iPhone not recognized - tried the all usual tricks (also audio issues)

[macguymike]

My iPhone 4 was having some odd sound issues earlier, which randomly resolved themselves, but now it will not show up in Windows (XP) or iTunes (which I have the latest version of).

This is not the first time I've had this happen. Usually tweaking the Apple Mobile USB device driver or restoring the phone by connecting it to my MacBook first fixes the problem.

However, this time it's different. When I connect the phone to my PC, it prompts a USB Device Not Recognized message and appears in the Device Manager as an Unknown Device. There's no sign of the Apple driver anywhere.

The phone also does not show up when I connect it to my MacBook, where normally iPhoto would launch upon connecting.

I'm not sure what to do short of attempt a restore/recovery, but I really don't want to lose all my personal data (again).

I've gone through all of Apple's support steps to no avail.

Any help would be appreciated!

Edit: Restarted the phone, sound issues are back. Primarily: there is no sound except for the ringer, notifications, and when using the phone. Key clicks and all app sounds are muted, and I can't adjust the volume by using the hardware buttons or the slider (there's not even a peg to slide) in the pop-up menu.

In Sound settings, the ringer sounds when I adjust the volume there, and I do have the "Change with Buttons" option set to ON.

Edit 2: Decided to try to follow these steps to hopefully restore the phone: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1808

When I power down the phone (after sliding the red slider), the phone automatically starts back up again.

Edit 3: Managed to get it into recovery mode. When attempting to restore, I got this message:

The iPhone "iPhone" could not be restored. The device cannot be found.

Edit 4: Restarted the phone after two failed restore attempts, and it seems to be working for the moment, though the sound problem remains.

Edit 5: Final edit before I walk away for the evening. Sounds work fine with headphones, but go silent again when I unplug the jack. No, the mute switch is not on. The audio lay-over doesn't even show up now when I press the hardware volume buttons unless the headphones are plugged in.

Would still appreciate any advice!

 

[macguymike]

sound issue screen caps

 

[macguymike]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

No ideas? Google hasn't been much help. Haven't found any sound issues that seem to match my own.

 

[Crystal-RX]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

No ideas? Google hasn't been much help. Haven't found any sound issues that seem to match my own.

Did you try DFU mode and restore?

 

[macguymike]

Did you try DFU mode and restore?

I was hoping to not have to restore, but if it comes down to that, I'll try it.

At the moment the sounds seem to turn on and off randomly.

Do you happen to have a good link explaining DFU mode and how to bring it up?

 

[lux113]

It is behaving like it thinks it's connected to a dock.

When you have an iPad/iPod/iPhone that doesn't give you a volume display when pressing up/down volume it means that it is behaving as if it thinks it's connected to a docking station... such as an iHome. Since these docking stations control the volume themselves it disables the volume controls on the device.

This behavior commonly occurs with devices that do actually connect to a docking station... but can occur with ones that never have. This all relates to the dock connector on the ipad - and sometimes due to either damaged pins or dirt/debris. This damage/dust makes the connector believe it's connected to a dock when it's not.

If you do own a docking station - try connecting it to it and playing a song or two - then disconnect and test. This often solves it.

If you don't own a docking station... try blowing on the dock connector / clean it with a (clean) fine toothbrush (carefully.. don't bend any of the pins). Sometimes people suggest a small bit of rubbing alcohol.. although you have to be extremely careful - or you'll end up with water drops inside the screen.

Or.... if you don't own a docking station, just take it to Best Buy and hook it up to one of their display models - play a song or two and remove it.. often this does the trick.

Hope this helps

Dave.

 

[lux113]

By the way..

I would say from the description of the problem.. the dock connector is slightly damaged.

If the issue comes and goes (sometimes sound works.. then doesn't again) and also you are getting errors when restoring (such as "device not found") it sounds like the computer is not communicating well with the device - and that can very well be the dock connector.. which also would be the cause of the sound issue.. because it is on it's own switching between thinking it's connected to a dock.. then thinking it isn't.

Try cleaning / blowing on the dock.

Try connecting it to a docking station.

Otherwise it may need hardware repair.