Help: Can't restore iPhone 7 from iPhone 6 backup

[jclfc]

Hi guys,

Hoping someone can help me with this really, really frustrating issue.

I have recently purchased an iPhone 7 and want to restore it from my iPhone 6 so I don't lose any data, apps, messages, photos etc.

I have backed up my phone to my Mac using the latest iTunes software; however, when I attempt to restore that backup to the 7, I get the 'not compatible or is corrupt' message.

I have tried most things that are online, including deleting the backup and doing it again, but nothing seems to work.

Both devices are running the same iOS - 10.2.1.

However, there is perhaps a small caveat to this; a couple of months back, my iPhone 6 switched itself off randomly. When I switched it back on, all of my texts and WhatsApps were missing.

I restored my WhatsApp using the app's archive funcation, but my messages never returned even though they are still showing as taking up a huge amount of space on my phone.

There's also a message threat from one individual - probably the first person to iMessage me after this happened - that permanently sits at the top of the list of messages, even if there are several newer messages from different contacts.

Other strange things to have happened include photos occasionally showing up as grey boxes in the camera roll and the phone randomly showing the spinning wheel for a couple of moments before coming back to life.

Please can someone help me with this - I am desperate to use my new device!

 

[eyoungren]

The issues you mention indicate to me that your backup/install is corrupt. Which would give the truth to the error you keep getting.

Some hope…
• Have you tried backing up to iCloud and then restoring from iCloud?
• PhoneView or iFunBox to find your corrupt messages DB file and delete it. Located here: Library > SMS > sms.db and the attachments are located here: Library > SMS > Attachments
• Message recovery software that may be able to fix your DB file?

You can also use the same tools to delete the photos DB file (but not the photos). Doing that and restarting will force the phone to rebuild the photo DB file.

If you're unable to fix the corruption than you're going to have to take the hit and start new.

 

[jclfc]

Hi, thanks so much for the response.

I will have a look using PhoneView or iFunBox this evening.

Will deleting sms.db mean I lose all of my messages?

Do you know the name of any message recovery software?

Thanks again!

The issues you mention indicate to me that your backup/install is corrupt. Which would give the truth to the error you keep getting.

Some hope…
• Have you tried backing up to iCloud and then restoring from iCloud?
• PhoneView or iFunBox to find your corrupt messages DB file and delete it. Located here: Library > SMS > sms.db and the attachments are located here: Library > SMS > Attachments
• Message recovery software that may be able to fix your DB file?

You can also use the same tools to delete the photos DB file (but not the photos). Doing that and restarting will force the phone to rebuild the photo DB file.

If you're unable to fix the corruption than you're going to have to take the hit and start new.

 

[eyoungren]

Hi, thanks so much for the response.

I will have a look using PhoneView or iFunBox this evening.

Will deleting sms.db mean I lose all of my messages?

Do you know the name of any message recovery software?

Thanks again!

Deleting your DB file will mean losing all your messages. You are going to have to take a hit somewhere, but only you can decide where that is. There is corruption in your backup file.

I do not know the name of any message recovery software, I'm sorry. However, I know they are out there. I ran across one when Googling the file path for the SMS db file.

 

[jclfc]

Apologies, but I am a novice at this. So I've downloaded the software, but I can't find the folders. My iPhone isn't jailbroken, is that a problem?

 

[eyoungren]

Apologies, but I am a novice at this. So I've downloaded the software, but I can't find the folders. My iPhone isn't jailbroken, is that a problem?

No. The software solution only has limited access to the file system. If it won't grant you access to where you need to get to then there isn't anything that can be done.

Of course, if you WERE jailbroken there'd be some other options open to you (iFile, Filezilla) where you could access the complete file system on the device itself.