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Beta 9 update on iPad
- Thread starter StarShot
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I have gone from 8.4 to beta 9 and back to 8.4 a few times now with no issues. Once you get the hang of popping your device into DFU mode it's dead simple.
Luckily I didn't lose anything of value, but theoretically if I'd backed up on the beta, would I eventually be able to restore on the official ios9?
I was bitten by the same snake! Same issue with "uodate available" notifications and "IOS 9.0 Your software is up to date." responses from the Settings > General > Software Update tool. This weekend I got the "Beta Software is Expired" message which bricked my iPad since it provided no update or restore options, and DFU recovery (on both a Windows laptop and a Mac) failed since the DFU connection to iTunes would time out while the software was 'extracting' (after having completed the download), and iTunes did not/would not see any DFU reconnection, so at the end of "extracting" it would say "there is no device attached". iTunes cleverly would not save the extracted version of the software, so each retry started with the "extracting progress bar at zero" and invetibal connection timeout midway through.
I had to go to a Genius at the Apple store who had a copy of iOS which was fully "extracted" in order to recover to a stage where I could hookup to my laptop and do a restore. Even more charmingly, the restore took 3 hours and only loaded basic software, music and photos. I now have to suffer through loading the apps to get back to a usable iPad.
Had Apple designed this process to frustrate and enrage the customer, they could not have done any better than what they have currently provided. I am in favor of establishing a "Software Gross Negligence Tribunal" for software arrangements this shoddy.
Note - 1. "Update available" message but "Software up-to-date" response from the update tool
2. Once expired, the iOS 9 beta provided no recourse to retore from backup
3. DFU recovery torpedoed by bult-in connection timeouts.
If you have iOS 9 beta now hand have gotten any "update" available" messages, beware - your iOS device is a ticking time-bomb.
This issues has affected may iOS developers as well as unsuspecting stooges like myself. CF forums.developer.apple.com/thread/15328
I had to go to a Genius at the Apple store who had a copy of iOS which was fully "extracted" in order to recover to a stage where I could hookup to my laptop and do a restore. Even more charmingly, the restore took 3 hours and only loaded basic software, music and photos. I now have to suffer through loading the apps to get back to a usable iPad.
Had Apple designed this process to frustrate and enrage the customer, they could not have done any better than what they have currently provided. I am in favor of establishing a "Software Gross Negligence Tribunal" for software arrangements this shoddy.
Note - 1. "Update available" message but "Software up-to-date" response from the update tool
2. Once expired, the iOS 9 beta provided no recourse to retore from backup
3. DFU recovery torpedoed by bult-in connection timeouts.
If you have iOS 9 beta now hand have gotten any "update" available" messages, beware - your iOS device is a ticking time-bomb.
This issues has affected may iOS developers as well as unsuspecting stooges like myself. CF forums.developer.apple.com/thread/15328
Betas aren't for average customers, However, if you know what you're doing (or at least know how to update when a new beta is released), you should have no issues.
So the fact that Apple's published recovery guides don't work and that Apple's own tech support people (including "senior advisers") eventually have to send a person to the Apple store for high-caliber resources is just "OK" and "to be expected"?
Fortunately I made a backup of iOS 8.x before I installed the beta. After a lot of twists and turns when the beta crapped, I was able to restore to my previous 8.x.
I'm not "buying" one. IF betas are going to have a expiration date, Apple should be sending an advisory out when new beta updates are available. After my beta3 update to my iPad, I never received another one. I get an email from Apple when there is an update to my El Capitan beta which I then immediately download. Unless I'm missing something, there is no similar warnings for updates to their iOS software.
I doubt I've ever do another iOS beta. I'm guessing I spent over 8 hours trying solve the problem before my iPad bricked. Looking back, before that happened (and I was not able to access the updates), I should have immediately restored my iPad to 8.4 before I got the "dreaded" notice that my beta has expired, toasting my iPad.
