Will TM-restore just recreate permission and disk problems I was having?

My tale of woe, that of course happens the day before I need by machine for a meeting:
Last night, when I ran check permissions, and then repair permissions on my MacBook Pro, I got the message that permissions could not be repaired. After this, I made my first and only Time Machine backup.
This morning, I could not start-up my MacBook Pro. I just got a blue-gray screen containing a spinning wheel and a progress bar that got to maybe 10% (the progress bar was not numbered) before shutting down. I tried a few more times, but the same thing happened.
I was able to run Verify Disk using the Snow Leopard install disks, but when I ran Repair Disk, it could not repair, and indicated that I must reinstall the OS.
However, I was able to use a Firewire cable and Target Disk mode to get some recent files off of the MBP, which suggests to me that the hard drive is okay, and it's just something with permissions, and/or other disk errors.
I'm trying to figure out how I can restore my system (including settings) without restoring the same permissions errors and disk errors that seemed to have caused this problem in the first place.
My time machine backup was made AFTER the permissions problems. Does this mean that if I do a clean install of Snow Leopard, and then try to restore my system from the Time Machine back-up, that I will end up restoring those permissions errors and disk errors that I had before?
(I also have an older bootable clone (made with Carbon Copy Cloner) of my hard drive from a couple of months ago, but I assume it would be the same issue - that it would recreate the old errors.)
Any help or suggestions would be much-appreciated!

Mike_Rsch wrote:
Hi, and welcome to the forums.
I was able to run Verify Disk using the Snow Leopard install disks, but when I ran Repair Disk, it could not repair, and indicated that I must reinstall the OS.
I'm trying to figure out how I can restore my system (including settings) without restoring the same permissions errors and disk errors that seemed to have caused this problem in the first place.
My time machine backup was made AFTER the permissions problems. Does this mean that if I do a clean install of Snow Leopard, and then try to restore my system from the Time Machine back-up, that I will end up restoring those permissions errors and disk errors that I had before?
No. Permissions aren't the problem, some sort of directory corruption is. And since Time Machine backups are done file-by-file, rather than disk-sector-by-disc-sector, the exact condition wasn't copied. But if the problem prevented something from getting backed-up, there might be missing or incomplete items.
Your best bet is to boot up from your Install disc again, select Disk Utility again, but this time use it to reformat your internal HD. See #1, especially the yellow box, in Formatting, Partitioning, Verifying, and Repairing Disks. That will only take a few moments.
Then quit Disk Utility, return to the Installer, and install OSX. When your Mac restarts, use +Setup Assistant+ to transfer everything from your backups, per #19 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum). That will take longer, of course, depending on how much data you have.
When your Mac starts up again, download and install the 10.6.4 "combo" update. Info and download available at: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1048 Be sure to do a +Repair Permissions+ afterwards.
Once this is sorted out, continue making regular backups! You might want to review the Time Machine Tutorial and perhaps browse the rest of the FAQ.

Similar Messages

TS3694 My iPhone will not restore the process starts and then a message pops up saying 'we are unable to continue with your activation at the time' I have tried a few times now and the same. What can I do ? As I can't use iPhone at all now!!

My iPhone will not restore the process starts and then a message pops up saying 'we are unable to continue with your activation at the time' I have tried a few times now and the same. What can I do ? As I can't use iPhone at all now!!

Sorry... But...
The discussion of Jailbroken Devices is against the Terms of Use of this Forum.
You will need to look elsewhere.
Unauthorized modification of iOS
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3743

File permission and ownership problem

I am trying to resolve some file permission and ownership problems that are left over from using Migration Assistant to set up my iMac from an older iMac. In a terminal session when I use the ls -l command I'm getting a file/directory owner of 504. Sometimes the group is admin and sometimes the group is also 504. I think this is because the owner of the file on the old computer is not present in the new one but I want to be sure before I just change the owner and group.

