2.0.1 Killed All My Apps - possible solutions for SOME

[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...

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/6055900/

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 😛

 

[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/...one-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]

No Wifi

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]

Apple's 'biggie"

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]

Downgrading iTunes works for me - so far

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 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. 😎

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 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. 😎

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.