What's new
Apple iPad Forum 🍎

Welcome to the Apple iPad Forum, your one stop source for all things iPad. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

A Serious Plea for Help - from a novice Ipad user

iRich

iPF Noob
Joined
Jan 30, 2012
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Hey all,

First off, I just need to let everyone know that I don't actually even own an Ipad; I'm posting in this forum because I desperately need to know how to unlock a password-protected Ipad. The story: my girlfriend's younger brother committed suicide last month. He was an incredible artist, and a great of his artwork was contained in his Ipad, which he loved. The Ipad was a gift from my girlfriend to him, and so technically she can prove that she owns the device. However, when we took the Ipad to the apple store in NYC, the employees there told us to seek out "alternative" methods because Apple couldn't open it without deleting the data inside (which is obviously what we want access to). The issue is complicated by the fact that he never synced the Ipad with any laptop/computer, and that he was also the type of person that would make it such that if we guessed too many times, the data would be entirely deleted. We're scared to mess around with the Ipad for fear of deleting everything. I'm coming to you all now because I don't know where else to go with this problem. This Ipad may be the only way that her family can get some answers and, more importantly, some closure after this tragic event. If you know ANYTHING about this, please be a human being and help us out.

Thanks,
Rich
 

Stevelamont

iPF Noob
Joined
Jan 3, 2012
Messages
45
Reaction score
2
Location
Northern Ireland
I'm not sure if you can ask that sort of thing here. I might be wrong I'm not sure. Have you tried and local stalls or mobile repair shops?
 
OP
I

iRich

iPF Noob
Joined
Jan 30, 2012
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
No, just the apple store. When you say local stalls, do you mean such as the ones at the mall?
 
OP
I

iRich

iPF Noob
Joined
Jan 30, 2012
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
And I'm aware that this is not a question I can ask freely... but, again, I'm not sure where else to go
 

drb_52

iPF Novice
Joined
May 19, 2011
Messages
184
Reaction score
5
I'll bet the police have a way to do it. If you have the receipt and can prove to them your gf owns it, they may be willing to help or point you to someone that can.
Good luck.
 

DrHouse

iPF Noob
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
644
Reaction score
21
Location
Quebec
Website
www.ws4dl.org
I would call tech support directly at Apple. Explaining the issue and that you have required proofs to support your claim, they may provide you with a solution that the Apple Store may not be able to provide.

On the other hand, if the iPad was jail broken, and SSH sever was installed, you can try to get access from there. But he may have changed the default password...

I remember a while ago that connecting an iPad or iPhone to an Ubuntu machine (with all updates to support iOS devices) will give you access to the photo folders and also the shared folders even if the device is locked. You would not get access to everything, but you may still get precious documents if he used apps that saved the content in those shared folders. I'll check it out if this "flaw" was patched or not...

EDIT: did the test and the flaw was patched for share documents but I was able to access pictures, books and a few other documents. Not much but it's better than nothing...


But I would start with Apple. It will probably be a long process, but surely worth it.

Good luck!

VicoPad addict!
 
Last edited:

Stevelamont

iPF Noob
Joined
Jan 3, 2012
Messages
45
Reaction score
2
Location
Northern Ireland
No, just the apple store. When you say local stalls, do you mean such as the ones at the mall?

Yes to the question. I'm also backing the suggestion to call apple directly and fully explain the situation, I am pretty sure they must have a procedure for this type of thing. The receipt should be enough to prove that you are not in possession of a stolen iPad. I hope you get it sorted.
 
OP
I

iRich

iPF Noob
Joined
Jan 30, 2012
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
I would call tech support directly at Apple. Explaining the issue and that you have required proofs to support your claim, they may provide you with a solution that the Apple Store may not be able to provide.

On the other hand, if the iPad was jail broken, and SSH sever was installed, you can try to get access from there. But he may have changed the default password...

I remember a while ago that connecting an iPad or iPhone to an Ubuntu machine (with all updates to support iOS devices) will give you access to the photo folders and also the shared folders even if the device is locked. You would not get access to everything, but you may still get precious documents if he used apps that saved the content in those shared folders. I'll check it out if this "flaw" was patched or not...

EDIT: did the test and the flaw was patched for share documents but I was able to access pictures, books and a few other documents. Not much but it's better than nothing...


But I would start with Apple. It will probably be a long process, but surely worth it.

Good luck!

VicoPad addict!

Thanks for the response. Do you know of any links that could show me how to do what you described (accessing photo folders even when the device is locked)? The rep at the apple store did mention something like that, but said he personally didn't know how to do it.
 

DrHouse

iPF Noob
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
644
Reaction score
21
Location
Quebec
Website
www.ws4dl.org
iRich said:
Thanks for the response. Do you know of any links that could show me how to do what you described (accessing photo folders even when the device is locked)? The rep at the apple store did mention something like that, but said he personally didn't know how to do it.

You have to install Ubuntu Linux on a computer. It may work with only a live cd, meaning that you boot your computer from the Ubuntu CD in demo mode.

