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iPhone backup taking FOREVER..

thelumpya2

thelumpya2

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 24, 2008
175
0
First and foremost, let me state this. I recently had to get a new computer and haven't backed my phone up since doing so, so there is no previous backup file of this phone on the computer.

Now, I have been dreading doing this in its entirety, because I knew it would take a while. I started the process a few times, but then decided I couldn't wait and cancelled the backup. Now with the iphone 4 on preorder, I obviously have an incentive to do the full backup on the new computer and just wait it out, even if it means being iphoneless for a while..

So I tried it first on Monday, plugged it in at work (i sync to my work computer since there's a vast music selection on it) at 9 am monday when I arrived, by the time I was going to leave around 5:15, it was maybe 1/8th of the way done BACKING UP, it hadn't even gotten around to the syncing part yet.

Then, yesterday (tues) I decided I was going to let it go the full deal no matter how long it took..

well, it's been backing up now for 30 hours and is JUST SHY of 2/3 of the way done, looking like it will be 48 hours for complete backup.. which seems to me to be OUTRAGEOUS..

I understand that it's backing up the phone from scratch, including every little detail, text message, setting and whatever else.. but 48 hours? that's insane..

has anybody else had a similar experience?


I guess the only way i'll find out if something is actually wrong is when It's finally done (no way i'm giving up now) i'll use it for a day or two then back it up again and see if it backs up in a normal amount of time once it has a record file..


EDIT: oh yeah, and the worst part is, I had my alarm set (use it as an alarm clock) and I can't shut it off without interrupting the sync, so I have to keep hitting snooze every 9 minutes all day.. HAHAHA
 
Your post reminded me to backup my phone, and I'm now having the same issue. Granted, it's only been about 10 minutes so far, but the progress bar is merely a sliver and not moving at all. :(

I remember having this problem before, and *something* fixed it. Either an itunes update, software update, ... I don't know. I just remember updating something and being so happy that finally my back-ups were snappy. But, whatever it was is back.
 
ciaran00 said:
Well stop using it at USB 1.1 speeds then.

System profiler is your friend.
Click to expand...

ah.. it's a brand new dell, using a 3gs iphone usb cable... so I highly doubt its an issue with the USB port or the cable.
 
Yeah. I've found that when I cancel a backup/sync, the next time I plug it in, it will take a wicked long time. It's a good idea to always make sure that once you plug it in, you have time to let it finish what it's doing because iTunes will make you pay otherwise.
 
I had this problem...here's what you do and it'll back up in about 10 minutes (at least for me it does, and thats about 8GB's).

Right click on your iPhone under 'devices'
Click something that says (off the top of my head) 'Reset Warnings'
When it does this, cancel the sync, and start to re-snyc it.
It will say (something to the effect of) 'This iPhone contains diagnostic data that can help Apple. Do you want to send this data?' Uncheck 'Don't show this again' and click DO NOT SEND.
You will have to do this every time, but it speeds it up massively.
 
Hellishness said:
I had this problem...here's what you do and it'll back up in about 10 minutes (at least for me it does, and thats about 8GB's).

Right click on your iPhone under 'devices'
Click something that says (off the top of my head) 'Reset Warnings'
When it does this, cancel the sync, and start to re-snyc it.
It will say (something to the effect of) 'This iPhone contains diagnostic data that can help Apple. Do you want to send this data?' Uncheck 'Don't show this again' and click DO NOT SEND.
You will have to do this every time, but it speeds it up massively.
Click to expand...

It's also taking me forever to backup, and after doing what u mentioned, it still takes forever. Should I delete all my music and try again? I have about 20 gb of music and 8gb of apps.
 
aluren said:
It's also taking me forever to backup, and after doing what u mentioned, it still takes forever. Should I delete all my music and try again? I have about 20 gb of music and 8gb of apps.
Click to expand...
When it "backs up" your phone, it's definitely not backing up your music. This is because your music is already on your computer - they don't need to make another copy of it. So deleting your music won't change a thing. The best option is to let it take forever if it has to, let it finish a full backup, and then sync/back up once a week. The more often you sync, the less time it takes.
 
My friend just dealt with this. Try removing apps (either one by one or all at once). An app is probably corrupt on your phone and not allowing the backup to complete. Once he removed his apps his phone backed up fine right away.
 
rockstarjoe said:
My friend just dealt with this. Try removing apps (either one by one or all at once). An app is probably corrupt on your phone and not allowing the backup to complete. Once he removed his apps his phone backed up fine right away.
Click to expand...

hmm.. I honestly don't think thats what it is, because it isn't like the backup progress bar moved quickly and then suddenly got hung up at the end, its been steadily backing up extremely slow from the first minute I plugged it in.

After it finishes, I'm going to download an app or two, take a few pictures and try backing it up again to see how long it takes.
 
Op have you ever sync'd your phone with this computer?

Oh and how many apps are on your iPhone??
 
Quick question, how many apps and Photos are we dealing with here? When you back up it backs up all the apps and photos every time.
 
6 pages of apps and 4 gigs of photos.. so I expect it to take a while..

and no... I haven't synced with this computer, becuase the computer I previously synced with died..
 
Hellishness said:
I had this problem...here's what you do and it'll back up in about 10 minutes (at least for me it does, and thats about 8GB's).

Right click on your iPhone under 'devices'
Click something that says (off the top of my head) 'Reset Warnings'
When it does this, cancel the sync, and start to re-snyc it.
It will say (something to the effect of) 'This iPhone contains diagnostic data that can help Apple. Do you want to send this data?' Uncheck 'Don't show this again' and click DO NOT SEND.
You will have to do this every time, but it speeds it up massively.
Click to expand...

This seemed to work for me, thanks! At first it was at a crawl and the progress bar wasn't moving so I walked away from my computer thinking I just had to let it do it's thing for several hours, came back 10 minutes later and it was already done!
 
RobertD63 said:
Quick question, how many apps and Photos are we dealing with here? When you back up it backs up all the apps and photos every time.
Click to expand...

No it does not! It backs up updated apps, app data and various other things. It does not back up every app.

Op the reason your backup is taking so long is you have a corrupt app or app save data that is corrupt.

You have two options.

1, if you want to find out which app is corrupt unsync all your installed apps. After it is done the app that is left is the corrupt app. You can remove this by making your icons wobble and then tapping the x.

2, just manually remove all the apps by making them wobble and tapping the x's.
 
you don't think it has something to do with the fact that there is no previous backup on this computer? I mean, it's backing up 2 years worth of information..
 
Partly, but it also has a lot to do with the amount of apps and photos. The next sync won't be as long, but still long. Something is hanging it up though. Id uncheck all the apps on the iPhone through iTunes AFTER its synced and resync them to get fresh installs.
 
thelumpya2 said:
EDIT: oh yeah, and the worst part is, I had my alarm set (use it as an alarm clock) and I can't shut it off without interrupting the sync, so I have to keep hitting snooze every 9 minutes all day.. HAHAHA
Click to expand...

lmao that is HILARIOUS.
I've had that happen before, but only when my sync was taking a few minutes. I can't imagine dealing with that for 48 hours.
That poor night cleaning crew in your office haha.
 
Gav2k said:
1, if you want to find out which app is corrupt unsync all your installed apps. After it is done the app that is left is the corrupt app. You can remove this by making your icons wobble and then tapping the x.
Click to expand...

what do you mean by "the app taht is left"

if I unsync all the apps via itunes, will the corrupt app still sync becuase its corrupt?

or rather, it won't unsync.. I guess.
 
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