iPod touch iPod Touch DFU mode unrecognized in iTunes

[AlexiPod]

Hi,

I'm facing a weird situation, where iTunes gives the following message when I try to restore my iPod Touch 3rd gen: "The iPod was previously in DFU mode, but restarted and is no longer in DFU mode. To restore this iPod from DFU mode, disconnect it and place it in DFU mode again"

As you can see from the screenshots, the iPod was in DFU mode when I tried to restore it. I also tried directly with an ipsw file, but iTunes pops up the same massage. The strange thing is, I tried with another iPod that works fine, put it in DFU mode, and I got the same message. I changed the laptop, tried various cables, but the error persists.

Thank you for any advice!

 

[arw]

Is iTunes up to date and does the PC/laptop have internet access?

edit: btw, which ipsw did you try? iOS 5.1.1 or 4.1? Those two are the only ones still signed by Apple.

 

[AlexiPod]

The iTunes is up to date and yes, the internet connection is stable. I tried both but I guess won't even count, the message is displayed immediately, exactly the same with an iPod Touch 2. I know the differences between recovery and DFU mode, always put it in DFU mode (black screen). Could it be related to something else rather than the device itself? As I said, could be a coincidence but two devices, same problem...

Thanks

 

[AlexiPod]

Just a quick update. I successfully restored my iPad Mini and iPhone, just to verify if something's wrong with my iTunes-cables-firewall-internet or something else.

Regarding the iPods, I'm facing the same problem as above, I really have no idea what could it be.

 

[arw]

Just a quick update. I successfully restored my iPad Mini and iPhone, just to verify if something's wrong with my iTunes-cables-firewall-internet or something else.

Regarding the iPods, I'm facing the same problem as above, I really have no idea what could it be.

That was a good move. But it's so strange that both iPods suddenly behave this way... I honestly have no other ideas.
They are both now stuck in DFU and when trying to restore you get the warnings from post #1?
Have you tried keeping them on a charger for some time just to rule out it needs a certain battery percentage (I seem to remember to have gotten a notification that for a restore at least 40% or 60% were required).
Did you recently update your iTunes and did previously use an older version with your iPods?
If you hadn't already switched the laptop, I would have suggested to start iTunes while pressing shift to temporarily create a new library for the sake of testing.

 

[sparky-sharpy]

Hi,

I'm facing a weird situation, where iTunes gives the following message when I try to restore my iPod Touch 3rd gen: "The iPod was previously in DFU mode, but restarted and is no longer in DFU mode. To restore this iPod from DFU mode, disconnect it and place it in DFU mode again"

As you can see from the screenshots, the iPod was in DFU mode when I tried to restore it. I also tried directly with an ipsw file, but iTunes pops up the same massage. The strange thing is, I tried with another iPod that works fine, put it in DFU mode, and I got the same message. I changed the laptop, tried various cables, but the error persists.

Thank you for any advice!

Hi,

I had the same problem and was going round in circles!
Decided to download an old version of itunes from Oct 24th, 2013 and bingo it worked!
Downloaded old version from here - https://itunes-64-bits.en.uptodown.com/windows/download/51624
I had the new version installed already so needed to start it with shift pressed so that it would give the option of creating a new library. Other than that just need to accept a few windows permissions for accessing the ipod.
Hope you manage to restore yours as well

Andrew

 

[AlexiPod]

Hi, Andrew!

Thank you so much for your suggestion, it worked! Wasn't an easy task though 😄 I had lots of 1611 iTunes error at the beginning. In order to fix that I tried so many solutions, changing usb drivers to older version, trying with different cables and usb ports, reinstalling iTunes for several times, and the big one, I had the exact same problem (error 1611) on another laptop. I thought that was the end of the fixing jorney. Without any hope, I tried on a 3rd laptop, running the same windows 10 as the other two, but idk how, it worked perfect from the beginning. A total mistery but I did recover my iPod. Thank you again.

 

[letrunghieu40]

Hi, Andrew!

Thank you so much for your suggestion, it worked! Wasn't an easy task though 😄 I had lots of 1611 iTunes error at the beginning. In order to fix that I tried so many solutions, changing usb drivers to older version, trying with different cables and usb ports, reinstalling iTunes for several times, and the big one, I had the exact same problem (error 1611) on another laptop. I thought that was the end of the fixing jorney. Without any hope, I tried on a 3rd laptop, running the same windows 10 as the other two, but idk how, it worked perfect from the beginning. A total mistery but I did recover my iPod. Thank you again.

can u do a full video tutorial plz
i'm having the same problem and i dont know what to do
i'm struggling
plz help me (

 

[cardinl]

Hi,

I had the same problem and was going round in circles!
Decided to download an old version of itunes from Oct 24th, 2013 and bingo it worked!
Downloaded old version from here - https://itunes-64-bits.en.uptodown.com/windows/download/51624
I had the new version installed already so needed to start it with shift pressed so that it would give the option of creating a new library. Other than that just need to accept a few windows permissions for accessing the ipod.
Hope you manage to restore yours as well

Andrew

hey!

i own an ipod touch 4 and i could'nt remember its password cause it was in my cupboard for a long time so i decided to restore it but itunes showed that error "The iPod was previously in DFU mode, but restarted and is no longer in DFU mode. To restore this iPod from DFU mode, disconnect it and place it in DFU mode again" so i did what u told and installed itunes 11 but my ipod gets stuck at "preparing for recovery" and then shows error "1611". i did a lot of research on it but couldn't find anything that could help. pls help me.

