I am desperate. My son died unexpectedly and his iPhone 3g was passcode protected. He had photos, songs and possibly a reason for his death. The carrier is ATT; he was on my plan. I understand that the phone can be restored but everything will be lost, and I don't want to do that. I want his pictures and his music, and possibly his most recent texts. I do have his computer, and I plugged his phone in to iTUnes but cannot get into his phone. I've been told by Apple, Att and an authorized Apple repair center that there is no way. I am not dishonest as a rule, but just this one time, I need to know how or if there is a way to get in to my son's phone.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
my son died
- Thread starter Dustinsmom
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
- Status
I wonder if you can do a backup in iTunes, the restore the phone as new, restore the backup and access it? I'm not sure and I'm hoping someone else will chime in.
I know when I restored from a backup, I didn't need the code, it actually prompted me to set one, again.
I know when I restored from a backup, I didn't need the code, it actually prompted me to set one, again.
Hand it over to the cops, depending on your local laws they can get the txt records by court order. There is no way to get past the lock aside from simply trying every possible passcode.
First of all, I'm very sorry for your loss. 
I don't know of a way to circumvent the passcode. Have you contacted the police? A computer forensics team might have the ability, and if it relates to a cause of death they may be willing to help.
(A note of caution, if you keep trying to enter a passcode, the phone may wipe its contents, so it's best not to try.)
I don't know of a way to circumvent the passcode. Have you contacted the police? A computer forensics team might have the ability, and if it relates to a cause of death they may be willing to help.
(A note of caution, if you keep trying to enter a passcode, the phone may wipe its contents, so it's best not to try.)
This Is The Best Advise
Take it the Police, who CAN with access the information, I am sorry for your loss, and hope the information gives you some form of closure.
First of all, I'm very sorry for your loss.
I don't know of a way to circumvent the passcode. Have you contacted the police? A computer forensics team might have the ability, and if it relates to a cause of death they may be willing to help.
(A note of caution, if you keep trying to enter a passcode, the phone may wipe its contents, so it's best not to try.)
Take it the Police, who CAN with access the information, I am sorry for your loss, and hope the information gives you some form of closure.
For text messages you can contact AT&T and receive a transcript of the messages, I believe this costs $10.
Like mentioned above there are programs that will decrypt the backup of an iphone and then extract, pics, messages, contacts and other info.
Besides that there's no other way on getting in besides sitting there for hours trying to guess the passcode.
Besides that there's no other way on getting in besides sitting there for hours trying to guess the passcode.
Re: Dustins iPhone passcode
I need to know, what is phoneview?? I have his computer. And thank you all for your help. I just want some closure, if ever that is possible.
I need to know, what is phoneview?? I have his computer. And thank you all for your help. I just want some closure, if ever that is possible.
PhoneView is a program that runs on Windows or Mac OS X. It pull information off of an iPhone as long as it is preformed on the computer that the iPhone synced with. It will display the text messages in a nice printable format. It can also extract and backup voicemails, contacts, pictures, and other data stored on the iPhone. While it isn't free, it does have a trial.
I may have an answer
my phone is also password protected. The other day my carrier had me do a settings>reset>erase all content and settings. It wiped my phone completely. When I did a restore from backup through iTunes, at some point it asked me if I wanted to set a password lock. I opted not to. Once my phone was restored, all the info was there, just no screen lock. Nothing was lost except my media, which I just re-synced through iTunes. Pictures, texts, emails..... All there.
A few important things, one you HAVE to know his iTunes password. If you do not know it, then if you have access to his email, you can change it. Two, do you know if he used iCloud? If he does iCloud backups, you are going to have to wipe through iTunes, setup as a new phone, and then sign into iCloud to restore backup.
I wish I were near my computer so I could test this again before recommending you try it. I would hate to give you bad advice, and you lose your data.
