iPad: The Missing Manual

Appendix B. iPad Troubleshooting and Care

Like most electronic gadgets, the iPad always works perfectly fine—until it doesn’t. Many woes are common and pretty easy to fix—the battery ran all the way down and needs to charge up a bit before iTunes sees it, or the rotation lock is still on and that’s why the screen won’t reorient itself. Less obvious glitches in the iPad’s behavior can be solved by adjusting something in the Settings area, as explained in Appendix A.

But the iPad is a little mini-computer in its own right, and it can exhibit bigger issues that require more than flipping a setting, and may even need the help of a technical expert. Figuring out what your iPad is trying to tell you when it’s sick is the first step in getting it back to good health. This chapter explains what to do if your iPad starts acting weird—and where to go if you need more information or can’t fix it yourself.

Apple’s iPad Troubleshooting Pages

For in-depth advice on a variety of iPad ailments, Apple offers a detailed set of troubleshooting documents at www.apple.com/support/ipad. Its support site also addresses issues with iTunes and syncing content to and from the iPad.

If you don’t feel like putting this book down to go running off to the Web, here are some common tricks to try if your iPad starts acting up:

• Restart the iPad. Like a computer that’s behaving badly, sometimes restarting the device clears ...