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iOS 9.3.2 Bricking Some 9.7-inch iPad Pro Devices With 'Error 56' Message [Updated]
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I just went through the process again Apple suggests here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201210
It id not work, but I do see where it fails on the step "Updating iPad Firmware". I have an iPad Pro 9.7 128Gb, AT&T Cellular modem.
It id not work, but I do see where it fails on the step "Updating iPad Firmware". I have an iPad Pro 9.7 128Gb, AT&T Cellular modem.
I literally work for Apple (albeit on the retail end) and this is unacceptable and please **** if you think it's because of more iOS devices or better internet press coverage. NO. 2013 was not that long ago and I had a perfectly usable iOS 6 device back then. iOS 7 and on is a MESS and this is INFURIATING. Stop bashing people stating the truth which is that Apple has gone significantly downhill. I don't care if this happened between beta 4 and final it is RIDICULOUS that this is happening with almost every update now. I'm not even trying to bash Apple. I just want this company to be what it once was and hold it to the high standards that we at Apple always preach.
This version installed just fine on my iPhone 6 Plus so no issues here. As for why the beta didn't catch it? Who knows. You can have all the beta versions you could ever want and bugs will still slip through, it's the nature of software development.
Just makes me want to wish they would go back to one model in the lineup and make it the best darn thing ever - instead of making so many variations of the same product.
iOS 9.3 bricks older device.
iOS 9.3.2 bricks newer device, no, the LATEST ONE.
lol
Waiting for the "update for the update of the update". (I don't remember this pattern clearly though)
iOS 9.3.2 bricks newer device, no, the LATEST ONE.
lol
Waiting for the "update for the update of the update". (I don't remember this pattern clearly though)
As the old adage goes ... software engineers are a dime a dozen and I wouldn't pay any dime for any dozen.
I am sorry for all who have updated and now have a useless iPad Pro. I have been waiting on this update as I have an iPad Pro 9.7 that has an unresolved issue of email not pushing and was hoping this update would fix my problem. I'm going to wait this one out until there is a resolution. Fortunately I still have a working devise and hope for a speedy update from Apple. I am usually one who updates as soon as the updates are available, luckily I didn't have my iPad with me at work and was able to read about all of the issues otherwise I may have had my devise bricked.
A couple of notes for those who want to complain about the quality of iOS seemingly going down:
We hear talk of quality in the iOS 6 days- There were in the Millions of iOS devices in that time frame. Now there are over a Billion. 1000x more. This alone increases the chance that reportable problems have seemingly increased. Add to that the fact that we have more internet and social media reporting capabilities and the actual % of devices that have a problem on each update may or may not be greater. Truly only Apple knows.
Also we hear that with 4 betas this should not happen. While I would agree that we would like this to not happen, let's remember the Apple beta testing methodology. Developers are instructed to ONLY test on development devices and to never load beta code on a production device. This of course is not a real world test of the code. If one was to follow this requirement (I'll state that I do not) your test device would only have the base iOS and your app or apps. This does not provide any data about what happens to this code when it is installed on a billion different devices that are in millions of different configurations. Truthfully Apple is not counting on us to test that. They provide the code to developers so what we can make sure of is if OUR apps work not their OS. Public beta is not as clear, as public beta testers are just doing it for advance access to the OS. But I still believe Apple asks that you do not load it onto production devices.
In short- Quality might be worse or it might be better ,we have no way to know. With the number of devices and the number of different configurations some problems are to be expected. One thing I hope we don't lose sight of- When these things happen Apple is there to help including replacing devices. Not every company would do that.
We hear talk of quality in the iOS 6 days- There were in the Millions of iOS devices in that time frame. Now there are over a Billion. 1000x more. This alone increases the chance that reportable problems have seemingly increased. Add to that the fact that we have more internet and social media reporting capabilities and the actual % of devices that have a problem on each update may or may not be greater. Truly only Apple knows.
