iPhone 5 or earlier Is it possible to avoid whatsapp from being erased?

[igmolinav]

Hi,

Is it possible to avoid erasing the application 'whatsapp'?

Everything was fine. By mistake I had the iPhone
connected to the computer when I updated to Mojave.
My Mac is an early 2011 13" MBP. So, the Mojave
update didn't work for the computer, but affected
the applications on the phone. Twitter and some
applications have asked me to type in again their
corresponding password. However, twitter and the other
applications don't recognize the typed in password. It
is very strange, as if something inside with the phone's
software may have been affected. With whatsapp, the
case is not different. At first, it asks me to allow him
'to optimize', what literally takes a count from cero to
one hundred. After the count, it tells me that it can
not 'remake' itself and that the application should
be erased. The problem is that I have a lot of
information in my whatsapp chats.

Thank you, kind regards,

igmolinav : ) !!!

 

[Minorite]

Do you have any recent iTunes backup? Seems to be the only way from what you describe. p.s. And you've of course tried hard reset/iCloud sing out and sign in?

 

[igmolinav]

Hi,

Thank you for your message : ) !!!

You mention:

Do you have any recent iTunes backup? Seems to be the only way from what you describe.

Thank you for your suggestion! iTunes tells me the following:
"iTunes could NOT connect to your phone because an INVALID
RESPONSE was received from the device".

What does that mean? What is an invalid response from my device?


p.s. And you've of course tried hard reset/iCloud sing out and sign in?

No, I haven't tried that. I don't know how to do a hard reset and as far as I
know, I don't have I cloud. I mean, I have not yet acquired that service.


Thank you again, kind regards,

igmolinav : ) !!!

 

[ericwn]

I don’t see how a hard reset would help. That’s only useful if the device won’t respond. I don’t pull out the plug from my Mac either every time a piece of software doesn’t work.

Try a restart, see if you have a backup, and give Apple a call if nothing works.

 

[Minorite]

Idk what could cause this behavior, even corrupted macOS install during sync shouldn't affect apps on the phone that bad, so just whated to make sure that all basic troubleshooting was done before nuking everything.

@igmolinav Sorry couldn't reply earlier. About hard restart, check this article. You need force restart. About iCloud, I was referring to sign out/sign in from your Apple ID, but again, this is just to make sure that you've tried everything.

About invalid responce, seems to be some sort of iTunes bug after last iOS or iTunes backup, I know at lest 3 people including me who experienced it. On Mac it was fixed by applying all system updates, but still can't fix it on Windows.

About iTunes backup, check iTunes > Edit > Preferences > Devices tab, do you see any backups there? Here's a screenshot

 

[igmolinav]

Hi,

Thank you for your repplies : ) !!!

I will try it tonight and let you guys
know how it goes!

Thank you again, kind regards,

igmolinav : ) !!!

 

[igmolinav]

Hi,

"iTunes could not connect to the iPhone
because an invalid response was
received from the device"

What does that suppose to mean??

I haven't been able to sync my phone
for one reason or another because
the computer pulls out one reason or
another like the above one. I was checking
when was the last time I synced and it
has been almost a year. Since then the
system does not allow me. What do you
think is wrong with iTunes or with my
phone?

Thank you, kind regards,

igmolinav : ) !!!

 

[DeltaMac]

If you search for that error, you will find quite a few possible fixes.
Most of the fixes are listed here.

One step here, and it should be the first for you to try, would be a different USB cable.

 

[crawfish963]

I find it very difficult to believe that an OSX install would affect your iPhone. I see on the other posts that you were advised to try a different USB cable, do a hard reset, etc. Did you? Is the issue just your inability to sync via iTunes and sign in to WhatsApp?

Is there any reason you feel the need to sync over iTunes, rather than just doing it in the cloud from your phone? Have you tried resetting your password through email via the Whatsapp application?

 

[igmolinav]

Hi,

Thank you for your message : ) !!!

I find it very difficult to believe that an OSX install would affect your iPhone.
Yes, it did! I have actually erased most of the applications because the
password was required. However, after writing in the password the log in
was not possible for all of these erased applications. With whatsapp it has
been different. I can not access the application. It asks me to restore it
and then erase the application because apparently the chat history may
not be restored. I do need that chat history because I have information
I can not afford to lose. It is over ten days that this happened.

I see on the other posts that you were advised to try a different USB cable,
do a hard reset, etc. Did you?
I bought a new cable and it didn't work. I have not gone about the hard
reset yet. I want to make sure that if the hard reset is done, whatsapp
as it is, is not erased or affected.

