For me at least firmware updates are a HUGE pain in the arse b/c my iPhone take hours to back up. Usually it does not even back up giving me a message saying it does not so I end up restoring the phone before updating. Is it supposed to take about 6-8 hours to back up or is that just me? How can I fix this problem besides deleting my many apps?
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Why does iPhone take so long to back up?
- Thread starter sheardude
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Wow....that's a LONG time to backup. I can update to a new software version in less than an hour. Something is definitely not right with your setup.
Not sure I have a fix for you. How many apps do you have installed?
Not sure I have a fix for you. How many apps do you have installed?
I am having the same problem
It seems to get up to a point and then hang, but when I open Activity Monitor, AppleMobileBackup is chugging away writing 500k-600k chunks.
Is it just caught in a loop writing the same thing over and over?
I also have a bunch of apps. But none of them are running during backup.
Why would it take so long to backup a measly 16G when it is only about half full?
If I hit the X, it stops backing up and finishes syncing pretty quickly.
I used Terminal to turn off automatic backup, but then turned it back on since it had been a few days since it backed up.
I hope they will get this fixed. Along with the annoying incompatible data error syncing Contacts on the MacBook and iMac from MobileMe.
Has the Mac guy been hanging around with the PC guy too long making those commercials?
It seems to get up to a point and then hang, but when I open Activity Monitor, AppleMobileBackup is chugging away writing 500k-600k chunks.
Is it just caught in a loop writing the same thing over and over?
I also have a bunch of apps. But none of them are running during backup.
Why would it take so long to backup a measly 16G when it is only about half full?
If I hit the X, it stops backing up and finishes syncing pretty quickly.
I used Terminal to turn off automatic backup, but then turned it back on since it had been a few days since it backed up.
I hope they will get this fixed. Along with the annoying incompatible data error syncing Contacts on the MacBook and iMac from MobileMe.
Has the Mac guy been hanging around with the PC guy too long making those commercials?
What is worse is it taking 4 hours to backup and then you try to restore from the backup and it states that cannot because it is corrupted in some way.
Maybe its because you have 30 apps installed i have about 4 installed on mine (more on the computer) and my backup rarely goes past 10 secs if it even takes that long.
I don't understand why you would have 30 apps on your phone surely you don't use EVERY single one of them?
I don't understand why you would have 30 apps on your phone surely you don't use EVERY single one of them?
The more apps you have the longer it takes. That's what I've noticed. I'm not sure why Apple hasn't made backing up the iPhone like backing up in Time Machine: the first backup takes a long time because it backups everything. Then only delta (changes) backups are made and only shortcuts to the music in iTunes are backed up. This would immensely speed up the process.
That happened to me during the 2.0.2 update. Not fun especially when none of the apps or handmade ringtones were in my iTunes yet (long story after bad hardware in my PB).
it's because itunes backs up a copy of every post on every forum on the internet asking why backups take so long.
Ok that made me laugh a little
There's a current issue with the error reporting that can make backups a lot longer. More apps mean more log files means longer error reporting. i don't have the thread to hadn right now, but the gist is to get a decent backup, then you can delete some of the crash reports, and reset the default setting as to whether you send these reports or not, then manually say no each time. Saves on the sync time. If you're adding and deleting apps in between syncs, there will always be some time taken up sorting that out.
Thats probably because you are trying to restore an aborted backup. Just choose a backup with a date in it and you should be ok. I noticed this the last time I restored. I think it only adds the date when its complete.
What gets me is that it takes 20 minutes to install/update/backup a simple app but only around 40 minutes to do 12Gb of music/video. Why do apps take so long. Apple should just ZIP it up and unzip it on the phone.
how do you find different backup dates? I only get 1 backup even though I have backed up several different days... and the one i can choose is corrupted
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the whole issue with backups seems so random. For some the problem occurs all the time, for others, like myself we get a "long" one now and then but most of the time it's short. I used to feel that 3rd party apps had something to do with it but now I'm not so sure.
the whole issue with backups seems so random. For some the problem occurs all the time, for others, like myself we get a "long" one now and then but most of the time it's short. I used to feel that 3rd party apps had something to do with it but now I'm not so sure.
I have tried several times using non aborted backups and have never been able to restore. I have since disabled the backup in itunes.
I was having major crashes doing restore/back-up while using the cable provided with the Apple BluTooth. Of course this was the result of the BluTooth attached for charging. However, I still get the 30+min wait for syncing apps. I mean if I have 4 pages of apps and I decide to add a new app, my iPhone is in sync mode for almost an hour at times
Sometimes random apps dont even update due to some odd error On my Itunes, I have had the option to restore or setup a new iPhone. Next to the restore backup filename there is up/download arrows that allows you to choose which one to select. It seems it only puts the date/time on the ones that were completed.
I was having longs backups as well that were driving me crazy. I tried turning off crash reports and it did not work for me. I found this fix on the Apple discussions site. I performed these steps last week and ever since my backups/syncs have taken 3-5 minutes instead of 1+ hours. It took a little time to implement, but for me it was worth it. Seems that it has to do with corrupt app installations hanging up the backup process. Give it a try and report your successes/failures! The end of the message suggests not to install/update apps directly on the iphone, but I have done it without adverse effect.