The following should give you an indication->
id -un 504
or you could try->
dscl . list /Users UniqueID | grep 504 && echo "User exists" || echo "User does not exist"

HT201413 i cannot restore my ipad software i had download a new software on itunes but i couldnot download it on ipad or restore the old software and the problem is restoring ipad firmware

i cannot restore my ipad software i had download a new software on itunes but i couldnot download it on ipad or restore the old software and the problem is restoring ipad firmware

Try and force iPad into Recovery Mode
1. Disconnect the USB cable from the device, but leave the other end of the cable connected to your computer's USB port.
2. Turn off the device: Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button for a few seconds until the red slider appears, then slide the slider. Wait for the device to turn off.
3.While pressing and holding the Home button, reconnect the USB cable to the device. The device should turn on.
4. Continue holding the Home button until you see the "Connect to iTunes" screen. When this screen appears, release the Home button. iTunes should alert you that it has detected a device in recovery mode. Click OK, and then click Restore to restore the device.
Note: Data will be lost. You may have to repeat the above many times.

HT4886 When I try to reinstall the Server App it just shows installed and the date it was purchased. How can I reinstall it?

I bought a Mac Mini Server and after set up I realized that it was not set up as a mirrored raid system. So I followed the instructions on how to do that - this erased my drives. Restarted and reinstalled the Mountain Lion software but when I go to the app store it shows the server sotware in my purchases but there is no option for reinstall - it just shows INSTALLED and the date it was purchased.
Ho do I reinstall my server app?

Seems to have become available once again while downloading the update for Mountain Lion. I guess youjust have to wait a while for it to check your system and then make it available once more.

I wanted a solution to the problem I was having on Win 7 Pro Service Pack 1 in that links on an open Adobe Acrobat file will not open in my Firefox Browser 33.0.2. The Error I receive is "Acrobat could not run the web browser. Unknown Error. (123)"

I want a solution to the problem I was having on Win 7 Pro Service Pack 1 in that links on an open Adobe Acrobat Pro 10.1.12 file will not open in my Firefox Browser 33.0.2. The Error I receive is "Acrobat could not run the web browser. Unknown Error. (123)"

Change browsers. See what happens.
Be well...

