Using Donna’s iPad Mini running iOS 7.1.2 as a guinea pig for my upgrade to iOS 9 is turning out to be a complete nightmare. The iPad became stuck in the dreaded Slide to Upgrade screen where it’s just showing a white screen and the words Slide To Upgrade but you cannot do anything on the screen.
I wasn’t able to restore the iPad due to it’s backup encryption so my only option was to wipe and restore back to factory settings. If you don’t have anything on the device that you’d like to keep then this option is for you. The other workaround is to create a backup, restore to factory settings and then restore the backup prior to upgrading. However I think this issue is affecting those that are skipping the updates from iOS 7 to iOS 9 so it would be best to start with iOS 8.4.1 if you can. Here’s what I did below:
Step 1: To ensure a successful iOS 9 upgrade, I needed to start fresh from iOS 8.4.1. I downloaded the IPSW file for iOS 8.4.1. from IPSW.me. I downloaded the appropriate version of iOS 8.4.1 for her iPad Mini, make sure you download the correct one so as not to waste 1.55GB of data like I did
Step 2: I booted the iPad Mini into DFU mode to perform the upgrade to iOS 8.4.1. The Device Firmware Upgrade mode a.k.a. DFU mode is a special mode present on all iOS devices for firmware installation purposes. To enter DFU mode, I connected the device to the MacBook, press and hold the Home+Power buttons and continue holding for 10 seconds.
Step 3: Release the Power button while continuing to hold the Home button for 20 seconds. After that period, iTunes will detect a device connected in recovery mode, you should be able to see this on your device. If your device isn’t detected, perform the DFU mode entry procedure again. It tends to take a couple of tries.
Step 4: While holding down the Option Key (Mac) or Shift Key (Windows), press the Restore button in iTunes. A prompt will appear asking for an IPSW file. Navigate to the location and select the iOS 8.4.1 IPSW file downloaded earlier.
Step 5: The iPad Mini was wiped and iOS 8.4.1 installed. From there I was able to upgrade to iOS 9 successfully and without any further issues
