Tag Archives: iTunes

fixed : “iPad could not be activated” error on old iPad with empty SIM-slot (or iPad showing “black screen with time only” error)

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Question :

I have an old iPad that I want to give to my children, but when I switch it on, there’s only a black screen showing the current time (not sure if it’s actually the correct time).

I left the iPad alone for some time, and when I switched it on again, I get an “iPad could not be activated” error.

Now, whenever I switch on the iPad, I either get the “iPad could not be activated” error or I get the black screen displaying the time only… I can’t figure out a way to get anything els from it…

What can I do ?

 

Answer :

For some unknown reason this problem appears on old iPads with an empty SIM-card slot. To get your iPad working again, follow these steps :

  • make sure the iPad is charged at least 20%
  • take the SIM card tray (holder) out of the iPad
  • vacuum the SIM card slot using a vacuum cleaner
  • if you have one, put a SIM-card in the tray (even if it’s an old inactive SIM-card), if not leave the tray empty
  • put the SIM card tray back into the iPad
  • reset the iPad by pressing the Home-button and the ON/OFF-switch at the same time
  • press both buttons until the white Apple-logo appears
  • then release the ON/OFF-button, but keep pressing the Home-button
  • when you keep the Home-button pressed long enough, you will get a “connect to iTunes” message
  • when an error message (or anything else) appears, repeat the reset
  • plug your iPad’s USB-cable into a Mac (or PC) that has iTunes on it
    • a newer Mac with Apple Music app might also work, but iTunes will probably work easier since this is an old iPad…
    • if you don’t have a Mac, you can probably use a PC with iTunes for Windows also (this wasn’t tested though…)
  • in iTunes you will get a message that the software on the iPad needs to be updated, click OK to go ahead
  • make sure your Mac (or PC) is connected to the internet, so it can download the update
  • this will take quite a long time 
  • you will only see an “iPad recovery mode” screen in iTunes, with no indication of progress
  • on your iPad you will see the Apple logo and an empty progress bar
  • if you do not touch anything long enough, the progress bar will suddenly start moving after 10 or 15 minutes (maybe longer)
  • wait for the progress bar to complete and disappear 
  • then you will get an “entry code protection” error in iTunes
  • open your iPad with the screen unlock code
  • on the bottom of the “Choose a Wi-Fi Network” page that automatically opens, you will now see a “connect to iTunes” option, select that
  • if your iPad is recognized correctly now, you’re okay
  • else, redo the entire procedure and choose “Erase” instead of “Repair” (“Recover”)
    • note : if you need to choose “Erase” you will loose all content that was on the iPad (the only way to get your content back after that is to import it from your iCloud backup or iTunes backup – if you ever made one manually or automatically)
  • follow the instructions and you will also be guided through instructions import a backup (if you have made any previously)

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

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fixed : put iTunes Music database on external drive to save space

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Question :

My internal HD is too full, so I want to make room for macOS to run smoothly again. As my iTunes Music database is huge, would it be possible to move that database onto an external HD that is continuously connected to my Mac ?

Is there any option to do so ?

 

Answer :

Yes, it is possible to move your entire iTunes Music database to an external HD. Apple does explicitly recommend to use an external HD that is connected to your Mac directly with USB, ThunderBolt or FireWire. (and Apple explicitly recommends against putting your active iTunes or Music.app database on a wireless drive or network drive)

To do this, do this :

