Thoughts on iPhone 3G Firmware 2.1 Update

By Ex on September 14th, 2008 118

Hey all!

Today we talk iPhone Firmware 2.1!

As most of you know, the 2.1 firmware came out for the iPhone 3G some time around 6:00am PST on Friday September 12, 2008. I managed to pick it up about 20 minutes later, but due to unforeseen errors during the install, it actually took me over 2 hours to install it. So, during my time installing, I decided to make a step-by-step guide of what to do if and when the update install goes wrong. See below:

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My 9-step Guide on what to do when iTunes @#$%’s up your iPhone 2.1 upgrade:

1.) The update hangs or something goes wrong that you are clearly able to see that something is not right.

2.) Force close iTunes by whatever means you force close applications

3.) The iPhone will go into recovery mode. iTunes loads up again (it will load on its own). You now have to restore the iPhone. Click “Check” at the first prompt, “Check” at the second prompt, and “Restore and Update”.

4.) Let iTunes do its thing. Takes about 7 minutes for the restore.

5.) When you get to the “Set up your iPhone” screen, choose “New iPhone” or “Backup”. I did backup.

6.) iPhone will begin backing up. The iPhone display will change and say “iPhone is activated” with no slide to whatever bars along the bottom and “Restore in Progress” along the top. The iPhone also doesn’t dim. Just stays at full brightness with that cryptic “activated” message.

7.) iPhone will begin restoring from the backup and take a really…long…time. Though I suppose the less actual ‘stuff’ on your iPhone would make for a faster backup.

�

Intermission (45 minutes later)

8.) I guess at this time I should mention that if you have not previously synced your iPhone to iTunes in the last 24 hours, your “backup” will be from your last sync. So, sync often. I guess I could have mentioned this as a pre-step to step 1….

9.) So the restore from backup is done and now we move on to a black iPhone screen with the spinning loading progress thing. Push “OK” when prompted. iPhone Reboots. Wait for iPhone to show up in iTunes.

Thankfully, I am now successfully running 2.1 and loving it. The major fixes I was looking for were the Contact List lags and keyboard lags, both of which seem to be fixed thus far.

Below I have detailed a few things I have noticed so far with 2.1:

- Songs have their artists and albums shown in iPod under the song name

- Videos have a circle representing how far into the video you have watched

- Songs list has a search function/letters (like contacts) (Is this new?)

- No keyboard lag, no contact list lag

- SMS Repeat notification tone occurs approximately every 10 minutes if you have not viewed the message or simply acknowledged it

- New 3G and EDGE Symbols

- New GPRS Symbol

- Podcasts in the iPod have been totally reworked (displays how many episodes, length, and date prior to actually listening to it)

Some of the things I have noticed may not be new to 2.1, and some of the things I didn’t mention because they are obvious, such as the Genius stuff, but other than that the above list are of things I have not noticed before.

For those of you who have downloaded 2.1, how are your experiences? Good? Bad? Sound off in the comments below!

�

Reports on iPhone news, reviews apps and accessories. Also an armed ninja with an iPhone 4S.

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  • LoWd0Wn

    I have tried a video podcast and a video movie and don’t see that circle you are talking about to see how far into the video it is.
    I still get that line that shows you how far into the movie you are, showing the time watched and time remaining.
    Where is this that you are talking about??

  • LoWd0Wn

    I have tried a video podcast and a video movie and don’t see that circle you are talking about to see how far into the video it is.
    I still get that line that shows you how far into the movie you are, showing the time watched and time remaining.
    Where is this that you are talking about??

  • X1Zero

    @LoW,

    I went into “Videos” on the iPod and tapped the newly synced video. I paused it after watching about less than half and when backing out, the blue circle was half filled. I would imagine this would indicate the video is half way through.

    If this was there before, I never noticed it.

  • X1Zero

    @LoW,

    I went into “Videos” on the iPod and tapped the newly synced video. I paused it after watching about less than half and when backing out, the blue circle was half filled. I would imagine this would indicate the video is half way through.

