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annk

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Original poster
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Apr 18, 2004
15,122
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Somewhere over the rainbow
I gave my son my 4th gen Touch. Before he got it, I put it back to factory settings and updated the software. He then set it up via his iMac, and when the suggestion appeared to upgrade it to iOS 6, he went ahead. This is what he tells me:

___

...now it won't turn on. This is what happened:

  • I did the update
  • A USB to iTunes symbol appeared on the screen right after the update was finished
  • I plugged the iPod into my computer, and was told that I should do a restore
  • I tried to do a restore, and after a while the error message "The iPod could not be restored. this device isn't eilgible for the requested build" appeared.

___

He asked me for help, so I started to google for him. I found several sites that mention this error message specifically, but the fix they suggest doesn't work for him (they suggest deleting or inserting # in front of a file in the host map, but that file isn't there in his case). This is one of the suggestions for a fix, that doesn't work:

1. On your Mac, open your Applications folder.

2. Navigate to the Utilities folder.

3. Open Terminal.

4. Type “sudo nano /etc/hosts” (without quotes) and press enter.

5. Enter your password

6. Use the down arrow key to find the gs.apple.com entries. Once the cursor is in front, make sure you comment out the line(s) by entering # in front of the text.

7. Save the file by pressing CONTROL+O.

8. Exit the nano editor by pressing CONTROL+X.

9. Restore your iDevice.

Other solutions I found seem to be based on the device having been jailbroken, and this iPod isn't.

He's a smart kid and used to figuring out computer things for himself, and for that matter I'm used to figuring them out myself as well - or at least finding the answer online. But we're both stumped. :( It's only about a year old, so I don't want to give up on it.

Anyone else have this problem and mange to fix it?

(I've searched here on MR, but if there's a relevant thread please point me in that direction!)

Thanks in advance.
 

WeegieMac

Guest
Jan 29, 2008
3,274
1
Glasgow, UK
Manually put it into DFU mode and see if iTunes recognises it as an iPod in recovery mode? That way you're "bypassing" iTunes usual checks.

If the iPod has never been jailbroken them the sudo/nano host file edit is irrelevant as you only do that to remove any reference to the Cydia/Saurik servers so that iTunes looks to its own servers for restoration.
 

annk

Administrator
Original poster
Staff member
Apr 18, 2004
15,122
9,243
Somewhere over the rainbow
Manually put it into DFU mode and see if iTunes recognises it as an iPod in recovery mode? That way you're "bypassing" iTunes usual checks.

If the iPod has never been jailbroken them the sudo/nano host file edit is irrelevant as you only do that to remove any reference to the Cydia/Saurik servers so that iTunes looks to its own servers for restoration.

Thanks, he is following this thread and will try that*, then I'll post back one way or the other.

And thanks for the explanation of why the sudo/nano host file edit is meaningless here. Neither he nor I have ever jailbroken our iDevices, so we're pretty lost when that jargon comes into the equation. :p

*Links giving instructions for setting the iPod in DFU mode manually.
 

annk

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Apr 18, 2004
15,122
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Somewhere over the rainbow
Ok, he tried to put it into DUF mode. He says what happens is random: sometimes the screen will be white, sometimes black, sometimes weird colors, sometimes the apple logo will appear. But nothing else or further happens.

We know that the iPod itself works fine - I was using it up to the day I wiped it for him, and he was using it until it suggested (while on wifi) to upgrade to iOS 6. So it's definitely the upgrade that caused the problem.

It's rotten if an upgrade the iPod itself suggested to him wrecks a one-yr-old device that's never had a single problem.

Any other ideas? :(
 

PrometheusGeek

macrumors regular
Mar 19, 2012
231
0
You didn't jailbreak it, or do anything against Apple's policies, right? All he did was attempt to upgrade to iOS 6 when the device told you it was available. Why not take it in to an Apple store and have them diagnose and help?
 

annk

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Original poster
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Apr 18, 2004
15,122
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Somewhere over the rainbow
You didn't jailbreak it, or do anything against Apple's policies, right? All he did was attempt to upgrade to iOS 6 when the device told you it was available. Why not take it in to an Apple store and have them diagnose and help?

Right. Nothing against any policies, no JB.

He took it to an Apple store, and they quoted a price of NOK 1800 to deal with it (without being able to tell him what might be wrong). I told him to hold off; for that price, I'll just buy him a new one. :mad:
 

stridemat

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Apr 2, 2008
11,364
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UK
Right. Nothing against any policies, no JB.

He took it to an Apple store, and they quoted a price of NOK 1800 to deal with it (without being able to tell him what might be wrong). I told him to hold off; for that price, I'll just buy him a new one. :mad:

Is that from a 'real' Apple store? I would go back and speak to another genius.

Updating is something you should be able to do from home. Ask them to try, if they can't update (i.e get it working) then it's obviously a fault.

I know it's technically not covered by AppleCare but an update is quite a generic thing to do to break something! I would be sure that a genius would take this into consideration.
 

annk

Administrator
Original poster
Staff member
Apr 18, 2004
15,122
9,243
Somewhere over the rainbow
Is that from a 'real' Apple store? I would go back and speak to another genius.

Updating is something you should be able to do from home. Ask them to try, if they can't update (i.e get it working) then it's obviously a fault.

I know it's technically not covered by AppleCare but an update is quite a generic thing to do to break something! I would be sure that a genius would take this into consideration.

It was a real Apple store, and taking it back to ask them to update is a good idea. I'll get it back from my son and give that a try.
 

annk

Administrator
Original poster
Staff member
Apr 18, 2004
15,122
9,243
Somewhere over the rainbow
Thought I'd post back to say that I fixed it, and how I did it.

My son brought it by, and it was just as he said - random white screen, lines of color on the screen, black screen...and nothing I did could get it into recovery mode.

I sat with it and repeatedly held down the home and power buttons, trying to figure out the right timing for letting go of the power button. I swear I did it at least 40 times. Suddenly the iTunes icon starting bouncing, the iPod was recognized, and I got the message it was in recovery mode and had to be restored and updated. Everything works now.

So Apple support, with whom my son talked for an hour, and who wanted NOK 1800 with no promises of being able to help, can go take a flying leap. :D

From my googling, I found quite a few comments about the update to iOS 6 being buggy on the 4th gen iPod. I can certainly agree with that.
 
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