You’ve probably been in a situation in which your iPhone seems dead (white apple logo on a black boot up screen).
You may ask yourself: "Huh? What did I do?" Try to trace your steps:
a) Have you installed any new applications?
b) Did you do a hard reset while your iPhone seemed frozen?
There’s nothing you can do about some app crashing your iPhone. But you gotta stay away from hard resets, do them only after you’re 100% sure that your Phone is not responding.
You probably tried this method (getting the device in recovery mode) and still cannot connect to iTunes. If all failed, follow the following steps:
1. Turn off your iPhone. You may need to do a hard reset: (hold Home and Sleep buttons until the screen turns off).
2. Connect USB cable to your iPhone and open iTunes
3. Now, this is the most difficult part of the process.
You need to get your iPhone into DFU (Device Firmware Update)
Timing is everything, so make sure you have a timer.
a) Hold Home and Sleep Buttons for 10 seconds
b) After 10 seconds release Sleep Button
c) Continue Holding Home Button for 10 more seconds
If you performed the steps above correctly you will see this message in iTunes:
If not, repeat the steps above again – timing is everything.
4. During the next steps, iTunes will restore the original firmware to your iPhone:
After the process, your iPhone gets restored but remains blank/empty.
5. After the restoration process, the iPhone reboots. If you are still connected to iTunes, you will have an option to restore your iPhone from the back-up.
Note: If you have been stopping backup during the iPhone sync process and have never completed your backup in full, shame on you. You will not be able to restore from backup unless you have completed a full backup in the past.
Select your option of choice and click continue.
If you selected the backup option, you will see a backup progress bar.
Note: The backup process will move at a steady pace until the last 5-10% (see screenshot above). After that, the progress bar will not move for a long period of time (1- 3 hrs). Do not stop the restore process. Everything is fine, it just takes a long time. FYI – it took us 2.5 hours for the restore process to complete.
6. After the restoration process completes, iTunes will give you a prompt and the iPhone will reboot.
7. After that, you will need to sync your iPhone. If your iTunes is configured to start sync automatically, you don’t need to do anything.
We hope this iPhone restoration process via DFU mode worked for you. Make sure to give yourself ample time, since it may take you up to 3 hours.
If you have any questions/comments, feel free to post them.
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My Iphone has switched off completley. It seems not to react to any buttons…even if i comence to reset it completely like mentioned above. however i have realised when battery is low it will charge and the normal screen will come on again, but not in recovery mode. It seem like everytime i want to pereform the above, it stays on a blank black screen…that until battery low again. Any ideas??? Oh also all the applications are still installed even though on the uninstall page on installer there are no applications….???? Thanks
thanks for these tibs i had this prob alot when i install updates for new source i what to know is there is a software for uninstall the applications and manage them from PC (windows)like nokia pc suite
and thanks again for tibs and triks
@ahmed, you can remove apps using itunes on your PC. right mouse click on your app and select delete.
My iphone contact is wiped out. How do i get it back.This is what happen i updated my firmware 2.2 using the Restore and never backup anything on my iphone. Now I have tried everything and i still can’t get my contacts
@Danny, go to iPhone sync option in iTunes and select sync contacts.
how about if i’ve finished step4 but then all the things appear to be like before? it did restore my iphone but didnt wake it up!!
soso I think your iPhone is in a coma, that’s what that famous old Smiths song is about, you know that one ‘iPhone in a coma’. Yes I know it’s called ‘Girlfriend in a Conma’ but I just thought it was funny, OK it was a cheap one, especially as it not my phone, and it doesn’t bring much to the debate, isn’t technology great, I mean a phone is a pretty kick arse kind of device as it is, for the first 100 years or so all you could do was call your Mum up, but then they added the ability to watch a video of a monkey taking pee pees, and all that other great stuff like MMS’ing a photo of your junk to your wife on valentines day, or any other kind of chinese boat, Alexander Graham Bell would be amazed. I seem to have gone on a bit here, you can see why youtube have a minimum of 500 chars.
PS this worked for me and my phone only took about 5 mins to restore the back-up and not 3 hours, but I have read that ppl have been having this issue of the restore taking pure time to complete. You could always spend the time typing useless replys to stuff like I just have.
i have reset my iphone, unluckily, its low batt… after i charging n turn it on, it shown connet to i-tune, then when i connect to itune, it shown sim card not verify… so, now i cannot go into de function… no more menu out.. no icon… help me..
