Successful update of 3G to iOS4 - here's what I did

Question

Hi All,
After having problems on my own trying to update my 3G to iOS4, after a quick call to Apple phone support (whom I find amazing, btw), everything got sorted out and I had a completely successful, smooth update.
The good news first: my 3G is actually zippier! Hard to know what to attribute this to, but part of it may have been the way I updated (see below). In any event, my 3G operates more smoothly, Safari works great, no apps crashing, all my data was restored, email works great, iPod works great, got the folders all arranged quickly via iTunes 9.2, etc.
The tips:
1. I was having an "error -5000" during my attempt to initiate a backup by using the Update button in iTunes. If you research this, it appears to be some sort of privileges issue, but in fact it occurred after waiting 5 hours for the backup to complete, something had hung it up -- I suspect something on my PC (Windows XP SP3, which I defrag frequently, have Norton AV on (latest version), and keep running clean). Hence the call to Apple, couldn't figure out how to get past it.
2. Here's the sequence the person on the phone gave me: a) restart your computer -- this makes sure there's nothing running in the background, your USB ports are reset, etc. -- it's a crucial first step. b) plug your iPhone into a different USB port (this eliminates the possibility the USB port you were using might be defective, or slow, for some reason). c) MAKE SURE YOU COMPLETE A BACKUP OF YOUR PHONE using the normal Sync/Backup process before doing anything related to updating. Check under Edit/Preferences/Devices to make sure you have a good backup before proceeding further. NOTE: I would add to this: _temporarily disable your antivirus/firewall program,_ if you can do so safely, to make sure there are no complications in iTunes communicating with the Apple servers, to verify the new OS file, re-activate your phone, etc. -- anything that gets in the way of that communications process that you have running on your computer is a risk. Also, if you have any programs like a screensaver that might pop up in the middle of all this, disable those, too.
3. Ok so here was the difference in approach: rather than hit Update, I hit Restore. I got an option to Update and Restore, which I accepted. What this does is re-format your phone, set it back to factory settings, wipe all data, and install iOS4 to, essentially, a clean environment. The key thing here is to WAIT through the whole cycle, don't unplug anything, do email, run any programs while waiting, touch your iPhone, etc. Your phone will reboot itself a couple of times to get to the point where this update is finished. Upon completion of this step, you have the equivalent of a factory-restored 3G with iOS4 on it, nothing else.
4. Then you get the choice to Restore as New, or Restore from Backup. KEY HERE: do NOT Restore as New. As the documentation for this process indicates (and has since iTunes 7), if you Restore as New, it WIPES OUT your backup. You will end up with a "new" 3G with iOS4. So be sure to _Restore from Backup_, which should be the backup you made prior to starting this whole process.
5. This is the long part. Hope you have a good, reliable, defragmented hard drive, and computer, that will do the restore cleanly. Again, no using the computer for anything else while this is going on! Restore from Backup will pull all your information -- notes, contacts, email, settings, app data, etc. -- back onto your iPhone.
6. This is the less long, but still long part. After your data and info has been restored on top of the new iOS4 on your 3G, iTunes 9.2 (you are using 9.2, I hope?!), all your apps and music from iTunes will be reinstalled on the iPhone. Again, let this process complete without fiddling around with iTunes or anything else on your computer.
7. Voila! 3G with iOS4. To be safe, go through another sync and backup cycle with your "new" 3G on iTunes, to make sure you have a good backup of your new system with iOS4 running, before you do anything else.
8. After everything's sync'd, running, NOW you can start doing things like rearranging apps into folders (easier to do in iTunes, on the Apps tab, than on your iPhone itself).
9. Also to be safe, go through all your settings, starting with the General Settings page, and make sure they're what you want.
I've been at this awhile today, as you might imagine, but one thing I'll mention in addition is that my battery, if anything, is lasting LONGER than it was prior to going through the above process. I suspect doing a full firmware wipe and reinstall also, along the way, reset my battery indicator, too.
I'm very relieved my 3G's updated to iOS4 so smoothly, and I'm amazed, despite all the reports here, at how fast it is! I hope you have as much success with the update as I did. Chances are very good if you've had your 3G (or 3GS) for awhile, there are mysteries that doing a full restore and then update after that will clear, so it's well worth going this way. I will rely more upon the Restore option in the future, if my iPhone starts getting wonky, now that I understand how it works.

Answer 1

I had no problems upgrading my 3G iPhone last night. I did not follow the initial prompt to upgrade, but first allowed it to run through it's normal backup/sync process. Then I clicked the Update button within iTunes. So far the phone responds much faster than before. I don't know what was going on with my phone before but it was dragging with the old os and I was having to do hard resets at least 5 times a week.
After upgrading the only problem I saw this morning was that Mail on the phone downloaded every single email as if they had never been read. Not an issue except that the app crashed once in the process of downloading. Then this afternoon I noticed that the screen is very touch sensitive, much more so than before and I even have a screen protector applied which normally makes it less touch sensitive. Several times today during calls it would suddenly switch to speaker mode. Is it possible that holding to my ear caused the mode to change? It was never so touch sensitive before but I read another post from someone with an iPhone 4 with the same complaint. I also had several dropped calls with someone this evening but it may have been something on their end, it's hard to tell... My phone was on my wifi at the time and had full bars.