For others with this problem, I can't explain how I got my iPad finally into the restore mode as I was trying several other options.
Just guessing, I would say no. Last year when Yosemite was in beta, it took my MBA down. I had to go into an Apple Genius bar to get Mavericks reinstalled. All the stuff I saved during my Yosemite beta was gone.
Yes, but if you're gonna run a beta, you have to pay attention to when new betas are released or at least check for an update every once in awhile. What if the alert feature for an available update was bugged?
It's worth noting apples beta update system was borked for several people including myself. I WAS following when new betas were released but my phone refused to acknowledge that there was anything newer available.
The real takeaway is that apple isn't lying when they say don't use it on a primary device. It's not just buggy, it's very possible to require restoring, and it sounds like you can't even use any backup you made while on the beta, so anything you do while on a beta is vulnerable to being completely lost.
On the up side, in my case the "bricked" phone still connected to the Mac photos app, so I didn't lose any pictures I'd taken.
There's a difference between "following" and actually updating when a new beta comes out. I can be following along and acknowledge that a new beta has been released, but if I sit there for two weeks without actually updating, that's different.
That would be VERY stupid. While I know people who wait several days if not weeks before doing an update to iOS or OS X, I ALWAYS update when I first see the update being available. In OS X, I think the only way to see an available update is under "About this Mac" or if you have the App Store icon on the Dock, it shows if there is an update available.
In iOS, I think the only place updates show in Setting/General/Software Update. I always catch them here on my IPHONE, but my iPad doesn't get used nearly as much and most of the time, I just don't click on Settings. So it would just be a guess as to why I missed the updates until I noticed the warning that started this thread.
Regardless, when you're running a beta, you have to be more aware. You don't have to wait for the notification, you can check manually...it takes literally 2 seconds to check for an update and save yourself trouble down the road.
Of course, if you're running public software (such as 8.3, 8.4, 8.4.1, etc), it's not a big deal if you don't check manually because publicly released software isn't going to expire. But betas are different, and you have to be more aware / attentive if you're gonna run them.
I think you are misunderstanding me. I didn't chose to not update, apples system wouldn't LET me update. Apples system is buggy. It's a beta so those are the risks, I get it. but ultimately the failure was apples.
The betas have had trouble in the past going from skipping over one beta to get to another. So, for example, going from beta 3 to beta 5 (thereby skipping over beta 4). I assume had you updated to beta 4 before beta 5 came out, it would've worked without a hitch.
That I could see as a possible explanation for what happened. Likely I read about poor battery life on a particular beta and tried to "skip" that one. Live and learn, although I would still give feedback to Apple that such a particular quirk should maybe be communicated a little more clearly, especially to the public beta testers who don't have a particularly high barrier to entry. Especially for something so esoteric as the inability to "jump" betas.
To be fair, I'm not sure if it's intended or not. The fact that iOS was telling you there was an update but then told you the system was up to date means there's probably a bug relating to that. Might be something useful to report.
That's probably why they don't say anything about it...because it should work and they're not aware that it doesn't.bugreport.apple.com
For those of us who were in the Public Beta program, how could we have checked the availability of any newer beta software? As StarShot said, Settings-> General-> Software Update was supposed to work, so when there was a disconnect between receiving "New Software Available" notifications adn "You Software is Up To Date" indications from the Update checker, what were we supposed to do?To be fair, I'm not sure if it's intended or not. The fact that iOS was telling you there was an update but then told you the system was up to date means there's probably a bug relating to that. Might be something useful to report.
bugreport.apple.com
I would be most happy to file an apple bugreport on this issue, but as a Public Beta tester, the only way to provide any feedback is the Feedback Assistant, which was quite unavailable when the beta bricked itself, and is also inavailable now that I restored to 8.1.
If there are things Public Beta testers are supposed to be doing differently, how are we to know that ?
There's http://bugreport.apple.com. There are also sites like this one that provide updates when there are new release and other new developments (along with discussions of them).