Problems with iPod Touch 2.0 Upgrade

Posted on July 11, 2008 by Bruce Keener

Update: I installed the update at about 8 am this morning (July 12), using iTunes, and it went very smoothly. The download is about 222MB. I have tried out several applications, and am very impressed with the upgrade. I have updated my popular iPod Touch as a PDA post, to discuss one of the new applications. I will also write a new post on the Touch within the next couple of days, after accumulating some additional screen shots and doing additional testing.

Original post (from evening of Friday July 11):

You have probably heard about the problems with iPhone 2.0 activation today, and there have also been problems with purchasing and installing the 2.0 firmware for the iPod Touch.

I have trying to upgrade my Touch software since yesterday. When I would hit the “Check for Update” box in my iTunes panel for the Touch, it would show that 2.0 is the latest firmware available. Then, after clicking “Learn More” button in the message, I was told to try back later.

Some organizations (Fox News, for example) have reported that the problem with activation was due to a massive iTunes server outage. I have been told that this has been fixed, yet now whenever I click the “Check for Update” button, here’s what I get:

Check for Update Box

This is very frustrating. I want to update my Touch so I can do a follow-up to my popular iPod Touch as a PDA article.

Do any of you have any ideas on how I get past this and get the upgrade? I have also tried using the “Buy the Update” link at the Apple site, but all it does is transfer me back to iTunes, which just sets there doing nothing. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I have upgraded to iTunes 7.7 … really strange to me that it would tell me for a while that 2.0 is available, when it wasn’t, and now that 2.0 is supposedly available, it doesn’t tell me about it. Duh.

BTW, I don’t know whether to be PO’d at the Apple folks right now, or to feel sorry for them. I suppose I feel some of both. I do know they are trying hard to get all of this resolved, and I imagine some of them are going to have crappy weekends.

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  • richard

    It is the same for me man. Could you please tell me how to do it if you figure it out, I will tell you if I figure it out first.

  • capo

    Now see? You’re ahead of me already. iHadn’t heard that 2.0 was available for the iTouch yet – iThought it was just for the iPhone… iDid finally update my iTunes though – 7.7 offers syncing with Google contacts – that was compelling enough for me. Now if they’d only do the same for Calendar… iQuit using Outlook a while ago.

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce Keener

    @Richard — I’ll let you know whatever I find out

    @capo — I like the iQuit … punny.

  • Thomas R. Hall

    Glad the update installed for you without issue, Bruce. Updating my wife’s iPhone went flawlessly. I’ve already put some of her favorite apps from the Palm on there, including Bejeweled 2 and eReader. Found some nice free Bible software as well! Looking forward to your thoughts in your future post.

    I love seamless downloading of apps directly on the device as well as books in eReader from both Fictionwise and eReader.com!

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce Keener

    Yes I am loving it, too, Thomas.

    Right now the eReader server seems to be having probs, so I am unable to download my library. Earlier I could at least get a listing of my ebooks there, but they would not download successfully. Now it is not even connecting. I assume they are overloaded this morning.

    Loving everything else about it, though. The Weatherbug app is great — look at the camera view on it.

  • RJO

    Just a warning – since upgrading my touch to v2.0 (and immediately before that upgrading iTunes to v7.0) – now whenever I plug in my iPod touch, there is a delay of over a minute before anything happens (ie device recognised, synchs). There is a green and yellow bar in the top right corner, in the search box, which seems to be there in error.
    Anyone else had this problem – and know how to fix it??

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce Keener

    RJO, sounds to me like you should take it to a local Apple store and see if they can reflash it for you. Sounds like the initial install may have been interrupted causing it to not install completely.

    Best of luck. Sorry it has not gone well so far. No doubt you’ll get it squared away, but I know you must be upset at this point.

  • Alison

    I had problems installing the update yesterday, but got it to work this morning. However, iTunes won’t sync new appointments from Outlook Calendar anymore :( . Any suggestions?

