug, which existed before the last upgrade, or a different bug which causes all itunes library listings (but not the actual files) to disappear from one's iphone, which started with the latest upgrade. We don't even know if the problem is in the iPhone firmware or in iTunes and/or Apple's back office supporting it.

David Sternlight

[nagromme]

Just lost all my apps (right after accidentally tapping to the app store... coincidence probably).

And turning the phone off and back on fixed 'em :)

[crimsontwo]

We are still disvusing this because:

I and others had the problem BEFORE upgrading itunes.



From the numerous forums that I read, the problem happens to those using the latest firmware (2.0.*) and iTunes 7.7.1


2. No one (here) has yet explained for sure why the bug occurs. There has been lots of speculation, mostly pointing to Apple's DRM, but no hard evidence. Until we know the cause, we can't be sure any particular cure will work.


We most likely will never learnthe cause. DRM is a pretty good and valid explanation at this point in time. iTunes 7.7.1 is the culprit.


The only suggestion I've not tried thus far is the "deauthorize and reauthorize" one. Perhaps I'll try it. It is, however, getting close to next Tuesday when the rumor mill claims Apple will fix it.


I can tell you right away that deauthorizing/authorizing WILL NOT help you in the long run. The problem WILL come back.

Read this: http://www.shokk.com/blog/articles/2008/08/13/dealing-with-the-iphone-3g-and-itunes-771-disappearing-media-bug/

Removing an app and reinstalling it helped me and others. Temporarily though.

I install/remove about 10 applications a day, both from my phone and iTunes. Until I downgraded to 7.0, the problem would always come back!


I find it very curious that, given the widespread nature of this problem and its seriousness, that Apple has thus far not explained what is happening, nor even promised a solution. All we have is a vague claim by someone to have gotten a reply from Jobs implying that this might be fixed, but without enough context to identify whether he was talking about the crash on launch bug, which existed before the last upgrade, or a different bug which causes all itunes library listings (but not the actual files) to disappear from one's iphone, which started with the latest upgrade. We don't even know if the problem is in the iPhone firmware or in iTunes and/or Apple's back office supporting it.


:) Do you seriously believe Apple will provide a detailed explanation of the problem? Besides, Jobs' reply was regarding the crashing of applications, not "failing to launch at all" and media disappearing.

[crimsontwo]

Three reasons it's still worth discussing:

1. Because other tests and experiences may reveal OTHER solutions, or other things to eliminate, or maybe even hints as to the cause.


Sorry, but no OTHER solutions will be revealed. Either upgrade to the next iTunes version or downgrade to 7.7.0


2. If (like me) you don't find an unofficial downgrade to be a trusted method with sufficient certainty of no future side-effects. A personal judgement call--I won't try to talk anyone out of it, but so far I'm fine without taking that step, and my fingers are crossed for a patch soon.


Sure, keep your fingers crossed and pray to God. What a wonderful solution :) Mind you, the problem has NOT come back to those who downgraded.


3. A restore won't work if your backup is corrupt. In my case, the problem included a corrupt backup, so I lost all my data. (Which luckily amounted to nothing but my voicemail password and 12 levels of progress in Enigmo!)


I meant the restore to a clean state, not the restore from a backup.

By the way, restoring from a backup DOES work since iTunes re-installs program one-by-one. It's not the backup that's corrupt, it's the way DRM are applied by iTunes.


But I think we must be in the minority, or this thread would be getting 200 posts a day.


Search the web. We are not in the minority. Many folks just don't debate to no end and would rather try a viable solutions instead of keeping their "fingers crossed" and refraining from touching their phones before an "official solution" is found ;)

I will not reply to this thread anymore, everything was already said.

[iFerd]

Besides, Jobs' reply was regarding the crashing of applications, not "failing to launch at all" and media disappearing.Actually, I thought that message attributed to him did refer applications "failing to launch at all." They do begin to load, but then I am dropped immediately back to the home screen. The screen does change to the beginning of what the application start screen would look like if it continued to run. So the programs actually are crashing, not just failing to begin at all. Maybe my experience is different from others' in this regard. But I read a post someplace from a developer who has some kind of trace mode running on the phone who said that the logs show the applications are actually crashing.

As to the disappearing media, I'm betting that is just another manifestation of the same DRM problem. I have no DRM protected media files on my iPhone, and they have always worked. I know someone else who has a mixture of iTunes-purchased videos, which do have DRM, and music that doesn't have DRM. When that person has this problem, the DRM-protected videos won't run, but the music still does.

No matter the solution, this issue has taken lots of time from lots of people, and it really needs a fix from Apple!

I agree, by the way, that we are probably never going to be told what the root problem actually is. We'll get another firmware update one of these days with release notes that say only, "Bug fixes."

[crimsontwo]

Actually, I thought that message attributed to him did refer applications "failing to launch at all." They do begin to load, but then I am dropped immediately back to the home screen. The screen does change to the beginning of what the application start screen would look like if it continued to run. So the programs actually are crashing, not just failing to begin at all. Maybe my experience is different from others' in this regard. But I read a post someplace from a developer who has some kind of trace mode running on the phone who said that the logs show the applications are actually crashing.

As to the disappearing media, I'm betting that is just another manifestation of the same DRM problem. I have no DRM protected media files on my iPhone, and they have always worked. I know someone else who has a mixture of iTunes-purchased videos, which do have DRM, and music that doesn't have DRM. When that person has this problem, the DRM-protected videos won't run, but the music still does.

No matter the solution, this issue has taken lots of time from lots of people, and it really needs a fix from Apple!

I agree, by the way, that we are probably never going to be told what the root problem actually is. We'll get another firmware update one of these days with release notes that say only, "Bug fixes."

