3G fell in the water, got another iphone w/same SIM card, how can I get the contacts?

[Foxtrot01]

Hello all,
my iphone 3G fell in the toilet, the 3G is currently in a bowl of rice hoping to dry, I dried up the SIM card and put it on a 2G, the 2G is acting up and I dont get calls, phone doesnt ring, calls go directly to vmail, any ideas?

Also how can I retrieve my contacts, I use itunes on my pc to update the software to the iphone. any ideas? When I plugged the 2G the itunes asks me to restore, sync, after that nothing happens, how can I get the contacts to the 2G?

please help. thanks.

 

[The Californian]

Does your 2G work at all?

 

[polobreaka]

have you ever synced your 3g to address book on your PC? you could probably resync it to your 2g.

 

[ThatsMeRight]

Your contacts aren't saved on your simcard.

 

[SpaceKitty]

Your contacts aren't saved on your simcard.

The iPhone doesn't save the contacts on the sim card which is why he is asking how to get them from the phone.

 

[FXT 1]

The iPhone doesn't save the contacts on the sim card which is why he is asking how to get them from the phone.

Are they not saved in a backup?
Although I must say I use Address Book on my mac to sync contacts.

 

[SpaceKitty]

Are they not saved in a backup?
Although I must say I use Address Book on my mac to sync contacts.

Yes they are saved in a backup but the OP has said that he tries to restore from the backup and nothing happens.

 

[-aggie-]

Yes they are saved in a backup but the OP has said that he tries to restore from the backup and nothing happens.

Contacts are not in the backup; they're in whatever application he synced them to.

 

[Knowlege Bomb]

I'll never understand why the iPhone doesn't have the option to copy contacts to/from the SIM card. It's such a simple and USEFUL function.

I've had this same problem though. When I gave my girlfriend my old 3G I tried restoring it from a backup of her first gen iPhone and none of the info would transfer. Ended up having to put everything back in manually.

 

[FXT 1]

I'll never understand why the iPhone doesn't have the option to copy contacts to/from the SIM card. It's such a simple and USEFUL function.

It does copy contacts from the SIM. Go to Settings, Mail,Contacts...., then Import Sim Contacts.

Yes they are saved in a backup but the OP has said that he tries to restore from the backup and nothing happens.

Might I suggest delving into a backup already stored on OP's computer? If, indeed, contacts are stored there.

 

[SpaceKitty]

Contacts are not in the backup; they're in whatever application he synced them to.

You are correct. I think I was thinking of something else like notes and stuff like that.

 

[SpaceKitty]

It does copy contacts from the SIM. Go to Settings, Mail,Contacts...., then Import Sim Contacts.



Might I suggest delving into a backup already stored on OP's computer? If, indeed, contacts are stored there.

But unless the contacts were put there by another phone, the sim most likely doesn't have any contacts on it.

 

[-aggie-]

It does copy contacts from the SIM. Go to Settings, Mail,Contacts...., then Import Sim Contacts.

Might I suggest delving into a backup already stored on OP's computer? If, indeed, contacts are stored there.

That is only for when you first get the iPhone to get contacts from another phone (not an iPhone).

Again, contacts are not in the backup.

 

[FXT 1]

You are correct. I think I was thinking of something else like notes and stuff like that.

Messages are stored in the backup however, perhaps linked to contacts and their numbers?

 

[SpaceKitty]

Messages are stored in the backup however, perhaps linked to contacts and their numbers?

If you restore from the backup without having any contacts on the iPhone, it will just show phone numbers without contact names in recent calls. I did this before with the very first iPhone. The phone numbers won't show up in the contacts app.

 

[FXT 1]

That is only for when you first get the iPhone to get contacts from another phone (not an iPhone).

That; I know. Thank You. I was merely responding to lostprophet894.

 

[-aggie-]

I wasn't going to even post in this thread, since things seem to be so far gone, but I'm here now. I actually think there may be a problem with the sim he had in the 3G not being backward compatible with a 2G. Someone with a 2G might chime in, because I'm not sure.

 

[FXT 1]

If you restore from the backup without having any contacts on the iPhone, it will just show phone numbers without contact names in recent calls. I did this before with the very first iPhone. The phone numbers won't show up in the contacts app.

Well, you have numbers. Better than nothing, however I was experimenting with my iPhone backup a few days ago, trying to store the text messages on my computer. I came across this method using Firefox and an SQL database. What it did was display the information in spreadsheet form with numbers and messages. All from the phone's backup. And as I said, numbers are better than nothing.

 

[SpaceKitty]

I wasn't going to even post in this thread, since things seem to be so far gone, but I'm here now. I actually think there may be a problem with the sim he had in the 3G not being backward compatible with a 2G. Someone with a 2G might chime in, because I'm not sure.

I have a 2G as well and my 3GS sim works in it.

 

[-aggie-]

I have a 2G as well and my 3GS sim works in it.

Well, then the OP needs to give more info. He said it went to sync and then nothing happens.

I'm thinking he should do a restore in DFU mode.

 

[Knowlege Bomb]

But unless the contacts were put there by another phone, the sim most likely doesn't have any contacts on it.

This is pretty much what I was getting at.

If, for some stupid reason, you need to set your phone up as new and you don't have your contacts stored on your computer you're in for Virtual Keyboard 101.

If you decide to switch to something different, again you're stuck with entering everything manually.