iPhone customers lay into Apple after iOS 4.0.1 update fails to install iPhone customers are struggling to install Apple’s latest software patch and have been grumbling about the problems on Cupertino’s support forums. The company released its iOS 4.0.1 update yesterday, and immediately some users began complaining that they couldn’t successfully install it on their iPhones. “On a Win7 PC. …
Actually, worked fine for me too. When things go wrong for someone they scream and shout, and rightly so. But if it works fine they often just go on their merry way. They don't post on forums saying "Just thought I'd let everyone know that X worked as expected". So, just because a number of people complain doesn't mean it's necessary a disaster.
Out of interest, is this happening on Macs & Windows machines or just Windows machines ;)
Fanboi? Maybe.
USB static interference is a pain in the butt for Apple updates - have had several probelms with it in the past. Best fix I've found is before doing the update remove all USB devices excepet the iPhone, power down the machine, unplug it, hold the standby button down to drain all power from the machine totally (well, as much as poss) and then have a crack, preferably from a port furthest away from the power supply.
Took me three hours to update to OS4. No way I'm bothering for this one.
I had a very similar problem to this with my iPad updating to 3.2.1. I was on a laptop with Windows 7 x64 using iTunes x64 9.2.
I got error 14 when trying to update my iPad when trying the initial update and also the restore. I had to go to my x86 Windows 7 desktop and run the restore. Luckily I had a backup of my settings and apps so I just went back to my laptop, copied all the apps back on and then restored my settings backup.
At the time I assumed as per the apple kb that it was a problem with my usb ports (which are a bit funny on this laptop).
Only suggesting this cos it's Friday afternoon. Does anyone else think that there might be a saboteur at Apple? In all honesty if Jobs was to wake up one morning (assuming he sleeps) and think to himself "How could I destroy the reputation of my company?" he couldn't have done a better job than the fiasco the iPhone 4 is turning into.
Is there someone on the inside trying to bring the company down, maybe planted there by MS/Google/Adobe/take your pick of any of a myriad of disgruntled iPhone app developers.....
Is that they got in a panic about the antenna issues and decided they needed to rush out the bar update to try and quieten things down. Unfortunately when you rush out updates they are routinely not very well tested, and one of the hardest thing to test is the installation process.
Funnily enough, Apple's reputation for quality comes partly from the fact that they control the entire stack from hardware through to software. iOS is a significant departure from this in the fact that the application layer has many many more 3rd party apps on it than other Apple platforms. But installation is something that requires 3rd party hardware quite often as well. Anyone willing to bet that Apple don't test updates from anything except Macs? Anecdotally the problems seem to be when installing iOS 4.0.1 from anywhere except a Mac. My suspicion is that they have a non-standard feature in the USB implementation which works fine with Mac OSX hardware. And don't tell me that it is a Windows problem since the installed base of USB devices on windows that don't have an issue is rather a lot larger...
"I have updated iPhones on both windoze and mac, and have been fine - suspect its just hype like all of the reporting so far."
I suspect it's a problem in tolerance and depends on the quality of the USB controller in your computer. Macs are more expensive than low-end Windows boxes because they use high-end components. Mid-to-high-end PCs use the same components as Macs.
If the iPhone USB slave chipset has a low tolerance to static (either in hardware on in the software config) and drops the connections too easily, it won't be an OS-specific problem but rather a hardware-specific incompatibility.
Many device manufacturers have shot themselves in the foot by taking liberties with the specs and producing items that aren't compatible with other devices operating on the same specification....
... the windows program installer and the components of the iPhone that receive the data should have some answer to this kind of error, like, say, several retries, instead of just exiting immediately. Other programs that use USB ports have been doing this for ages.
One way or another, Apple has a lot of responsibility for this failure.
"Unfortunately when you rush out updates they are routinely not very well tested, and one of the hardest thing to test is the installation process."
Except if you'd read the article, you'd know it's due to USB issues. Oh, wait. You did know that since you mentioned it later in your post.
"Not the slightest issue - and it was way fast too" - fair comment. A bit of balance.
"sorry - I know you want as many bad-apples reported but I ain't one of them" - idiot comment whereby you identify yourself as that which you purport to ridicule - an intolerant 'tard not interested in truth - and blow the validity of your initial comment.
Well installed here (remarkably quickly) with no issues.
For a detailed analysis of the update, the marvellous anandtech does the business:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3821/iphone-4-redux-analyzing-apples-ios-41-signal-fix/1
Interestingly they point out how the iPhone 4 works well with much lower signal strengths. So maybe the corollary of having an antenna that can suffer from attenuation is that it can work better at lower strengths.
By putting the antenna on the outside, there is the possibility of working with worse signals. However, you can also get your "bags of salty water" a lot closer to the antenna, so the attenuation is more.
Speaking as someone who lives in areas of dodgy signal, I am happy that there is a way I can hold the phone for maximum signal strength. Saves standing on the toilet seat hanging out the window to get that text to go....
Of course, now that I have a SureSignal, the problem has gone away anyway.... ;-)
Why are seemingly normal, rational people unwilling to accept the fact that the fourth revision of this telephone a dud? They wouldn't accept a defective bar, television, etc but when it comes to a telephone not working they toss all their normal reactions out of the window and get defensive?
Many, including myself, stated you couldn't fix the antenna problem with software and now even some of the Apple supporters now accept Apple has failed (they have already admitted they have an 'issue').
But these people still proclaim they are satisfied.
Maybe I expect people to honour their word, their 'commitments', their warranties and had I any product that failed in such a spectacular fashion I would (and have done) bypass the supplier and sue. I have received two new cars in different settlement, a replacement $1749 bicycle and several monetary awards.
Apple has also treated customers with disdain and arrogance accusing them of not being intelligent enough to know how to hold these things.
Unless people stand up for their rights companies will simply continue cheat them of their due.
Meanwhile we await the pronouncement from the Lemon Factory as to what they are willing to do, without being directed by a court.
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