My 1G iphone was frozen and slide to unlock was totally unresponsive. I tried hard restart with no success. I just got to DFU mode and now it’s restoring. So far so good…
Thx –
is it me or wen u update to 3.0 u recieve texts really late and sometimes dont recieve a call at all?
no it’s not just you, other people have the same problem.
Best way to fix it is to, restore back to original state, activate your phone, then use redsn0w to jailbreak it.
I attempted doing this and I received “Error 1600”. Any ideas? If possible, e-mail me. I’m going to blog about my experience getting this hacked and if it’s ID10T error I’ll make sure people know . . .
I attempted doing this and I received “Error 1600”. Any ideas? If possible, e-mail me. I’m going to blog about my experience getting this hacked and if it’s ID10T error I’ll make sure people know . . .
I tried updating my iPhone to the lastest update. It led me to: “sync to backup” then 3 hrs later, recieved “Error 1600”. This error soon led me to My iPhone Device: saying “Recovory mode has been found and needs restoring”. So right now, im restoring in process(restoring from backup) and hearing from other people’s reviews:
Will my iPhone 3G restore all my “lost” applications (that I paid for by the way), contacts, pictures, notes, calendar dates I posted important, etc?
How long will this process take?
sorry about your situation. If you had recent back-up, everything should be restored. restore time depends on how much info you had on your iphone
My iPhone 2G just crashed, and I have put it in DFU mode, but I’m afraid to restore it through iTunes. I live in Belgium where the iPhone 2G was never officially supported, and i don’t have an AT&T sim card, so there is no way for me to activate it normally. Can anybody tell me what i should do to get 3.0 on it and then jailbreak it without having to legally activate it first? Or don’t I have to activate at all before I jailbreak it?
jailbreak process will activate your phone.
so you have to get 3.0 on it and then jailbreak it.
If I jail break my iPhone 3G with redsnow ,then can i restore it back to factory state(non jailbreak).
After step 4, it rebooted, then nothing happened it went back to the same black screen with apple logo and iTunes didnt do anything.
Is there anything I can do furthermore???
i have an iphone 3g running on 3.0 firmware, jailbroken. I was installing this apps from cydia when it freezes. I tried to restore it using itunes but it updated my firmware to 3.0.1, I was able to jilbreak it using the redsnow, i also installed repo666, but still i can’t use my sim card. how do i unlock my iphone so that i could use my simcard from it? or if i can restore it back to 3.0? thank you so much! your site is a big help.
You said you configured repo666 but did you install untrlasn0w, after repo config, search for ultrasn0w on cydia and install it.
aha the part that i missed! thanks for your help!
Sorted my iphone out in less than 5 minutes. Great!!!
good to know. It’s all in the steps and doing them right.
morning i restor my iphone it was unlock working with tmobile now its telling m to insert avalid sim with no pin lock to activate phone what to do i have a tmobile sim
i tried to jailbrake my iphone 3gs myself but something went wrong and my device is frozen there is only itunes icon and usb cable icon on the screen… now i2m trying your way to recover it… there is no even light on the screen but itunes is downloading software what do i ve to do ?
I complete the jailbrake process and currently have Cydia on my phone but it will not access my sim card’s network. Any ideas to fix this?
is your iphone unlocked, I can only think off that you jailbroke but did not unlock the phone.
Or try to reset network setting.
Hey,
i am in the restore screen and it says: “All of your media and other data will be erased and the newest version of the iPhone software will be installed”.
Does that mean it will upgrade to 3.1 and lock my phone ? Will the jailbreak reset too ?
On the Version info, Itunes says your Iphone software is up to date, Itunes will check for a software update >.
thanks
any time you use itunes to restore default ipsw file it will remove your jailbreak and unlock. If you are not sure what you are doing, stop and think because you can loose your jailbreak and unlock.
Ok thanks for the info but can you be a little more precise? What version of OS will it install ? The one it allready has (3.0) or the newest ?
Looing jailbrake and unlock is not such a big problem if i can jailbrake it again…
I’m getting error 1015 trying to downgrade from the 3.1.2 software (to 3.0) ipsw within iTunes—because the guy I bought the phone from was doing me a ‘favor’ by updating the software when he erased his data. I have had no luck either with a custom ipsw using pwnage tool. What the?
Am I forced, then, to stay on 3.1.2 by doing yet another apple update directly?