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce Keener

    Alison,

    I have not experimented with Outlook, yet … only with iCal and Address Book on my iMac and with MobileMe. I wanted to ensure these are working well before attempting to add on a third sync source, since the more things you sync, the more likely there will be problems with it. Hence, no direct help I can offer you just yet.

    I noticed that yesterday afternoon, updates on my Touch were not syncing back to Mobile or iCal (I changed a few appointments and the changes did not carry over). However, this morning those changes are syncing well, including one I made early this morning.

    I also noticed that Steve Rubel has Twittered that Instapaper has stopped updating on his iPhone. Given his problem, and the one I had yesterday, I would be inclined to think that there are some sporadic problems with push services. However, I just went through about 128 feed entries in my Feed Reader and there was no mention of anything like that. That makes me suspicious.

    So, what to do? Unfortunately, at this point, I think we just have to keep an eye on the Apple support forums for the Touch and iPhone to see if a solution comes up, and continue to google for similar problems and solutions.

    If you do find out what is wrong, it would be great if you could report back and share the solution.

  • Eion

    My problem is that I have downloaded and installed iTunes 7.7 and then downloaded and intalled 2.0 and it indicated it had updated, but then after the installation, and paying by US$9.99, it reverted back to 1.1.4. Upon trying again it says I need iTunes 7.7, which is already the installed. What next? I don’t want to pay out 9.99 again as I’ve already done that.

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce Keener

    That’s a mighty strange issue, Eion. I have not heard of it before. Only suggestion I can think of at the moment is to go into the Apple support forums and see if you can raise some help there. Good luck!

  • Alison

    Update on sync problem: I have completely uninstalled and reinstalled iTunes 7.7, then done a restore on my iPod. That took all of Saturday! Once the restore was complete there was nothing in the calendar at all. After I’d ticked the Calendar option on the Info page and resynced, it put everything back into the calendar that was there before, including an appointment I’d set up on the iPod to test if it was syncing in either direction. If it had done a clean sync it wouldn’t have found this appointment in Outlook, so it must have used a backup file to sync. So, how do I get it to do a clean resync from Outlook? I’ve used the option at the bottom of the Info page to replace everything on the iPod with Calendar items on the PC, but it’s just the same. I’ve run out of ideas now … ! Apart from this, I’m have great fun with all the new apps.

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce Keener

    Alison,
    It sounds like your test appointment made it over to Outlook, and that is why is now syncing. Sounds to me like you are doing everything you should be doing. I would look over my Outlook appointments again and delete any that are not wanted, and then choose the option at the bottom of iTunes Sync to overwrite the calendar items on the Touch. If that does not do it, then the sync is not working properly, and I would go to the Apple support forums to look for what to do. It cannot be syncing to a calendar backup, because it doesn’t have any ideas where your backups are: it’s programmed to simply sync with the Existing database in Outlook.

    I looked in iTunes to see if there is a way to reset Sync services. I did not see one, but I am still sleepy so may have overlooked. I know some programs enable you to reset sync services, and do it all over again (MobileMe does this for example). If you can find such an option, that would be the next thing to do, but the overwrite option at the bottom of iTunes should be taking care of this, so it really shouldn’t be necessary.

    Anyway, glad you’re having fun with everything else … great device, isn’t it?

  • Scooter

    My iSSUE with iPOD 2.0 on my touch is that my calendar (outlook 2007) does not totally sync with the touch. It seems to ignore some calendar items and not others. This may be due to the fact that I use ‘categories’ within outlook to distinguish certain appointments and it is quite frustrating. The device is great, the apps are great, but this makes the calendar virtually useless … this happens even with the advanced funtion of totally replacing the calendars on the unit.

    I also wish that the touch only showed my outlook calendar but it seem to give me three choices: All, Home, Outlook.

