Fixing iPad and iPhone "bricked" by iOS 8.1

So the other week I upgraded my iPad (it's an iPad 2) to iOS 8.0 and since then there was some significant slowdown of apps, and Safari seemed especially effected.  Oh it worked, just not at the brisk pace that I'm used to.  Anyway, last night I finally updated to iOS 8.1

Never, never again will I do such an upgrade to my ever-trusty iPad 2.  And yes, I know that I should upgrade the iPad itself.  It's three and a half years old, after all.  I guess it's seen me through an awful lot so there's that sentimental value.  If and when I finally retire it I'm thinking of putting it in a shadowbox and hang it on my wall.  But until then I'd still like to get at least a little life out of it.

Anyway, I started the update and went to sleep and when I woke up this morning it was supposed to have been all ready to go.  Except that it was even slower than it had been before.  So, I powered-down and waited 30 seconds then turned it on again.  And for the next 30 minutes or so I was staring at the silver Apple logo in the middle of a black screen and going nowhere fast.

I was immediately terrified that my iPad had become broken or bricked or something and that I would never see it or the data I had stored on it ever again.

Some Google-ing however indicated that I was far from alone: many people using older iPads (I've seen reports of iPad 3 and perhaps the generation after that) have been affected by iOS 8.1 and many iPhones going back to iPhone 5.  You would think that there would be some kind of thorough analysis and de-bugging, and at the very least have the device inform users when the newest iOS is incompatible with their device.  Some are wondering if this is apparently Apple's way of compelling consumers to buy the latest version of the hardware.

I know that the newest iPad Air is out this week, and I'm considering getting it soon.  In the meantime I do need my iPad now to be working.

Well, it took me an a hour and a half, but I did come up with something that gets the iPad un-bricked and if there's any consistency between the device itself and iTunes (note: make sure your iTunes is updated to the latest version) this will probably work for you too if your own device is hit with a "black screen of death"...

1.  Open up iTunes on your PC or Mac (I'm using Windows Vista... yeah yeah I'm a glutton for punishment).

2.  With your device unconnected to your computer, make sure your iPad or iPhone is already powered-on.  It's okay if it's still showing the black screen and logo: we're about to fix that!

3.  Connect the iGimmick to your computer/iTunes through the cable.

4.You should see iTunes acknowledging the presence of the device.  If your computer is anything like mine you will see that it's setting up new device stuff through the USB.  THIS IS A GOOD THING!  DON'T UNCONNECT YOUR iTHINGY UNTIL IT'S FINISHED DOING THIS!  You should know when it's done when your iPhone or iPad screen comes up as usual, with all your icons and wallpaper and whatnot.  If you can maneuver around the screen with your finger like usual that should indicate that the device has been re-set and back to normal.  But just in case I would leave it still communicating with iTunes for a little while (say, 10 minutes or so).

5.  While you're waiting for that, it's a good time to start backing up your iToy... so do that.  Do it now.  Or perish in flames.  It's your choice, but not really.

6.  After the backup is done (it took mine about 15 minutes because I had so many space-hoggin' apps on it... and other stuff) it is probably good to do.  Disconnect as normal and proceed to continue enjoying your iGadget as normal.

Last night I updated over the house network via wi-fi instead of going through iTunes, and I'm wondering if that is what was part of the problem.  Maybe, maybe not.  Worth pondering.  All I know is that once it was physically hooked-up with iTunes things started going back to normal.

Now, there's one thing that I haven't done so far.  I haven't powered-down and tried to turn it back on.  Because I'm kinda leery about doing so and having to go through this crap all over again.  I may try it tomorrow if I'm brave enough (I'm trying to get some book written  this afternoon/evening so while I'm in that groove).  If it works I'll let y'all know.  Or if it works for you, feel free to leave a comment about it.

Guess I'll have to get an iPad Air 2 sooner than later.  But that's okay.  I've had my eye on getting a 128-gigabites model for awhile now anyway :-)

EDIT 5:02 p.m. EST:  I should have mentioned earlier that after applying this fix following the upgrade to iOS 8.1, that my iPad 2 is functioning MUCH faster than it had been prior.  It's now comparable to the speed it was on iOS .  Even Safari.  And the touch screen seems a tad more responsive now also.