New Mac with major permission and disk-write problems

Right, so I'm pretty new to Mac, after getting my first Mac computer (a 17-inch MacBook Pro) at the end of January this year. It's been great so far and I love the thing, but I've suddenly encountered some crazy problems which I'm pulling my hair out over because I have tried everything to fix them, and have had no luck.
I'll try to include as many details as possible, and I'm prepared to bear with anyone who asks me about something I've alrady tried, just so I can get this sorted.
Okay, so first of all, the main problem seems to be with permissions, mostly with disk-write permissions. Any apps that I want to install that required keychain access will no longer install. I enter my keychain password, hit Return, and the dialog box closes without continuing. So I hit "Install" again and it becomes a never-ending cycle of entering my password to no avail. Now, this happens with ANY application that requires keychain access to install. It is not limited to any particular application. I know my password is right because the box closes, and if I enter it wrong, the dialog box shakes because it is incorrect.
Furthermore, it seems keychain access is problematic in other apps. If I want to authenticate something, it will do the same thing as I mentioned before, meaning I get nowhere with the application.
From here, it gets worse. If I download something (anything), then restart my computer, it is still there. As it should be. However, if I delete an APPLICATION (not just any file) OR change preferences for some programs (one in particular that I specifically don't want starting up on.... startup), including through System Preferences>Users & Groups>Login Items, they will not save. This is driving me insane. For instance, I downloaded some free apps from the Mac App Store to try out, but decided I didn't want them. I tried to deleted them from the app folder and succeeded. Emptied trash. Gone. Restart, and.... they're back? So I tried to uninstall them via the Mac App Store, once I found you could do that. Again, it didn't work. Any Login Items preference changes don't stay after a restart.
Originally, none of this was a problem and everything was working fine. The first sign that something was wrong would be Apple Mail often asking for passwords, usually for my Hotmail accounts, saying that they were rejected by the server (but are correct passwords, I get the emails from the accounts, and the passwords are always accepted once I type them in, only to be asked for them some time later on for no apparent reason). At the time, I tried to repair the keychain, tried deleting and recreating the mail account entries and what not, but nothing helped. It still happens, but at the time, it was more of a niggly thing than an outright problem.
I should also mention that I did use BootCamp to install Windows 8 on a small partition, but after I couldn't boot back into Mac (I didn't realise you had to use the Option key whilst booting), I found out that you had to hold the Option key to get back into Mac, then used BootCamp to get rid of Windows. Everything was fine so far. Until I decided to reinstall Windows 8 with BootCamp. This is where things started going wrong. I decided to install a bootloader to make it easier for me to boot between the two systems. I was tossing up between rEFIt and Chameleon, and decided that rEFIt would be the best for my needs. So I downloaded and installed it, which seemed to go fine. Until I restarted. Mac would endlessly load (the spinning grey dots with the Apple logo).
Now, I actually managed to fix this, but I should probably go into more detail. First of all, holding the option key and selecting my Mac partition would allow me back into Mac, and same with Windows 8. At this point, I decided to uninstall Windows 8 to try fix my problems, except now BootCamp was giving me errors. I believe it was something about being unable to unmount the disc, but it may have been a different error. I don't entirely remember. So then I decided to try getting rid of rEFIt. I followed the instructions on the official site but it didn't work. So then I tried deleting the files with root (sudo) access through terminal. Which also failed....
So to the Recovery partition. Booting into Disk Utilities, I repaired permissions, which worked fine, and repaired the disk. I believe I had run the disk repair a few times before to try to fix BootCamp when it stopped working. Anywaym it had worked before, but this time, it said that it was corrupted and could not be repaired. Something about needing to reinstall Mac OS X. With all my files on this computer and currently nothing to back it up with (eventually I will have something to do backups with, but it'll have to wait a few months), I'm not going to do that.
Finally, I managed to delete the rEFIt files through Terminal within the Recovery partition. I ran permission repair and disk repair again to clean anything up. Disk repair gave me the same error, but now I could get back into Mac without holding the option key on every **** boot.
Now more problems had presented themselves. I decided that the lock under Login Items was probably preventing me form successfully changing my startup items. Trying to unlock it did the same thing as I previously mentioned. Type in my password, keychain accepts it, then nothing happens. The keychain settings were already defaulted so that keychain would stay unlocked after authenticated, and all stuff like that. Using "Get Info" on anything has permissions locked and again, I cannot unlock to change them, although looking at a PDF file just now, whilst still locked, it would allow me to add or remove users, so maybe that's not completely accurate. I believe I tended to look at the system folders though, and my name wasn't under ownership, although I don't believe it was meant to be, but I was hoping that maybe that would fix the problem. I guess not.
At this time, I still had my Windows 8 partition sitting around and couldn't get rid of it. I heard of the manual way to do it through Disk Utility. I tried this in Mac OS X, and through the Recovery partition, but neither worked. An error about being unable to unmount the drive. I finally found a way to remove it. Honestly, I don't completely remember how I did it, but I believe it was through a command line, uh.... command. Now I had free space that I couldn't use to expand my Macintosh HD partition back to full size, again with the unable to unmount error. Finally, I fixed this by booting from a Mac OS X installation disc that I happened to have, and using Disk Utility off of that. After that, Disk Utility no longer gave me errors for disk repair.
However, my other problems all still remained. I had written a little list of things I found on the internet for fixing my problems. One solution was to use "resetpassword" through terminal under the Recovery partition, then select Macintosh HD and select "Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs". That didn't work until I tried it through the Disk Utility on the Mac OS X installation disc. That worked, and once I was back into Mac, Spotlight started indexing again. However, nothing else had happened.
I should also mention that keychain access isn't completely non-existent for me. Setting up a new WiFi connection worked for me (that is, connecting to a new network), but now every time I connect to the network, I have to authenticate it. However, it does accept my keychain password and eventually connect.
Now, another thing on my list to try was single-user mode, and using "/sbin/fsck -fy" until everything was okay. Well, the first time, it found a bunch of errors, then fixed itself up. Then it was all okay. But nothing had changed. So trying again, I this time used ?/sbin/mount -uw /" which I believe is meant to allow writing access to the drive. Now when running "/sbin/fsck -fy", I had an error. Specifically, "Journal need to be replayed but volume is read-only".
So that's pretty much where I am up to at the moment. It seems to be a poblem with write permissions, possibly among other things. If it was Windows, I might be able to work it out easier, but being new to Mac, I'm still finding my way around. I guess this is a good learning experience, but it's not fun to have to deal with it so early on.
If anyone can help me, I'd greatly appreciate it. I have tried many things, so if you suggest something that I have tried and possibly forgot to mention, I'll let you know, but any help is still helpful, even if only eliminating possible problems/causes/solutions.

