Iphone 3Gs

[ttthailand]

My GF received an Iphone 3GS from one of her old boyfriends. She said it quit working because she tried to load new software. I do not have an IPhone nor know much about. Can someone tell me if you can upload new software to get it working again. Also, why would it stop working ? Is it possible that he ( old BF) has some control over her phone and that is why it now does not work ?

[ttthailand]

is there someone out there that can put some light on this ....any ideas ?

[Mirth]

2 reasons. Either the phone was "jail broken" which in some cases restoring the original solves the problem or the phone was stolen and it's now locked. If that's the case, you will need to find someone to unlock it again.

My GF received an Iphone 3GS from one of her old boyfriends. She said it quit working because she tried to load new software. I do not have an IPhone nor know much about. Can someone tell me if you can upload new software to get it working again. Also, why would it stop working ? Is it possible that he ( old BF) has some control over her phone and that is why it now does not work ?

[sbk]

moving to Apple forum

[smiling mantis]

I thought my iPhone 3gs was bricked after using the "erase all data" option when it was jailbroken. Did a Google search though which showed me that pressing the home button simultaneously with the power button and holding it could return me to the default "connect to iTunes" page, where then I was able to apply the current iOS update.

But yeah, it's possible to brick these things. You just need to plow through the hundred or so pages on the subject and try each proposed solution, ideally starting with those that are least damaging.

[GooEng]

whatt does "bricked" mean please?

[Mirth]

Pardon my ignorance but always thought that to restore original ios would be to use itunes and it's restore feature. By using the reset and erase feature when the phone has been jailbroken would just leave it without an os, not even ios. But yeah, basically when iphone hangs, a force restart tends to solve the problem but never before came across 1 without an os.

I thought my iPhone 3gs was bricked after using the "erase all data" option when it was jailbroken. Did a Google search though which showed me that pressing the home button simultaneously with the power button and holding it could return me to the default "connect to iTunes" page, where then I was able to apply the current iOS update.

But yeah, it's possible to brick these things. You just need to plow through the hundred or so pages on the subject and try each proposed solution, ideally starting with those that are least damaging.

[smiling mantis]

Pardon my ignorance but always thought that to restore original ios would be to use itunes and it's restore feature. By using the reset and erase feature when the phone has been jailbroken would just leave it without an os, not even ios. But yeah, basically when iphone hangs, a force restart tends to solve the problem but never before came across 1 without an os.

I thought my iPhone 3gs was bricked after using the "erase all data" option when it was jailbroken. Did a Google search though which showed me that pressing the home button simultaneously with the power button and holding it could return me to the default "connect to iTunes" page, where then I was able to apply the current iOS update.

But yeah, it's possible to brick these things. You just need to plow through the hundred or so pages on the subject and try each proposed solution, ideally starting with those that are least damaging.

Yes, I had to reconnect it to iTunes in order to restore/reinstall iOS.

[attrayant]

whatt does "bricked" mean please?

It means your phone has become little more than an expensive paperweight. If it was a larger device like a stereo we would say it has become a boat anchor. i.e. any device which has essentially no value aside from its weight.

[jamesbrock]

is there someone out there that can put some light on this ....any ideas ?

As mentioned above, there are a number of reasons why the iPhone will 'stop working'. More often than not, the iPhone just needs a hard reset - press and hold the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button at the same time for at least 10 seconds, until the Apple logo appears. (If you do this and a 'connect to iTunes' logo appears, then connect it to iTunes and follow the prompts - iTunes will download and install the most recent version of iOS).

The other possibility is that the phone became bricked. Bear in mind that iPhones rarely, if ever, become bricked unless they've been jailbroken (in most cases, bricking happens in the process of jail breaking). If its been truly bricked, a hard reset won't work, and other apps will be needed to bring the phone back to DFU mode, from where you can restore via iTunes; but that's beyond the scope of this thread just yet.

Even if the phone restarts normally after trying the hard reset, I would recommend updating it to the newest version of iOS (connect the phone to iTunes and click update). The chances might be very low, but the old bf could have some tracking software installed - I know this is possible because I helped a mate catch out his cheating wife by installing Mobistealth on an iPhone he bought for her... The way that works, and the information available is terrifying!

Either way, let us know how you go.

2 reasons. Either the phone was "jail broken" which in some cases restoring the original solves the problem or the phone was stolen and it's now locked. If that's the case, you will need to find someone to unlock it again.

Not quite right. There are many reasons the phone can become unresponsive without it ever being jailbroken - and in most cases a hard reset will solve the issue. Jailbreaking in itself isn't a bad thing at all, if it's done properly by someone who knows what they're doing.

Also, your second reason don't make sense. Are you saying it could have been reported as stolen and had the IMEI blocked? Or, been network locked by the carrier? Regardless, neither reason would explain the OP's issues.

I thought my iPhone 3gs was bricked after using the "erase all data" option when it was jailbroken. Did a Google search though which showed me that pressing the home button simultaneously with the power button and holding it could return me to the default "connect to iTunes" page, where then I was able to apply the current iOS update.

But yeah, it's possible to brick these things. You just need to plow through the hundred or so pages on the subject and try each proposed solution, ideally starting with those that are least damaging.

Lucky for you the solution was so simple (in the end). If the phone was really bricked, however, a hard reset would not have solved your problem so easily. The problem is, the there are so many combinations of firmware/baseband around nowadays, that every combination of such has innumerable inherent dangers when jailbreaking, and a similar number of possible solutions!

Thankfully, I personally don't feel the need to jailbreak anymore - not since the release of iOS 5 - and, ironically, feel freer now that when I was playing the jail breaking cat & mouse game...

Pardon my ignorance but always thought that to restore original ios would be to use itunes and it's restore feature. By using the reset and erase feature when the phone has been jailbroken would just leave it without an os, not even ios. But yeah, basically when iphone hangs, a force restart tends to solve the problem but never before came across 1 without an os.

No, you can restore the iPhone via iTunes - the 'restore' button, or the 'update' button, if there is an update available (it will do the same thing); or you can reset the iPhone from 'settings' > 'general' > 'erase all content and settings'. Both will essentially do the same thing - restore the iPhone to its 'fresh' state. The latter does not necessarily fail if the iPhone has been jailbroken either.