Back-Up Nightmares

[Maka91]

I have happily had an iPhone 3G for almost a year now, but recently it has been driving me insane.

Every time I try to back it up on my computer, the back-up begins and then stops at 50%, for an on-going amount of time without moving.
I began having this problem about a month or less ago, which was also around the time I had gotten a new computer hard-drive because of hard-drive failure, although im not sure if they are related. (I got my files from my old computer onto my new one, so I think everything should be there)

I have tried the following steps to fix it and NONE have worked:


Restart Phone
Restart Computer
Change USB port
Reinstall iTunes
"Waiting" for progress overnight
Tried with a disabled anti-virus
Tried a different computer (With different anti-viruses, and Operating Systems)
Deleted old back-ups (In hopes they were corrupt)
Deleted some newly updated apps (In hopes that one was causing it to not back-up)
Deleted voice memos and unchecked them to sync (Heard there was an error with them recently.)

Ive done my research and tried as many things as possible, and anything I could find relating to the problem.

I currently have software version 3.01 and cant update to 3.1 because a back-up is needed to do this. This is impossible. No matter how I try, the back-up ALWAYS stops at the exact same spot, which is almost at 50%.

Any help would be much appreciated. I would prefer not having to restore to original settings, as I dont have any back-ups to go to, and I have to many valuable things on my phone to start from scratch. I am also quite concerned that something will happen with my phone, and leave me with nothing to go back to. I desperatly need help with this problem.

Thank You

- Newbie

[Mickeylittle]

I would say to delete your old backups as it sounds like a corrupt file but you've already done that. So you don't want to restore as new. You could try a hard reset by plugging the phone into a wall jack, then press and hold the power button and home button until the phone shuts off and you see the apple come back. The only other thing I can think of is to delete everything off the phone manually that won't lose any data such as games, music, video, etc. Then maybe it will backup successfully. But it's usually a corrupt file. Good luck.

[Europa]

I would just restore it. A backup is not necessary to restore. You can restore it on a computer that you never even connected the phone to. The computer just needs to have iTunes on it. You will have to put your settings back in. You media will stay in the iTunes library and is simply synced back on. Email your notes to yourself and copy and paste them back into notes. Your SMS will be lost unless you jailbreak so you can save the SMS file and SSH it back in after the restore. Your contacts can be backed up in a Yahoo or Google Gmail account (if you don't have MobileMe) and then synced back on through iTunes after restoring. I think this problem was caused by the computer (hard drive) switch, but a fresh restore should fix it.

[Mickeylittle]

Since the OP didn't want to restore until a last resort I was trying to think of other options that might possibly be clogging up the backup process. While I agree that my ideas probably won't help you just never know. Who would have thought that removing a usb cable really fast and plugging it back in really fast would matter.:ok:ok

[Napoleon_PhoneApart]

Go ahead. Say it. I'm the man.

[Mickeylittle]

You're the man oh great one! Hey do you recon the USB trick might fix the OP's backup hang up? It's worth a try. So when your backup hangs just unplug and replug your sync cable from your PC as fast as you can and see if that jars it loose! I can't believe I'm offering this as advice.

[Napoleon_PhoneApart]

It cured my arthritis...

[MrMike6by9]

It also seems that restarting the computer and/or restarting iTunes can help at times. However, I & others have noticed that these phones have become more picky about using a genuine Apple usb cable of the latest manufacture versus or off-brand units.

YMMV

[Maka91]

Just a little update, have been busy and havent gotten around to it...

But Im gonna try the quick usb pull suggestion, and a friends usb cable, since mine is a little damaged...

If not, im going for the restore.

[Caliphone]

My phone was causing iTunes to freeze up (or so slow it seemed frozen). Finally found the fix on Apple forum. Podcasts downloaded directly to phone was causing this. Deleted podcasts, backed up/updated normally. Don't know if this is your problem too, but worth a shot.

[azjimb]

The issue does NOT sound like a USB cable problem because you can backup 50%. Cable problems are usually all or nothing.

There is a specific problem in one specific spot. You know this because the problem is very repeatable. It sounds like a file problem on your device and not on your computer. If it were on your computer, a second backup to a different location would solve the issue.

My question would be to ask if there are any symptoms that to identify any app that does not act correctly; or, can you find any evidence that indicates the app being backed up where the backup failed.

If you can pin it down to one app, then maybe you can delete that app off your iPhone and re-download that app from iTunes and over-write the problem. In this approach, the delete would actually be the event that removes the problem.

File issues on the device can occur and the "delete that app" solution has worked for me. One month ago, I had an unusual problem. After a download and a sync, two of my apps switched icons. The apps continued working properly, but they each had the wrong icon. I deleted both apps and downloaded them again. Problem solved.

Another thought is a shotgun over-write. Are there a group of apps that you can safely remove and then re-download? If this solves the problem, you got it. If it does not solve the problem, then you have probably narrowed down the problem to your remaining apps.

[MrMike6by9]

The issue does NOT sound like a USB cable problem because you can backup 50%. Cable problems are usually all or nothing.

....
I would not discount cable problems that quickly. I was using a cable that came with a Belkin charger for a user to update his 3G to 3.0.1 and it repeatedly "froze" at 75% - 80% of the restore. I decided to use the cable that came with my 3GS and the restore proceeded smoothly. Mind you, the previous cable had worked just fine a few months earlier for the 2.2.1 update.

YMMV

[Mickeylittle]

Yep that's right Mike. Several people have been hung up on backup due to the cable.

[azjimb]

I would not discount cable problems that quickly. I was using a cable that came with a Belkin charger for a user to update his 3G to 3.0.1 and it repeatedly "froze" at 75% - 80% of the restore. I decided to use the cable that came with my 3GS and the restore proceeded smoothly. Mind you, the previous cable had worked just fine a few months earlier for the 2.2.1 update.

YMMV

With several people having cables that work for a partial period, I will make a note of that symptom for future purposes. Thank you for the input.

[Maka91]

I attempted deleting all my podcasts, with no luck. Same problem.

The cable is kinda old and whatnot, with a small break in the wire at one point. Im going to check that, then go to an Apple store, and see what happens there. Maybe they'll find the problem, and might be able to do a special type of back-up where it skips the faulted point... Who knows...

[Mickeylittle]

Sounds like all that's wrong with yours is a faulty cable. These devices seem to be very tricky when it comes to USB cables.