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Greenone

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 19, 2005
405
0
Help me Obi Wan Macrumors...you're my only hope!!! Truly!

I'm sorry this is so long... if you want to skip past my back story, go down to the bold font.

I'm dying here, and even though it's my own fault, I can't help but feel really upset with Apple. I'm really worried - please advise (true advice - don't just say how stupid I am please...I know this forum can be pretty mean at times)!

Back story: I never had so many problems with my old 4S and its software and just...the way things used to be. Since updating my Macbook Pro software to the latest version and same with the new phone, I somehow now have lots and lots of duplicates of photos and videos. Because of this, my laptop became maxed to its limit - no more room for most anything else, and even my iPhone with 64gb keeps telling me I'm close to filled up.

iCloud is still pretty new to me and I haven't loved it because I haven't made the time to understand it. Because of my ignorance it's been a serious PITA. E.g. constantly asking for passwords to enable or use it even if I'm not trying to use it... it's like getting phonecalls at dinner time (okay that was a weird analogy). And plus I was worried it was sending photos to my laptop that was too close to full (again: ignorance) so I monkeyed with it till it was disabled. Unfortunately because of yet more ignorance, I was afraid that if I made more room to allow backup - by moving everything or some to my external HD, and then tried moving some of it back later - it might not look right coming back, not being an Apple ext. HD. I wanted to get help at my local Mac store in doing this but life got in the way. HUGE mistake, since my last synching/backing up was in mid-October!

SO the other night I was drinking wine while watching a movie with the fam (big lesson learned here) and my 8 year-old phone thief kept trying to sneak away my phone (he keeps sneaking up behind me and watching me type in passcodes so I keep having to change them). So yet again, I right then and there put in a new passcode. The next day, I thought I remembered it (I've always memorized by visual pattern, not significant numbers) but I was wrong. Several tries later... When all was said and done, I found myself where I am now. Where is that? It's here:

I have ONE last shot. If I don't get it right, all my photos et al will be lost forever. Halloween, my b-day, my best friends' b-days, my parents' b-days, my 95 year-old grandmother's bday and her talking on video and all of us being there and she's not expected to live much longer, Christmas, and all the important pics and videos of my kids. :( I had the fingerprint thing going on but that doesn't matter (thanks apple). I lock my phone every time I set it down so as not to butt-dial people but because I lock it, my fingerprints mean nothing. Stupid ***** passcode required, once again. And then again, nothing's been stored in iCloud. Did I activate the setting that makes the phone wipe clean should too many attempts be made? NO. But it's what Apple does by default, after X amount of tries. Again, thanks a lot Apple. As I'm sure many of you know, Apple doesn't wipe out all my valuable data per se, but they make it so that the ONLY option after too many failed passcode attempts is to restore the phone which is the same thing. You lose everything after your last backup. And needless to say, you can't back them up when you don't know your passcode, so it's too late to backup.

I feel like Apple should be giving a MAJOR warning to ALL customers when they first get their phones (not all of us are as tech savvy as most of you here) about what can go wrong and to what extent, if you should happen to forget your passcode and not back up regularly. I feel misled by having been fully aware of the option to set the phone to wipe clean if X amount of failed password attempts BUT KNOWING ABOUT THAT OPTION, I knew not to do that to myself for exactly this reason. It wasn't made obvious to me that it'll happen ANYWAY! I didn't expect to have so many problems with iCloud or duplicate photos filling up my devices!! Instead I was super careful not to lose or damage the phone, believing that was the only thing that could go wrong (how I'd potentially lose my valuable photos). I simply didn't know this is how Apple does things re. the passcode, the other night, when I was typing in possible codes to get into my phone. If I'd known, I would have taken it all much more seriously, gone slower and wrote each possible one down, noting which ones I've already tried, etc. If I'd known I could lose everything by forgetting my own password, I would NEVER have put in a new one without writing it down. And no, I have no clue what i haven't tried - what it might be.

