iOS Deleted files: Code suggestions for OS scan?

[MacMouse]

Hi friends!

I'm new to this forum - hi to you all

I have made the mistake updating my iPad with another computer resulting in loss of >800 important files and therefore I have spend some time now seraching for appropriate tools to undelete the files - without luck.

So I'm wondering - why not write the tool myself. I'm a professional programmer on .Net and have been for many yeras. But I'm new in Cocoa and objective c. Never the less I know c/c++ very well.

Enough of talk. Can you guys perhaps give me some pointers on where to begin. Perhaps some snippet of code to check out or a book or some other ressource. I have the nessecary development tools at hand - I hope.

Also, I wonder, is the OS/FAT of iPad locked in some way since there is almost no tools for this for public download? Just wondering. I have spend weeks searching the web and AppStore without good results.

Thanks in advance.


Kind regards,
Michael, Copenhagen, DK.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

You're probably out of luck.

Applications in iOS have very limited access to any files outside of their own bundles. You might be able to do something if you jailbreak the device, but I have no knowledge of how to do that, or what you should do after jail breaking it to do what you want.

 

[jiminaus]

Presumably the filesystem on an iPad is HFS+. But that information would do you no good. iOS is highly locked down. You won't be able to access the sectors of the filesystem from either a Mac or PC connected to your iPad, or from an iPad app installed on the device.

 

[MacMouse]

iOS is highly locked down?

Someone must know something here... there *must* be at path to follow. Say I jail-break it... A bit-by-bit copy into another OS/device must be possible then - or?

Kind regards,
Michael, Copenhagen, DK.

 

[PhoneyDeveloper]

You should look into the backup created when you sync the device. That's where the files are.

 

[MacMouse]

No backup

My mistake was that I syncronized with a clean/new pc. I have tried to recreate the missing files from a backup, but I can't get it to work. It deleted al pictures I had!

What I did:

1. Took iPad with 800 pictures.
2. Attached it to the clean pc because I assumed all pictures jumped across to the pc and stayed on the iPad.

The iPad and the pc did not "know each other" to begin with. I was told afterwards that this itself is a problem also.

After my naive stunt I had a new iPad and did not use the first one anymore - in the hope that I could get the pictures back.

I did not make any backups - was not aware of the risk syncronizing with other computers.


Kind regards,
Michael.

 

[ChristianVirtual]

There are books and articles about "iPhone forensic"; maybe you find hint there. But from what you wrote I fear you will be out of luck. Though I hope you find some hints as its painful to lose pictures.

 

[dejo]

What I did:

1. Took iPad with 800 pictures.
2. Attached it to the clean pc because I assumed all pictures jumped across to the pc and stayed on the iPad.

Hmm, seems you're missing some final steps here. Once the iPad showed up in iTunes, then what did you do?

Anyways, I suggest you attach it to the old PC and do a "restore from backup".

 

[MacMouse]

OK I'll do that!

Thanx' for all your kind help and sugestions... we'll have a restore-from-backup-try tonight then and I'll write back tomorrow.

I can't remember the steps I vent through exactly ... but sure there was a lot of delete and not so much sync. :-(


Kind regards,
Michael.