I never wanted an iPod or a cell phone until I started teaching Nia. After I got it, I realized how great it is to be able to create playlists from Nia routine music and not have to burn a CD. Same thing with a cell phone, I have a business so I have a cell phone. I don’t really need a cell phone, but a business does. A business needs to have a number to use for business. Which brings me to . . . when I first met my husband he was a “Mac” man. Always had been, always would be . . . . . until, that is, we moved in next door to a guy who gave us a computer that was not a Mac. Then all of a sudden my hubby had something new to learn. He decided to learn how to put computer components together to make a personal computer. He realized that he could buy all the parts and put it together for a lot less than a Mac costs. PLUS the money spent would allow him a machine that would be faster and more powerful than the least expensive Mac. So we got rid of our Macs. Then the iPhone came out. At about that time I was thinking about getting a cell phone and I would need something to play music AND . . . . it was a new toy for hubby to have. So we got iPhones and they stoked the burning embers of love for Apple that had never actually gone out in my hubby’s heart. THEN he started working at a Mac company . . . you know one of those companies whose computers are Macs and not the “other” ones. Then there is the iPad. (eyes rolling). Whenever I have a problem with either of my “i-s”, my hubby says, “Well did you flash it?”
When we first got our iPhones, they had a few issues or kinks, whatever you call them it would often not work properly. My husband being familiar with Macs figured out how to “Flash” the phone. He said it resets the parameter random access memory. This is the memory that is stored which allows the for quick start-up. Since my iPhone frequently went squirrelly back then, I got really used to doing it. I would do it probably at least once a week without being prompted. Then with one of the updates it went away. It either went away and then came back with another update or it changed. I actually think it went away, then came back different. The way the device responded when flashed was different so it seemed as if it was not going to actually do it. Whatever the actual case was, I got out of the habit. Plus the phone stopped being so buggy. So not only did it change so I thought the option of Flashing wasn’t there, I didn’t need to do it that often. So I forget that I can do it and sometimes need to do it.
Have you ever worked for a company that has an IT department? When you have a computer issue what is the first thing the IT department asks you to do or ask you if you did it? “Turn it off then turn it back on.” Right? And then even once you do that, if they have to come to your work area to work on the computer that is the first thing they will do again. So we are all used to turning electronics off than on again, right? That is the FIRST thing we do. Well, flashing it is not quite turning it off and then turning it on. It resets the PRAM.
Yesterday I wanted to listen to the music for a Nia routine for class, I plugged my little iHome Speaker into my iPad and it didn’t work. I rolled my eyes and thought, “Well so much for that.” I got my iPhone to see if the speaker worked with that. It did. So I plugged my earbuds into the iPad to see if they worked. They didn’t. So I just figured I broke it somehow. I mentioned it to my hubby when he was on his way home from work and he said, “Did you flash it?” I felt so silly for not having done it that I said, “Well, of course I did because that is always the first thing you ask.” And then I went on to say that I didn’t and I hung my head like a scolded puppy.
I forgot about it until today and guess what? Of course. I flashed the iPad and my speaker works. I got so caught up in telling my story that I almost forgot the point of this post—to tell you how to flash your phone. Sometimes the rewritable section of memory get to full or a little messed up so it needs to be reset. For the iPhone and the iPad, you hold the On/Off button down at the same time as the Home button. Hold them both down until the screen goes blank AND the Apple logo appears. Then let go and let the device do its thing. Then it will be ready to wake up again shortly. See if that works for you the next time your iPhone or iPad is acting buggy. I don’t know if works for the other iProducts. But it has always worked for mine . . . . . when I remember to do it. 🙂
Flashing the phone is not the same as putting it to sleep and waking it up nor is it the same as turning it off and on again. When you flash an iPhone it resets the Parameter Random Access Memory also known as PRAM and it can get things working properly again.
Terre Pruitt's Blog 