Actually you first post is so long that most people just glance at it and move on. To say the least you are very verbose.
Your problem stems from something going wrong with permissions, as you know. How and why that happen is usually a user error of some type.
You can try to repair permissions and see if that corrects it. If not I will leave other options to someone that may know more about the permission system on a Mac.

How do I restore just Apple Mail (and all its folders & settings) with TM?

Hi folks,
I was trying to set up an e-mail client on a PC, clicked and unclicked my gmail pop & imap on and off, and when I got home to my Apple MacBook, I had inadvertently reloaded (twice!) every e-mail that I've ever gotten in g-mail to Apple Mail which I use happily at home! No matter what I do, Apple Mail just won't delete the 29,000+ emails. And Mail is hanging, I suspect it just can't handle the massive numbers of e-mails and all the attachments, images, etc.
So I figure I must start from where I was at last Time Machine backup. I want to restore everything about Apple Mail as of my last backup -- all the same folders, saved mail, preferences, etc. How do I restore just Apple Mail but nothing else? Thanks!
-- Josh

I've never done that, and don't think I've seen any similar posts here. You might want to look in the Mail and Address Book forum at: http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1223
Take a look on your system at +<your home folder>/Library/Mail.+ (List view is probably best for this).
You'll see a number of folders for accounts and mailboxes. There are separate folders for each account, and within them for various mailboxes, plus folders for "on my Mac" mailboxes.
With Mail off, of course, I think you should be able to restore either the entire Mail folder, or selected sub-folders within it, via Finder > Time Machine.
After you do that, you may need to use the +Mail > Mailboxes > Rebuild+ option in Mail.
(Do not use the specialized Mail > Time Machine +Recover your <named> Mailbox+ option there, as it will leave the current contents alone, and restore the messages to a new "restored" mailbox.)
Let us know if this helps or hurts.

OS will not restore to my new hard disk...

I have just bought a 'used' iBook G4 which was said to have had a faulty HDD. I took-out the old 40GB, replaced it with a standard ATA 80GB and tried to re-install the OS (10.3) from the original installation discs, holding down c when starting-up. I have tried dozens of times and it usually give me the grey Apple screen with timer, the DVD drive then makes a lot of whirring noises then I just get a dead blue screen (crash?). Occasionally, however, it has let me start the installation but, each time, it just gets as far as the destination disk screen only to show me a red exclamation sign over the disk icon with a notice saying that the OS cannot be installed onto this disk (no explanation why!). I have tried erasing and repairing the new disc, but it makes no difference.
I've lost hours on this (the new disk took forever to install!) and I am losing the willpower and patience to face disassembling the whole machine again...
I need help please!!! (otherwise the iBook goes through the window and I replace it with an IBM! (yes, it really is that desperate!).
Thank you!

luke:
Welcome to Apple Discussions.
OS (10.3) from the original installation discs,
We will assume, for now, that your install disks are, indeed, the original disks, try this:
Formatting, Partitioning Zeroing a Hard Disk Drive and Installing OS X
Warning! This procedure will destroy all data on your Hard Disk Drive. Be sure you have an up-to-date, tested backup of at least your Users folder and any third party applications you do not want to re-install before attempting this procedure.
Boot from the install CD holding down the "C" key.
Select language
Go to the Utilities menu (Tiger) Installer menu (Panther & earlier) and launch Disk Utility.
Select your HDD (manufacturer ID) in left side bar.
Select Partition tab in main panel. (You are about to create a single partition volume.)
Select number of partition in pull-down menu above Volume diagram.
(Note: 1 partition is normally better for an internal HDD.)
Type in name in Name field (usually Macintosh HD)
Select Volume Format as Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Click Partition button at bottom of panel.
Select Erase tab
Select the a volume under Manufacturer ID (usually Macintosh HD).
Check to be sure your Volume Name and Volume Format are correct.
Select on Security Options button (Tiger) Options button (Panther & earlier).
Select Zero all data. (This process will map out bad blocks on your HDD. However, it could take several hours. If you want a quicker method, don't go to Security Options and just click the Erase button.)
Click OK.
Click Erase button
Quit Disk Utility.
Open installer and begin installation process.
Choose to Customize and deselect Foreign Language Translations and Additional Printer drivers.
Check box to install BSD Subsystems.
Proceed with installation.
After installation computer will restart for setup.
After setup, reboot computer.
Go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.
Select your HDD (manufacturer ID) in left side bar.
Select First Aid in main panel.
Click Repair Disk Permissions.
Connect to Internet.
Download and install 10.3.9 Combo Update.
Computer will restart after update.
Go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.
Select your HDD (manufacturer ID) in left side bar.
Select First Aid in main panel.
Click Repair Disk Permissions.
Please post back with an update on your progress or with further questions/comments.
Good luck.
cornelius