I've gone as high up as I can go at Apple without hiding in the cars of their engineers and pouncing on them. I get their need to protect their customers but if their customers can prove we're who we say we are, down to tiny details about our lives, we should be able to get past this nonsense. This is awful. I feel like my only choice is to just stop using the phone and get a new phone (!) cause I can't be the one to pull the plug on these photos! DAMMMMIT! Maybe in 5 years they will have pulled their heads out of their arses and come up with a way to bypass the passcode thing, for their customers' sakes!!! And then I won't have given in and given up all those valuable photos - especially my grandma. :(

I KNOW it's my fault, and I'm an idiot. But does anyone have any idea what I can do? There's third party software...even the Apple rep. suggested I try that at this point (he also said to try plugging phone into a PC but that didn't work)... but from what I've read, Apple's gotten so tight on security that even third party software can't break in now. Can I just put aside my phone and get a new one, without disabling my old one? I'm sick about this. This feels really really wrong. It's one thing if something accidentally crashes or if a phone gets lost or damaged but this feels really ****** and for the first time ever makes me feel seriously ambivalent about Apple.

Thank you for reading all that...
 

Jstuts5797

macrumors 6502a
Dec 15, 2013
566
153
First of all I'm confused as to which lock you are referring to... The icloud activation lock, or the phone lock? If it's the phone lock - if you have it set to use your finger print that should still work up until too many failed finger print tries. Then it makes you put in the password. If you are the person who's finger print is registered in said phone then there is no reason to get your phone to that point. If you have the fingerprint scanner turned off (which is the ONLY WAY to make it REQUIRE the password only after locking the phone) then you will need your password. However if you set it to not wipe all data as you have said then it won't wipe the data. It will instead make you wait so long before you can try again. The only reason it would wipe the data ever is if you have that option on but you say that it's not so I confused. You also say that you have the fingerprint recognition turned on but that you somehow locked the device so that it requires the passcode. The only time it requires the pass code is if your fingerprint recognition option is off OR if you have reset the phone... So I'm confused there too....which is it? It ALMOST sounds like you have a stolen phone and the real owner has activated the wipe all settings or data feature from find my iPhone so that whoever had acquired the phone is required to know the password or the phone will be wiped. Something in your story does not add up at all. Can you explain better so we can try to help?

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I just re read your post again and you mention you have the finger print recognition option on... But you lock the phone (I'm assuming by pressing the sleep button) to prevent butt dialing. This action of pressing the sleep button to prevent butt dialing DOES NOT MAKE YOUR PHONE REQUIRE THE PASSCODE WHEN WAKING UP OF YOUR TOUCH ID IS TURNED ON! So something for sure doesn't jive there.

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Also ... NO BY DEFAULT THE WIPE AFTER 10 FAILED ATTEMPTS IS NOT TURNED ON! You either turned it on yourself or it's not on. If it's not on, it's not gonna wipe your phone, only make you wait awhile until you try again.
 

Greenone

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 19, 2005
405
0
You never mention that u enabled the setting to erase the iPhone after 10 passcode attempts. Did you?

Yes I did mention that I most definitely did not enable it to erase after 10 passcode attempts. I would never, ever do that. I remember making a point never to even accidentally do that!
 

jbachandouris

macrumors 603
Aug 18, 2009
5,775
2,900
Upstate NY
Just read your response.

Since you said it's not set to wipe after 10 tries, you don't have to worry about losing your pictures. I'm not really sure how long it will make you wait after you try again if you guess wrong.

Good luck and keep us posted.
 

Nermal

Moderator
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
20,595
3,935
New Zealand
Have you ever synched with iTunes? If so, then connect it to the same computer and it should allow you to unlock the phone (from what I've heard; I've never actually tried it myself).
 