  • get yourself an external HD, preferably one that is using a fast cable connection to connect to your Mac ; Samsung currently has some small and very good external HDs using USB-C for this : Samsung T5 Portable SSD
  • plug the external HD into your Mac
  • goto Applications –> Utilities –> Disk Utility
  • open Disk Utility
  • reformat the external HD as “Mac OS Extended”
  • now, in the Finder, create a new folder on the external HD named Music
  • inside that folder, create 2 new folders ; one named iTunes, the other named Music
  • then, in the Finder, goto Users –> [your name]  –> Music –> Music –> Music Library (if you don’t have one, skip the next step)
  • then drag&drop the Music Library folder into the Music folder inside the top-level Music folder on the external HD you have just created
  • …this may take a while
  • then, in the Finder, goto Users –> [your name]  –> Music –> iTunes –> iTunes Library (if you don’t have one, skip the next step)
  • then drag&drop the iTunes Library folder into the iTunes folder inside the top-level Music folder on the external HD you have just created
  • …this may take a while also
  • when done, open the Music.app (or iTunes.app if you are running an older version of macOS)
  • goto Music (or iTunes) in the top-bar of your screen –> Preferences
  • in the window that opens, select the Files tab, and at “Music Media folder location” click on the Change-button
  • in the Finder window that opens, select the Music (or iTunes) folder inside the Music folder on the external HD and click Open-button
  • back in the Files window, click the OK-button
  • now Music.app (or iTunes) will start up using the Music Library (or iTunes Library) on the external HD (and it will keep using the Music Library (or iTunes Library) on the external HD as its default library from now on)
  • check inside Music.app (or iTunes) to see if all your photos are now available (there’s no reason why they wouldn’t but just to make sure…)
  • now start using this setup as your new Music.app (or iTunes) setup, and if you don’t run into any problems in a few weeks (or even months if you need to) you can delete the Music Library (and/or iTunes Library) that was in the Music folder in your Home folder on your Mac’s internal drive to clear up some space

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : can’t connect new iPhone (iOS 12) to MacBook Air Late 2010

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Question :

I have a new iPhone 8 (running iOS 12) and I want to connect it to iTunes on my MacBook Air (Late 2010), but when I connect them using the Lightning-to-USB-cable I get an error message saying the software on my Mac should be updated.

I found that I had OSX 10.10 Yosemite installed, so I used the Mac AppStore-app to upgrade to macOS 10.13 High_Sierra. That went smoothly, so I also installed all available updates for my apps from the Mac AppStore. Then, I ran into a strange error : I can’t upgrade to the newest version of iMovie because my version of macOS doesn’t meet the minimal system requirements…

I also ran iTunes, but even now my iPhone 8 isn’t recognised when I connect it…

I found that for some reason macOS 10.13.4 is installed, and not 10.13.6, but still : Mac AppStore says “no updates available”…

Is my MacBook Air late2010 not meeting the minimal system requirements for macOS 10.13.6 for some reason ?

I looked up my MacBook Air late 2010 in MacTracker, and found that is should be able to run macOS 10.13.6 so why won’t it install ?

How can I fix this ?

 

Answer :

For reasons unknown, you need to upgrade your MacBook Air to macOS 10.13.5 manually using this download :

download macOS 10.13.5 upgrade

And only after macOS 10.13.5 is installed, you can manually upgrade to macOS 10.13.6 using this download (this is an incremental upgrade, not a combo upgrade) :

download macOS 10.13.6 upgrade

After macOS 10.13.6 is installed, you should be able to update to the latest versions of iMovie and iTunes via the Mac AppStore.

If iTunes won’t update, you need to (re)install it manually, using this download :

download iTunes

After installing the latest version of iTunes, connect your iPhone to your Mac using a Lighting-to-USB-cable. Now, an extra update will be downloaded, which will put an extra Devices-button in the iTunes and your iPhone will be recognised in iTunes.

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : iOS app cannot be moved or deleted – is instead renamed “Home”

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Question :

I installed the iOS-app called “FaceApp” on my iPhone a few days ago, and now suddenly it’s on a screen-page I don’t want it on. The way I normally use to move it to another screen-page doesn’t work however : if I hold the icon for a long time, the icon’s doesn’t start shaking and no X-label does appear either.

I managed to get the shaking icons and the X-labels in the end by just holding my finger on another app a little longer… but now, the “FaceApp” doesn’t want to move either when I put my finger on it…

I finally managed to move it by moving another app in front of it, but I still can’t get it to another screen-page…

So, I tried to delete the app by clicking on it’s X-badge, that seemed to work at first, but the “FaceApp”-icon immediately reappeared, only the name has now changed to “Home”, and there is no X-badge on it… so I still can’t delete it…

What is wrong ? What can I do ?