My I phone4 will not restore just flashes White

Really get enjoyed with my phone now really strange phone is I'n recovery mode and I tunes can extract my files but as soon as it goes to restore my phone,the iPhone flashes White and turns off.... Am now really stuck into what to do.

I am not sure of your problem, you have either a recovery mode loop problem...or ...your iPhone failed a Restore and you are trying to get into Recovery Mode again.
If you want to get the iPhone into Recovery Mode again, then hold down Home button as you plug the USB cable into computer with iTunes. Keep holding Home button until enter Recovery Mode, then Restore iPhone.
If your iPhone will not Restore, then take it to Apple for assistance, including warranty coverage.

Permission and authentication problems

My main account had Filevault enabled (it had been that way for some time) and I had wanted to disable it for some time, but kept getting errors telling me I couldn't do so. I decided yesterday to try and do something about it, and found out from an Apple Info Doc that I basically had to copy my Home Folder somewhere else, make a new account, and copy all the stuff there.
While logged in to the account, I copied (using the Terminal "cp -R") everything in my Home Folder on to an external drive I have (I wanted to keep invisible files so I didn't want to just drag and drop). I made the new account, copied everything over ("cp -Rf" to replace everything) and I'm having some permission issues.
(I did run "Repair Disk Permissions".) One of the more annoying problems I'm having is that I can't put anything into the Trash without entering my password: "Finder requires that you type your password", "Right: com.apple.desktopservices", "Application: Finder". On top of that I have a few more minor issues, but I'm guessing if I can find out how to fix this one I can figure out how to fix the rest.
Any help is appreciated.

My main account had Filevault enabled (it had been that way for some time) and I had wanted to disable it for some time, but kept getting errors telling me I couldn't do so. I decided yesterday to try and do something about it, and found out from an Apple Info Doc that I basically had to copy my Home Folder somewhere else, make a new account, and copy all the stuff there.
While logged in to the account, I copied (using the Terminal "cp -R") everything in my Home Folder on to an external drive I have (I wanted to keep invisible files so I didn't want to just drag and drop). I made the new account, copied everything over ("cp -Rf" to replace everything) and I'm having some permission issues.
(I did run "Repair Disk Permissions".) One of the more annoying problems I'm having is that I can't put anything into the Trash without entering my password: "Finder requires that you type your password", "Right: com.apple.desktopservices", "Application: Finder". On top of that I have a few more minor issues, but I'm guessing if I can find out how to fix this one I can figure out how to fix the rest.
Any help is appreciated.

Suddenly can't use my CS5 - just get 'Unexpected and unrecoverable problem' alert. This is very frustrating.

My CS5 no longer works - just get an annoying "Unexpected and unrecoverable problem" alert.
I use Mac OSX Yosemite.
Anybody know how to solve the problem - clearly, Adobe doesn't!!!

What CS5 product? What exact Mac? What else? You need to be much more specific.
Mylenium

My iPod generation 6 160gb will not sync. iTunes says corrupt, won't restore just errors out and then loops the same messages.

