Addressbook.sqlitedb and sms.db on iOS 5. Upgrading problems.

[DaMan05]

When the owner is root, effectively you prevent any (but root) from changing the file. Naturally, when you set it to mobile, changes are allowed to the file by any...
To clarify further, all saves or changes (as an example of a save game file) has to be set as mobile to have access to the read & write...

Do your received iMessages have a timestamp of the year 2042, by any chance?

[anhvinhbeo]

Just did with my 4.3.3 ==> 5.0.1
how to do it:
1. Delete everything from Addressbook/SMS
2. Copy over the old database
3. Change owner from "root" to "mobile"
4. Respring or reboot

[Trees415]

Hi,

Yesterday I just tried to update my iPhone 4 4.3.3 (jailbroken with Jailbreakme) to iOS 5 but had some problems with corrupt iTunes backup and couldn't restore my old data back into iOS 5. Thankfully I had a manual backup of some of the most important files I had on the phone (address book and sms data) which I'm trying restore to iOS 5 now.

When I migrated from iPhone 3G 3.1.2 to iPhone 4 4.1 I had a similar problem and just cutting and pasting the old files to the new OS (on /var/root/library/addressbook and /sms respectively) worked just fine.

However, address book data used to consist of only two files: AddressBook.sqlitedb and AddressBookImages.sqlitedb. And SMS had only sms.db. However on iOS 5 there are three "versions" for each of those file (AddressBook.sqlitedb, AddressBook.sqlitedb-shm, AddressBook.sqlitedb-wal, AddressBookImages.sqlitedb, AddressBookImages.sqlitedb-shm, AddressBookImages.sqlitedb-wal, sms.sqlitedb, sms.sqlitedb-shm, sms.sqlitedb-wal)
It seems the actual contacts/sms are storred on the .sqlitedb-wal files and not the .sqlitedb ones.

Trying to replace the .sqlitedb files or renaming them to sqlitedb-wal and replacing doesn't work.

Does anyone have any clues on how to proceed on this?
Thanks!

You should check out a tool called iPhone Backup Extractor, it's incredibly useful if you're having trouble restoring your iPhone content (like contacts, sms, photos, etc) using an Itunes backup. It will simply extract all of the files for all those things, which you can then take and manually install into your newly updated iphone using winscp or iphonebrowser. Unfortunately, it costs money, though I believe they offer a free trial as well.
Another tool I'd suggest for people to checkout if they are looking for a good iphone explorer is a program called iSpirit. iSpirit accesses iDevices via USB, and has all the caveats that are available to WinSCP users. It's not a very widely known tool, but it is probably the best one i have used thus far.

It's a shame there still isn't a viable backup/restore tool to use when updating iOS firmware.

[AnArChYm]

Hey guys,

I tried the same way you said and I still can't import my backup of address book, at least I managed Notes, SMS, calendar and photos

Please help me as the contacts are the most important

Thanks

[DaMan05]

I can't help you with your problem, but in the future, wouldn't it just be easier to use iCloud, sync with your desktop, an Exchange server, Gmail or any of the other billion services there are that can backup your contacts?

Personally, I use my school's exchange server for syncing contacts, calendars and tasks/Reminders. I dunno what I would do if my laptop and phone didn't stay in sync constantly... especially the tasks.

[codvisp]

Do your received iMessages have a timestamp of the year 2042, by any chance?

Nope all is well & 100% working with a correct date...

[codvisp]

Can i just add a couple things

- If you are stuck in the cycle where it keeps respringing automatically. Just delete the contents of SMS/ and then start the above process once booted AND BEFORE ANY APPS ARE LOADED

- In my particular situation, i could restore the SMS database fine, and see all the messages, but when i tried to send one, or receive one, the phone would crash and wipe the database again. There is a point above that rebooting fixed this. However, my situation is also this, once restored, if i re-boot, the phone hangs on the lock screen, and then refreshes, with no SMS. So rebooting in my case, no matter what sequence i tried, with all the correct permissions, my database just wanted to wipe!

