iCloud backup reporting success. Lying.

[melvynadam]

I have been using an iPad 3 for a long time. I have just bought an iPad Air 2. I have both devices on my desk at the moment and was planning to migrate to the new device. The old iPad has been backing up to iCloud without incident for many months. Currently it reports "Last Backup: 12:52" which is two and a half hours ago.

On my new iPad in Settings > iCloud > [MyID] > Devices > [OldiPadDeviceName], it shows me "Latest Backup September 16, 2015 at 20:45".

So it seems that my iPad hasn't been backing up for almost two months but it has been reporting success all of that time. The ultimate sin for a backup program is a false positive on the result of the entire backup operation!

Can anyone suggest the correct way forward? How can I reliably migrate my old iPad's settings, apps, and data to the new one? And how can we TEST the verification we get from iCloud backups? I no longer have any faith that my iPhone is backing up - how would I know?!

 

[scifan57]

Try backing up in iTunes on your computer, then set up your new iPad Air 2 from the backup of your iPad 3. Don't erase your iPad 3 until you have successfully set up your new iPad Air 2. This will ensure that no data is lost.

 

[J. A.]

Maybe you have to update your iPad Air to be able to use the latest backup. If your iPad 3 is up to date, but the Air isn't, you can only use the updates your old iPad made when it had the Air's software installed, not the most recent ones.

 

[twerppoet]

Try deleting the current backup, and then forcing a new one.

You can delete a backup by going to Settings > iCloud > Storage > Manage Storage, then selecting your device under Backups. After the list of apps appears you'll find Delete Backup at the bottom of the screen.

To force a new backup go to Settings > iCloud > Backup, and choose Back Up Now.

Keep an eye on it for a few days to make sure it's fixed the core problem.

 

[J. A.]

I think the iPad 3 has been backing up regularly, or else it wouldn't show up in Settings.

The problem is that the backups won't be an option to restore from, if the new iPad has an older software installed.

Supposedly the Air is on something like iOS 8x. So the backups available will be those before iOS 9 was installed on the iPad 3. iOS 9 became available around September 16. Thus my suggestion with updating the iPad Air. Then it will be possible to use the last three backups made on the iPad 3 to restore from.

 

[twerppoet]

That's what I get for skimming. I thought all the backing up was being done on the same iPad, and it was just a problem with the backup somehow not updating properly.

My bad. disregard me previous post.