- visit www.ubuntulinux.org
- download the latest cd image for Ubuntu
- burn that image on a cd, not the file itself. Usually, any cd burner software has this option to burn from image (ISO file)
- once burned, insert the cd in a PC that can boot from the CD first and not from the hard disk. Usually, upon booting, you'll see "press F2 to boot from CD". Sometime it's another key or you have to go into the bios to enable this.
- while booting from the CD, you will be ask a few questions. When asked to install or try out (don't remember how it is actually named), go for the demo mode, not the install
- after a few minutes, you'll get into the Ubuntu desktop. Don't worry, nothing will be installed on your hard disk at this point
- plug the iPad into the USB port.
- if all goes well, you'll see the DCIM folder showing up, letting you copy the files on a USB stick
- the shared folders may also be available, but I'm not sure

If nothing shows up, or you want to have the full access, you'll need to install Ubuntu. Repeat the booting procedure, but this time you select install instead of demo. Of course, make sure that this computer can be wiped.... You can install Ubuntu side by side with windows, if you feel adventurous. Follow instructions, it's quite easy. Once ubuntu is installed, you'll need to update to the latest package available. It's a bit like windows update, but better ;). Make sure that the computer is connected to the Internet. You should see a dialog asking you to upgrade after a few minutes. If not, simply look for "update" in the top left menu, it should show up.

Once completely updated, and rebooted, plug the iPad, and you should be good.

Or simply ask around if a friend already has an Ubuntu setup, it would make the process easier. Any geek has that somewhere, or another Linux distro than Ubuntu that could do the trick...

Let me know!

VicoPad addict!
 

addiosamigo

iPF Noob
Joined
Oct 25, 2010
Messages
955
Reaction score
15
You could just try programs like iPhone explorer or diskaid, you just plug it in and get access to the program's 'documents' file and the photo app which is probably all you need!
 

f4780y

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Sep 11, 2010
Messages
7,113
Reaction score
652
Location
Troon, Scotland
DrHouse & addiosamigo - I am not aware that any of these options work on an iPad which is protected by a passcode and has never been linked to the PC which you are attaching to!

DrHouse, I have a clean Ubuntu installation. It cannot read either of my iPads which are both passcode protected UNTIL I unlock the device by entering the correct passcode. Obviously, this is of no help to the OP since the passcode is unknown.

addiosamigo, same deal with these tools. IF the device has been unlocked on the PC at least ONCE you will be able to access the device because the correct encryption key will be saved with the driver, but since the OP stated the device is not paired with a PC for syncing, then again, there is no way this should work for him.

If either of these security flaws existed on all passcode protected iPads it would be a pretty serious and many many folks would be up in arms about it!

Sorry iRich, but AFAIK there is no way to bypass the security of an iPad which has an unknown passcode and has not been paired and unlocked at least once on a PC to which you have access. I'd be extremely surprised if you found a way to gain access.
 
Last edited:

addiosamigo

iPF Noob
Joined
Oct 25, 2010
Messages
955
Reaction score
15
Ah ok I thought that may of been the case but mentioned it just in case
 

Bingoldsby

iPF Noob
Joined
Jul 13, 2011
Messages
272
Reaction score
4
Location
Oregon
When I plug my iPad 2 (5.0.1) into my computer, go to My Computer (on the Laptop), there is an entry there for my iPad as a Drive. Opening that drive accesses the folders that contain the photos in Camera Roll and another similar folder in the Photos app.

My iPad is not locked and I'm runinning a "NoLockScreen" app which bypasses the lock screen althogether. Perhaps there is something different about a locked iPad, but you might give it a try. It sure is quick and simple to find out.

I have no doubt that Apple Technical Department has a back door setup to access ANY iDevice that's is locked.

Good luck!

Brian - Sent from my iPad using iPF
 

DrHouse

iPF Noob
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
644
Reaction score
21
Location
Quebec
Website
www.ws4dl.org
f4780y said:
DrHouse & addiosamigo - I am not aware that any of these options work on an iPad which is protected by a passcode and has never been lined to the PC which you are attaching to!

DrHouse, I have a clean Ubuntu installation. It cannot read either of my iPads which are both passcode protected UNTIL I unlock the device by entering the correct passcode. Obviously, this is of no help to the OP since the passcode is unknown.

I did the test myself with a relative new setup of Ubuntu 11.10. As stated, shared folders are locked, but I had access to the DCIM folder and books folder even if the device was locked. This was tested on an Ubuntu 11.10 amd64 with an iPad 1 iOS 5.01. If we have a different results, then something is different with our setups or with the iPad version. Thanks for sharing that info, we are all trying to help the OP.

EDIT: I redid the test but unpaired the iPad first to make sure. You're right, this is a dead end. So probably I must have connected my iPad at least once, I just don't remember when. So the flaw as I reported has been fixed completely which is a good thing. Thanks for clarifying.


VicoPad addict!
 
Last edited:

xIkx

iPF Noob
Joined
Jan 12, 2012
Messages
43
Reaction score
6
I'd call apple, they are the only ones who could do it if it is possible at all. I don't think anybody else could do it because it would be a huge security issue.
 

Most reactions

Latest posts

Top