If you find yourself in my situation, i used this free tool at iPhone SMS Database Merger for iOS 3.x and 4.x to merge my database to itself (i.e. used the same file for both). There were no duplicates, and it essentially re-wrote the database from scratch. As mentioned, group messages no longer appear as groups but as individual items, but ONLY for the group messages in the file. If you send a group message AFTER this process, it still does it, just the re-write merge process splits them up into individual conversations. (i can't see this being even a minute problem for anyone...can you??)

Once the process was complete, i immediately backed up to iTunes, and now I can now restore from iTunes to any iPhone (4.x and 5.x JB or non JB) and it's perfectly fine.

Obviously some people are having success with just dropping the old sms.db in, and that's good, but for anyone who's just, won't, work. Try the merger. I'm very happy that 4 years of SMS are still accessible by the phone.

No need to man, if you're having this problem, just turn off iCloud! :P

[Pr0ph3ts2]

1.Upon rebooting your iOS, don't open any app, especially the phone or contacts apps.
2. Copy into /var/mobile/addressbook your AddressBook.sqlitedb and AddressBookImages.sqlitedb using iFile (since your using it...) and set the permissions of "Owner" for both of the copied files to "mobile" if it's set as "root".
3. Respring

Hi codvisp,

I've followed carefully and exactly what you've mention. still no luck.
I'm running on ios 5. last updated from ios 4.3.3.

extracted AddressBook.sqlitedb from ios 4.3.3

jailbroken using redsn0w_win_0.9.10b3.

ssh into folders using ifunbox.

permission all set to "mobile"

tried a few permutations as follows:

1) as I do not have the folder "/var/mobile/addressbook", hence I created /addressbook folder and added in the 2 files. but alas, no sign of my old contacts.

2) tried copying AddressBook.sqlitedb and AddressBookImages.sqlitedb into addressbook that is found in /var/mobile/library/addressbook, respring, with apple loading screen, apparently, rebuilding the original files that have been overwritten.

3) tried deleting everything inside /var/mobile/library/addressbook, then copy the 2 old files into this folder, respring, no sign of my contacts.

4) using search, locate whatever /addressbook folder inside iphone, copy and paste the 2 old files into all the folders. still no sign of my contacts!!

I even went crazily googling and found this advise http://blog.lincomatic.com/?p=384, is it valid? as the date of the post seemed outdated given the fact that the current version of ios was released in november.


Should i do a clean restore and jailbreak, start all over again?
please help!!

[codvisp]

Hi codvisp,

I've followed carefully and exactly what you've mention. still no luck.
I'm running on ios 5. last updated from ios 4.3.3.

extracted AddressBook.sqlitedb from ios 4.3.3

jailbroken using redsn0w_win_0.9.10b3.

ssh into folders using ifunbox.

permission all set to "mobile"

tried a few permutations as follows:

1) as I do not have the folder "/var/mobile/addressbook", hence I created /addressbook folder and added in the 2 files. but alas, no sign of my old contacts.

2) tried copying AddressBook.sqlitedb and AddressBookImages.sqlitedb into addressbook that is found in /var/mobile/library/addressbook, respring, with apple loading screen, apparently, rebuilding the original files that have been overwritten.

3) tried deleting everything inside /var/mobile/library/addressbook, then copy the 2 old files into this folder, respring, no sign of my contacts.

4) using search, locate whatever /addressbook folder inside iphone, copy and paste the 2 old files into all the folders. still no sign of my contacts!!

I even went crazily googling and found this advise Lincomatic's Blog | electronics, hacking, etc, is it valid? as the date of the post seemed outdated given the fact that the current version of ios was released in november.


Should i do a clean restore and jailbreak, start all over again?
please help!!

The correct address is /Var/Mobile/Library/Addressbook and before you replace the files don't forget to TURN OFF iCloud...

[LHW]

No need to man, if you're having this problem, just turn off iCloud! :P

Hi codvisp,
I've been trying to solve the problem of missing SMSes using the methods you posted, but none of them helped.
I have an iPhone 3GS on iOS 5.0.0, jailbroken.
The problem started when i was trying to edit the sms.db using iFile, but I didn't save it though, I cancelled the changes. When I went back to the Messages app, all the messages disappeared.
I have tried your methods, other ppl's method but they all did not work. However, despite the fact that the messages are "missing" from the messages app, they can still be found when I used spotlight search.
btw, I have already turned off iCloud.

