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iPhone 3G stuck in boot loop

L

LongbowFoSho

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 26, 2010
97
0
I bought this phone and the other guy left all of his info on it, so I wiped it using the Reset All Content And Settings option.

Little did I know, it was jailbroken. So, it of course froze on the Apple logo on restart. I thought "no problem, I've run into this dozens of times". So, I put it in DFU mode and go to restore it to 4.2.1.

Here's where the weird part comes in: at the end of the restore, iTunes gives me the 1015 error code and the phone puts itself in Restore Mode. I'm a little confused at this point since the error usually only pops up during downgrades, not a vanilla restore.

Undeterred, I use 1015 Error Fixer (I've also used TinyUmbrella) to kick it out of Restore Mode and expect to see it boot up as normal.

No dice. It just sits there and cycles through attempts to reboot until the battery gives out. I've tried to restore it multiple times with no success.

Any ideas besides using it for parts?
 
Most likely he unlocked it with the iPad baseband. You need to restore it using a PwnageTool IPSW to get past that.
 
I'm on a Windows laptop, so use a custom firmware through redsn0w? Not sure I have one for a 3G.

If I do have one, which options should I select?
 
You'll need to select the DFU option in Redsn0w and restore the iPhone using the IPSW made by PwnageTool.
 
So, restore it using the custom firmware through iTunes and then boot into DFU mode using redsn0w? Or select the custom firmware when booting to DFU mode in redsn0w?

I haven't had this problem before. I appreciate the help.
 
Open redsn0w, select the PwnageTool 4.2.1 iPhone 3G IPSW, click the DFU only option, when the iPhone is in DFU mode, restore in iTunes. iPhone should work normally.
 
I gave it the stock firmware and it did the restore without the 1015 error this time, but so far its still sitting on the Apple logo on reboot.

EDIT: Progress. iTunes recognizes it and even says it completed the sync, yet the screen still shows the Apple logo with the rotating loading icon.
 
Last edited:
LongbowFoSho said:
I gave it the stock firmware and it did the restore without the 1015 error this time, but so far its still sitting on the Apple logo on reboot.

EDIT: Progress. iTunes recognizes it and even says it completed the sync, yet the screen still shows the Apple logo with the rotating loading icon.
Click to expand...

Now use TinyUmbrella to kick your iPhone out of recovery.
 
After reading PssstGreek's thread about this sort of problem, I decided to jailbreak with redsn0w again, except I'm not putting the iPad baseband on it at this time.

So far so good, but we'll see if it reboots after the jailbreak finishes.
 
So I booted into tethered mode and now I'm stuck on the pineapple with the rotating icon instead of an apple.

EDIT: 4.2.1 can hug nuts. I never have these problems on 4.1, which is precisely why I've stayed away from it on all of my phones.
 
LongbowFoSho said:
So I booted into tethered mode and now I'm stuck on the pineapple with the rotating icon instead of an apple.
Click to expand...

You dont boot in tethered mode with an iphone 3G. Thats only for iphone 4's and new bootrom 3GS.
And the only way to restore to 4.2.1 now that you have the ipad bb is with a custom ipsw.
You need to run redsnow and just select the option all the way at the bottom "just enter pwned dfu mode"
Then once the iphone is in pwned DFU mode open up itunes and restore with the custom 4.2.1 ipsw you have.
Thats it.
 
So, I'm back to square one, only different. Let's call it Square 1.1 :D

As far as iTunes is concerned, all is well. It recognizes the phone when its plugged in and even backs up and syncs the phone (or it says it is) without a problem.

The phone itself, however, is useless. It sits there at the Apple/pineapple logo and loads...and loads.....and loads....and loads....

FML.

EDIT: I'm going to try this **** one more time. I'm entering pwned DFU mode right now....again.
EDIT 2.0: OK, attempting to restore to the custom IPSW in iTunes....again.
EDIT 3.0: Restore in progress.
 
Last edited:
OK so restore is complete with no errors.

Now what? Its just sitting there with the Apple logo and the rotating icon. The comp dinged like its recognized and iTunes wants to know how I want to set it up.

Just leave it? How long am I supposed to wait for this thing to unscrew itself?
 
LongbowFoSho said:
OK so restore is complete with no errors.

Now what? Its just sitting there with the Apple logo and the rotating icon. The comp dinged like its recognized and iTunes wants to know how I want to set it up.

Just leave it? How long am I supposed to wait for this thing to unscrew itself?
Click to expand...

Let it sit. It should come back on to the emergency screen.
 
LongbowFoSho said:
OK so restore is complete with no errors.

Now what? Its just sitting there with the Apple logo and the rotating icon. The comp dinged like its recognized and iTunes wants to know how I want to set it up.

Just leave it? How long am I supposed to wait for this thing to unscrew itself?
Click to expand...

Try shutting the iphone off and turning it back on.
If that dont work do a hard reset holding both home and power for 30 secs.
Seems like you're getting somewhere now.
 
Which one? Let it sit or hard reset?

Should I start a poll or do the two of you want to meet in the parking lot after school? :D
 
Applejuiced said:
Lol :D
Im going to go with "phone a friend" :D
I say let it sit for a minute or two but if still nothing try shutting it off and restarting.
Click to expand...

*ring...ring....*

Unplug the iPhone and plug it back to see if the computer recognizes it. After it finished restoring, iTunes should of popped with a message saying, "your iPhone will restart in 10 seconds"

Option 2: restore again on another computer.
 
Well, I unplugged it and plugged it back in, receiving friendly dings from the comp both times.

Yet, I'm still looking at :apple:

EDIT: This is actually the 2nd comp I've tried this on.
 
LongbowFoSho said:
Well, I unplugged it and plugged it back in, receiving friendly dings from the comp both times.

Yet, I'm still looking at :apple:
Click to expand...

You restarted the iphone or tried a hard reset yet?
If that fails try another DFU restore thru the same process again.
Use redsnow to put it in pwned DFU and then restore thru itunes using the custom ipsw.
Weird situation though, its either a stubborn iPhone or stubborn user. :D
 
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