Help me unblock this 3GS

[j-a-x]

So my wife was using an unlocked iPhone 3GS for a while with no problems on iOS 4.x (I actually forget which sub version of iOS 4 it had on it). She was using the 06.15.00 baseband installed via a custom IPSW. Everything was good...

Then she got an iPhone 4S and before we sold the 3GS we wanted to wipe her personal information, so I did a "erase all contents and settings". That resulted in the phone no longer being able to boot. So I tried to restore in iTunes using a custom 4.3.3 IPSW in order to preserve the baseband. At the end of the install I got a black screen.

Now the phone seems to be perpetually stuck in DFU mode and cannot boot. If I try to restore again, iTunes gets stuck at "preparing iPhone for restore". RedSn0w gets stuck at "waiting for iPhone to reboot" and the only way I can get anything to appear on the screen is if I press "recovery fix" in TinyUmbrella which results in a white screen but nothing else works and TinyUmbrella then recognizes the device as "-Invalid".

I've tried just about everything. Can anybody help me recover this iPhone or is it a lost cause?

 

[Crystal-RX]

So my wife was using an unlocked iPhone 3GS for a while with no problems on iOS 4.x (I actually forget which sub version of iOS 4 it had on it). She was using the 06.15.00 baseband installed via a custom IPSW. Everything was good...

Then she got an iPhone 4S and before we sold the 3GS we wanted to wipe her personal information, so I did a "erase all contents and settings". That resulted in the phone no longer being able to boot. So I tried to restore in iTunes using a custom 4.3.3 IPSW in order to preserve the baseband. At the end of the install I got a black screen.

Now the phone seems to be perpetually stuck in DFU mode and cannot boot. If I try to restore again, iTunes gets stuck at "preparing iPhone for restore". RedSn0w gets stuck at "waiting for iPhone to reboot" and the only way I can get anything to appear on the screen is if I press "recovery fix" in TinyUmbrella which results in a white screen but nothing else works and TinyUmbrella then recognizes the device as "-Invalid".

I've tried just about everything. Can anybody help me recover this iPhone or is it a lost cause?

Put the phone in DFU mode, downgrade it to 4.1 fw, then when you see 1015 error, use TU to exit recovery. Your phone should boot up to activation screen.

 

[j-a-x]

So what I had to do was actually open the iPhone up, separate the logic board from the battery, let it sit like that for a bit, then connect it all together again. Without doing that, I could not get it to reboot during the necessary install steps (either via iTunes or RedSn0w). Weird problem, but I hope somebody finds this thread if they run into the same issue because it was pretty damn hard to figure out.

Oh and by the way, I have no idea why I named the thread "help me unblock this iPhone 3GS". It should shave read "help me fix this iPhone 3gs". It was late and I had been trying for hours to get it to boot so sorry for the weird title

EDIT: Actually I think I meant to say "help me unblock this iPhone 3GS".

 

[Crystal-RX]

So what I had to do was actually open the iPhone up, separate the logic board from the battery, let it sit like that for a bit, then connect it all together again. Without doing that, I could not get it to reboot during the necessary install steps (either via iTunes or RedSn0w). Weird problem, but I hope somebody finds this thread if they run into the same issue because it was pretty damn hard to figure out.

Oh and by the way, I have no idea why I named the thread "help me unblock this iPhone 3GS". It should shave read "help me fix this iPhone 3gs". It was late and I had been trying for hours to get it to boot so sorry for the weird title

EDIT: Actually I think I meant to say "help me unblock this iPhone 3GS".

If you can't get it into DFU, either your phone power button or home button isn't working.

 

[gngan]

So what I had to do was actually open the iPhone up, separate the logic board from the battery, let it sit like that for a bit, then connect it all together again. Without doing that, I could not get it to reboot during the necessary install steps (either via iTunes or RedSn0w). Weird problem, but I hope somebody finds this thread if they run into the same issue because it was pretty damn hard to figure out.

Oh and by the way, I have no idea why I named the thread "help me unblock this iPhone 3GS". It should shave read "help me fix this iPhone 3gs". It was late and I had been trying for hours to get it to boot so sorry for the weird title

EDIT: Actually I think I meant to say "help me unblock this iPhone 3GS".

WHAT?! you had to open the iphone and separate the login board from the battery? That's $*%I up. You shouldn't be doing that.

Just keep trying to put it in DFU mode. If it just boots up with only the apple logo or the loading picture and hangs there then press the home and power button to reboot it until it's turned off. Then try again to put it in DFU mode.

Remember to plug it to your computer when you do this.

 

[j-a-x]

Here's where I found info about the fix: http://www.beijingiphonerepair.com/...-restoring-custom-ios-4-2-1-baseband-6-15-00/

You have tried everything and checked every single forum but unable to fix this issue. Essentially the NAND chip or the “hard disk” that handles the boot up process of your iPhone is corrupted. If you attempt to restore your iPhone 3GS but kept getting iTunes error 28, then it’s time to take apart your iPhone. This solution is fully tested and 99% of the time would work if you follow these instructions carefully; unless if the NAND chip is damaged.
...

Remove the logic board and put it to the side for at least 30 minutes...
Separating the logic board from the battery clears the memory that handles the boot process. Note: You can also leave your device uncharged for at least 5 days and will give you similar result.

It was in DFU mode but the screen was always blank, I never saw an Apple logo. When restoring it always got stuck at the point where it was supposed to reboot. I occasionally saw an all white screen but never an apple logo. Then I noticed that iTunes as giving me a weird error 28 when I tried restoring.

If you google error 28 you'll see that this is a hardware error, and removing the logic board to clear its memory is a legit fix.

There was one alternative which was leaving it in DFU mode for a week until the battery was exhausted and cleared the memory that way, but this actually took less time and it was kind of fun taking it apart.

 

[labman]

Dfu mode is a blank screen not where getting the apple logo thing from. hardware issues are tricky because they are either something that can be fixed or they are a legit hardware issue and can't. since you took it apart I suspect that. best way to runa batter down is leave it on but that doesm't sound like a option for you.

 

[j-a-x]

Yup, running it down could have worked too but I was impatient. Luckily it wasn't a hardware failure, it was just something being stuck in temporary memory that needed a power cycle to clear. I was about ready to give up and sell that phone as non-working for parts so good thing I figured it out.

 

[eastercat]

What I don't understand is why people think it's a good idea to erase from the phone. Talk about making more trouble for yourself.

 

[j-a-x]

Sometimes people don't want their personal information getting in the hands of somebody who buys the phone. I know I could delete everything manually but I'm used to wiping my phone that way and I didn't realize it would kill the jailbroken phone.

 

[eastercat]

There is the other option which I was talking about: you could erase through iTunes. Depending on what the buyer wanted, I can have it JB or not. Obviously, leaving it unlocked or JB would involve more than erasing through iTunes. However, there is never an issue of a locked up phone with iTunes--unless you're clueless.

Sometimes people don't want their personal information getting in the hands of somebody who buys the phone. I know I could delete everything manually but I'm used to wiping my phone that way and I didn't realize it would kill the jailbroken phone.