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STAR WARS: KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC comes to the iPad!

When I first heard about it this morning, it was only from a report and there had been no announced availability but my first reaction was already "SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!!"

Guess who just spent ten bucks on the App Store?

BioWare's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, deemed by many to be the greatest Star Wars video/computer game ever and one of THE best games of all time period, has been ported to the iPad and is on sale now!  Ten years after it was first released, Aspyr Media has taken this much-beloved classic and put the whole experience in the palm of your hands, to enjoy wherever you happen to be.  It requires at least an iPad 2 to run and it needs iOS 6.  As well as some hefty space for the install (1.9 gigs free but I'm hearing at least 2.5 is recommended).

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is available for $9.99 on the Apple App Store.  Go download it now, meatbags!

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The Shroud of Turin? There's an app for that!

Before I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark in the theater (yeah I was that young: it was a weird weird childhood) and got hooked on archaeology, the Shroud of Turin had grasped my fascination.  All I knew at the time was that it might have been the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in after His death and that somehow, His picture got transferred into the material.  I've been reading every serious article and journal paper about the Shroud for most of my life and my curiosity about it has grown more and more.  Especially at this time of year.

What do I think of the Shroud of Turin?  Well, despite many attempts to reproduce it, those have always failed.  And then there is the forensic analysis: just this week scientists announced that the Shroud is almost certainly a product of the First Century.  When you figure in that pollen grains from plants found only in the region around Jerusalem have been extracted from the Shroud and well... if nothing else it is a historical relic of the utmost intrigue.

This being Holy Week, for the second time in history (the first was 1973) the Shroud of Turin is going to be televised live, beginning tomorrow.  And if you want a REALLY up-close look at the Shroud, you should check out The Shroud of Turin 2.0 for iPad and iPhone.

Haltadefinizione is the studio that did the high-definition photography of the Shroud five years ago.  It was the best photo documentation of the Shroud to date and now courtesy of those same folks it's all in the palm of your hand (or your lap). The Shroud of Turin 2.0 takes the 1,649 pics of the Shroud, combines them into a 12 billion pixel image weighing in at 72 gigabytes and streams it to your device (be still your heart: the actual app is only 50 MB in size).  You can download a free version, or pay $4 that gives you the option for even higher-resolution images.  If you want it, mash down here to find it on Apple's App Store!

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"Winter is coming"... and this iOS app will help guide your way!

Last spring I added a new vice to my list of stuff worth spending valuable time on. I haven't spoken about it on this blog yet but those who know me best will tell you that I have become a huge fan of A Song of Ice and Fire (AKA Game of Thrones), the fantasy novel series by George R.R. Martin. Kristen gave me a Barnes & Noble gift card for my birthday last year and I used it to buy A Game of Thrones. When June rolled around I wound up taking A Feast for Crows along on our trip to Oregon. And just before Christmas I finished the most recent book, A Dance with Dragons.

I am digging the heck out of this series! My three absolutely favorite characters are Jon Snow, Arya Stark and Tyrion Lannister. Especially Tyrion: it's impossible to get enough of that guy! Jon and his direwolf Ghost - with the Wall behind them - are the wallpaper on my desktop and iPad. And if I ever have a daughter someday I hope she's even half as spunky as Arya is.

And all of this was before I had even watched HBO's Game of Thrones, the acclaimed television series based on the books. I just finished the Blu-ray set of Season 1 and am looking forward to getting Season 2 when it comes out. Maybe there'll be a way I can sneak some premium cable by the time Season 3 begins late next month. I can see now why Peter Dinklage earned that Emmy: his portrayal of Tyrion is the most electrifying character on television lately.

"Stick them with the pointy end!"