Also we hear that with 4 betas this should not happen. While I would agree that we would like this to not happen, let's remember the Apple beta testing methodology. Developers are instructed to ONLY test on development devices and to never load beta code on a production device. This of course is not a real world test of the code. If one was to follow this requirement (I'll state that I do not) your test device would only have the base iOS and your app or apps. This does not provide any data about what happens to this code when it is installed on a billion different devices that are in millions of different configurations. Truthfully Apple is not counting on us to test that. They provide the code to developers so what we can make sure of is if OUR apps work not their OS. Public beta is not as clear, as public beta testers are just doing it for advance access to the OS. But I still believe Apple asks that you do not load it onto production devices.
In short- Quality might be worse or it might be better ,we have no way to know. With the number of devices and the number of different configurations some problems are to be expected. One thing I hope we don't lose sight of- When these things happen Apple is there to help including replacing devices. Not every company would do that.
Yes I said millions...... but the ratio is wrong- it's more like 10 to 1 not 1000 to one.( I was thinking of more like iOS 2 or 3... I've been here since iOS 1) This does not change the conclusion. There is a big difference between a 100 million devices and a Billion +. But thanks for the correction.
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It's a hundred million in a week of upgrades. There were going on half a billion iOS users at the time. It's not 1/10 any more than it's 1/1000.
I think people forget the fact that this isn't just a bug affecting devices, we all accept that. It's killing your device, even if for a day or two or who knows. Just saying: we don't need your sympathy but don't dismiss the problem that the newest and one of the most expensive devices (over $1000 in Canada) are getting bricked, even if it's a small number. Probably the only reason we don't see a larger number is because people are aware of the issue and are not upgrading. Maybe the site can do a poll on the front page for iPad Pros.
This appears to be related to an attempt to update the firmware of the NFC IC/chip during the update/restore process.
Multiple mentions in the update logs regarding opening and failing serial UART commands on the NFC IC. Oddly (and suspiciously) the logs show the restore/flashing tool for the NFC IC is being told to load firmwares for two different NXP NFC ICs. After the tool fails to flash the NFC IC it triggers the restore to fail with code 56 as I'm guessing a CRC integrity check for the NFC chip fails due to the failed/corrupt flashing of the firmware. The sporadic nature of the failure is confusing, but I'd take a stab at a bad UART clock signal somewhere.
This will likely be resolved by changing the images that the tool is trying to flash to the NFC IC or by being a bit safer with how the serial sessions are opened. It is, however, incredibly annoying.
For the record: 128GB 9.7" WiFi and Cellular model here with the same symptoms.
Edit: Some serial functions on the NFC IC that you would expect to be working, are not working after the attempted flashing of the NFC IC. While this shouldn't affect future flashing, it does point towards this being the problem that is occurring. Even getting serial numbers and firmware versions are failing. Not great.
Multiple mentions in the update logs regarding opening and failing serial UART commands on the NFC IC. Oddly (and suspiciously) the logs show the restore/flashing tool for the NFC IC is being told to load firmwares for two different NXP NFC ICs. After the tool fails to flash the NFC IC it triggers the restore to fail with code 56 as I'm guessing a CRC integrity check for the NFC chip fails due to the failed/corrupt flashing of the firmware. The sporadic nature of the failure is confusing, but I'd take a stab at a bad UART clock signal somewhere.
This will likely be resolved by changing the images that the tool is trying to flash to the NFC IC or by being a bit safer with how the serial sessions are opened. It is, however, incredibly annoying.
For the record: 128GB 9.7" WiFi and Cellular model here with the same symptoms.
Edit: Some serial functions on the NFC IC that you would expect to be working, are not working after the attempted flashing of the NFC IC. While this shouldn't affect future flashing, it does point towards this being the problem that is occurring. Even getting serial numbers and firmware versions are failing. Not great.
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However, given that Apple only allows a few days time to downgrade your iOS into an immediate previous version, "one day" is quite a long waiting time.Not that Apple doesn't bear some of the blame, but why the mad rush to update?
As a general rule: Always give it a day or two and let the guinea pigs try an update out first before you update your own device.
If someone updates iOS 9.3.2 today, and it does not work well, he can still downgrade to iOS 9.3.1.
My $.02
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Planned obsolescence of their LATEST 9.7" iPad Pro? This is not just insane.