Sorry, this is on a 3G
Create lower version jailbroken IPSW and then do the update. Make sure to be in DFU mode
I’m facing the same problem 1015 when recovering my 3G iphone. it was using the jailbroken ios 4.2.1 . Any body has a solution?
I failed to jailbreak it and my iphone 3gs freeze at the the screen where there’s itunes and usb cable. Try to restore it but failed also with error 1016 and the screen just went totally white. How i’m i going to solve the problem or remove the jailbreak?
I got to DFU mode and am trying to restore phone. Itunes has been saying restoring iPhone software for 20 minutes now but the phone progress bar is stuck on o%. Will it eventually start? I had the nPEBEA recovery error when I started.
Thank you so much, i was in the middle of upgrading my mums new iphone and as it was upgrading to the latest software we had a power cut! It was stuck on the apple logo! its my mums birthday tomorrow and i was setting everything up, you just literally saved my life.. Thank You!
hi, my iphone has been gone thru blackra1n, version 3.1.2. i need to restore the iphone with iPhone2,1_3.1.2_7D11_Restore. but everytime i do it this error “the iphone “iphone” could not be restored. this device isnt eligible for the requested build.” from itune, anyone hav any idea? how i can get this resolved?
I want to update my iphone 2.2.1 to 3.0 or later. How its possible plz tell me anyone!
its good to read your guide lines… i’ve shifted to iphone recently not much familiar with it yet but will remember your tips for the future use.. thanks for sharing!
my iphone 3g wont restore bk to factory settings
Is there a way to reboot an Iphone 3gs in recovery without doing a restore to factory settings? I have data that I dont want to loose…
Hi, my 3g is currently on recovery mode (pic of usb-and itune screen) it will not go to the home screen. I been trying to restore and it kept saying error 9.. can you help me with what to do?
Thanks a bunch, i’ve been iphoneless for about 3 days
I have the same problem as you do. Did you find a solution?? If you do please email me at gjparaliticci_4@hotmail.com. Thank you!!!
Please HELP…I am getting, “iTunes was unable to load dataclass information from sync services. Reconnect or try again later.” I MUST have this corrected for a LONG military trip tomorrow…
PLEASE HELP…I have latest ITUNES and this itouch is 2gen (not jailbroken)
Likewise, PLEASE email me. broken_32_heart@yahoo.com
I NEED MY PHONE.
I cracked the screen on my iPhone 3g and replaced the glass digitiser screen. After I did this the touchscreen wouldn’t work on the bottom half so I replaced the full front with LCD/digitiser etc.
Now it just displays the apple logo and occasionally the round load icon. I’ve tried DFU mode, itunes finishes restoring and tells me to leave the iPhone connected until it appears in the itunes window. This never happens and the problem is it still only displays the apple logo.
Is there any hope for ‘my precious’? :0(
hi i did everything just like it said and my phone (iphone 2g) is stuck on the the screen that says downloading jailbreak data…. with the downloading sym at the bottom just going round and round. its been an hour and still nothing wat do i do oh wait now it says to connect to itunes and it wants me to restore my phone. so dose this mean it didnt work or do i just restore it and try again please help. my email is soliz53@yahoo.com
thanks for your info. However, my iPhone is not bringing up the Home screen. I repeated your suggestion again and again, but the screen remains black with the silver apple on it.
please HELP!!!
Both times I tried to update my iphone it crashed. I have no idea why. The first time I took it into Best Buy where I bought it and they restored it for me. Today is the second time I tried to update my iphone and it crashed again. Nothing works to restore it. I have followed the steps and had backed up my phone appropriately but when I try to restore it, I get an error message (an unknown error occurred (6)). I was told the last time I was in Best Buy that if this kept occurring I would have to go to best buy to do all my updating. I find that completely ridiculous. I have the latest itunes and have no clue what is going on. Any ideas? I am going away this weekend and now have no phone.
Hi. I recently jailbroke my iPhone 3G using redsnow. Everything works fine, but, it’s gotten very slow. I now want to revert back to the OS4 version that I had installed prior to jailbreaking. I attempted to do a regular RESTORE and also SHIFT-RESTORE (on Windows iTunes and selecting the ispw for the latest version), but, I keep getting messages indicating it could not restore due to lack of disk space on the device. It’s asking me to delete files and clean the recycle bin. If I check under itunes I have over 7GB free space. Why is it doing this?
please help. i’ve tried everything..resetting, attemting to connect in recovery mode, etc. Nothing is working for me to restore it.