    If this was there before, I never noticed it.

  • X1Zero

    @LoW,

    I went into “Videos” on the iPod and tapped the newly synced video. I paused it after watching about less than half and when backing out, the blue circle was half filled. I would imagine this would indicate the video is half way through.

    If this was there before, I never noticed it.

  • X1Zero

    @LoW,

    I went into “Videos” on the iPod and tapped the newly synced video. I paused it after watching about less than half and when backing out, the blue circle was half filled. I would imagine this would indicate the video is half way through.

    If this was there before, I never noticed it.

  • teenwolf

    while a song is playing in the iPod tap the sceen to bring up the song progress bar. The genius option will be there. Hope I explained it well enough.

  • teenwolf

    while a song is playing in the iPod tap the sceen to bring up the song progress bar. The genius option will be there. Hope I explained it well enough.

  • teenwolf

    while a song is playing in the iPod tap the sceen to bring up the song progress bar. The genius option will be there. Hope I explained it well enough.

  • teenwolf

    while a song is playing in the iPod tap the sceen to bring up the song progress bar. The genius option will be there. Hope I explained it well enough.

  • teenwolf

    while a song is playing in the iPod tap the sceen to bring up the song progress bar. The genius option will be there. Hope I explained it well enough.

  • ifokust

    MUCH improved battery life. Backup time is cut down by more than half for me(45mins to 15mins). The genius stuff is pretty cool too.
    I’ve noticed less app freezing etc. I’ve gone ahead and jailbroken my 3G iphone once again so here’s to the future.

  • ifokust

    MUCH improved battery life. Backup time is cut down by more than half for me(45mins to 15mins). The genius stuff is pretty cool too.
    I’ve noticed less app freezing etc. I’ve gone ahead and jailbroken my 3G iphone once again so here’s to the future.

  • ifokust

    MUCH improved battery life. Backup time is cut down by more than half for me(45mins to 15mins). The genius stuff is pretty cool too.
    I’ve noticed less app freezing etc. I’ve gone ahead and jailbroken my 3G iphone once again so here’s to the future.

  • ifokust

    MUCH improved battery life. Backup time is cut down by more than half for me(45mins to 15mins). The genius stuff is pretty cool too.
    I’ve noticed less app freezing etc. I’ve gone ahead and jailbroken my 3G iphone once again so here’s to the future.

  • IBMguy

    I’m having an issue with my location services. Every time I try to find where I am it doesn’t pinpoint me like it has in the past regardless if I’m indoors or out. Has anyone else had this issue?

  • IBMguy

    I’m having an issue with my location services. Every time I try to find where I am it doesn’t pinpoint me like it has in the past regardless if I’m indoors or out. Has anyone else had this issue?

  • IBMguy

    I’m having an issue with my location services. Every time I try to find where I am it doesn’t pinpoint me like it has in the past regardless if I’m indoors or out. Has anyone else had this issue?

  • IBMguy

    I’m having an issue with my location services. Every time I try to find where I am it doesn’t pinpoint me like it has in the past regardless if I’m indoors or out. Has anyone else had this issue?

  • pascal gehl

    I agree with you on keyboard and contacts speed.
    I’m disappointed on battery life, they claim it’s improved, I saw nothing, I still have to charge after 1,5 hours of facebooking, youtubing and emailing.

  • pascal gehl

    I agree with you on keyboard and contacts speed.
    I’m disappointed on battery life, they claim it’s improved, I saw nothing, I still have to charge after 1,5 hours of facebooking, youtubing and emailing.

  • pascal gehl

    I agree with you on keyboard and contacts speed.
    I’m disappointed on battery life, they claim it’s improved, I saw nothing, I still have to charge after 1,5 hours of facebooking, youtubing and emailing.

  • pascal gehl

    I agree with you on keyboard and contacts speed.
    I’m disappointed on battery life, they claim it’s improved, I saw nothing, I still have to charge after 1,5 hours of facebooking, youtubing and emailing.

