Picking a new computer to sync iPhone with while keeping everything.

January 8, 2011 2:17 PM

Is there a possibility to jailbreak my iOS 4.0.2 iPhone without resetting it? Can I backup everything from my iPhone to my new computer and make it the new sync computer?

I have iPhone 4 with iOS 4.0.2. Because I'm in the military, I'm away from home and cannot sync with my old computer. However, I have bought a laptop and I would like to sync with this new computer. I would like to keep my iPhone settings, contacts, music (along with the playlists, play counts and ratings) etc. I read that this is nearly impossible unless you have a jailbroken iPhone, but I fear that a jailbreak or an firmware update will reset my iPhone. So my questions are these. Is there a possibility to jailbreak my iOS 4.0.2 iPhone without resetting it? Can I backup everything from my iPhone to my new computer and make it the new sync computer?

posted by ihavearedcouch to computers & internet (6 answers total)

to be more precise, this is an iphone 4
posted by ihavearedcouch at 2:28 PM on January 8, 2011

JailBreakMe says it only goes up to v4.0.1 firmware. Its developer might release an updated cracker that you might keep an eye out for.

Most of the other jailbreaking tools require a backup-wipe-restore cycle, as those replace the system installation entirely.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:48 PM on January 8, 2011

The "second scenario" in these instructions might help you sync to a new computer without wiping the iPhone.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:56 PM on January 8, 2011

This is what you are looking for... depending on your tech level, I might call in a friend, but I use this to sync my phone between both my laptop and pc:

http://www.corsino.com/blog/?page_id=27

or

http://www.andrewgrant.org/2008/03/30/how-to-sync-an-iphone-with-two-or-more-computers.html
(on this one, scroll down in the comments to near the bottom to get some updated info)
posted by razzamatazm at 4:50 PM on January 8, 2011

Can I backup everything from my iPhone to my new computer and make it the new sync computer?

Almost everything. You can transfer contacts, photos, your calendar, bookmarks, notes, apps, and music to your computer. Caveat: the only music you can transfer is music downloaded from the iTunes store.

As long as you're not syncing stuff from the music/app/video/etc library, like if you're just syncing contacts and settings, that's fine. That doesn't require that the library first be erased. But if you want to start syncing your music with the new computer, you'll want to first transfer music from your phone to the computer, and then allow iTunes on that computer to erase the music on the phone and start syncing with the phone. That's just the way iTunes works. Mumble mumble something something agreement with record labels something something.

Now, there are programs out there that will pull all the music off your phone and dump it onto your computer. That's useful if you have music you got from sources other than the iTunes store (like from a CD you bought in a store, from a website, torrents, whatever). If you use one of those programs and get all the songs you need from the phone to the computer, you're good to go.

iTunes shouldn't just erase the media libraries of your phone without giving you a warning first. So if you want to just connect the phone to make a backup and sync your contacts (backups don't store music anyway), you can do that without having anything on your phone erased.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 8:18 PM on January 8, 2011

Figured it out. Firmware updates LUCKILY doesn't reset your phone. So I updated it to 4.2.1 which made it possible to jailbreak thanks to greenpois0n.com. Then it was a piece of cake to take info out, back up, etc :)
posted by ihavearedcouch at 12:25 AM on March 7, 2011