Troubleshooting iPhone and iPod touch issues

As a long-time OS X user and troubleshooter for myself, family, and friends, I've got a large bag of tricks to draw from when trying to figure out a problem with the system. Amongst the tools of the trade for OS X troubleshooting are repairing permissions, repairing the hard drive, trying to duplicate the problem with a new user, trashing certain preference files, checking for font corruption, checking crash logs, disabling login items, booting in safe mode, and simply restarting. This isn't a comprehensive list, of course, but it gives you a sense for the wide range of tools you can use to solve a problem you may be having with OS X.

Now let's consider the iPhone. Unlike OS X, the iPhone is a very closed environment from a user's perspective. Your only view of the iPhone is the view you get when you turn it on. You aren't allowed to directly interact with the system in any way, other than through the various Settings screens on the iPhone itself. When you dock your iPhone, you can only work with it through iTunes (and iPhoto for photo synching).

When everything works--as it did for basically everyone using the first-generation iPhone with iPhone firmware version 1.x--that's good news. As a user, you don't really need to see the details when things are working well. Just plug in the iPhone, let it sync, and you're good to go. But what about when things aren't working well? As an example, say with iPhone firmware 2.0?

A fatal flaw
Many users, myself included, have had one particularly disastrous major issue with the 2.0.x version of the software. In my case, my phone has--five times and counting now, including twice in the last two days--reached a state where it won't get past the Apple logo portion of the boot process. This typically happens when applying an update to an application, either via iTunes or on the iPhone itself. During the process, the iPhone will spontaneously reboot, and then get stuck during the boot process, showing just the Apple logo. In one case, I even let it sit at that screen for four hours, just to make sure it was truly stuck--and it was. Coworkers and friends have had this same problem, as have hundreds of other people, so my experience isn't an isolated incident.

Sign up for ITworld's Daily newsletter
Follow ITworld on Twitter @IT_world

• Email
• Print
• Share
  • Slashdot
  • Digg
  • Stumble
  • Reddit
  • Newsvine