  • pascal gehl

    I agree with you on keyboard and contacts speed.
    I’m disappointed on battery life, they claim it’s improved, I saw nothing, I still have to charge after 1,5 hours of facebooking, youtubing and emailing.

  • LoWd0Wn

    I see now X1. I was looking for a bigger circle not the blue little dot that shows a new show. Yes as soon as you watch a bit it turns to half the blue circle.
    Cool,I missed that.
    Thanks

  • LoWd0Wn

    I see now X1. I was looking for a bigger circle not the blue little dot that shows a new show. Yes as soon as you watch a bit it turns to half the blue circle.
    Cool,I missed that.
    Thanks

  • LoWd0Wn

    I see now X1. I was looking for a bigger circle not the blue little dot that shows a new show. Yes as soon as you watch a bit it turns to half the blue circle.
    Cool,I missed that.
    Thanks

  • LoWd0Wn

    I see now X1. I was looking for a bigger circle not the blue little dot that shows a new show. Yes as soon as you watch a bit it turns to half the blue circle.
    Cool,I missed that.
    Thanks

  • skydivertak

    I found that they fixed a problem with podcasts. Now, if you are listening to a series of unheard episodes, it will continue to the next one, rather than stopping after the first one.
    Because of this, you can now use the headphone switch to skip forward and backwards through episodes.

  • skydivertak

    I found that they fixed a problem with podcasts. Now, if you are listening to a series of unheard episodes, it will continue to the next one, rather than stopping after the first one.
    Because of this, you can now use the headphone switch to skip forward and backwards through episodes.

  • skydivertak

    I found that they fixed a problem with podcasts. Now, if you are listening to a series of unheard episodes, it will continue to the next one, rather than stopping after the first one.
    Because of this, you can now use the headphone switch to skip forward and backwards through episodes.

  • skydivertak

    I found that they fixed a problem with podcasts. Now, if you are listening to a series of unheard episodes, it will continue to the next one, rather than stopping after the first one.
    Because of this, you can now use the headphone switch to skip forward and backwards through episodes.

  • skydivertak

    I found that they fixed a problem with podcasts. Now, if you are listening to a series of unheard episodes, it will continue to the next one, rather than stopping after the first one.
    Because of this, you can now use the headphone switch to skip forward and backwards through episodes.

  • magimat

    Hey,

    It’s now really related to the topic, but anyone knows how to disable bookmarks sync with itunes? I just erased half of my laptop bookmarks while syncung my iphone! This is the secodn times it happens to me. I know there is this warning and you can say no but it keeps asking everytime I sync, is there a way to disable bookmark syncing once and for all?

    By the way, I am asking here because I cant post in the forums, dont knwo why, it says I doesnt have the privileges, weird, my account (magimat) is activated and all, but I can post.

    Oh, and since this is a FW 2.1 topic after all, I upgraded this weekend. I started over fresh with a restore noe iphone, since my 2.0.2 was jailbroken and I’m really glad I did. 2.1 feels a lot more stable, battery life itself is worth the upgrade!

    Now please, if someone know how to disable this annoying bookmark syncing.. who wants the same bookmarks on iphone an laptop anyway!

    Thanks

  • magimat

    Hey,

    It’s now really related to the topic, but anyone knows how to disable bookmarks sync with itunes? I just erased half of my laptop bookmarks while syncung my iphone! This is the secodn times it happens to me. I know there is this warning and you can say no but it keeps asking everytime I sync, is there a way to disable bookmark syncing once and for all?

    By the way, I am asking here because I cant post in the forums, dont knwo why, it says I doesnt have the privileges, weird, my account (magimat) is activated and all, but I can post.

    Oh, and since this is a FW 2.1 topic after all, I upgraded this weekend. I started over fresh with a restore noe iphone, since my 2.0.2 was jailbroken and I’m really glad I did. 2.1 feels a lot more stable, battery life itself is worth the upgrade!

