If your iPhone is stable, and you don't mind it how it is, there may be a corrupt backup. Go to preferences, and delete the backup for that phone. It will create a new one, which will take some time, but each subsequent one will be much faster. I had the same issue, and some of the files in the backup were corrupt.
So I did what the previous poster recommended and deleted my backups. Unfortunately, I am unable to backup anything as I've given up after 6 wasted hours THREE TIMES, with one of them being after I deleted my backups. I was thinking that the 2.2.1 update might help (haven't gotten it yet) but now I'm worried I'd have to restore my phone after the update, which would wipe out all my info because I deleted my backups. I have no clue what to do. Advise?
Can anyone help me here? I've deleted my old backups, still no success. I've hooked up my cord to the back of the computer as recommended by Apple support , no success. I just let the damn thing run for like 10 hours and it cancelled, saying there was an error and the backup could not be completed. And I can't get 2.2.1 because I've already deleted my backups and would lose a lot of stuff I can't get back. As I said before, this is a newly installed itunes and a new first gen phone, both of which I got because the backups failed on the previous versions (and my iphone had a lighting problem). No success I'll have to call Apple AGAIN today, but the guy I talked to didn't really know what I could do. Someone here? Please? Bueller?
So after 15+ hours spent last Tuesday-weekend talking with Apple phone technicians (nicest people in the world) and having gone to the Apple store in Legacy Village, Lyndhurst, Ohio (also the nicest people in the world), I came to a number of conclusions. 1. I am a human typhoid Mary, as no one could figure out why I couldn't back my stuff up, even with multiple new phones. 2. The people in Apple have been working all week trying to figure out my problem, and that includes a lot of higher ups that I never communicated with directly. 3. 2.2.1 sucks. 4. Apple computers at the Apple stores are bizzarely configured. 5. There are a hell of a lot of first generation models at my store, as I've now gone through THREE in 2 weeks (no charge of course). and 6. Having gone through every possible way to backup my stuff (I certainly have been educated far more than I ever thought I would), we just started over. And the backup worked fine (of course I lost all my data - F!!!!). And then I learned the problem. Stanza. STANZA. STANZA - HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME. I learned last night that having 150 books (which I redownloaded last night) completely kills the backup. Even though I had plenty of space after my books, I was unable to backup my stuff again last night. And then I realized the difference between then and earlier that day (when the backup worked) was I had downloaded a number of books. I deleted Stanna, and all was well. So this week I'll be experimenting on how many books I can get before the backup is killed. Maybe it's just me, but at least for now this issue has been resolved. Thank god. And now onto the wifi hell.....uch
Isn't it funny how something so trivial can cause hours of extreme frustration? Glad you got it figured out. You should get in contact with the Apple store that helped you so that they are aware of it as something to look for in case they come across it again - bizaare maybe, but who knows??? I've ran across my own trouble with Apples backup but on the restore side... it works pretty poorly. Wish I could jailbreak my 2g ipod so I could backup my ipods data for effectively (I'm aware of the tethered jb... not something I want to mess with right now).
That's a really sad tale of hardship you had to go through to do the backup properly. I'm at a similar junction where I have to do a backup, but its taking hours and still fails. I did have quite alot of books on Stanza, so I'll also experiment and see how many before the backup really gives up. Have you arrived at a figure already?