  • Alison

    I finally figured out the problem with my sync issues, there were some dodgy appointments that iPod didn’t like, so it didn’t sync anything. I’ve cleared my whole Outlook calendar (after backing it up!) and re-input everything, a long and tedious job, but now the iPod syncs nicely. I also use categories for some appointments, so I don’t think that’s your problem Scooter. I think you just need to delete the entries that won’t sync and re-input them in Outlook, they should then sync. Are these appointments that were entered in a previous version of Outlook and carried over when you upgraded? Are they longstanding recurring appointments, or recurring appointments with lots of exceptions? These are both things the iPod sync doesn’t like (I have discovered after much trawling of forums and general pain and suffering LOL). So, I’m a happy bunny now that my iPod calendar works and I have all my new apps to play with.

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce Keener

    @Scooter and @Allison

    I love how you folks have been sharing your problems and solutions. Allison, sounds like you might be onto something there with re-entering appointments, especially recurrent ones. I do not sync with Outlook anymore (just iCal on the Mac and MobileMe and Remember The Milk on the web), so I really cannot offer advice on problems with it … not expert advice anyway. But I do know from my days of trying to keep Outlook, iCal, Gcal, and other stuff in sync that recurrent entries (calendar and task) generally run into problems somewhere along the way (for example, Gcal handles them differently than Outlook does).

    So, I am glad to see the discussion going on here and hope it continues and that we all get to learn from each other. That’s what I love to see happening on this blog (and elsewhere).

  • Alistair

    Hello,
    I am hearing a mixed reaction on the update and would really like to try it however I cannot get it to even install. Whenever I try to download the update I get an error message which reports that it cannot complete as I do not have sufficient privileges even though I am using an admin account. Any ideas?

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce Keener

    Alistair,

    Not having had these problems, I can only speculate. So, here goes.

    One suggestion, if you have a Windows machine, is to follow the advice on this thread: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1633093&tstart=0

    Frankly, the advice is pretty sparse and only mentions making sure you have SSL set up and so on, but it might help.

    If you have a Mac machine, as I do, you might try doing a boot up in the safe mode. Instruction for this, from the Apple site, are:

    To start up into Safe Mode (to “Safe Boot”), do this:

    1. Be sure the computer is shut down.
    2. Press the power button.
    3. Immediately after you hear the startup tone, press and hold the Shift key. Tip: The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone but not before.
    4. Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple and progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).

    If my memory serves me correctly, this will force a background running of Mac’s disk repair tool, which will look for (and generally fix) file permissions problems.

    The other thing I would do, irrespective of which machine type you have, is to re-download and install iTunes 7.7, just in case your current upgrade is wonked in some way.

    All I can think of at the moment. Best wishes on it.

  • becky

    hi, just randomly came across this discussion, i have just purchased the new upgrade for the software for the ipod touch, however, once it had downloaded and went to install on my ipod the error message came up afte the fireware, and it told me to disconnect my ipod and reconnect it again. Having done that, i now cannot find the software i downloaded and its not in my purchase history. Will it automatically update this software onto my ipod? Im worried ive just spent the money and got nothing to show for it! thanks

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce Keener

    Hi Becky,

    Disconnecting before an update is complete can indeed create a mess. You might try re-purchasing … my hunch is that the first purchase didn’t really get billed to you since it didn’t complete the update. If you are reluctant to do that (understandable), I suggest the Apple forums … you may find others who have been through this and have fixed the problem.

  • david

    I have just upgraded software for i pod touch. Every time I connect now my computer shuts down. Any ideas?

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce Keener

    David, without more specifics, I doubt that anyone can help you. For example, what operating system are using, and what Touch version did you upgrade to? Have you tried turning off all other software while connecting, just in case there is interference from antivirus or firewall software?

  • http://Yahoo.com Kyle

    I’ve had my iPod touch for about a week and all of a sudden NONE of my apps will open anymore.

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce Keener

    Kyle, I have not heard of that issue before. Weird. I know this page has been viewed A LOT ever since Christmas, so I suspect that there is a batch of iPod Touch’s that have defects. I hope yours is not one and that you come across a solution soon. If you do, please let us know.

