Unable to restore my 3GS.

Hey guys, so I yesterday I decided to try and upgrade from 4.1 to 5.1.1, but somehow I failed miserably. Now I'm trying to do a clean restore from iTunes, but I it keeps getting stuck at "Preparing iPhone for restore..." and after a couple of minutes it gives me error 1601.

The "hosts" file is clear, and I have already tried reinstalling iTunes and even attempting to restore from a different computer, but nothing helps.

I should also mention that my lock button is completely broken, so I can't really enter DFU mode without a custom IPSW file, but that's beside the point because I'm not even trying to jailbreak it anymore, just restore it so I can actually use it.

Is there anything else I can do, or am I completely screwed?

Applejuiced said:

Did you have it unlocked with the iPad baseband installed?

Click to expand...

No, I did not.

Applejuiced said:

I'd try it on another computer with the latest itunes version installed.
Do a dfu restore.

Click to expand...

Read the original post. I've already tried doing it on another computer, and I can't really enter DFU mode normally because my lock button is broken.

Is there any way to enter DFU mode without using a custom IPSW file?

Applejuiced said:

I think you can use the latest redsnow to enter dfu if you have a broken physical button.
Then plug to iTunes and see how it goes.

Click to expand...

From what I see, the only way to put my phone into DFU mode using RedSn0w is to restore with a modified IPSW file.
However, every time I try to restore my phone - be it the legit way or using Cydia's server, I get an error 1600/1601.

Do you know any other way of putting my phone into DFU mode?