iOS Maybe a dumb question

[OSUGuy]

I'm new to the whole developer community. Hopefully this question is in the right place

I've downloaded iTunes 10.5 beta and iOS 5 beta 3. I've yet to install either for these concerns:

I just want to try iOS 5 on my CDMA iPad 2 not on mine or my wife's iPhones running iOS 4.3.3. Will our 4.3.3 iPhones sync normally with iTunes 10.5 beta?

Also, we stream a lot of movies from iTunes to our AppleTV gen 2. I've read that streaming from iTunes 10.5 beta to 2nd gen appletv's is broken. Since my wife would shoot me, is there a way to install the iTunes beta on a different user profile for testing purposes and not screw up my version of iTunes 10.3.1 on my personal user profile? That way I could sync the iPad with the iTunes on a second profile without any crazy bugs messing up our normal everyday use.

If/when I am done with iOS 5 could I then just resync my iPad with the iTunes on my personal profile and restore from a previous backup?

 

[jiminaus]

Beta software, by it very nature, will be have bugs and will break, so only use it in environments where you don't rely on it.

Normally you would have an dedicated beta development machine.

If you don't have a machine to spare, partition your machine and install Mac OS X with beta iTunes and beta SDK into a new development partition. Normally you'd boot into the Mac OS X partition with standard iTunes, and only boot into the development partition to do iOS 5 development work.

The same goes with iOS hardware. Expect beta version of iOS to have bugs and to break. Don't install it on hardware you use daily and rely on.

 

[OSUGuy]

Thanks...

So if I've secured another machine to do beta testing, when I'm finished with ios 5 or when it's publicly released, can I resync my ipad to my personal computer, restore from my most recent 4.3.4 backup, then upgrade to iOS 5?

 

[jiminaus]

Thanks...

So if I've secured another machine to do beta testing, when I'm finished with ios 5 or when it's publicly released, can I resync my ipad to my personal computer, restore from my most recent 4.3.4 backup, then upgrade to iOS 5?

Quote from the Read Me Before Downloading section of the iOS beta page.

• Devices updated to iOS 5 beta can not be restored to earlier versions of iOS. Devices will be able to upgrade to future beta releases and the final iOS 5 software.

As part of installing the iOS beta, the firmware on your iPad will be upgraded. Once it's been updated, it cannot be downgraded again to be able to run iOS 4.

 

[OSUGuy]

Quote from the Read Me Before Downloading section of the iOS beta page.


As part of installing the iOS beta, the firmware on your iPad will be upgraded. Once it's been updated, it cannot be downgraded again to be able to run iOS 4.

But couldn't I put the device in DFU mode and restore from a previous backup as long as apple's servers are still signing for 4.3.4?

 

[Sydde]

But couldn't I put the device in DFU mode and restore from a previous backup as long as apple's servers are still signing for 4.3.4?

Go look over the iPad hacks section of this forum, you will learn some stuff about how the upgrade system works. They talk about needing to save "SHSH blobs" in order to restore a specific machine state, and if I read correctly, once you lose these, you have lost the ability to get that state back. Apple seem to have broken the "R" on the shifter, it is now forward only.