  • kris

    I have downloaded the update like itunes told me to and it says I did have enough privileges to put on my ipod touch. What do I need to do?

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce Keener

    Kris,

    You might need to try the tips I mentioned to Alistair, in comment number 20, as it sounds like he had similar problems. I also did a Google search for privileges and iPod Touch update, and noted that it seemed to occur (sometimes) when the Apple server was down, and therefore unable to do the handshake needed to set your system up. Not sure that this is what is happening with you, but it could be. I doubt seriously that it has anything to do with the setup on your machine (at least if it is a Mac), as the setup routine should run on pretty near any Mac and not require any special privileges. Of course, if you are using Windows Vista, it could be different, as some permissions may be required (just guessing … I do not know … I gave up on Vista during its final pre-release version, when it just didn’t seem ready for prime time in my view).

    Let us know if you find a solution that others would be interested in, too.

  • kris

    i read the thread you had and that was no help at all and I am in the middle of downloading the software upgrade as we speak.

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce Keener

    Okay, kris. So, if I understand correctly, you are now able to download (half done, so far) the update, whereas before you were not?

  • kris

    it will get all the way done with the download and it says there was not enough privileges.

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce Keener

    Kris,
    That does sound strangely familiar to me … it seems like I had the exact same problem with my very first update, and it truly was due to the Apple server’s being too busy to do a proper handshake. That’s been about 8 or 9 months ago, though, and I would have assumed that they beefed up their servers and their message, so that the latter says what the real problem is, rather than some lame mention of privileges. Again, that’s assuming my memory is working correctly, and at almost 60 yrs old, there’s no guarantee on that :)

    I am hopeful someone else can chime in with some good advice for you. I do not know exactly what else to suggest at this point. This article gets a lot of reads, but it is generally by people who are Having a problem, rather than by those who have Solved it. Nonetheless, someone who had the problem and then solved it may have subscribed to this thread and could chime in with some good advice for you. I certainly hope so.

    Wishing you the best

  • kris

    thanks for the help and i will get back to you eventually

  • Alison

    How did you get on Kris? You didn’t say if you were using a Mac or Windows, but I use Windows Vista and haven’t had any problems like this, so it’s not related to permissions on your computer I don’t think. I’m with Bruce on this one, I suspect the problem is Apple’s end, try again today. Mine’s worked perfectly since I resolved the original problems, so hang in there!

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce Keener

    Good to hear it’s working for you now, Alison.

    Kris, just a thought: maybe worthwhile to re-download latest iTunes again, just in the last installation didn’t go just right? At least it’s a smaller download than the Touch update is, so it shouldn’t take long to try it out.

    Just a thought, in case you haven’t already tried.

  • kris

    i did get my update done yesterday and I use windows vista and I had to take my music, photos, and videos off my ipod and then the update went fine after that and if you have any questions email me at trredsox@yahoo.com

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce Keener

    kris, I am delighted that you got it all straightened out.

    Thank you for sharing what you did to make it work … maybe it will help someone else who is having the same problem.

    Thanks again.

  • Kira

    Hi, I have had my iPod touch for about a week and I love it! But today, when I plugged the iPod into the computer it syncd (this isn’t the first time I have plugged it into the computer.) and then it told me that some of the APPS couldn’t be transfered into my iTunes library (it had never said this before). I was confused. Then I looked on my iPod and some of my APPS were gone, and I couldn’t find them on iTunes anywhere. Have you had this problem before? And do you know what I can do to fix it?

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce Keener

    Kira,
    This happened to me a long while back, but it “fixed itself.” That is, on the next sync, it worked. I can only hope that it will fix itself for you, as I am not aware of a direct solution.

    If it does not fix itself, you might try searching the Apple Support forums. I’ve found them to be helpful at times, although, like many forums, it can be difficult to find exactly what you are looking for. A Google or Yahoo search might help, too.

    Best wishes to you on it. If you do find a solution, I’d be interested in hearing about, and I’m sure others reading here would be interested in it, too.