iP4 backup, clean & re-syncing issue/question

Steve-O

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Hi,

I have a question regarding backing-up & re-syncing specific parts of my backup (or alternative ways of doing this). I hope this all makes sense......

I originally had a a 3G which was jailbroken. I upgraded to a iP4 & created the phone data from the backup of the 3G. Certain remanents of the jailbreak also transferred over (emticons, numeric wifi etc), but it never caused any real problems or issues anywhere.

Since having the 4, I have noticed that throughout the day I struggle to send & receive data over 3G, despite having a full 3G signal. It tends to mainly happen during the day time & occasionaly in the evenings (although I'm normally connected via wifi when at home in the evenings). At first I thought it was a network issue, but this has been checked numerous times, & each time the network is fine, as is my account & all my settings etc. Other people with iP4's & on the same network in my office also don't have the same problem.

I spoke to someone from Apple & they suggested it was actually the phone & possibly from where I have created the phone from a previous jailbreak backup. They suggested clearing the phone & starting from scratch via iTunes.

Now, my problem is this: I have always avoided using iTunes to store info etc. Anything imported into my phone is then deleted from iTunes & I certainly don't use it to manage any of my day to day stuff, such as contacts - I do all this directly from the phone itself.
So what I need is a method to backup all my current data, create a new/clean phone in iTunes & then import said data back in. Obviously I can't restore from a backup of the phone at any point as this will just put everything back the way it was (currently is) & won't solve the problem.

The main things I want to be able to save & re-import are my contacts & SMS history. I have tried using Gmail to sync my contacts, but again, I have never managed them through this & after trying to use it, it only saved a few from my iPhone & then duplicated lots in the phone itself (possibly me not doing it correctly, but I followed everything I was supposed to do as far as I'm aware).

Any suggestions on how to accomplish saving & re-importing my pics, contacts, notes, SMS' etc (but mainly just the contacts & SMS')?!

Many thanks,
Steve
 

Erica

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Nov 14, 2010
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What I do is just save the files from the current iPhone & replace on the fresh iPhone after restoring but you need to access file system on your iPhone.

I use "i-FunBox" (i-funbox.com) mainly because it's easy if u don't use SSH programs.

Install it (or any program that allows u to access the iPhone file system...I also use "WinSCP").

I navigate to the following folders to save each thing:

AddressBook:
private/var/mobile/Library/AddressBook
I save whole "AddressBook" folder but only used AddressBook.sqlitedb file & AddressBookImages.sqlitedb

SMS:
private/var/mobile/Library/SMS
Save those files in SMS folder...mainly sms.db

You can go back into private/var/mobile/Library
and save anything else you need like Notes folder, Calendar, or Safari (for bookmarks & stuff)....MAIL never transferred over well for me though.

Save all these on hard drive...Refresh your iPhone with a clean install, then go back on with your program to access file system & put the files you saved on your fresh iPhone in the SAME EXACT PLACE you originally took it from. Respring iPhone & it should all be restored.

Good Luck!
 
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Erica

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Sorry, one last thing about saving photos, I wasn't able to just replace on new iPhone but I saved all the photos on my hard drive so at least I still had them.
You can transfer them onto you iPhone later if you need to.

My iPhone 4 photos are located in
private/var/mobile/Media/DCIM/100APPLE

Hope this helps!
 

Steve-O

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I'm having trouble navigating to the mentioned folders. Does the phone have to be jailbroken in order to access them?
 

Steve-O

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All seems to have worked ok apart from the photos, but I'll have a fiddle about with that in a bit. Thanks for the info!!! :)
 

Steve-O

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One final quick question: I restored all the data to it's original places, but the photos didn't show within the phone. But when I plugged it back into iTunes it showed that there was 1.25gb of photos (despite me not being able to see them.
I've had to sync the pics via iTunes to get them back on the phone, but is there anyway that I can restore them via the above process?!
 

Steve-O

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Jul 26, 2009
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Since doing the above, I'm having major issues with the camera & the saving of pictures (see: http://forum.tipb.com/showthread.php?p=1636339#post1636339).

I've updated to 4.2 & it seems to have restored my original camera roll, but I still can't save anything to it. Any pictures I take just disappear!

I'm DESPERATE to have my camera working by Friday as I'm off to see my newborn son for the first time, so if anyone could offer ANY advice/help, it would be much appreciated!!!!
 

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