My iPod is corrupt according to iTunes, however it won't restore through iTunes either. I've tried to reformat the drive. Makes no difference. I've tried to reformat after choosing disk manager, and again the same result. The iPod takes forever to work through the reformatting process and I get the same message "Itunes has detected an iPod that appears to be corrupted. You may need to restore this iPod before it can be used with iTunes. You may also try disconnecting and reconnecting the iPod" and then my pc tells me to format the disk.
It's so frustrating, is there a fix to this? It seems like the iPod could still function, but I'm missing the way to get out of this loop, please help me!

Likely a hard drive fault, see the note that i wrote few years ago, hopefully it helps
If a sad iPod icon or an exclamation point and folder icon appears on your iPod’s screen, or with sounds of clicking or HD whirring, it is usually the sign of a hard drive problem and you have the power to do something about it now. Your silver bullet of resolving your iPod issue – is to restore your iPod to factory settings.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60983
If you're having trouble, try these steps at different levels one at a time until the issue is resolved. These steps will often whip your iPod back into shape.
Make sure you do all the following “TRYs”
A. Try to wait 30 minutes while iPod is charging.
B. Try another FireWire or USB through Dock Connector cable.
C. Try another FireWire or USB port on your computer .
D. Try to disconnect all devices from your computer's FireWire and USB ports.
E. Try to download and install the latest version of iPod software and iTunes
http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/
For old and other versions of iPod updater for window you can get here
http://www.ipodwizard.net/showthread.php?t=7369
F. Try these five steps (known as the five Rs) and it would conquer most iPod issues.
http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/five_rs/
G. Try to put the iPod into Disk Mode if it fails to appear on the desktop
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93651
If none of these steps address the issue, you may need to go to Intermediate level listed below in logical order. Check from the top of the lists to see if that is what keeping iPod from appearing on your computer in order for doing the Restore.
Intermediate Level
A. Try to connect your iPod with another computer with the iPod updater pre-installed.
B. Still can’t see your iPod, put it in Disk Mode and connect with a computer, instead of doing a Restore on iPod Updater. Go and format the iPod instead.
For Mac computer
1. Open the disk utility, hope your iPod appears there (left hand side), highlight it
2. Go to Tab “Partition”, click either “Delete” or “Partition”, if fails, skip this step and go to 3
3. Go to Tab “Erase” , choose Volume Format as “MAC OS Extended (Journaled), and click Erase, again if fails, skip it and go to 4
4. Same as step 3, but open the “Security Options....” and choose “Zero Out Data” before click Erase. It will take 1 to 2 hours to complete.
5. Eject your iPod and do a Reset
6. Open the iTunes 7 and click “Restore”
For Window computer
Go to folder “My Computer”
Hope you can see your iPod there and right click on the iPod
Choose “Format”. Ensure the settings are at “Default” and that “Quick Format” is not checked
Now select “Format”
Eject your iPod and do a Reset
Open the iTunes 7 and click “Restore”
In case you do not manage to do a “Format” on a window computer, try to use some 3rd party disk utility software, e.g.“HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool”.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=501330&tstart=0
C. Windows users having trouble with their iPods should locate a Mac user. In many cases when an iPod won't show up on a PC that it will show up on the Mac. Then it can be restored. When the PC user returns to his computer the iPod will be recognized by the PC, reformatted for the PC, and usable again. By the way, it works in reverse too. A Mac user often can get his iPod back by connecting it to a PC and restoring it.
Tips
a. It does not matter whether the format is completed or not, the key is to erase (or partly) the corrupted firmware files on the Hard Drive of the iPod. After that, when the iPod re-connected with a computer, it will be recognized as an fresh external hard drive, it will show up on the iTunes 7.
b. It is not a difficult issue for a Mac user to find a window base computer, for a PC user, if they can’t find any Mac user, they can go to a nearest Apple Shop for a favor.
c. You may need to switch around the PC and Mac, try to do several attempts between “Format” and “Restore”
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2364921&#2364921
Advance Level
A. Diagnostic mode solution
If you have tried trouble shooting your iPod to no avail after all the steps above, chances are your iPod has a hardware problem. The iPod's built-in Diagnostic Mode is a quick and easy way to determine if you have a "bad" iPod.
You need to restart your iPod before putting it into Diagnostic Mode. Check that your hold switch is off by sliding the switch away from the headphone jack. Toggle it on and off to be safe.
Press and hold the following combination of buttons simultaneously for approximately 10 seconds to reset the iPod.
iPod 1G to 3G: "Menu" and "Play/Pause"
iPod 4G+ (includes Photo, Nano, Video, and Mini): "Menu" and "Select"
The Apple logo will appear and you should feel the hard drive spinning up. Press and hold the following sequence of buttons:
iPod 1G to 3G: "REW", "FFW" and "Select"
iPod 4G+ (includes Photo, Nano, Video, and Mini): "Back" and "Select"
You will hear an audible chirp sound (3G models and higher) and the Apple logo should appear backwards. You are now in Diagnostic Mode. Navigate the list of tests using "REW" and "FFW". The scroll wheel will not function while in diagnostic mode. For further details on Diagnostic mode can be found at http://www.methodshop.com/mp3/ipodsupport/diagnosticmode/
Try to do the 5in1, HDD R/W and HDD scan tests. Some successful cases have been reported after the running the few tests under the Diagnostic mode. In case it does not work in your case, and the scan tests reports show some errors then it proves your iPod has a hardware problem and it needs a repairing service.