Is the issue just your inability to sync via iTunes and sign in to WhatsApp?
The hope is that if one can sync via iTunes the whatsapp application may
be saved or stored as part of the synchronization's back up. I can not
sign in to whatsapp either. For that, I need to be able to open the
application via the cell phone. With whatsapp, unless I may be missing
something, it is always through the cell phone first and then one can
do whatsapp web

Is there any reason you feel the need to sync over iTunes, rather than just
doing it in the cloud from your phone? I checked the cloud in my phone
and it was not activated. It has not saved anything yet. The 5 GB that
it has are intact.

Have you tried resetting your password through email via the Whatsapp
application? It does not even allow me to enter the application as I
explained above.

Thank you, kind regards,

igmolinav : ) !!!

 

[Honza1]

1. I have access to my Whatsapp history from the web interface. Not sure what is required to login (working mobile Whatsapp?), but if you could get in through web interface, you can backup the necessary info.
2. It is late to state this by now, but backups are critical - especially for important information - and leaving important information inside some crazy weird application like Whatsapp, on a phone which can die at any moment (you know that is what any electronic device can do?) is, well, bad idea... As you found out.
Now, if you have some (at least TimeMachine) backup of your Mac from before upgrade, you should have there one or more backups of your phone. Location of these files is listed on line, google it if needed... You can restore that backup file with your phone data to this or different Mac - and potentially restore whole phone from that backup. This way you may be able to return the phone to state from date/time before any upgrade mess.
If you phone is dead (sounds that way, its not connecting), restore your original setup to different iPhone. May be you can borrow someone's phone to restore into it?
Or use one of the tools (many are available on line) which allows you to extract specific data from those backup files. I do not know how much of Whatsapp history is there and if and how it can be extracted.

But there should be chance to restore the phone or get the data - may be. Of course, only if you have working computer backup from before the upgrade.

 

[crawfish963]

If you were not doing iCloud backups, and you did not save passwords anywhere, you are probably screwed. Sorry for your bad luck.

 

[Ruggy]

If you were not doing iCloud backups, and you did not save passwords anywhere, you are probably screwed. Sorry for your bad luck.

Do you have whatsapp installed on your the computer?
If you do then, it will appear on the computer when you log into your account.
I don't know how it stands if you haven't already installed it though as I think you need your phone to install it. But If not I would start by trying that.I haven't had time to read everything but I assume you have your password recorded somewhere.
You should be able to back up all your chats from the computer, too- just in case.
Then you will need to do a hard reset on the phone and reinstall all your apps via itunes under 'purchases'. That should sort eveything out
When you reinstall whatsapp on the phone and log in, the chats should then synch with your account and reload them from the computer (or whatever it do
I'm not an expert on whatsapp, but I have changed to a new phone and all my chats appeared.
You then need to review your practices.
Good luck

 

[igmolinav]

Hi,

Thank you for your messages : ) !!!
I will answer to them asap!

@crawfish963
... Sorry for your bad luck.
Sorry to say, but no bad luck. My only mistake has been precisely
to follow Apple's message that passionately and tirelessly had reminded me
-over months, weeks and days -
to update to Mojave. It still does remind me to update to Mojave, even though
my computer's model does not need it or does not apply to it!
My computer and phone, both of Apple make, hardly leave home.
Messages and missed calls are taken care of as soon as I get back to the desk
where the computer stays. So, it was not because I was playing with either
the phone or the computer. This happened because Apple suggested the
Mojave update, not because of any other reason!


When I open 'whatsapp' on the phone, it asks me to wait for it to be optimized.
This task takes a count from zero to one hundred. Then, a message appears
before asking me to start to restore.

A message that tells me the following:

" 'Whatsapp' seems to have a problem to read your chat history. It will
try to restore it. This can take a few minutes.
During this restore process, please don't close the 'Whatsapp' application
and do not turn off the device"

As soon as I start the restore process a message appears two or three
seconds later that says:

" Whatsapp couldn't restore your chat history. Please erase 'Whatsapp'
and install it again"

If I accept to erase 'Whatsapp', will there be, at least, any chat history left
in the 'Web Whatsapp' (of the computer)?

Unfortunately, and to make things worse,
I can not open the so called 'Web Whatsapp' (in the computer),
as it needs to have the 'Whatsapp' application of the phone open.
That is something that I can not do now, as mentioned,
unless 'Whatsapp' is erased and installed it again!

What would you do, what would you suggest?

