Copy Music From Your iPhone/iPod/iPad to Your Computer

For various reasons you may find that a song on your iPhone, iPod, or iPad does not exist on the computer you are using (at work? Bad music transfer?).  It used to be quite a process to get files transfered, but now there's an easy piece of software for Windows that does everything for you:  Sharepod.

1.  Download Sharepod.

2. Connect your iDevice.

3.  Open Sharepod. (You will be asked to close iTunes if it is open).

4.  Select the music you want to save to your computer.

5.  Click "Copy to Computer" and select the folder you want to save the songs to.

There you go!

iPhone: Broken Mute Switch / Bypass Silent Toggle

I inherited a much-appreciated iPhone 3GS recently with the warning that it came with some minor problems, including a silent switch that didn't work. 

The symptom:  while it works in the "on" position, the "off" position was unreliable or irritating as it would go crazy vibrating as it contanstly switched on and off from silent.

The solution:

1)  Download and install "SBSettings" from Cydia.  (Oh yeah, jailbreak your iPhone first).

2)  Download and install "Ringer/Silent SBSettings" from Cydia.

Now when you swipe the top of your iPhone screen, you will see a picture of a bell.  This will toggle between muting and ringing.

Since the switch always worked in the "on" state, I just always leave the switch on and use the toggle to make it turn on or off.  How you use this software will depend on what exactly is happening with your switch, but you'll figure out what's best for you.

The good thing about this fix is that it works for all versions of iPhones.  There's rumor of an "AutoSilent" app that does wonders, but it wouldn't work on my iPhone.

Unlock iPhone 3G iOS 4.2.1 Baseband 05.15.04

I went to unlock an iPhone 3G I found on a volcano (true story) and it seemed to go without a hitch...except when I tried to actually use the phone on a network.  Even though it acted like it was jailbroken and ultrasn0w unlocked it, the phone never would actually work on the network.  After some research, I discovered there's a bug with baseband 05.15.04.

The fix seemed simple:  while jailbreaking with Redsn0w, install the iPad baseband.  The problem with this fix? The latest version of Resn0w kept crashing when trying to jailbreak with the iPad baseband.  I also saw a fair share of running pineapples that didn't seem to be running anywhere and continuously rebooting Apple logos.

So after a lot of research and trial and error, it took the right combination of iOS and version of Redsn0w to work.  I give you my solution:

1)  Download iOS 4.2.1 IPSW here.

2)  Download Redsn0w 9.6b5 here.

3)  Run Resn0w 9.6b5 and select the IPSW downloaded in Step 1.

4)  When asked to select your options, check "Install Cydia" and "Install iPad Baseband".

5)  Continue to follow the rest of the instructions to jailbreak your iPhone.

6)  Open Cydia and install ultrasn0w.

You'll be unlocked!

iPhone Screen Will Not Rotate On Its Side (Landscape Orientation)

Before trying these steps, make sure that you have restarted your iPhone.  Also note that some apps do not allow for the screen to sideways and therefore will never change to landscape orientation.  But if nothing (pictures, web pages, etc.) will never rotate, then try these steps:

1)  Double-tap the home button (black button at the bottom center of your iPhone) until a menu of apps appears as a bottom row on your screen.

2)  Swipe the row to the left.  You will see iPod controls plus at the left-most side an icon with a clockwise-pointing arrow.

3)  If this arrow circle has a lock in the center of it, then it means your landscape mode is locked.  Tap it to unlock it.

iPhone Stopped Vibrating

One day my iPhone 3G made a funny noise when it started to vibrate.  It sounded like the motor died mid-vibration.  I thought this was the end of my old phone and I was going to be forced to purchase the latest and greatest model, which unfortunately is a problem since I need an unlocked phone for where I live.

But I was able to revive it!  I read online about placing the phone face-down and tapping the back -- not hard, but enough to shake it up a little. It didn't work, so I tried focusing on different parts of the phone.  It seems the best location to tap is on the spot two icons from the bottom right of the screen (but on the backside of the phone).  Basically, put the phone face-down and aim for that spot in the lower-left of the backside.

It worked for me!  It started vibrating, then stopped again.  I had to tap it a couple more times before it would continue working without me having to tap it any longer.  I imagine there's a piece of plastic or a seal floating around in there now, but I'm happy with extending the function for a bit longer.

iPhone - Nobody Can Hear Me!