"Go into iTunes Edit/Preferences the last tab sync disable auto sync for all iPod and iPhones. This does not fix it it is just the first step do not stop here.
Next connect your iPhone to the computer. Once it shows up in iTunes go into the last tab Applications. Uncheck sync all apps. Now Click apply. Now click sync. it will remove all the applications! After it is finished unplug the iPhone. I bet you will have at least one app still on the Iphone, maybe more. Hold any icon down until they jiggle. tap the x's and delete all the remaing apps. You may notice after you delete each app that a little spinning circle is next to your 3G icon on the top right hand side. Let it finish spinning before you delete the next app.
Once you have deleted all the remaining apps (That had corrupt data that was causing your long back ups!) do a hard reset. To do this hold the sleep/wake button and the home button until the red slider appears at the top of the screen. Slide it over and the phone will power off. You will again notice the spinning circle. Once it finishes wait a few seconds and power the iPhone back on by pressing the sleep/wake button.
While it is booting back up go into iTunes again turn the auto sync back on! Now connect the iPhone to the computer, let it backup and sync. Now it goes so fast you may want to cry or laugh. Now after it finishes go back to the applications tab. Click sync apps again, but make sure you have the 2nd circle checked. This box is sync selected apps. Make sure all the boxes are unchecked! Now slowly begin adding apps back to the iPhone. I have done as many as 5 at a time. Check the boxes then click apply, then sync. It will backup then add the applications and sync all other information. After the sync you may notice that little spinning circle is next to your 3G icon on the top right hand side. Let it finish spinning before you add the next app.
Here is the kicker! DO NOT update or install apps from the phone! Only use iTunes to install and or update apps until they get the bug fixed!"
"Go into iTunes Edit/Preferences the last tab sync disable auto sync for all iPod and iPhones. This does not fix it it is just the first step do not stop here.
Next connect your iPhone to the computer. Once it shows up in iTunes go into the last tab Applications. Uncheck sync all apps. Now Click apply. Now click sync. it will remove all the applications! After it is finished unplug the iPhone. I bet you will have at least one app still on the Iphone, maybe more. Hold any icon down until they jiggle. tap the x's and delete all the remaing apps. You may notice after you delete each app that a little spinning circle is next to your 3G icon on the top right hand side. Let it finish spinning before you delete the next app.
Once you have deleted all the remaining apps (That had corrupt data that was causing your long back ups!) do a hard reset. To do this hold the sleep/wake button and the home button until the red slider appears at the top of the screen. Slide it over and the phone will power off. You will again notice the spinning circle. Once it finishes wait a few seconds and power the iPhone back on by pressing the sleep/wake button.
While it is booting back up go into iTunes again turn the auto sync back on! Now connect the iPhone to the computer, let it backup and sync. Now it goes so fast you may want to cry or laugh. Now after it finishes go back to the applications tab. Click sync apps again, but make sure you have the 2nd circle checked. This box is sync selected apps. Make sure all the boxes are unchecked! Now slowly begin adding apps back to the iPhone. I have done as many as 5 at a time. Check the boxes then click apply, then sync. It will backup then add the applications and sync all other information. After the sync you may notice that little spinning circle is next to your 3G icon on the top right hand side. Let it finish spinning before you add the next app.
Here is the kicker! DO NOT update or install apps from the phone! Only use iTunes to install and or update apps until they get the bug fixed!"
That's what the OP contends. I have updated a couple of apps via the phone and it hasn't affected the backup speed (yet....). I haven't added any apps since following this method (either on my PC or my phone). My backups have been relatively fast (a couple of minutes) for a week now (applied this fix right after applying 2.02 update).
Guys remember that the NAND flash in the iPhone is not that fast. It is sufficient enough to push 1.5mbps max for video and I am pretty sure that it does at least 4MB/sec max, just like microSD cards. However Apple should do some optimizations to make it transfer faster.
Would it have helped using Firewire or is that just internal speed your talking about?
No, firewire wouldn't help. Theoretically USB2.0 is faster (480mbps vs. 400mbps for firewire). This device is pushing nowhere near the limits of any of these two connections.
AFAIK the OS is not installed on the same memory that handles your media files and apps. When iTunes backs up your contacts, datebooks, etc, they are read off slow NAND memory. The media files are a bit faster but they are not going to be as fast as more expensive flash memory out there, such as one of my 4GB SanDisk UltraIII SD cards, which do an amazing ~15MB/sec.
I'm sure the 3rd generation iPhone will be much faster due to newer memory devices provided by Samsung and the like.
My backups take about 1, maybe 2 minutes. This is one of the few common bugs I have never had on my iPhone.
iPhones dont have firewire. If you plug in an old iPod cable you will get an error.
The iPhone only has one memory chip (the touch has two, but they are the same speed). Why can you restore the whole 250mb OS in a few minutes but it takes a while to backup a few settings files?
iPhones dont have firewire. If you plug in an old iPod cable you will get an error.
The iPhone only has one memory chip (the touch has two, but they are the same speed). Why can you restore the whole 250mb OS in a few minutes but it takes a while to backup a few settings files?