 

[AlexiPod]

Hi @cardinl

I had the exact same problem as you at the beginning, I described the situation above. Couldn't find a solution (tried all the USB ports, many cables, same error) so I just tried on another laptop, I got the same error but I tried again on a 3rd laptop and it worked without any problem , I don't know how... Try another pc/laptop, I guess is all related to USB ports.

 

[cardinl]

Hi @cardinl

I had the exact same problem as you at the beginning, I described the situation above. Couldn't find a solution (tried all the USB ports, many cables, same error) so I just tried on another laptop, I got the same error but I tried again on a 3rd laptop and it worked without any problem , I don't know how... Try another pc/laptop, I guess is all related to USB ports.

well thats the problem you see, i dont have another pc. there has to be another way to restore my ipod.

 

[sunshine021]

Oh wow! I had the exact same DFU problem/error on both of our new laptops (running latest windows 10 and latest iTunes). I tried the suggestion and pulled out my old laptop (bought in 2017) with old itunes (May 2022), and it worked!!! Only the old laptop could restore the ipod. I am very happy it worked, but very disappointed that my newest tech failed me. Thank you so much for posting this! Otherwise, I would have had to garbage my ipod touch.

 

[dts439]

I had exact same issue with an iPod Touch 4th Gen that I was trying to restore and was stuck in a "in DFU then not in DFU" loop in iTunes.
Loading an older version of iTunes (11.1.2) on another machine allowed me to recover the iPod. Current version of iTunes also appears to have removed the relevant drivers for the device.

 

[TurkeyMaster07]

can i have help if tried restoring my ipod touch 4g many times because it is saying i cant activate it becasue my software isnt new enough and whenver i try to restore it it does nothing please help.

 

[TurkeyMaster07]

ive tried in dfu mode and recovery mode

 

[mikehalloran]

The Touch 4 is now on the Vintage list which means that Apple will look at it (free) and service it if parts are available (for a fee).

iPod products vintage worldwide​

• iPod nano (7th generation, Mid 2015)
• iPod shuffle (4th generation, Mid 2015)
• iPod touch (4th generation)

Once it hits the Obsolete list, Apple won't touch it. You want it checked before that happens.

 

[RRC]

I experienced a similar issue with an SE I was recently trying to restore, turned out it was the cable I was using. As soon as I used the old USB A to lightning cable it worked first time.

 

[pbpringles]

I tried so many things on my Windows PC (downloading the IPSW files, using old versions of iTunes), nothing worked (either I got an error in iTunes saying it could not be restored or error 1611 after the restoration was completed).

Plugged it into my old Mac, worked on the first try. I presume it has something to do with the drivers, but I'm not 100% sure.

This was for my original iPhone and iOS 3.1.3 btw.

Hope this helps!

 

[Hillstones]

A friend of mine gave me an iPhone 4S and iPod touch 3rd Generation. The iPhone 4S runs iOS 9.x, the iPod touch runs iOS 5.1.1. I had to restore the iPhone in DFU mode. That worked fine in macOS Sonoma 14.6.1 with the Finder for the iPhone 4S, probably because iOS 9 is much newer. However, the iPod touch kept giving me the same error, the iPod restarted and no longer in DFU mode. But it was still in DFU mode. Until I found this post!

Use an older version of iTunes. My iMac 27" 2020 cannot use iTunes. So I fired up my 20 year old Power Mac G5 with Mac OS X Leopard and iTunes 10.7. Plugged in the iPod touch and it immediately appeared in iTunes in DFU mode and prompted to restore the iPod. iTunes downloaded iOS 5.1.1 and restored the iPod touch successfully. It booted up as a new iPod. Went through the quick set up and now it appears on my iMac as an iPod touch with iOS 5.1.1. Restore successful using the 20 year old Power Mac G5 and iTunes 10.7.

 

[oranjado]

Hi,

I had the same problem and was going round in circles!
Decided to download an old version of itunes from Oct 24th, 2013 and bingo it worked!
Downloaded old version from here - https://itunes-64-bits.en.uptodown.com/windows/download/51624
I had the new version installed already so needed to start it with shift pressed so that it would give the option of creating a new library. Other than that just need to accept a few windows permissions for accessing the ipod.
Hope you manage to restore yours as well

Andrew

OMG you are an angel!