Contacts dead after upgrading

[pepito5]

My wife has an iPad2 and I upgraded it from iOS 4.x to 5.1.1, using iTunes on a MacBook Air with Lion.

At the end of the last step (synchronyzing old content from iTunes copy) I get the following message (approx.): "iTunes could not synchronize Contacts because they are being used by the iPad. Close Configuration of Contacts and retry". Very strange. If I tell iTunes to synchronize, the same happens. Of course it is configured to sync all contacts. I have turned the iPad off and on and the same happens.

After that, Contacts is simply dead in the iPad, it doesn't even open. When going to Configuration and tapping on "Mail, Contacts and Calendars" item on the left list, the Configuration app silently closes. Other content (music, books, photos, Mail configuration, Safari favorites) seems to have been correctly synchronized.

Clearly something is wrong with Contacts in the iPad. I have no experience on it; were it a Mac I would know lots of things to do (erase preferences, reinstall, etc.). I think one cannot erase and reinstall the Apple apps, am I right ?

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I would love to hear from similar (successful) experiences, or any idea of what to do.

[/FONT]

 

[pepito5]

BTW, I think the app "Contacts" was named "Address Book" in previous versions of the iOS.

 

[twerppoet]

It's always been Contacts in iOS, though it used to be (prior to Mountain Lion) Address Book on the Mac.

If I understad you correctly, you are syncing your Contacts via iTunes with your Mac? Or perhaps Outlook on Windows?

If you are not syncing Contacts through iTunes, do not do this.

If so, make sure your contact database is good on the computer. If it is, then in the Info panel for the iPad's setup go to the bottom and choose to replace the contact information on the iPad in the Advanced box.

I recommend syncing your contacts (on all devices and computers) through an online service like iCloud or GMail. It is more reliable and more convinient than syncing to the computer. If you do change to an online service, be certain to turn off the iTunes syncing first; or you'll have all kinds of duplication mayhem to deal with.

 

[pepito5]

Thanks for the answer, twerppoet. Yes, I synced with a Mac, through iTunes, as I also upgraded (I say this in the first line of my post). The database is good on the Mac. I already did what you suggest, to no avail.

The problems is not that the data are not synced, the problem (I tried to make this clear in my first post) is that the app "Contacts" in the iPad seems to be corrupt or similar. It closes as soon as it opens, and other related items also behave in this way: "Settings" closes if I tap on the corresponding item "Mail, Contacts and Calendars", and when reading an e-mail, "Mail" closes if I tap on the blue box containing the sender's name.

I will consider your suggestion of syncing through iCloud, but I am affraid mine is not a syncing problem but one of iOS installation. Is there a more radical way of reinstalling *everything* (i.e., Apple's apps) from scratch ?

Thanks anyway.

 

[twerppoet]

Thanks for the answer, twerppoet. As I say in the first line, I synced with a Mac, thorugh iTunes. The database is good on the Mac. I already did what you suggest, to no avail.

The problems is not that the data are not synced, the problem (I tried to make this clear in my first post) is that the app "Contacts" in the iPad seems to be corrupt or similar. It closes as soon as it opens, and other related items also behave in this way: "Settings" closes if I tap on the corresponding item "Mail, Contacts and Calendars", and when reading an e-mail, "Mail" closes if I tap on the blue box containing the sender's name.

Thanks anyway.

In that case, if you've not already done so, try these common fixes.

--------------------

When you have problems with an app it's a good idea to clear it from RAM.

Close/Clear the app: With the problem app closed, double tap on the Home button to get the multitask bar. Tap and hold on any icon in the bar until they jiggle, then tap the minus sign on the problem app. This will remove it from RAM and insure a clean start the next time you launch the app.


If that does not work try a restart,

Restart: Hold down the power button until the power off slider appears. Slide it off. When the iPad finishes shutting down, hold down the power button again until the Apple logo appears. Apple recommends you restart the iPad at least once a month.


and then a reset if that does not work.

Reset: Hold down the power and home buttons until the Apple logo appears. The iPad will reboot. This usually takes a bit longer than a restart.

 

[pepito5]

I tried all these "common fixes" before posting. Hopefully someone may have some fix for uncommon situations. Maybe trying to downgrade to 5.1 or 5.0 ? What I am looking for is some way to reinstall the Contacts app (or the whole iOS), but have found not a single mention to this anywhere.

 

[twerppoet]

It sounds like your next step is a restore. Not a restore from backup, which would probably put the problem back in place, but a factory restore. There is no reason to try and downgrade, even if it were possible. Contacts works fine in 5.1.

You can do it through the Settings > General > Reset; Erase all Content and Settings, or from the Summary page when connected to iTunes. In this case I recommend the second.

Be sure to save all your documents and pictures before doing this.

You could go to the Hacking section and read about DFU mode. I believe you can force a clean re-install of the OS that way. I'm not familiar with it myself.

I don't see how it could be a hardware issue, but it is not impossible. Apple support is probably your only option if neither of these works.

 

[pepito5]

Thanks for all these tips. I did as (very well) explained in the Hacking section, using the DFU mode and so on. The reset worked fine, but then restoring contents from the latest backup reintroduced the problem. So it seems to be in these backups. The solution, it seemed to me, was to reconfigure the iPad as a new one after the (second) reset I did. Now the problem has not appeared, and I was able to sync apps and music through iTunes. I introduced the contacts manually (only 20!) but it seems there is no way to recover the photos. They were not in iPhoto but ony in the iPad, saved in the backup of the "old" iPad, and I see no way of restoring them using the old backup, it seems to have vanished (moreover, I think you cannot do partial restores, so this would restore also the faulty contacts).

Is there a way of recovering the real files of the photos from the old backup ? They must be hidden somewhere in the Mac ! I could then first import them to iPhoto and then sync.

 

[twerppoet]

Is there a way of recovering the real files of the photos from the old backup ? They must be hidden somewhere in the Mac ! I could then first import them to iPhoto and then sync.

There are some programs that will extract photos from your backup files. Here's the link to one that I happen to have tucked away in my notes, just in case I need it someday. I've never used it, or any of the others that you can Google, so I have no idea how well it works.

http://www.iphonebackupextractor.com/

Here's another link. It should help you find your backup files.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4946

iTunes only keeps one backup; however if you have been using Time Machine or another backup system on your Mac, you should be able to restore older backups and use them.

Good luck.

 

[pepito5]

Thanks for the links. I tried iPhoneBackupExtractor, but it did not work for some reason (after paying 18 euros). It is an X11-based app, very Windows-like, that needs the framework "mono" to be installed, and something did not work as expected. Many unix-related problems...

But your tip gave me more clues as to how to google for, and I found JuicePhone, a free and simpler app which, anyway, did the job: I have recovered my missing photos and also iFiles documents.

Thread closed. Thanks for all your patience.

 

[twerppoet]

I'm glad you got your photos and documents.

Sorry about the recommendation and the wasted money. I'll change my notes in case someone else asks, so at least your experience was not wasted.

Another member recommended BackupBot in an other thread (based on actual experience), several hours after you asked. I'm including it so that you have it handy in case of future needs, if the JuicePhone does not have all the features needed.

Again, sorry.