    Now please, if someone know how to disable this annoying bookmark syncing.. who wants the same bookmarks on iphone an laptop anyway!

    Thanks

  • magimat

    Hey,

    It’s now really related to the topic, but anyone knows how to disable bookmarks sync with itunes? I just erased half of my laptop bookmarks while syncung my iphone! This is the secodn times it happens to me. I know there is this warning and you can say no but it keeps asking everytime I sync, is there a way to disable bookmark syncing once and for all?

    By the way, I am asking here because I cant post in the forums, dont knwo why, it says I doesnt have the privileges, weird, my account (magimat) is activated and all, but I can post.

    Oh, and since this is a FW 2.1 topic after all, I upgraded this weekend. I started over fresh with a restore noe iphone, since my 2.0.2 was jailbroken and I’m really glad I did. 2.1 feels a lot more stable, battery life itself is worth the upgrade!

    Now please, if someone know how to disable this annoying bookmark syncing.. who wants the same bookmarks on iphone an laptop anyway!

    Thanks

  • magimat

    Hey,

    It’s now really related to the topic, but anyone knows how to disable bookmarks sync with itunes? I just erased half of my laptop bookmarks while syncung my iphone! This is the secodn times it happens to me. I know there is this warning and you can say no but it keeps asking everytime I sync, is there a way to disable bookmark syncing once and for all?

    By the way, I am asking here because I cant post in the forums, dont knwo why, it says I doesnt have the privileges, weird, my account (magimat) is activated and all, but I can post.

    Oh, and since this is a FW 2.1 topic after all, I upgraded this weekend. I started over fresh with a restore noe iphone, since my 2.0.2 was jailbroken and I’m really glad I did. 2.1 feels a lot more stable, battery life itself is worth the upgrade!

    Now please, if someone know how to disable this annoying bookmark syncing.. who wants the same bookmarks on iphone an laptop anyway!

    Thanks

  • Peter

    I’ve noticed that after updating, when you enter a phone number in the keypad, the corresponding name in your contacts list doesn’t show up when you dial it. It will show up in your recent calls list, but as for when you’re dialing the number, it just shows the number and not the contact name. Has anyone else been experiencing this?

  • Peter

    I’ve noticed that after updating, when you enter a phone number in the keypad, the corresponding name in your contacts list doesn’t show up when you dial it. It will show up in your recent calls list, but as for when you’re dialing the number, it just shows the number and not the contact name. Has anyone else been experiencing this?

  • Peter

    I’ve noticed that after updating, when you enter a phone number in the keypad, the corresponding name in your contacts list doesn’t show up when you dial it. It will show up in your recent calls list, but as for when you’re dialing the number, it just shows the number and not the contact name. Has anyone else been experiencing this?

  • Peter

    I’ve noticed that after updating, when you enter a phone number in the keypad, the corresponding name in your contacts list doesn’t show up when you dial it. It will show up in your recent calls list, but as for when you’re dialing the number, it just shows the number and not the contact name. Has anyone else been experiencing this?

  • Peter

    I’ve noticed that after updating, when you enter a phone number in the keypad, the corresponding name in your contacts list doesn’t show up when you dial it. It will show up in your recent calls list, but as for when you’re dialing the number, it just shows the number and not the contact name. Has anyone else been experiencing this?

  • coop

    You’ll find it lurking at the bottom of the info tab in iTunes. It’s listed as “Web Browser”.

  • coop

    You’ll find it lurking at the bottom of the info tab in iTunes. It’s listed as “Web Browser”.

  • coop

    You’ll find it lurking at the bottom of the info tab in iTunes. It’s listed as “Web Browser”.

  • coop

    You’ll find it lurking at the bottom of the info tab in iTunes. It’s listed as “Web Browser”.

  • coop

    You’ll find it lurking at the bottom of the info tab in iTunes. It’s listed as “Web Browser”.

  • magimat

    thanks coop!!

  • magimat

    thanks coop!!

  • magimat

    thanks coop!!

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