While we're waiting for the next volume, The Winds of Winter, to get published one of these daysyears, if you're also a fanatic for all things Westeros and have an iPad or other Apple gadget then you should check out A World of Ice and Fire app for iOS devices. It's not as thorough as A Song of Ice and Fire Wiki and it isn't as definitive as it could (and let's hope eventually will) be, but as a basic guide for the Game of Thrones it comes pretty handy. The app is loaded with character biographies, genealogical info (so you can keep track of which is Robert Baratheon and Robert Arryn, who I'd love to see thrown through the Moon Door someday), maps of the various regions, some really nice artwork of many of the characters and locations... all things considered good enough to recommend for downloading from the App Store. It's not "perfect" but it still ample merit for some positive mentioning. There is even an option that will keep "spoilers" hidden until you've completed reading any book in the series. It's a free app but some features you'll have to pay for. Even so, it can be pretty useful while following the machinations, manipulations and myriads of characters fighting to control the Iron Throne!

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iOS 5.0.1 has been released

If you've an Apple iOS device that's been plagued by battery problems from iOS 5, be of good cheer: iOS 5.0.1 is now available, and it's said to put those high-drain issues to bed!

This is also the first time that iOS can be updated "over the air" via a Wi-Fi connection, which is what I just did with my iPad 2. It's by far the most straightforward process I've ever experienced in upgrading any operating system. Just go into Settings and tell your iOS gadget to check for an updated version. From there it was just a simple matter of about 40 MB of download and the iPad running from there. Total update time: less than 10 minutes. I bet my Dad could even do it... and he hates computers! :-P

Anyhoo, iOS 5.0.1 is out there now. You know you want it...

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Finally got my iPad 2 updated to iOS 5

The initial rush by everyone to update to iOS 5 along (has there ever been a file so large downloaded by so many at the same time?) with other factors kept me from upgrading my precious iPad to iOS 5 until this afternoon. But now that I've got it loaded... wowzers!!

The split keyboard alone is enough to compel me to tip my hat to the good folks at Apple. I'm also discovering that there are some new features on the camera (well, new to me anyway). Didn't have any problems updating: many people reported that stuff like contacts info etc. became lost during their own update procedures but happily, that time seems to have passed (something about how Apple's iTunes servers couldn't validate properly with all those folks attempting to install simultaneously).

Meanwhile I'm considering getting my first-ever smartphone, an iPhone 4S. Don't know if that means I'm officially "dumb" now or what... :-P

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"Weird Al" Yankovic's book WHEN I GROW UP now an awesome app for your iOS gadget!

This past winter master musical parody artist "Weird" Al Yankovic published his first-ever book, When I Grow Up. Yankovic's children's book resonated with audiences of all ages and fast found itself on the bestseller lists. If you've read it (and even if you haven't yet, you hooligan!) and you happen to have an iOS gizmo like an iPad or an iPhone, you'll be sure to want to check out the When I Grow Up interactive book on Apple's App Store. The entire book with all its artwork is here, along with at least 27 (quite possibly many more) hidden surprises, all accompanied by Yankovic's voice! There are also a few mini-games that will have you honking with laughter. Not kidding: "Gorilla Masseuse" for a few days recently was the most-played game on my iPad! I think it took me the better part of the week to keep that poor ape from going on a GORILLA RAMPAGE!

The app is $2.99 and is well worth the price, whether you want it for your children or for that kid in each of us :-)

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Pope Benedict tweets (with an iPad 2!)

This photo is so fascinating, and I can't quite articulate why. Pope Bendict XVI, using an iPad 2 and quite obviously on Twitter, to "tweet" a brief message to inaugurate the Vatican's official news site.

And what was the Holy Father's first message in 140 characters or less?

"Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI"

The Catholic Church was the primary repository of knowledge and learning in Europe from the fall of the Roman Empire on through to the Renaissance. To have gone from a collection of scrolls and parchments, to seeing this photo of its leader communicating to the world with a piece of high-tech silicon and glass...

As I said: "fascinating"!

