Since I, like many here, have had plenty of practice restoring the iPhone, I was just curious what steps others take. I have it down to about a 3 hour process that is mostly automated using the following:
1) Enter the restore process either by forced restore or using iTunes restore (if possible)
2) Setup as a "New iPhone" (I've stopped allowing any backup at this point)
3) Quickly stop first attempted sync via iTunes
4) Setup iPhone to:
* Sync manually
* Info: Sync mail (nothing else due to MobileMe config on iPhone)
* Ringtones: Sync all ringtones (only 5 created using GarageBand)
* Music: Sync all of my iPhone specific playlist (about 250 songs) - no videos
* Photos: Sync iPhone specific albums (about 300 pics)
* Video: Sync all of my iPhone specific playlist (4 TV episodes)
* Applications: Sync only selected apps
5) Perform a sync
6) Clear application install alarm 0xE8000013 (occurs to a seemingly random app on most application install syncs)
7) Sync again to install the app identified in alarm 0xE8000013
8) Once sync is complete, I have a bookmarks folder specific to the webapps I put on my home screen so creating the home screen icons is relatively simple.
9) Setup WiFi
10) Setup MobileMe
11) Rearrange icons.
I found the total sync works just as "well" as syncing only a few apps at a time.
I sincerely hope the 2.1 firmware fixes this mess. I spend around 6-12 hours per week without my iPhone while it restores after a crash. The most common crash I get is the "all default apps crash on launch."
1) Enter the restore process either by forced restore or using iTunes restore (if possible)
2) Setup as a "New iPhone" (I've stopped allowing any backup at this point)
3) Quickly stop first attempted sync via iTunes
4) Setup iPhone to:
* Sync manually
* Info: Sync mail (nothing else due to MobileMe config on iPhone)
* Ringtones: Sync all ringtones (only 5 created using GarageBand)
* Music: Sync all of my iPhone specific playlist (about 250 songs) - no videos
* Photos: Sync iPhone specific albums (about 300 pics)
* Video: Sync all of my iPhone specific playlist (4 TV episodes)
* Applications: Sync only selected apps
5) Perform a sync
6) Clear application install alarm 0xE8000013 (occurs to a seemingly random app on most application install syncs)
7) Sync again to install the app identified in alarm 0xE8000013
8) Once sync is complete, I have a bookmarks folder specific to the webapps I put on my home screen so creating the home screen icons is relatively simple.
9) Setup WiFi
10) Setup MobileMe
11) Rearrange icons.
I found the total sync works just as "well" as syncing only a few apps at a time.
I sincerely hope the 2.1 firmware fixes this mess. I spend around 6-12 hours per week without my iPhone while it restores after a crash. The most common crash I get is the "all default apps crash on launch."