Do you know of any methods to help fix this problem?
Thx

[minek]

No need to man, if you're having this problem, just turn off iCloud! :P

Can you turn on icloud back later on?

[codvisp]

Can you turn on icloud back later on?

Yes of course, as soon as the restore is complete

By the way, you can also backup/restore all iMessages on 5.1.1 including all media if anyone is interested... (Whatsapp, Viber, etc. also work...)

[minek]

Yes of course, as soon as the restore is complete

By the way, you can also backup/restore all iMessages on 5.1.1 including all media if anyone is interested... (Whatsapp, Viber, etc. also work...)

That's what I would like to achieve Isn't it enough to just copy all subfolders from /var/mobile/Library/SMS (Attachments, Drafts, Parts)? I thought that SMS and iMessage data is is one place? Also I'm on 5.0.1 and would like to do a clean restore to 5.1.1 - do you think this may cause issues?

[codvisp]

That's what I would like to achieve Isn't it enough to just copy all subfolders from /var/mobile/Library/SMS (Attachments, Drafts, Parts)? I thought that SMS and iMessage data is is one place? Also I'm on 5.0.1 and would like to do a clean restore to 5.1.1 - do you think this may cause issues?

yes in one place, but u have to set the right permissions for iMessage in order to function properly:

Using iFile or any other app go to /var/mobile/Library/SMS:

1. As always, for the 3 files sms.db, sms.db-shm and sms.db-wal:
Set the "Ownership" of Owner to mobile and Group to mobile. Also, "Access Permissions" of User: Read, Write - Group: Read and World: Read.

2. For the Attachments folder: Set the "Ownership" of Owner to mobile and Group to mobile. Also, "Access Permissions" of User: Read, Write, Execute - Group: Read, Execute and World: Read, Execute.

3. Go to /var/mobile/Library/SMS/Attachments, you will see plenty of folders and in each folder 2 image files, so apply the following for each and every file:
a. the named IMG_xxxx.jpg (which is the actual image): set the "Ownership" of Group to wheel
b. the named IMG_xxxx-preview-left.jpg (which is the thumbnail) should not be changed as it has to be mobile,mobile - Read, Write - Read - Read.

Hope this helps,
if you need any further help contact me directly through my twitter account: @codvisp

[kbphoto615]

yes in one place, but u have to set the right permissions for iMessage in order to function properly:

Using iFile or any other app go to /var/mobile/Library/SMS:

1. As always, for the 3 files sms.db, sms.db-shm and sms.db-wal:
Set the "Ownership" of Owner to mobile and Group to mobile. Also, "Access Permissions" of User: Read, Write - Group: Read and World: Read.

2. For the Attachments folder: Set the "Ownership" of Owner to mobile and Group to mobile. Also, "Access Permissions" of User: Read, Write, Execute - Group: Read, Execute and World: Read, Execute.

3. Go to /var/mobile/Library/SMS/Attachments, you will see plenty of folders and in each folder 2 image files, so apply the following for each and every file:
a. the named IMG_xxxx.jpg (which is the actual image): set the "Ownership" of Group to wheel
b. the named IMG_xxxx-preview-left.jpg (which is the thumbnail) should not be changed as it has to be mobile,mobile - Read, Write - Read - Read.

Hope this helps,
if you need any further help contact me directly through my twitter account: @codvisp

I really need some help, and I apologize for hi-jacking a thread but it relates to this and seeing as you are offering. I hope you can help me. I have followed instructions to the T in backing up and restoring my SMS via SSH. I have set the correct permissions for all the files via iFile. Yet I am still running into issues. Everything works with the SMS app as it should, aside from one major issue. I cannot send or receive pictures since restoring my SMS via SSH.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, this is a huge problem for me. haha

[macselite]

I wish I had known this earlier. I just updated from 4.2.3 on my 3GS to 6.1.2 and the evasi0n jailbreak worked perfectly. That was, of course, until I deleted the 6 empty Address Book files that come with iOS 6 and replaced them with the 2 Address Book files from iOS 4 and didn't change the permissions to "Mobile" before I opened the Address Book app.

