Where to start.
Well, I don't know about anybody else, but Apple's release of iOS5 and iCloud have proven to be an absolute and total failure on every possible level for me. My Apple TV is dead. My mom has lost all her photos and her MobileMe/iCloud/Apple ID is so hopelessly fucked up that she can't even send email. My computer is in some kind of hybrid MobileMe/iCloud state that doesn't seem to work with either. My keychains are no longer syncing. Every single device has some kind of problem.
Here's the rundown of my day...
MobileMe to iCloud Migration...
UPGRADE? Failed. "Cannot be completed at this time."
UPGRADE, TAKE TWO? Failed. "Cannot be completed at this time."
UPGRADE, TAKE THREE? Failed. "Cannot be completed at this time."
UPGRADE, TAKE FOUR? Failed. "Server connection lost."
UPGRADE, TAKE FIVE? Failed. "Cannot be completed at this time."
UPGRADE, TAKE SIX? Success.
Mac OS X Lion Update...
UPGRADE? Success?
NOTES: Converted MobileMe crap to iCloud crap, but kept me subscribed to both, forcing me to manually go through and delete all the old MobileMe crap that wasn't going to sync anyway. But it's still trying for some reason. iCloud no longer syncs Keychains between my Macs, which was one of the major reasons I signed up for MobileMe in the first place.
iPhone 4 (Mine)...
UPGRADE? Failed. No explanation, just a reboot.
UPGRADE, TAKE TWO? Success.
NOTES: Lost all my app data and have no idea how to recover it.
iPhone 4 (Mom)...
UPGRADE? Failed. Unknown error occurred (-18).
UPGRADE, TAKE TWO? Failed. Unknown error occurred (-18).
UPGRADE, TAKE THREE? Success.
NOTES: Apple ID is now hopelessly screwed up.
iPad (First Generation)...
UPGRADE? Failed. Some kind of "update can't be verified" error.
UPGRADE, TAKE TWO? Success.
iPad 2...
UPGRADE? Success?
NOTES: Deleted all images from Photos with no warning and no way to recover. Apple ID is now so hopelessly screwed up that she can't send email.
Apple TV (Second Generation)...
UPGRADE? Failed. Generic "Update Failed" message.
UPGRADE, TAKE TWO? Major failure. Unit goes dead with rapidly-blinking light. Trying to restore direct from my Mac (with unsupplied cable) doesn't work.
UPGRADE, TAKE THREE? There is no Take Three. I now have an Apple TV paperweight that will have to be sent to Apple to be fixed. Or whatever.
So, in the end, Apple is running 0 for 7, and I've got days of troubleshooting, recovery, and research to do in order to get things running properly again.
Starting with my poor mother's screwed-up Apple ID. The problem being that I have no fucking idea where to even start. Probably with a call to Apple because I don't have an Apple Store handy, but I have no idea how to approach it or who to call.
She registered her Apple ID with an Gmail address, but now Apple doesn't like that, so she switched over an Apple me.com address. Except now I can't get rid of the Gmail address. When I try, I get a nonsensical error message...
Well, dumbass, if THAT'S now her Apple ID, then why the fuck can't she actually USE it as her Apple ID? Why is Gmail stuck there? And why can't she use the iCloud SMTP server to send email? Oh probably because it will only send for an Apple email address, but there's no way of defining that address as the sender address because I can't change the Gmail address.
What a clusterfuck.
Apple is the new Microsoft. Nothing works right.
The only difference being that once you finally get all the myriad of problems solved, at least you can enjoy using the Apple products.
Apple had better get their shit together before somebody comes along and does it better. There's only so long that people will put up with stupid crap like this.
Even me.
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I think I’m one of the lucky ones – everything worked well for me first time. About the only problem I had was all of my apps got re-arranged on my iPhone – but all of their settings remained intact.
Hope everything sorts itself out.
Sorry you’re in Apple Hell, Dave! I never had a MobileMe account, so that may explain why I had no issues upgrading either of my devices. I got into the upgrade chain early yesterday morning…within minutes of it being rolled out, so while it still took nearly an hour for the Mac/iOS upgrades to download, they did. The iOS upgrade then took FOREVER, but it loaded and as far as I can tell, I haven’t lost anything.
But from reading yours (and others) stories it appears this was one big Apple FAIL all around, and my experience was the exception rather than the rule. I sincerely hope you get it all sorted out.
Really? My iPad 2 updated with no problem. My fiancee’s did too. We both use Gmail addresses as our Apple IDs and didn’t have the trouble you’re talking about.
But then again, neither of us ever used MobileMe. Maybe that’s the issue.
Sorry for the troubles, Dave. Best of luck to you and your mum.
Wow. 0 for 7 is not good odds for you or your mom.
I did my upgrade this morning. Just under 2 hours for 10.7.2, iTunes 10.5 and iOS 5 on my iPad 2. The upgrade did a backup of the iPad, installed iOS 5, and did a few restores of system settings, apps, photos and music/videos. Everything is put back in the place it was in before, with the exception of moving icons over a few places for iMessage and Reminders.
As for the MobileMe, I’m not upgrading to iCloud just yet. It was nice to know that even with the prodding and popups to switch to iCloud, it didn’t force me to switch. On both the Mac and the iOS 5 iPad 2. I’m only syncing my keychain, contacts and notes right now (will do calendars and reminders once I get my iPhone 4S).
Hope you can get it all worked out soon. I know it’s time consuming to fix it all.
I had the same thing with my iPhone after the latest update. I had to restart the Apple Mobile Device services under administrative tools (Windows XP).
I had to do this once before but I didn’t remember what I was supposed to do so I just googled it. I’m sure others are going through the same thing. It just sucks to be dealing with it on so many devices.
First, t’was a shock about Steve Jobs. Like others I thought of you.
Thought of me too …on a MacBook as we speak/type. Stanford speech actually brought a tear to my eye.
Second, it’s refreshing that no one in your comments ( so far ) took this opportunity to troll/shill for other OS platforms because of the odd upgrade glitches you’re experiencing. As if some other platforms we could name never have any issues …no never at all. Are people who read your blog more civilized/rational?
Last, enjoyed your Australia posts. I have a friend who lives there and another who road his bike through Oz over the course of 9 months …it’s interesting to compare and contrast the different impressions of “Down Under” from different people and perspectives. I could re-tell some stories but some of your readers might blush …tender ears and all that.
I think there was some problem with updating my phone to the new iOS but I’m sure. I just heard Vahid cursing up a storm in the other room, a while later he returned with it working. I don’t want to ask what happened.
I also lost all the photos on the ipad2 and all the personalizations I had done to the apps I use at work. Oh, all my pdfs are gone. I have been researching to see if they are “out there” somewhere, because I did a complete itunes backup before I started the OS5 update. So far, I cannot find how to find out if they are backed up “somewhere” or truly lost. sigh.
Stories like this are why I wait a couple months before i commit to major OS upgrades. Maybe over the holidays for this for me. We shall see.