I am in the process of trying to transfer data from an old iPad mini to a new iPad. I was using the Quick Start method, which looked great...BUT...the iPad has been sitting for a good 45 minutes now, saying it may take "several minutes" to activate. I had the mini find the graphic on the new iPad. The new iPad requested my passcode, which I entered. No request for Apple ID, nothing about activating fingerprint recognition. It is on my home wifi network. The mini is pinwheeling with that box to finish on new iPad, probably waiting to be told to transfer data, I'm assuming. Is this normal behavior, is it transferring data or is the new one not connecting to Apple? How long do I give this before assuming it's not working? Can the process be stopped and can you start from scratch if for some reason it fails? There is a lot of data to transfer, so I expect that to take a while, but it looks to me like it isn't even starting.
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iPad New iPad not activating
- Thread starter MiniGeek
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Updating...I managed to get into a text conversation with an Apple tech. He said what I am seeing is normal, and this could take a while because I do have a large amount of data to transfer. I'll leave this here and update as necessary, in case anyone else runs across this sort of thing.
I just had another chat with an Apple tech. He said with Quick Start, the data goes from device to device over my home wifi, no cloud involved. The items actually have to be physically close together.
The tech also said I can stop the process by turning off the iPad. I think if things haven't changed by morning, I'll do it the old fashioned way: making an encrypted backup of the mini on my Windows laptop and then restoring that to this new iPad. That's what I did 6 years ago, the last time I set up an iPad, and I am wishing I had just done that now. Quick Start seemed like a cool idea, but it's not going so good.
The tech also said I can stop the process by turning off the iPad. I think if things haven't changed by morning, I'll do it the old fashioned way: making an encrypted backup of the mini on my Windows laptop and then restoring that to this new iPad. That's what I did 6 years ago, the last time I set up an iPad, and I am wishing I had just done that now. Quick Start seemed like a cool idea, but it's not going so good.
I've used Quick Start for my most recent iPhone and iPad purchases, and it has worked well for me with the comment that, as you were told by the Apple tech, I do keep the devices side-by-side while the setup is proceeding. When my wife and I purchased our new iPhones we did this at the Apple store and had our old phones next to the new ones and it didn't take an unreasonable amount of time.
Sorry, I can't figure out how to edit or remove my posts.
Anyway, update: I ended exiting the setup on the mini. I tried several times to run Quick Start, and things would just stall, until I restarted both devices. Then things started to work as I had originally expected. Instead of the iPad sitting there with an activation screen for hours and hours, I was directed to set up fingerprint security. The iPad also had to be updated, so I did that. I was given the option to restore the iPad from a laptop or transfer data from the mini. That's what I chose to do, transfer from the mini, and it took about an hour. Signing into my Apple ID didn't go so smoothly, but when I used my iPhone's hotspot instead of my home wifi network, I was able to sign in. From there I went back to my home wifi network and things went smoothly after that. I still have to download a lot of apps, but the related data is all there. (Not sure why Apple makes you redownload apps, it's annoying. It would have been nice, too, if I didn't have to re-download ALL of my ebooks. I recall having to do that last time I set up a new iPad--this mini, and I had a satellite ISP then, so big downloads were not easy.)
So I don't know if it was the time of day or if it came down to restarting both devices that ended up kickstarting everything. But I would suggest if anyone runs into something like this, start with that--restart both devices. And try a time of day when there is not a lot of network traffic. I didn't have any luck until late night.
Anyway, update: I ended exiting the setup on the mini. I tried several times to run Quick Start, and things would just stall, until I restarted both devices. Then things started to work as I had originally expected. Instead of the iPad sitting there with an activation screen for hours and hours, I was directed to set up fingerprint security. The iPad also had to be updated, so I did that. I was given the option to restore the iPad from a laptop or transfer data from the mini. That's what I chose to do, transfer from the mini, and it took about an hour. Signing into my Apple ID didn't go so smoothly, but when I used my iPhone's hotspot instead of my home wifi network, I was able to sign in. From there I went back to my home wifi network and things went smoothly after that. I still have to download a lot of apps, but the related data is all there. (Not sure why Apple makes you redownload apps, it's annoying. It would have been nice, too, if I didn't have to re-download ALL of my ebooks. I recall having to do that last time I set up a new iPad--this mini, and I had a satellite ISP then, so big downloads were not easy.)
So I don't know if it was the time of day or if it came down to restarting both devices that ended up kickstarting everything. But I would suggest if anyone runs into something like this, start with that--restart both devices. And try a time of day when there is not a lot of network traffic. I didn't have any luck until late night.