(But I'm also wondering if His Holiness might use his snazzy new gizmo for the occasional game of Angry Birds. Not that there's anything wrong with that... ;-)

Click here for SQPN's report on Pope Benedict's first tweet. And thanks to Fr. Roderick Vonhögen for the heads-up!

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Make Super 8-ish movies with your iOS gizmo!

As of this evening I haven't seen Super 8, but some of the coolest cats that I have the honor of personally knowing seem to be completely losing their minds about how incredible it must be. I'm gonna be catching it Sunday afternoon with friends and am really looking forward to it :-)

But in the meantime, thought I'd turn y'all's attention to 8mm Vintage Camera, a sa-weeet lil' app from Nexvio for Apple iOS devices that are camera equipped (doesn't matter if it's an iPhone, iPod touch or the newest iPad). 8mm Vintage Camera turns your newfangled Apple contraption into an old-school 8mm movie camera with all the fixins. Select from different lenses, various types of film stock, and you can even give it a classic camera frame jitter effect. I've had this app for a few weeks now and it has definitely become one of my favorites. Indeed, all kinds of fun ideas have crept into mind since I started playing with it!

8mm Vintage Camera is $1.99 on the App Store, and the current version (1.1) is a tiny 2.7 MB download. Click here to get to it on iTunes. You'll thank me that you did :-)

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"What hath God wrought"

Because I have such a love of history, Samuel Morse's first message by telegraph seemed more than a fitting first post to make from my new iPad :-)

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Question for iPad owners (about Bible software)

Barring any crazy circumstance, I should be getting my iPad 2 next week! Looking forward to having it for... well, all kinds of good stuff :-)

So I've already been planning which apps I should buy for it: the list thus far includes iMovie, Garageband (I've waited five years for the chance to use that program 'cuz Apple doesn't make it for Windows), and the iPad/iPhone port of Doom ('cuz in my book it's not a real computer unless it plays Doom).

There's one more bit o' software that I aim to install on my iPad right out the gate, but I thought I'd pose this to my readers...

What's a good Bible app for the iPad?

It'd be great to find one that has multiple versions available. Other than that, well... I don't know what I should be looking for.

Suggestions? Any would be most welcome :-)

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It's just me... and my Smart Cover

So after doing my best to find an iPad 2 at one of the many local stores purporting to carry it, to no avail, I bit the debit card and proceeded to Apple's website and ordered one. And I went all out!! Got a 64-gigabyte model in black, with Wi-Fi and 3G (the AT&T version). Looking forward to it arriving in a few weeks. Hey, then I can be blogging from anywhere! Like at iCoffee in Summerfield, f'rinstance. I guess then I could have Tebow sitting next to me whilst I write. Heh-heh, "Blogging with Tebow": sounds like a winner :-)

Well anyhoo, I just checked the status of my order and the iPad 2 is still due to arrive in mid-April. However, the Smart Cover that I ordered along with it is already en route and due to be delivered here on Tuesday!

That's a bit bass-ackwards. It's like priority shipping a pooper-scooper ahead of a puppy. Apple coulda saved wads of money if it had shipped them together, but I didn't see an option for that when I placed my order. Pretty lousy business sense, in my opinion.

But anyhoo, I'll soon have an iPad 2 Smart Cover, but no iPad 2. Guess I'll just have to use my imagination for the next four weeks. Sorta like a Calvin 'n Hobbes thing when you think about it.

Maybe I could put the Smart Cover on an Etch-A-Sketch and pretend that I have an iPad 2? :-P

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Darn you Steve Jobs!

My plans have been thrown afoul... because now I'll have to be here next Friday afternoon to place my order for the iPad 2 on Apple's website.

(Mash here for one of Engadget's myriad of articles about the product's unveiling today.)

I didn't get an iPad last year, but I fell in love enough with the simplicity of the design that... I knew this was on my short-list of "things I never knew I needed" and ought to have. For more than a decade people have given me funny looks when I have to tell them that I've never had a laptop computer. I just don't like how they're made: too much that can get broken easily. The iPad is different. And iPad 2 has enough bells and whistles on it to have me break down to get one now.