Greenone

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 19, 2005
405
0
Hi - I appreciate your inquiries. Ok let me be clear:

- The phone is mine, mine, and all mine. Bought new, one of the first to get the iPhone 6+, and bought from Apple during the calling in frenzy when we all stayed up half the night to do so.
- Well hell I don't know what it's called - I think the Apple rep kept calling it passcode which I'm pretty sure is what it's called. It's the 4-digit # you put in when you first turn your phone on.
- I never did nor ever would set the phone to erase after ANY number of failed attempts, because I have squirrely kids who might try 20 attempts to get in, lol. The Apple rep said as much, though it comes down to semantics. He said that even if you haven't set the phone to erase after so many attempts, it will still end up being erased but they don't call it that. They call it this: it will need to be reset in order to be used again. But you will lose everything if you reset it (if you haven't backed it up). This is just how Apple does it. And why I'm so friggin' pissed and feel mislead.
- My touch I.D. is on and has been for a long time. I haven't turned it off. From my understanding, if you lock your phone, it will indeed require the passcode, not the touch i.d. At least that seems to have been the case with me. Ok I *could* be wrong about that. It may be that it would ask for my passcode when in fact I could have put a fingerprint on it and that may have worked (?). But when it said to put in the passcode I simply would - it didn't occur to me to try to put in my fingerprint. Either way I know it won't let me now - that was one of the first things I tried.

First of all I'm confused as to which lock you are referring to... The icloud activation lock, or the phone lock? If it's the phone lock - if you have it set to use your finger print that should still work up until too many failed finger print tries. Then it makes you put in the password. If you are the person who's finger print is registered in said phone then there is no reason to get your phone to that point. If you have the fingerprint scanner turned off (which is the ONLY WAY to make it REQUIRE the password only after locking the phone) then you will need your password. However if you set it to not wipe all data as you have said then it won't wipe the data. It will instead make you wait so long before you can try again. The only reason it would wipe the data ever is if you have that option on but you say that it's not so I confused. You also say that you have the fingerprint recognition turned on but that you somehow locked the device so that it requires the passcode. The only time it requires the pass code is if your fingerprint recognition option is off OR if you have reset the phone... So I'm confused there too....which is it? It ALMOST sounds like you have a stolen phone and the real owner has activated the wipe all settings or data feature from find my iPhone so that whoever had acquired the phone is required to know the password or the phone will be wiped. Something in your story does not add up at all. Can you explain better so we can try to help?

----------

I just re read your post again and you mention you have the finger print recognition option on... But you lock the phone (I'm assuming by pressing the sleep button) to prevent butt dialing. This action of pressing the sleep button to prevent butt dialing DOES NOT MAKE YOUR PHONE REQUIRE THE PASSCODE WHEN WAKING UP OF YOUR TOUCH ID IS TURNED ON! So something for sure doesn't jive there.

----------

Also ... NO BY DEFAULT THE WIPE AFTER 10 FAILED ATTEMPTS IS NOT TURNED ON! You either turned it on yourself or it's not on. If it's not on, it's not gonna wipe your phone, only make you wait awhile until you try again.
 

jbachandouris

macrumors 603
Aug 18, 2009
5,775
2,900
Upstate NY
I tried not posting it, but it really bothers me that you said Apple should give users a major warning. It is 2015. If you don't know enough to back up important pictures and videos, it's not Apple's job to teach you. Apple does indeed offer training sessions for new iPhone purchasers. If you have chosen not to ask for this service, again, that is your responsibility not theirs.

I really hope you get your pictures back and I hope the first thing you do is back them up-everywhere. To your PC, to iCloud, to Flicker, to anywhere other than just your phone. You can also upload photos to Walmart.com and order prints. You really can't trust a phone to be your sole source of storage.
 

Greenone

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 19, 2005
405
0
Just read your response.

Since you said it's not set to wipe after 10 tries, you don't have to worry about losing your pictures. I'm not really sure how long it will make you wait after you try again if you guess wrong.

Good luck and keep us posted.