 

Answer :

Don’t worry.

  • First, exit the ‘shaky mode’ by clicking on the (physical) MENU-button (the front one, just below the screen
  • Then, open the AppStore.app
  • Click on “Updates”
  • Then click on “Purchases”
  • There, you’ll see that the “FaceApp” is listed, but with the “cloud&arrow”-icon next to it (so the “redownload from the AppStore-cloud”)
  • Then, click on the “cloud&arrow”-icon to reinstall the app
  • Exit the AppStore.app
  • On the main screen-pages you’ll now see that the name of the app has changed back from “Home” to “FaceApp”
  • Now, click&hold the FaceApp-icon until all icons start shaking and you’ll see that the X-badge will also appear on the FaceApp-icon
  • Then, click on the X-badge and the FaceApp.app will be deleted from your iPhone, or move the FaceApp.app to the place you want to have it on your screen-pages

That’s it – enjoy !

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fixed : international YouTube for teenagers on age restricted iPad

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Question :

My children have an age-restricted iPad, but ever since Google/YouTube upscaled the age-restriction of the YouTube-app to 17+ in 2015 they can no longer view YouTube video’s on their iPad, not even in Safari.

As they are young teenagers, I would like to enable them to view YouTube videos on their iPad, but I don’t want to upscale their age-restriction to 17+ for a few years.

Is there any way to do this ?

 

Answer :

Since Google (the (step)mother of YouTube) upscaled the age-restriction to 17+ in 2015, they have also introduced the new YouTube Kids-app which has just a 4+ age-restriction.

You can get the YouTube Kids-app here :

iOS YouTube Kids-app

…however, as Google advertises this as a “made for ages 5 and under”, this is not for teenagers…

on top of that, the YouTube Kids-app is only available in the US iTunes store, even though it’s claimed to be available in most international languages…

…luckily, there are some alternatives for international teenagers :

iOS VideoTube-app

iOS Tubex Video and Music-app

iOS Tubex Free Music and Video Player-app

all three are available internationally and only have a 12+ age-restriction

and even tough both Tubex-apps use the same name, they are entirely different apps made by different developers…

note that none of these are endorsed by either YouTube, Google or Apple, but that doesn’t have to be problematic of course…

enjoy !

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fixed : no audio on iPhone, just an annoying beeping noise

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Question :

Today the output-sound of my new iPhone 6s turned into complete noise. No matter which app I use, be it YouTube, iTunes Music or online TV, all sound is reduced to an alternating beep-sound. I can turn the volume down (or up), but it doesn’t go away, no matter what I try…

What can I do ?

 

Answer :

Regardless of the exact cause of the error you run into… your best option when encountering weird behavior of your iOS-device (iPhone/iPad) is to do a reset.

For your audio-problem this is tested and proven to work also.

For the iPhone 6s the reset-procedure is a little different from the one used on previous iPhones (*) :

  • make sure you have the PIN-code of your SIM-card at hand
  • press and hold the POWER-button until the screen goes fuzzy and the ‘slide to power off’-slider appears
  • then release the POWER-button and slide the slider to the right to turn the iPhone off
  • wait for the screen to go black
  • then press and hold the POWER-button until the Apple logo (re)appears
  • then release the POWER-button and wait for the screen to go back to normal
  • and when asked, enter the PIN-code to unlock your SIM-card

…that’s it

😉

 

On previous iPhones the reset-procedure is :

  • make sure you have the PIN-code of your SIM-card at hand
  • press and hold the MENU- and POWER-buttons of your iPhone/iPad simultaneously until the entire screen turns black and the Apple logo reappears
  • then release both buttons and wait for the screen to go back to normal
  • and when asked, enter the PIN-code to unlock your SIM-card

…that’s it

enjoy !

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