Kind regards,

igmolinav

 

[Honza1]

You should try Whatsapp support - https://www.whatsapp.com/contact/ ... But if I read the messages correctly, the data on iPhone are corrupted and Whatsapp cannot read them. It is basically asking you to wipe out the current history on the phone (when you delete application it also removes all of its data) and reinstall. You will loose all chat history on the phone. Whatsapp can backup to iCloud, but you have to enable it - if you did, you can restore what is in the iCloud backup. If you did not, your phone storage is the ONLY place this stuff is. You loose the phone, phone dies, data in it get corrupted, ... and you have nothing.
Again, if there is phone backup in iTunes from before the disaster, either on this computer now or in TimeMachine, you may have a chance. I would assume it is backuped. If you do not have any backup, those data are likely gone...
All of this is described here: https://faq.whatsapp.com/en/iphone/20888066/

 

[igmolinav]

Hi,

Thank you for your message : ) !!!

It is an irony that it is not against viruses that
one has to protect one's computer, but from
Apple own softwares like the updates!
And Apple is nagging you all the time:
"update, update, update to this or that
software!" when it should be a personal
preference!

As I mentioned, I had to erase several
applications. I just downloaded mail again
and it asked me for my password for my
gmail account. I typed in the password
and it didn't work. I signed off gmail in
my computer and signed back in without
any trouble. The problem is in the phone
and thanks to Mojave!

Apple should be giving me a solution!

Kind regards,

igmolinav : ) !!!

 

[Honza1]

Apple has probably no solution for you and does not owe you one.

Actually, it is more or less guaranteed that Apple has none. The data on the phone ssd should be encrypted (and now corrupted) and so chances anyone can extract anything are small. Apple offers various backup methods (iCloud, iTunes+TimeMachine on Mac) and tries to nag users into them. Apparently you opted not to use any. It is a lesson.

Backup is today more critical than ever - I remeber times I could salvage some data from my broken hard & floppy disks myself. I think that is impossible today... Today solution is "erase" and "restore from backup".

There have been people here reporting that "XYZ" caused "whatever damage" to their hardware. Keeps repeating all the time.

These reports are mostly (not always, sometimes Apple does screw up!) isolated cases and at the end can be traced to hardware failures or other problems, which develop with any computer hardware over time. Sometimes they manifest themselves during some other activity - device system upgrade is favorite. If owner wakes up in the morning and iPhone is dead, well, it died, time for repair or replacement. But if it dies during upgrade, it is Apple fault. Even though chances of dying may be about the same and upgrade has not caused it, just happen to be running at that time. In this case I have not seen any reports of similar events, so it looks like isolated case, likely the phone was going to die. It is electronic device, these things die routinely.

Logically, Mojave upgrade required Mac reboots during which system was being setup and was not fully ready -- while your phone was at the same time being re-mounted, USB power was cycled,... Personally, I do not leave ANY external device connected to my Mac while being upgraded. I unplug all external disks (internal also if I can), even secondary monitors, whatever is not necessary and work with minimum configuration. It "should" be safe to leave stuff attached and I am sure they test lot of it, beta testers test lot more, but no one can test every combination with every hardware.

By the way, any and all OSX upgrades are purely optional. You had to download Mojave installer and run it, type in admin credentials... Even minor updates are optional, there is simple checkbox which will prevent such updates.

 

[igmolinav]

Hi,

Thank you for your message!

Apple has probably no solution for you and does not owe you one.
In that case, if Apple may have never reminded me, I would have
never updated. I may have gone to an Apple technician or Apple
reseller that are relatively far away from where I live. It would
have been better than the always nagging insistence on Apple's
side. I use products and services from other brand names and
they are not calling me, or writing me, etc.

Personally, I do not leave ANY external device connected to my Mac
while being upgraded. I unplug all ....
But it can happen and it happened to the computer I use. It was
an Apple update. It is Apple's own software that got into the
computer and affected the Apple phone and the answer is we
don't know! Apple computer, Apple phone, Apple software, etc.
Everything used is/was Apple! I think somebody around here
knows!

Thank you, kind regards,

igmolinav

P.S. It is perhaps better to ask before doing updates:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/risk-s-of-updating-itunes.2171028/

 

[crawfish963]

Regardless, it was still your responsibility to check the update before you blindly did it. I think that plenty of people have given you common-sense replies and opinions. Each time, you seem to come back with an excuse to negate this being your responsibility. Good luck.

 

[x_man_]

I still don't understand how macOS update can affect your iPhone.