No, sadly Apple rep was very, very clear with me, as were all the people at the Mac store (hence my anger)! You DO lose EVERYTHING after however many attempts (10 or whatever - I don't know/care what the number is), EVEN IF YOU DIDN'T SET YOUR PHONE TO DO THAT. Apple gave me some lame reason but it's true, and shocking and extremely upsetting to me. I tried maybe 5 different codes, to start. Got locked out for 1 minute. I tried some more (can't remember how many). Got locked out for another minute I think. Then it let me try I think only one, possibly two codes, then it said 5 minutes again (I think the 5 minute wait was twice, though sorry again I could be wrong...I didn't know it was serious or I would have been paying attention!). Then the next time I had only ONE code chance and then it said 60 minutes. I did it, got it wrong, then it said 60 more minutes which is when I called Apple. That's when he said "whatever you do, do NOT attempt to put in a code ONE MORE TIME unless you're 110% certain it's correct, cause if you do, it'll force your phone into reset mode so it'll shut down until you reset it" (or something like that). More inquiring lead to his telling me that if it does that, and I haven't backed up, I'll lose everything, no matter what. Call Apple and ask... it's unbelievable.

----------

Have you ever synched with iTunes? If so, then connect it to the same computer and it should allow you to unlock the phone (from what I've heard; I've never actually tried it myself).

Thanks, but that was the first thing the Apple folks tried. It just showed the word "loading" in the upper right corner but would never load, and when the rep did it another way (same thing, though I forgot how), it said it needed my passcode. I believe it's Apple's latest way to block out hackers.

Also, when I sync with iTunes I usually move music over manually - I don't do the whole phone. But it seems a moot point now either way.
 

jonbravo77

macrumors 65816
Feb 20, 2008
1,000
25
Phoenix, AZ
Just for the record. If the phone is asking for the 4 digit code and not your print even though print is active you didn't lock the phone as you keep saying. You rebooted the phone in which case it will ask for the code and not the print on a restart. So, if you forgot your 4 digit passcode then yes, a wipe and start from scratch is pretty much the only option at this point which will cause all to be lost. Since you have said you did not set the 10 attempt security option you can sit there all day long putting in 4 digit combinations and the phone will not be erased.

My suggestion is to learn from this.

Edit: don't want you to explain to us again what an Apple rep told you since you can't seem to remember most of what they told you.
 

Greenone

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 19, 2005
405
0
Apple suggested connecting to a PC. OP said that didn't work.

Yes apple first tried the iTunes thing, then they said to try a PC next (haven't done it yet with an actual Apple rep on the phone with me, but my husband just tried doing it on his PC at length and that didn't work). I have low expectations at this point of a PC working with an Apple tech guy on the phone. He said after that, to try third-party software, but warned me it's not likely to work since Apple's gotten so good at keeping the hacking software out as of late.

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I tried not posting it, but it really bothers me that you said Apple should give users a major warning. It is 2015. If you don't know enough to back up important pictures and videos, it's not Apple's job to teach you. Apple does indeed offer training sessions for new iPhone purchasers. If you have chosen not to ask for this service, again, that is your responsibility not theirs.

I really hope you get your pictures back and I hope the first thing you do is back them up-everywhere. To your PC, to iCloud, to Flicker, to anywhere other than just your phone. You can also upload photos to Walmart.com and order prints. You really can't trust a phone to be your sole source of storage.

Haha well at least you tried not to post. I get it - I knew I'd be spanked in here. But please understand that it's still incredibly frustrating to know that Apple did this particular disservice to me - it's not due to anything I did wrong or that was done to me by some other external forces. I was stupid for thinking I'd only gone about a month not backing up...I hadn't realized how much time had passed. Again, major idiot. So yeah, whatever. I'll help you beat me up. I ***** deserve it.

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There's so much text in there! I searched for "iTunes", "Mac" and "computer" but didn't think to search for "PC" :)

Sorry... I knew it was a major rant. Don't know what else to say about that!

----------

Just for the record. If the phone is asking for the 4 digit code and not your print even though print is active you didn't lock the phone as you keep saying. You rebooted the phone in which case it will ask for the code and not the print on a restart. So, if you forgot your 4 digit passcode then yes, a wipe and start from scratch is pretty much the only option at this point which will cause all to be lost. Since you have said you did not set the 10 attempt security option you can sit there all day long putting in 4 digit combinations and the phone will not be erased.

My suggestion is to learn from this.

Edit: don't want you to explain to us again what an Apple rep told you since you can't seem to remember most of what they told you.