When applications didn't launch, my media would disappear as well. No DRM files. Uninstalling a free app and re-downloading it from iTunes would help, but temporarily. After another installation of something or even a crash of an application, the problem would resurface. So basically applications failing to launch and media being invisible both came in one package.

http://db.tidbits.com/article/9743 < the person who e-mailed SJ apparently had the problem after updating to iTunes 7.7.1 :) No surprise at all.

[nagromme]

Search the web. We are not in the minority. Many folks just don't debate to no end and would rather try a viable solutions instead of keeping their "fingers crossed" and refraining from touching their phones before an "official solution" is found ;)

I will not reply to this thread anymore, everything was already said.

We're all trying to understand and solve the problem. Being nasty to each other serves no purpose, and telling people to stop discussing things beyond the most common solution is not helpful either.. All OTHER discussion, however, I welcome and encourage :) If you don't want to hear about anything but the solution you've found--which I'm sure is a fine option for those who accept it--then this thread won't serve you anymore. But there's no need to complain when other people choose to discuss things that don't interest you.

(Searching the Web cannot prove that these problems affect a majority, by the way. Who bothers to post "I have no problems"? Few would bother.)

[rokr85847]

non of my apps except the ones that came with the phone will work

[peterjh178]

the downgrade to 7.7.0.43 works to restore the ipod and stop apps from crashing, however I've now lost my wi-fi? has anyone else noticed this?

[Excellerator]

the downgrade to 7.7.0.43 works to restore the ipod and stop apps from crashing, however I've now lost my wi-fi? has anyone else noticed this?

I haven't had any Wifi problems after downgrading to 7.7.0. Try turning the iPhone off and back on. If that doesn't work, turn your router off and back on. One of those should do the trick.

[iFerd]

the downgrade to 7.7.0.43 works to restore the ipod and stop apps from crashing, however I've now lost my wi-fi? has anyone else noticed this?I downgraded iTunes to 7.7 this morning, and I have had no troubles with Wi-Fi.

I am hoping my crashing apps are now fixed for good, but I don't consider one day enough time to be sure. I have been challenging it with new apps just to see how it holds up - so far, so good.

If there is new firmware on Tuesday, I also hope that it will mark the end to these silly and time-consuming work-arounds!

[sternlight]

Steve Jobs takes the stage:

"Apple has identified a fundamental flaw in the Digital Rights Management approach, which causes applications to crash after launching to their splash screens. As a consequence Apple will lo longer support DRM; it has been removed from the new versions of iTunes and the iPhone/iPod firmware."

You wish.

[nagromme]

I'm happy with the do-not-connect-to-computer method. It hasn't worked for some, but it's extremely easy and has kept my apps running :)

And when iTunes 8 comes along, I won't heave to fear that manually downgrading will have had unknown side effects on the 8 updater. My plists and library database will be clean and standard.

[iFerd]

Yesterday morning, after having been the victim of the all-third-party-apps-crash bug for something like the sixth time, in despair and desperation I downgraded iTunes to version 7.7 using the directions in this (http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=6055900&postcount=161) post by darkfiber in this thread. Note that this is a simpler procedure than some have recommended; it does not require restoring from DFU or cleaning out a bunch of supporting iTunes stuff from the hard disk. The downgraded iTunes just comes up with all apps and media intact and in the right places. Since doing this I have downloaded and installed apps at will, both directly to the phone and to iTunes. I have synced the iPhone to iTunes repeatedly. I wanted to give it every chance to return to its bad behavior.

It has been working flawlessly, under conditions that predictably led to crashing in the past. I realize 36 hours of trouble-free service isn't all that long, but given how cavalier I have been about downloading and syncing apps since I did it, I must say I'm beginning to feel pretty good about it. :cool:

If the rumors are correct, we'll have new firmware on Tuesday and we won't any longer be constructing long threads about such frustrating misbehavior.

[darkfiber]

the downgrade to 7.7.0.43 works to restore the ipod and stop apps from crashing, however I've now lost my wi-fi? has anyone else noticed this?

Nope that didn't happen to me. I have used Wi-Fi frequently since I did the downgrade back on August 16th. I would hang tight for another day until iTunes 8.0 and firmware 2.1 comes out and see if that fixes it.


Yesterday morning, after having been the victim of the all-third-party-apps-crash bug for something like the sixth time, in despair and desperation I downgraded iTunes to version 7.7 using the directions in this (http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=6055900&postcount=161) post by darkfiber in this thread. Note that this is a simpler procedure than some have recommended; it does not require restoring from DFU or cleaning out a bunch of supporting iTunes stuff from the hard disk. The downgraded iTunes just comes up with all apps and media intact and in the right places. Since doing this I have downloaded and installed apps at will, both directly to the phone and to iTunes. I have synced the iPhone to iTunes repeatedly. I wanted to give it every chance to return to its bad behavior.

It has been working flawlessly, under conditions that predictably led to crashing in the past. I realize 36 hours of trouble-free service isn't all that long, but given how cavalier I have been about downloading and syncing apps since I did it, I must say I'm beginning to feel pretty good about it. :cool:

If the rumors are correct, we'll have new firmware on Tuesday and we won't any longer be constructing long threads about such frustrating misbehavior.

For the record my phone is still is running fine since August 16th without the "all apps crashing and disappearing iPod music/videos" behavior I had since I did those steps I posted. So I am sure yours would have kept on running fine. The only issues I have with apps is the occasional app that won't run but powering the phone completely off and then on again fixes that issue.

I certainly do hope iTunes 8.0 and firmware 2.1 fixes those issues and others or there will be hell to pay.