PLEASE help…someone…
Hello I have similar problem.. I clicked Restore.. and this is what error message I got. The iPhone “iPhone” could not be restored. The device is not eligible for device build.
WHAT THE F*&$)*# does that mean… can someone please translate this into english lol. & how I can fix this problem.. my wife is going to kill me :/.
Thank you sooo much 🙂
I have perfectly followed all of these instructions. After the restoration process, my sim’s no longer recognized/compatible. I cannot totally use it. 🙁
The specific message is: The sim card inserted in this iPhone does not appear to be supported. — But the same sim card is inserted before and after the restoration process. 🙁 HELP! :((
were you able to figure this out? I’m having the same problem.
Thanks so much! This works great:)
i have one problem with my iphone 4 ,the logo apple is blocking and restarting ….the big problem is…i have a photos in my phone and i want to copy in my pc ,in recovery mode i can transfer photos from my iphone to my pc with any programs similar itunes? or this thing is possible? i must save photos from my phone urgently and then ii restore…any body know how i can transfer my photos or any solution
My iphone 3gs went dead on Sunday and I have tried everything under the sun, hard reset, I held it for over one minute, I charged it, I tried connected it to my itunes, NADA has this happen to anyone before? I have no warranty apple support will not help me and it’s not even two years old… It’s crazy HELP PLEASE I am using a crackberry phone ;(
phone lost all contacts and pics. info is backed up but the phone is not listed when i click restore from backup. Any tips?
my iphone 4 doesnt even show anything on the screen until i plug it in, but when i do plug it in its in DFU mode. when i try to restore it fails gives me error 1611 and still shows DFU mode
Please, please, please tell me you can help me. I’m having a nervous breakdown. Today I did a reset on my phone and the connect to itunes screen popped up so a few hours later when I had access to a computer I set it up. I wiped my system out completely because I didn’t pick the restored one. Is there ANY possible way I can recover this file? Contact me asap please. I lost everything.
you are great yaar this works
my iphone 3G will not finish the restoring process and keeps saying there is an error (1015)…. someone please help me!!
Were you able to get it figured out? I am having the exact same problem with mine.
I’m having the same problem with my 3G. I think the problem is that it was jailbroken.if you find a solution please tell me.
I’m also haveing this problem with my partners iPhone 3G please help!
I follow the steps, but after step #4 my iphone 2G did not give me the option for backup. The screen now just show “slide for emergency” in multiple languages and a symbol of a usb cable + arrow + itunes. What should I do next? Please help!!!
My i phone remains black no matter what I do as if it is off. Nothing works at all even the sleep button etc. Nutta Numero uno I am getting. Ahhh help
Thanks man I really thought I had killed my 3GS but this bought it back to life, thanks for sharing.
I tried upgrading my iphone 3 and my internet network stopped,since then my iphone cant charge both on usb and power cable it cant connect to itunes either.computer always says usb not recognized when ihpone is connected to the computer,please what can I do to charge or make my phone connect
Hi I need a lot of help. Im using a macbook and i have the iTunes 10 and my iPhone is stuck in recovery mode ( on screen says plug into iTunes) then when i click recover on iTunes it will go through the process then when its done it says i need to recover it again? what do i do? helpppp please
i’m trying to restore my iphone, but it’s taking a stupendous amount of time, people keep saying it shouldn’t take that long, i was wondering if i should just wait it out. or maybe try it again, or?
Just wait. Restore can take time.
This was such a simple tutorial. It worked like a charm, thanks for the easy instructions, my iPhone is working great now.
I tries all the steps , but i still get an error message which tells there is an error (1105). Perhaps its stuck in the recovery mode. needs urgent help.
I replaced an older iPhone 4GS and reset it and accidentally hit the wrong button. So now my contacts, message and notes are all gone. But the app’s and calendar remain. Is there any way to restore the contacts and messages? This is super important to me! PLEASE HELP!
If you had backup enabled in iTunes and hand contact sync configured, you can restore your phone from backup
phone could not be restored an uknown error occured at the restoring point of firmware code1105 ……….
Was trying reset all my phone has reached a stage where it starts > swipe set language>country> wifi> and then I get the massage ”we are unable to continue ………try again letter or contact custumer care”
Pleas help I need it back its an iph4