'Course, word on the street is that iPad 3 might be coming out around September. Not feeling terribly obligated to wait to see what it may (or may not) have on it. I just care about what can help me be productive now... and since I'm looking at a fair bit of traveling coming soon, the iPad is gonna make a fine tool to that end.

Besides, if iPad 3 is lustworthy enough, I can just give my iPad 2 to my sister :-)

On another note, Steve Jobs looks great!! Glad to see that his health is apparently improving well :-)

EDIT 8:50 p.m. EST: So my sister has since told me "I don't see what's so great about them!" and that she doesn't care to have an iPad at all.

Well, phooey on her!! I'll tell you what I might do, gang: come September or October, if there is an iPad 3 out and I wind up getting that, we may just have a contest on this blog and give away the iPad 2.

Or I could get two iPad 2s soon and run a contest and give one of those away, brand-new.

Hey, you never know what is going to happen on this blog :-P

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I'm thinking of breaking one of my most cardinal rules

That being the one about how I never, ever adopt new technology right out of the gate.

Take the Xbox 360, f'rinstance. I love mine like all get out. Not just as a gamin' machine but as a media extender: movies and such that are kept on my computer can be viewed on my high-def television set. Right handy, that. But it was two years after the Xbox 360 debuted before I even considered getting one. Just made good sense to me, and it's not about it being a Microsoft product either: any piece of high-tech gadgetry is bound to have some issues that only get found and worked out after it's been released into the wild.

So as a result I've never been an early adopter. And I figure that I'm being a wise consumer for having that policy.

But then, late last week on my trip to Asheville, I went into the Best Buy there. And for the first time beheld and then played with an iPad.

Whoa...

One of the things that I don't have is a laptop computer and people often ask me why don't I own one. The most outstanding reason in my mind is how gosh-darned fragile they have been in my estimation. Having worked in more computer repair joints than I care to remember, laptops still have that "whole 'nother beast than a laptop" thing going on with me.

But the iPad?

It really might be my mobile device dream come true. I gave typing on it a shot and had no problems with my usual 150+ words a minute or so.

Darn you Steve Jobs! You and Apple might have finally made me break down from one of my most sincerely-held personal beliefs!!

So will I actually spring for one?

Stay tuned.

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Don't be ashamed to admit it if you did...

I'm just curious how many of you were some of the poor saps who camped out yesterday morning at the Apple Stores to get an iPad.

No, I'm not one of them. Fer pete's sake, it took me six years before I finally broke down and got an iPod! Probably be just as long before I spring for an iPad (which I still think has one of the silliest names for a gadget ever :-P)

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Geoff Gentry's thoughts on the iPad

It's been my favorite joke to tell during the past 24 hours...

"Lots of people are upset about the 4:3 aspect ratio of the iPad so Apple is rolling out one with a 16:9 screen in a few months. They're calling it the Max-iPad."

rimshot

Okay, giggles at its horrible name aside, plenty of people are wondering if the iPad is already set to be a bomb for the House of Jobs. Putting it all into perspective is Geoff Gentry: good friend and techno-ubergeek whose opinion on all matters gadget I have long held in great esteem.

Some of Geoff's points about the iPad...

First of all as "magical" and "revolutionary" as the iPad is, it is 1st generation technology. With Apple that means it will get better quickly. Here are my thoughts on the new product.

The Name: Yes the word pod was out there before Apple added the "i" and made it a household word. But pad on the other hand is used for so many things and is hard to add a new definition. Did the naming folks at Apple not do any research with people or online? People automatically started making feminine hygiene jokes about it. While the name is direct, simple (two syllables) and close to the iPod it is lacking. I personally think iSlate would have been a better choice.

The Hardware: The size and astetic design are good but it is lacking in several ways. First, I know they were trying to keep the ports down to a minimum, but having to use an adapter for USB or one for SD is clunky. I look at it and I think large iPod Touch. It lacks a camera (or even better 2). It needs work on the hardware side that I hope will be addressed.

Hit here for more of Geoff's take on Apple's latest igizmo.

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