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Speed Up Sync Time By Bypassing USB Hub

Submitted by Edward Kirk on September 5, 2008 - 9:05am.
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There are a lot of different suggested methods for reducing the sync time for the new iPhone software, ranging from re-installing apps to any number of things, but Scott Paterson with UKMac.Net has stumbled upon one he believes may have solved the issue for him.

While he usually plugged it in to a USB hub that was connected to his iMac, he decided to try plugging it in directly to a USB port on his machine. Strangely enough, he says it worked like a charm and synced at a much faster speed. We haven't tested it ourselves so we're not sure how well it works, but if you're trying to sync your iPhone or iPod touch through a USB hub and it's taking absurd lengths of time to do so, try connecting it directly to a USB port right on your computer.

Be sure and let us know if this works for you in the comments!

[via DaringFireball]

never had a problem

Submitted by Unregistered (not verified) on September 5, 2008 - 9:51am.
I've always plugged directly into the mac and never had a problem with long syncs. I'd guess my average sync time is around 3 minutes.

Submitted by WmH2 on September 5, 2008 - 10:01am.
Something else to keep in mind... especially if you are using a PC, not USB ports on your computer are equal. Even though you mother board may be USB 2.0, some of those ports are not. Some cases have a mini hub up front for those convenient ports. You may want to test from a port sitting off the mother board (i.e. in back) to see if you get any speed differences.

The secrets to USB 2.0

Submitted by Unregistered (not verified) on September 5, 2008 - 10:21am.
This is very simply explained. USB 2.0 is a pooled connection. If you have a USB hub with multiple devices, the connection to any of those devices is the speed of the slowest one. Meaning, if you mix USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 devices on the same hub, you get USB 1.1 speeds for ALL of them.

This holds true for external hubs as well as internal ones (those clusters of USB ports on the backs of peecees are generally all going to the same hub). USB 2.0 has a theoretical transfer speed of up to 480 Mbps, where USB 1.1 has a transfer speed of up to 11 Mbps.... so the speed difference is pronounced.

The slow sync problem that everyone is complaining about is NOT related to USB hubs tho... well not for the vast majority of the users. From what I understand, with iPhone 2.x software, iTunes is backing up ALL your user data from your phone, and for those of us that have more than a couple of applications installed, that means these syncs can take an hour or more... like mine just took (1.5 hrs) this morning. Excessively long syncs create situations where users just don't sync their phones anymore.

There is a real software problem here, and Apple needs to address it.

not quite

Submitted by kellygeorge on September 5, 2008 - 10:54pm.
I would just like to say I always plug directly in to the computer, and my backup takes forever. I always just X out of the backup, and Im afraid that only makes things worse.
Has anyone compared sync time of a jailbroken/unlocked iphone vs. normal iphone? I wonder if there is any significant difference (mine is unlocked).

Sync time

Submitted by Trigger369 (not verified) on September 6, 2008 - 10:53am.
I have about 35 apps loaded. The longest sync/backup I ever encounter is about 3-4 minutes. I don't know what the answer here is but one of the things I did when I first got my iPhone is enabled the "sync only new items" option in iTunes. Since I have had it enabled since day one, I don't know if it helped or not.




Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered View Post
This is very simply explained. USB 2.0 is a pooled connection. If you have a USB hub with multiple devices, the connection to any of those devices is the speed of the slowest one. Meaning, if you mix USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 devices on the same hub, you get USB 1.1 speeds for ALL of them.

This holds true for external hubs as well as internal ones (those clusters of USB ports on the backs of peecees are generally all going to the same hub). USB 2.0 has a theoretical transfer speed of up to 480 Mbps, where USB 1.1 has a transfer speed of up to 11 Mbps.... so the speed difference is pronounced.

The slow sync problem that everyone is complaining about is NOT related to USB hubs tho... well not for the vast majority of the users. From what I understand, with iPhone 2.x software, iTunes is backing up ALL your user data from your phone, and for those of us that have more than a couple of applications installed, that means these syncs can take an hour or more... like mine just took (1.5 hrs) this morning. Excessively long syncs create situations where users just don't sync their phones anymore.

There is a real software problem here, and Apple needs to address it.

It has to do with Apps

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on September 8, 2008 - 2:48pm.
The only time the sync times are atrociously long are when you're installing/updating/removing Appstore apps. I've disabled my backup option (see Tips section) and manually back up every now and then just to be safe.

When dealing with Apps, my sync times can be hours. And I agree, its something Apple should be looking at.

Submitted by mikesgroove (not verified) on September 8, 2008 - 7:36pm.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trigger369 View Post
I have about 35 apps loaded. The longest sync/backup I ever encounter is about 3-4 minutes. I don't know what the answer here is but one of the things I did when I first got my iPhone is enabled the "sync only new items" option in iTunes. Since I have had it enabled since day one, I don't know if it helped or not.
where is the "sync only new items" option? i sure don't see it anywhere...

Submitted by Unregistered (not verified) on September 10, 2008 - 1:17pm.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikesgroove View Post
where is the "sync only new items" option? i sure don't see it anywhere...
There is no option. The only option close to that is "Sync only checked items" which is on the Info tab of the iPhone page.

Submitted by WmH2 on September 11, 2008 - 10:48am.
I have about 45 applications on my system. I am syncing over Windows XP off from a USB port directly on the laptop. And my sync (...er... um backup...) takes about 15-20 minutes. I realize that backing up is a good thing, but I will be doing work on my music library or grabbed another few applications or maintenance on my contacts and will want to resync. I don't need a full back-up every single time. I would love to see a "feature" where you could set a back up like weekly or monthly or something like that.

All of my Apps & Music are on my LapTop, my contacts are on Yahoo, my Calendar is on a shared drive. Do I need a full back up every single time... uh, no...

When I did my upgrade to 2.0, I used a back up that was one and a half months old. It had all of my "settings" because those don't really change hourly. I then just resynced everything else (which did take 4 hours). It's the balance between how much time you spend on a frequent occurrence (syncing/backing up) and a "hopefully" infrequent occurrence (restoring).

Submitted by captncoala on October 12, 2008 - 10:06am.
There is definately a connection between speed of backup and usb ports used. There is also a big difference between jailbroken and stock iphones. I have over 100 apps/games installed on my phone, along side my 10 odd gig of music and video (thats a jb phone btw). My stock phone completed a full backup in just under 5 minutes, minus about half of my games and apps (obviously only legit apps will sync). My jb iphone completes its backup in just under 30 minutes. Both of these times are from a single usb port (2.0) on an old pc. However on my new pc, with a usb hub of 6 ports, my stock phone takes 15 mins and my jb takes over an hour.
Now bear in mind, these backups are for pre synced phones. For a first time sync and backup, my stock phone takes 30 mins on a single port, while my jb takes more than an hour and a half. On a hub, these times are ridiculously increased.
ALWAYS try to use a port devoted to your phone/pod, not part of a hub, and always keep in mind, a first time sync will always take a hell of alot longer than a simple backup/sync, even if you are adding a few more songs/apps/movies whatever.