B. Format your iPod with a start disk
I have not tried this solution myself, I heard that there were few successful cases that the users managed to get their iPod (you must put your iPod in disk mode before connecting with a computer) mounted by the computer, which was booted by a system startup disk. For Mac, you can use the Disk Utility (on the Tiger OS system disk), for PC user, you can use the window OS system disk. Try to find a way to reformat your iPod, again it does not matter which format (FAT32, NTFS or HFS+) you choose, the key is to erase the corrupted system files on the iPod. Then eject your iPod and do a Reset to switch out from Disk Mode. Reboot your computer at the normal way, connect your iPod back with it, open the iPod updater, and hopefully your iPod will appear there for the Restore.
If none of these steps address the issue, your iPod may need to be repaired.
Consider setting up a mail-in repair for your iPod http://depot.info.apple.com/ipod/
Or visit your local Apple Retail Store http://www.apple.com/retail/
In case your iPod is no longer covered by the warranty and you want to find a second repairing company, you can try iPodResQ or ifixit at your own risk
http://www.ipodresq.com/index.php
http://www.ifixit.com/
Just in case that you are at the following situation
Your iPod warranty is expired
You don’t want to pay any service charges
You are prepared to buy a new one
You can’t accept the re-sell value of your broken iPod
Rather than leave your iPod as paper-weight or throw it away.
You can try the following, but again, only do it as your last resort and at your own risk.
Warning !!!! – It may or may not manage to solve your problem, and with a risk that you may further damage your iPod, which end up as an expensive paper weight or you need to pay more higher repairing cost. Therefore, please re-consider again whether you want to try the next level
Last Resort Level
1. . Disconnecting the Hard Drive and battery inside the iPod – Warning !! Your iPod warranty will be waived once you open the iPod.
In Hong Kong there are some electronic shops offering an iPod service for Sad iPod, the first thing they do is to open up the iPod’s case and disconnecting the battery and the Hard Drive from the main board of the iPod. Wait for 5-10 minutes and reconnecting them back. The reason behind which I can think of is to do a fully reset of a processor of the iPod. In case you want do it itself and you believe that you are good on fixing the electronics devices and have experience to deal with small bits of electronic parts, then you can read the following of how to open the iPod case for battery and HDD replacement (with Quicktimes)
http://eshop.macsales.com/tech_center/index.cfm?page=Video/directory.html
2.Press the reset button on the Hard Drive inside the iPod – Suggestion from Kill8joy
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2438774#2438774
Have I tried these myself? No, I am afraid to do it myself as I am squeamish about tinkering inside electronic devices, I have few experiences that either I broke the parts (which are normally tiny or fragile) or failed to put the parts back to the main case. Therefore, I agree with suggestion to have it fixed by a Pro.
2. Do a search on Google and some topics on this discussion forum about “Sad iPod”
Exclamation point and folder and nothing else
Spank your iPod
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ljPhrFUaOY
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3597173#3597173
Exclamation point and folder and nothing else
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2831962#2831962
What should I do with my iPod? Send it or keep it?
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=469080&tstart=0
Strange error on iPod (probably death)
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=435160&start=0&tstart=0
Sad Face on iPod for no apparent reason
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=336342&start=0&tstart=0
Meeting the Sad iPod icon
http://askpang.typepad.com/relevant_history/2004/11/meeting_the_sad.html#comment -10519524
Sad faced iPod, but my computer won’t recognize it?
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2236095#2236095
iPod Photo: unhappy icon + warranty question
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2233746#2233746
4th Gen iPod Users - are we all having the same problem?
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=2235623#2235623
Low Battery, and clicking sounds
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2237714#2237714
Sad faced iPod, but my computer won’t recognize it
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2242018#2242018
Sad iPod solution
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=412033&tstart=0
Re: try to restore ipod and it says "can't mount ipod"
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=443659&tstart=30
iPod making clicking noise and is frozen
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2420150#2420150
Cant put it into disk mode
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3786084#3786084
I think my iPod just died its final death
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3813051
Apple logo & monochrome battery stay
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3827167#3827167
My iPod ism’t resetting and isn’t being read by my computer
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=4489387#4489387
I am not suggesting that you should follow as well, but just read them as your reference. You are the person to make the call.
Finally, I read a fair comments from dwb, regarding of slapping the back of the iPod multiple times
Quote “This has been discussed numerous times as a 'fix'. It does work, at least for a while. In fact I remember using the same basic trick to revive Seagate and Quantam drives back in the mid to late 1980's. Why these tiny hard drives go bad I don't know - could be the actuator gets stuck in place or misaligned. Could be the platter gets stuck or the motor gets stuck. 'Stiction' was a problem for drives back in the 80's. Unfortunately the fix can cause damage to the platter so we temporarily fix one problem by creating another. But I know of two instances where a little slap onto the table revived the iPods and they are still worked a year or more later.”UnQuote