APPLE disagrees with you. Must be some new thing. They acknowledged and admitted I didn't set it to erase. It's just the way they do it. I didn't forget most of what they said. Just a little bit. One guy said 10 tries even if I didn't set it to do that, and another said - believe it or not - she wasn't sure how many tries but that if it's gotten to the 60 minute mark, twice, I only have one shot left (the 60 minute thing happens a total of 3x before phone gets disabled).

----------

Just for the record. If the phone is asking for the 4 digit code and not your print even though print is active you didn't lock the phone as you keep saying. You rebooted the phone in which case it will ask for the code and not the print on a restart. So, if you forgot your 4 digit passcode then yes, a wipe and start from scratch is pretty much the only option at this point which will cause all to be lost. Since you have said you did not set the 10 attempt security option you can sit there all day long putting in 4 digit combinations and the phone will not be erased.

My suggestion is to learn from this.

Edit: don't want you to explain to us again what an Apple rep told you since you can't seem to remember most of what they told you.

Seriously? Your suggestion is for me to learn from this? Really? Sheesh. I think I made it perfectly clear I can't drink wine and do this again, I can't do this again and not write it down, etc etc etc. And of COURSE I get that I should be backing it up, backing up the backups, etc. i get that NOW. I knew that before!! Sometimes people are just stupid. I'll bet even you have been once or twice in your life.....
 

IrishVixen

macrumors 68020
Jun 20, 2010
2,497
104
None of the third party apps like PhoneView can access a password protected non-jailbroken device either, so that's not an option. The only thing I can think of--no idea if it will work--would be to use Dropbox on a computer the phone has already synced to previously (so it's already been through the "trust this device" process). I know when I plug a new device in, Dropbox asks if I want to upload photos automatically, and I don't remember it ever fussing about the password. Unfortunately, I can't check it from here too be sure.

It would require that you have enough space on your hard drive, enough room on Dropbox, and installing the Dropbox app onto your computer. But since you have no other options at this point, it's worth a shot. And I HIGHLY recommend setting up Dropbox, Flickr, or another photo backup setup going forward. Dropbox can auto upload, which I find pretty useful.

Best of luck! Hopefully there's a solution out there somewhere...
 

Greenone

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 19, 2005
405
0
So please let me just say again that if anyone knows of any possible real solution to this problem, now (not just in hindsight, or as future preventatives), please do share! Thank you.

----------

None of the third party apps like PhoneView can access a password protected non-jailbroken device either, so that's not an option. The only thing I can think of--no idea if it will work--would be to use Dropbox on a computer the phone has already synced to previously (so it's already been through the "trust this device" process). I know when I plug a new device in, Dropbox asks if I want to upload photos automatically, and I don't remember it ever fussing about the password. Unfortunately, I can't check it from here too be sure.

It would require that you have enough space on your hard drive, enough room on Dropbox, and installing the Dropbox app onto your computer. But since you have no other options at this point, it's worth a shot. And I HIGHLY recommend setting up Dropbox, Flickr, or another photo backup setup going forward. Dropbox can auto upload, which I find pretty useful.

Just saw this. I'll look into that, thank you very much. And I appreciate your high recommendation and politeness in your delivery. :) I do have flickr but haven't used it in a while. Sounds like good advice.
 

chabig

macrumors G4
Sep 6, 2002
11,207
8,893
it's still incredibly frustrating to know that Apple did this particular disservice to me - it's not due to anything I did wrong...

So you didn't back up your phone, and you forgot your passcode. Somehow you think Apple did this to you?

Still, the answer is so simple. There are only 1000 four-digit passcodes. It should only take a few hours...start typing.
 

MacNut

macrumors Core
Jan 4, 2002
22,995
9,971
CT
Apple does this so if your phone gets stolen people can't just easily get into your data. How do you forget a 4 digit code anyways? And as always, back up regularly.
 

jonbravo77

macrumors 65816
Feb 20, 2008
1,000
25
Phoenix, AZ
Since you didn't like my last response. I'll give you a good suggestion for backups. Turn on iCloud backup. Anytime your phone is plugged in and connected to wifi it will back up to your iCloud account. Don't have an iCloud account? Go to www.icloud.com and create one. You will get 5gb of space for free. Also, you can turn on photos in iCloud on your phone and photos you take will be uploaded to your iCloud account. Any music purchased with your Apple ID in iTunes are able to re-download.