Now, no matter what I do, I'm getting a black screen with the Apple logo and a progress bar that goes to 90% and gets stuck. Then, once it boots up, it flickers, and I can see the normal home screen in the background, and I can get into apps if I tap on it in a certain way, but's crazy annoying and time consuming.

I tried deleting the files and rebooting it to see if it would just populate the default Address Book files for iOS 6, but to no avail. It still gave me the same crazy screen.

I then tried to restore via the same 6.1.2 IPSW that I successfully restored it with the first time, but the fix that I used to fix the error I got when I tried to restore it the first time did not work the second time.

Here was the fix that worked for me the first time when I got the error: "This Device Isn't Eligible For The Requested Build":

Fix iTunes Error "This Device Isn't Eligible For The Requested Build" Restoring iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4 - YouTube

I can't upgrade to 6.1.3 for obvious reasons (evasi0n does not work on 6.1.3), and that's what is coming up for me in iTunes as of this afternoon.

Any ideas?

[macselite]

I was able to upgrade to successfully to 6.1.2 via Sn0wbreeze in expert mode (NOT using hactivation) and iTunes.

Now I just need to get the raw iOS 4 files for Contacts/Address Book, Notes, SMS, Call History and Calendar converted to iOS 6. Does the above method that worked for iOS 5 also work for iOS 6?

If not, what method would you suggest for doing this? Please explain it in a step-by-step process.

Thanks!

[crashnburn_in]

Weird: Auto-Recurring Resprings and Reboot result in Contacts AddressBook lost blank gone - Help!

Hi Folks,

got it working. My Adressbook is back !

How did I got it working? Just use ifunbox and search for the adressbook sql database. There are 2 or 3 different locations. just copy your copy to all locations and reboot. Works for me like a charm. The other ways didnt work so far !

This was the only thread that had something relevant to what I am looking for.

This weird thing happened:

- I was at a cafe working on something and since my iPhone 4 iOS 5.1.1b + Jailbreak was working a little slow I did a RESPRING.
- The damn thing kept on respringing and would not stop
i.e. I'd get the slide to open screen and once I'd slide it in a short time it would respring
- All attempts to shut it down etc or REBOOT failed

Then I remembered the way to hard boot using both Buttons (Home + Power) - Now when it came back up it was without SBSettings etc.

- I did a respring in hopes of having the SBSettings etc back and it it went back into respring loop
- Another hard reboot and I have it running

- Now when I open my Phone | Contacts they are all gone!

- The messages, Favorites, Recent calls with the numbers are all there - But the corresponding NAMES to those numbers are gone.

DAMN!!!

So next thing I did a Manual Backup - From the AddressBook folder using iFunbox

AddressBook.sqlitedb [4 KB]
AddressBook.sqlitedb-shm
AddressBook.sqlitedb-wal [262 KB]
AddressBookImages.sqlitedb [38,352 KB]
AddressBookImages.sqlitedb-shm 
AddressBookImages.sqlitedb-wal [3868 KB]

PS: But this AddressBook DB is SMALL - Possibly the empty one - Where can I find the other locations where my "PREVIOUS" BIG ADDRESS BOOK with all CONTACTS might be sitting? Some kind of INTERNAL BACKUP on the iPhone?

So in such a desperate space I tried to use similar tools -
- DiskAid - After a long wait, opened the Messages A
- After selecting CONTACTS it another long wait - It showed all the contacts - Damn! I was happy.. But when I did an export of ALL CONTACTS from DiskAid it crashed at some point.

So, apparently it was on the phone somewhere? Where?

How do I FIND and get that SQL DB copy for RESTORING my Contacts and AddressBook ??

Thoughts and ideas?

PS:
Other Facilities:
iCloud - I dont really use it - i.e. The only thing enabled on my iCloud account is "FindMyIphone"

iTunes Backup - I use this regularly but my last Backup is 34 days old and I'd like try and get back the AddressBook SQL DB before trying a Sync/ Restore from the iTunes Backup. (PS: If/ when I do go there, what steps should I take to sync)