Upgraded iTunes to 10.5.0.142. Plugged in the iPad running iOS 4.3.3. Started iTunes. Tried to perform a backup. Hung. Tried to quit. No dice. Forced iTunes shutdown with Task Manager. Disconnected iPad. Performed soft reset on iPad. Reconnected iPad. Started iTunes. Tried to sync apps. Error message. Retried backup. Error message. Disconnected iPad. Hard reset on iPad. Reconnected iPad. Retried backup. Error message. Retried backup. Completed.
Asked for the upgrade. ITunes warned me that there were apps on the iPad that weren’t synced with the computer. Tried to sync them. Failed. Tried again. Failed again. Gave up. Told iTunes to upgrade to iOS 5. Waited while it downloaded (35 min. over twin T1s. If Apple is supplying the data at the rate I can take it, that’s a 787 MB file. That’s not reasonable; I’m thinking that Apple’s servers are overloaded, even several weeks after the new OS became available. iTunes won’t tell you the download rate.).
Watched it perform yet another backup. Watched IPad connect to UBS port, drop off, connect again. Watched iTunes upgrade the iPad firmware. Watched iTunes restore from the backup. Watched iPad restart. Watched iTunes restore apps. Watched iPad display progress bar with no progress. Watched iPad show unlock screen Watched iTunes continue to say it’s restoring apps for an hour.
Clicked “Stop”. Waited ten minutes. Saw message “Restoring iPad music and videos.” Waited half an hour. Saw error message. Clicked through it. Saw that iTunes is hung. Tried to close it. No dice. Tried to shut it down with Task Manager. No luck. Found the iTunes process. Killed it. Shut down Windows computer. Unplugged iPad. Rebooted Windows computer.
Went through iPad iOS 5 setup screens. Noticed several app icons missing. Noticed all the music (30 some-odd GB) missing. Tried to start an app. Wouldn’t start. Tried to start each app with an icon. Only those apps that are standard on the iPad would start. Performed a soft reset. Same thing. Performed a hard rest. No change. Started iTunes. Watched as it said “Checking iTunes Library” for half an hour.
Shut down iTunes with Task Manager. Restarted it. Waited ten minutes while it checked the iTunes library. Plugged in the iPad. Tried to synch. Got an error. Tried again. Another error. Unplugged and replugged. iTunes started synching automatically.
Fifteen minutes later, it said it was done, and I had my apps back, including the ones that I’d deleted on the iPad several weeks ago. No music, though.
After three and a half hours, I decided it was bedtime, even if I hadn’t fully restored my data. At least Kindle was working, so I could read myself to sleep.
The next day, I plugged the iPad in and iTunes said the restore hadn’t completed and offered to finish the job. I said OK, and it said it was restoring music and videos. Forty five minutes later, I had my music back.
All’s well that ends well, but this was not Apple’s finest hour.
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