There you go, I helped. But Apple tried to help you as well and then you blamed them for doing this to you. Not sure what did personally to you though. Bye bye. :)
 

IrishVixen

macrumors 68020
Jun 20, 2010
2,497
104
Realistically, the majority of average users don't back up their phones. I have plenty of family and friends who don't, including some who should know better and some who have, in fact, lost data because of it.

Which is why it surprises me that Apple has made it impossible to backup a locked phone. I get it on one level--it protects the data on stolen phones. But really, for every phone that's stolen and protected this way, I bet there's 20 or more legit owners who go into Apple pleading for help because of situations like this, or that of the recent poster whose father had died.

It just seems like there should be a back door, one that Apple can allow you into once you've proven your identity (or provided a death certificate, etc.). So I do get being somewhat upset with Apple.
 

Greenone

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 19, 2005
405
0
So you didn't back up your phone, and you forgot your passcode. Somehow you think Apple did this to you?

Still, the answer is so simple. There are only 1000 four-digit passcodes. It should only take a few hours...start typing.

Nope, they said I have one last attempt only. Uno. But thanks for your incredibly kind words.
 

T5BRICK

macrumors G3
Aug 3, 2006
8,313
2,387
Oregon
APPLE disagrees with you. Must be some new thing. They acknowledged and admitted I didn't set it to erase. It's just the way they do it.

Whoever you spoke with at Apple was wrong. Unless you've enabled the "Erase Data" option, you can enter wrong passcodes all day long with no ill effects.
 

Greenone

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 19, 2005
405
0
Apple does this so if your phone gets stolen people can't just easily get into your data. How do you forget a 4 digit code anyways? And as always, back up regularly.

Again, thank you (sincerely) for not being rude. I have no sensitive data, just pics, and as I said squirrely little ones trying to steal my phone. Because it's not usually that big a deal (or so I thought), I just come up with some visual pattern to memorize cause that *usually* has worked easily for me. In fact I've never had this happen before ever. But again, I guess I was catching a buzz on my red wine lol. I chose a square shaped pattern starting with 9. Then I thought "huh, that didn't work" (when it didn't work) so I tried it ending with 9. Then it went on and on. I mean how many square patterns are there?! I think I know of one possibility I didn't try, but then thinking more about it, a) I may have tried it! and b) there's actually two possibilities. And I only have one shot! I don't want to pull the plug on the life of my photos!! :eek:

----------

Realistically, the majority of average users don't back up their phones. I have plenty of family and friends who don't, including some who should know better and some who have, in fact, lost data because of it.

Which is why it surprises me that Apple has made it impossible to backup a locked phone. I get it on one level--it protects the data on stolen phones. But really, for every phone that's stolen and protected this way, I bet there's 20 or more legit owners who go into Apple pleading for help because of situations like this, or that of the recent poster whose father had died.

It just seems like there should be a back door, one that Apple can allow you into once you've proven your identity (or provided a death certificate, etc.). So I do get being somewhat upset with Apple.

You nailed it.
 

jonbravo77

macrumors 65816
Feb 20, 2008
1,000
25
Phoenix, AZ
Nope, they said I have one last attempt only. Uno. But thanks for your incredibly kind words.

You can keep telling us what "they" said. Here is the facts from Apple's support site. http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT1212 Also tells you what can be done. Disabled does not mean erased. The phone will be locked for a period of time. If 6 times in a row failed then it becomes disabled. It's a security feature. Usually with third party apps you will have to unlock the phone for the app to access the phone. I use iPhone Explorer on my Mac and have to unlock my phone for the file system to show up in the app.

And the reason there is no "back door" was explained several months ago when Apple said that current and future ios's will not have any kind of back door to make it difficult for not only hackers but an over zealous government that will try to use any excuse to get personal data from people. Apple said it did not even retain any operating system key to be able to unlock it. It's a privacy issue to have a back door.
 
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