HT1766 How do I restore just one app and its data to a new device without overwriting what is already on the device?

I have an iphone and a New ipad. When I set up my ipad, I had already had my iphone backed up on iCloud. I didn't however, use the backup to set up the iPad, so some of the apps don't have the same data on both devices. This is mostly fine with me. I was able to sync my games so that I can play the games on both devices and not lose any data or progress in the game. There is only one game that I haven't been able to get onto the ipad with the progress that I have made, even though it's been backed up on the iCloud. Now both devices are being backed up on the iCloud. Some information is shared between them, some not. I have no idea why it's arbitrary which info is shared. But I would like to get the one game (and perhaps a few other apps) to sync between the devices. Is there a way to do this by targeting specific apps and their respective data?

The game that we are playing is called Swordigo ... A Zelda type game just FYI. When I installed the app I went into the Settings>Swordigo>sync saves to iCloud>On. That set it up to sync up to three different saves in iCloud because that is what this game offers.
Then my daughter downloaded the app to her iPad ( the original one that I gave her when I upgraded to the new one). We share an Apple ID for purchases.
When either of us launches the game on our iPads - the option to start from either save is already available in the game. The game supports this. Not all games will support it but you make it sound like your game does sync saves to iCloud.
There is a difference between saving data to iCloud and syncing game saves. The beauty of the syncing of saves is that I could download this game to my iPod touch as well and still pick up my "saved" game from iCloud,

Bad restore; just itunes logo and cable on screen

Brand new iPad mini. Connected it to my pc. Asked for a restoration. An error occurred. Now there is nothing. Just the itunes logo and a usb cable on the screen. Thank you.

Hello magoonregla,
Here are some resources that may assist with resolving the issue you are seeing.
First I would try to restore the device again in the same way, refer to this article if needed:
iTunes: Restoring iOS software
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1414
You may need to restart or even reset the iPad.
iPhone, iPad, iPod touch: Turning off and on (restarting) and resetting
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1430
IF these steps do not resolve the issue then I recommend using this article that should help isolate the issue preventing the restore from completing successfully.
iOS: Resolving update and restore alert messages
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1275
All the very best,
Sterling

Will TM-restore just recreate permission and disk problems I was having?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for