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If Genius Bar says it can not be fixed, do I give up?
- Thread starter whattodo
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What is so fishy about wanting to get back your data? I don't know what you mean with "wiped" phone but I certainly don't have time to research about something I don't need to know. You can quickly explain if you want to but it's probably the last thing I need to know now.
Honestly, to me this sounds like a hardware defect, and not a software problem. It's probably either a bad battery (which is a royal pain to replace on a 3GS compared to a 4, but doable), or a bad logic board that can no longer properly read the battery status or run off the battery (which means you're screwed).
If you see the blinking red battery symbol or the plugged-in non-blinking red battery symbol, these are both screens that are displayed by the bootrom itself and NOT the main OS. At the point you see those symbols, the main OS hasn't even loaded, and the bootrom won't load it unless it thinks there is sufficient battery charge to do so. So I really, really don't see how this can possibly be a software problem whatsoever, and a restore of the phone is very unlikely to change anything (if the phone will even let you do so...I doubt it will be able to go through a restore if it won't even boot the OS that's already on there due to what it thinks is insufficient power).
Now, that's a little weird. iTunes shouldn't be seeing the phone at all in its current state. It does sound like you somehow managed to get it into DFU mode, though...I wouldn't think this is possible, but DFU is a function buried in the bootrom itself, so it's conceivable that you might be able to get it into DFU despite having a bad battery. However, I bet if you tried to proceed with the restore, it would fail (it would try to boot the install ramdisk that's in the IPSW and before it could even do so I'm willing to bet money it would go to the red battery again).
I've never actually tried DFU on a device with a depleted battery, but when I have some time over the next day or so, I'll try to run down the battery on one of my devices and see what happens when I attempt a DFU restore.
I'm about 99% certain, though, that you have a hardware fault. Let's hope it's the battery, because that's about the only possible hardware fault that I would be optimistic about being able to fix and that would still offer hope of you being able to get your data back (practically speaking).
-- Nathan
Nathan, your explanations are so clear and logical. I mean, how can a giant company create a phone that rely solely on a software to boot up or else render it dead? Something must have blown up inside to create this problem. So, I'm just going to a repair specialist to get the battery or hardware looked at. I guess I wouldn't go down the restore path for the time being. I'll report back on my result once i see the repair person.
Nathan, your explanations are so clear and logical. I mean, how can a giant company create a phone that rely solely on a software to boot up or else render it dead? Something must have blown up inside to create this problem. So, I'm just going to a repair specialist to get the battery or hardware looked at. I guess I wouldn't go down the restore path for the time being. I'll report back on my result once i see the repair person.
All advanced devices rely on software to boot.
So I went around to find a good repairer. Some told me to leave it for a month with them as they need to send to the technician and they are having a backlog from the Xmas rush. Of course, I'd rather speak to the expert themselves to explain my problem, so I kept searching. Coincidentally, I was passing a new store locally and saw that they do phone repair. I explained the complication of my situation and he reassuringly said "trust me it's only a battery problem". He was confident about it so I let him proceed with opening up my Iphone. In about 5 minutes he put it back together and I saw the Apple symbol for the first time in a week. Phew!! What a relief. So this whole drama was just a dead battery problem after all.
To me, the Genius dudes now really look like Genius duds. I spoke to 2 on the day because I was adamant that it was a battery problem and that the problem was fixable. I asked to speak to the second Genius because he sounded like an expert but he gave me an attitude and said it was my fault for not syncing the phone. With his expertize, he explained that the software was shutting itself out and nothing could be done, even if I changed the battery. They went on to say that they wouldn't replace the battery to my model because it is "old" (it's only been one year old??) and want to charge me extra for a repair/replacement phone that I didn't need.
So lesson learnt from this experience is that you should never give up even if the so-called experts said something is not fixable. If you have warranty, go to the Genius bar for their free service and repair. Otherwise, to save yourself from wasting time on waiting and worrying, and potentially forking out for more money, go find a good phone repairer who can fix the problem right there in front of your eyes. They are the real experts, not the Genius who don't get their hands dirty with the technicalities of the phone.
In fact, Apple could have made a nice little profit from me paying for the 'repair service'. Replace battery (cheap for them), restore phone to factory setting (a quick reset), on-sell as reburbished model to someone else for a few hundred dollars or as part of repair service. While, I on the other hand, get one of their other refurbished phone or redundant "new phone". Seriously, if they were genuinely keen on looking after their customers, they would have offered to replace the battery to a one year old phone for a fee (one year is still a short time for a good quality rechargeable battery to die). Instead they lied and tried to make it sound like nothing is possible to convince you that the only path is to get a new phone. That is really disgusting!!
Anyway, I'm glad my problem was finally fixed. Thanks to those who made real contribution to my search against what I initially thought was a real complicated problem. Thanks especially to Nathan for your deep thoughts and analysis to my issues. Had it not been for you, I would still be thinking that it was a software issue and not had the lead to find a repairer for hardware issues.
Yes, we are living in 2010 but sometimes the solution to the problem can be found in the old tried and trusted battery replacement as the first thing to try out. Booking yourself to a Genius is a great 21st century idea but it gives you more layers of complications than necessary.
To me, the Genius dudes now really look like Genius duds. I spoke to 2 on the day because I was adamant that it was a battery problem and that the problem was fixable. I asked to speak to the second Genius because he sounded like an expert but he gave me an attitude and said it was my fault for not syncing the phone. With his expertize, he explained that the software was shutting itself out and nothing could be done, even if I changed the battery. They went on to say that they wouldn't replace the battery to my model because it is "old" (it's only been one year old??) and want to charge me extra for a repair/replacement phone that I didn't need.
So lesson learnt from this experience is that you should never give up even if the so-called experts said something is not fixable. If you have warranty, go to the Genius bar for their free service and repair. Otherwise, to save yourself from wasting time on waiting and worrying, and potentially forking out for more money, go find a good phone repairer who can fix the problem right there in front of your eyes. They are the real experts, not the Genius who don't get their hands dirty with the technicalities of the phone.
In fact, Apple could have made a nice little profit from me paying for the 'repair service'. Replace battery (cheap for them), restore phone to factory setting (a quick reset), on-sell as reburbished model to someone else for a few hundred dollars or as part of repair service. While, I on the other hand, get one of their other refurbished phone or redundant "new phone". Seriously, if they were genuinely keen on looking after their customers, they would have offered to replace the battery to a one year old phone for a fee (one year is still a short time for a good quality rechargeable battery to die). Instead they lied and tried to make it sound like nothing is possible to convince you that the only path is to get a new phone. That is really disgusting!!
Anyway, I'm glad my problem was finally fixed. Thanks to those who made real contribution to my search against what I initially thought was a real complicated problem. Thanks especially to Nathan for your deep thoughts and analysis to my issues. Had it not been for you, I would still be thinking that it was a software issue and not had the lead to find a repairer for hardware issues.
Exactly.
Welcome to a decade ago
Yes, we are living in 2010 but sometimes the solution to the problem can be found in the old tried and trusted battery replacement as the first thing to try out. Booking yourself to a Genius is a great 21st century idea but it gives you more layers of complications than necessary.
His response had nothing to do with the battery. It was a comment on my response to your statement:
That statement is essentially something that hasn't made sense for over a decade. In order for the devices you use today to work in the way they do, they MUST boot software. Hardware can't perform all the tasks that software does and still fit into the palm of your hand.
They're not really genius', you know ... that's just a made up title.
Really?? I though they had to have an IQ of 140 or higher......
Actually most are probably less than 100.......