4.2 backup, whoops?

[nicky9499]

I've got a major problem. Recently I updated my phone to 4.2.1, only to find that the battery life is now considerably shorter, which is highly undesirable.

Also, I suddenly feel like jailbreaking it.

Anyway, I edited the hosts file to point to Saurik server and subsequently downgraded back to 4.1, which was good until I tried to restore my stuff. At this point, iTunes tells me that the OS is "too old" for the backup, which makes sense since the backup was made while 4.2 was installed.

I cannot start "fresh" because there is too much data (think Safari bookmarks, Youtube favourites, Calendar items, notes and highscores) which I simply cannot afford to lose.

Is it possible therefore, to somehow return to 4.1 WITH all my data intact? Would really appreciate any and all advice.

Cheerio,
Nicholas.

[iYeow]

To be able to get back your stuffs is going to a tedious process. You can refer to this :
[HOW TO] Fix error "Cannot restore iphone.....software too old" after downgrade

[nicky9499]

That sounds right about perfect. I'll try it out right now and post back on the results. Thanks alot!

[Simon]

I'm not sure if that method works anymore from going to 4.1 from 4.2.1. It's worth a shot though. Let us know if it works or not.

[nicky9499]

While I'm working on the phone, I have a sort of separate incident, wherein I have successfully jailbroken an iPod Touch 2G with iOS4.1 and all my stuff copied over but suddenly iTunes just pops up saying "update has finished, restarting in X seconds" and BAM, it's now 4.2.1 again (F*KK) and an hour wasted, right there.

What's going on and how do I prevent this?

Edit: Sorry if I sound irate, cause it's 5 in the morning here and I need to use the phone tomorrow later (obviously).

[iYeow]

For me, I use a third party software to backup all my stuffs, then after the restore, i will run the third party software on my pc and restore the stuffs i wanted, not cydia stuffs but things like sms , notes, calendar, stocks and so forth. Contacts , photos, videos , you can always sync it back.

[nicky9499]

Someone in the thread you referenced linked to a software called iPhone Backup Extractor, which is useful and I'll look into it (if the price is not too much) but for now I'm quite baffled at iTunes' behavior.

Right now it has restored my iPhone4, "restarting in X seconds" and then right back to factory settings, no prompt or whatsoever to put back my stuff. There're only options to restore (again!) or check for update (which is blanked out). Fifth time in a row I'm doing a restore, haven't had a wink. And in case anyone's wondering, I've removed the custom gs.apple.com address from the hosts file so iTunes is connecting to Apple servers just fine.

Maybe I should really look into that backup thingy.

[Simon]

I use juicephone to extract what I want to keep from my backups. What software do you use Yeow?

[nicky9499]

Okay, the **** has hit the fan.
I think I've figured out what's going on. That backup containing all my stuff is actually a backup of an EMPTY PHONE right after I tried downgrading and failed. Which explains why restoring settings only takes five seconds and after activation the phone is well, bone stock.

I really cannot afford to lose my data, there are plenty of very important messages and bookmarks, among others (and also, my contacts, goodness). Is there any way at all to salvage this situation? Sounds like a stretch but in a worst case scenario can drive recovery be performed? I've done it before on my old SE phone after an accidental delete.

Edit: Also, I went into C: \Users\nicky9499\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup and all that is there are 7 folders, each named something like (I kid you not): 5f3fd89b3f78ea2080bfd94c6a4c652ca6b6a71a. In each of these folders are more files also named with gibberish. Manual picking-data-out-of-folders is out of the question.

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Okay, I've looked through the .plist files in each of said gibberishly-named folders, and in some of them the Display Name and GUID tags show "nicky9499p", which was what I previously named the phone to distinguish it from the iPod (nicky9499i).

Currently iTunes calls it "nicky9499's iPhone", which is also shown in other folders' .plist files. I (hopefully) conclude that the backup containing my stuff is still present, only that iTunes is restoring the most recent backup. Is there a way to somehow make iTunes pick which folder to backup from?

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Had a little brain fart apparently; after yet another restore a drop-down list allowed me to pick which backup I wanted. It's copying stuff and installing apps now, fingers still crossed.