One day my very old iPhone 3G seemed to give its last breath when one day people were unable to hear me on a call, though I could hear them just fine.  I figured the phone was just too old and the time had some to upgrade.  Just to be safe, I scoured the internet and found a bug related to the iPod app, so I gave it a try and it worked!

Many forums online say it happens when the headphones are suddenly unplugged during the middle of a song, but I couldn't recall such an incident since I don't listen to a lot of music on my iPhone.

The fix:

1)  Start the iPod app.
2)  Play a song.
3)  Stop the song.
4)  Close the iPod app.
5)  Restart the iPhone.

That worked for me and I haven't had any problems since!  If this doesn't work, then try updating everything through iTunes.  A workaround is to just use the hands-free cable until you can get a new phone. Some shops are able to fix hardware issues, but you need to weigh the costs vs. getting a new phone.

Jailbroken iPhone 3.1.3 Apps Crash

I jailbroke my iPhone 3G with firmware 3.1.3 and after doing so, any new apps I installed would crash when trying to open.  It was frustrating to see everything close and be back on the home screen.  I finally fixed it:

In iTunes, select the iPhone under the list of devices. 

Go to the Applications tab and click "Sync Applications."

Click Apply.

Click Sync.

Once the Sync is complete, the apps should open.  Very odd bug, indeed.

How to Make iPhones Work with Exchange 2003 without a Front-End Server

The popularity of iPhones can't be ignored and with its marketing heavily promoting its compatibility with Microsoft Exchange, users think they have all the info they need to insist that their iPhone should operate flawlessly with their employer's email server.  In reality, an organization needs more than just a single Exchange server to serve the iPhone users in the most secure fashion.  A front-end server will get you up an running easily, but what if you only have a single Exchange server?

The reason a single server model doesn't work is because ActiveSync doesn't work with forms-based authentication and SSL.  (In reality, this is a fix for all ActiveSync devices, not just for iPhones).  There is a workaround, however:

Note:   This process will interrupt Outlook Web Access service.  Be sure to plan accordingly, though it should take very long to complete these steps.

1.  On the Exchange 2003 server, open the System Manager.

2.  Expand Administrative Groups > (first group listed) > Servers > (your Exchange server) > Protocols > HTTP.

3.  Right-click "Exchange Virtual Server" and select "Properties"

4.  Click the Settings tab and uncheck "Enable Forms Based Authentication.  Click OK and close System Manager.

5.  Restart IIS.

• Option 1:   From Computer Mangement, right-click "Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager" and go to All Tasks > Restart IIS...
• Option 2:  Go to Start > Run.. and enter:   IISRESET /NOFORCE

6.   In IIS, go to Web Sites > Default Web Site.

7.  Right-click the "Exchange" virtual directory, go to All Tasks > Save Configuration to a File...

8.  For a File Name, you can use whatever you want (ExchangeVDir is in Microsoft's example).

9.  Right-click "Default Web Site" and select New > Virtal Directory (from file).

10.  Click "Browse" and locate the file you created in step 8, click "Open" and then "Read File.

11.  Under "Select a configuration to import" click "Exchange" and then OK.

12.  A message will indicate that the directory already exists, so select "Create a new virtual directory" and type "exchange-oma" in the "Alias" box.  Click OK.

13.  Right-click the "exchange-oma" virtual directory and select "Properties."

14.  Go to the Directory Security tab and click the Edit button under "Authentication and access control."

15.  Make sure only Integrated Windows authentication and Basic authentication are enabled.  Click OK.

16.  Under the Directory Security tab, click the Edit button under "IP address and domain name restrictions."

17.  Select "Denied access," click "Add," click "Single computer" and enter the IP address of your Exchange server (the one you're making all these changes on).  Click OK twice.

18.  Under "Secure communications" click the "Edit" button and verify that "Require secure channel (SSL) is not enabled.  Click OK.

19.  Close IIS Manager.

20.  In the registry, browse to this location:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MasSync\Parameters

21.  Right-click "Parameters," click New > String Value. 

22.  Type "ExchangeVDir" (without quotes and exactly as capitalized).  Then modify "ExchangeVDir" and give it a value of "/exchange-oma" (again, without the quotes).

23.  Restart IIS (see Step 5).

24.  Re-enable forms-based authentication for Outlook Web Access, if desired, by re-checking the box in steps 1-4.

25.  Restart IIS once again and you should be able to connect to your Exchange server using Activesync!  If you see some glitches, try restarting the server.