Maybe someone here can try it for you. I know you can't get to settings, but perhaps a restore from backup through iTunes will get you there.
my phone is also password protected. The other day my carrier had me do a settings>reset>erase all content and settings. It wiped my phone completely. When I did a restore from backup through iTunes, at some point it asked me if I wanted to set a password lock. I opted not to. Once my phone was restored, all the info was there, just no screen lock. Nothing was lost except my media, which I just re-synced through iTunes. Pictures, texts, emails..... All there.
A few important things, one you HAVE to know his iTunes password. If you do not know it, then if you have access to his email, you can change it. Two, do you know if he used iCloud? If he does iCloud backups, you are going to have to wipe through iTunes, setup as a new phone, and then sign into iCloud to restore backup.
I wish I were near my computer so I could test this again before recommending you try it. I would hate to give you bad advice, and you lose your data.
Maybe someone here can try it for you. I know you can't get to settings, but perhaps a restore from backup through iTunes will get you there.
Sorry for your loss.
I saw mitnick mention this on twitter this morning.
http://www.elcomsoft.com/eift.html
I don't endorse it myself, haven't tried it.
I saw mitnick mention this on twitter this morning.
http://www.elcomsoft.com/eift.html
I don't endorse it myself, haven't tried it.
I've had to delete several posts for being off-topic and/or rude.
This forum exists so that members can seek help. If you have something helpful to add it's graciously appreciated.
If you don't, then please obey forum rules and post elsewhere. Rudeness and irrelevance are not helpful here. If you take issue with this act of moderation, please feel free to use the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of the page; do not take this thread further off-topic by discussing it here.
Thanks.
This forum exists so that members can seek help. If you have something helpful to add it's graciously appreciated.
If you don't, then please obey forum rules and post elsewhere. Rudeness and irrelevance are not helpful here. If you take issue with this act of moderation, please feel free to use the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of the page; do not take this thread further off-topic by discussing it here.
Thanks.
My idea would be to back it up using iTunes, get hold of a different iPhone 3GS, and restore the backup to that. Then, you'll know if the backup is passcode locked, and if it isn't, you have access to the data. If it is still passcode protected, then you have to investigate other avenues.
The reason I say to restore it to a different iPhone is that there is no risk to the data on your son's iPhone.
The reason I say to restore it to a different iPhone is that there is no risk to the data on your son's iPhone.
In my humble opinion, the thread creator has deliberately used an attention-grabbing and sympathy-farming title in order to break into someone's iphone.
I would plug it into the PC used to snyc with it and do a backup in itunes asap.... this way you might be able to get the data even if the phone (or ipod) was restored, lost or destroyed.
----------
Now that I think of it you might be right. If her son really died wouldn't it be a no-brainer to hand it over to the police and have them retrieve the data? If she is just trying to break into her son's phone to spy on him that wouldn't be something you'd go to the police over...
----------
Now that I think of it you might be right. If her son really died wouldn't it be a no-brainer to hand it over to the police and have them retrieve the data? If she is just trying to break into her son's phone to spy on him that wouldn't be something you'd go to the police over...
[...]
All I'm saying is anyone can make up anything on the Internet.
All I'm saying is anyone can make up anything on the Internet.
Last edited by a moderator:
so sorry for your loss
i own phoneview and put my phone under a passcode lock. i can confirm it did sync my messages and other information under the lock. however i don't remember if there was anything i had to set up when i first got the program so it would work with my phone even if it was under passcode lock. it might be worth a shot however. it will take all of the media, messages, call logs, notes, voicemails, contacts though.
i own phoneview and put my phone under a passcode lock. i can confirm it did sync my messages and other information under the lock. however i don't remember if there was anything i had to set up when i first got the program so it would work with my phone even if it was under passcode lock. it might be worth a shot however. it will take all of the media, messages, call logs, notes, voicemails, contacts though.
"ElcomSoft restricts the availability of the toolkit to select government entities such as law enforcement and forensic organizations and intelligence agencies."
Anyone can, but if you had any class or common sense you'd give the person the benefit of the doubt - because if it's true and you're making these accusations, that's a terrible thing to say to a parent.
I came from the exact situation three weeks ago and I had to go through similar pains to get into my family member's phone so I could get to his contacts list. It's not fun, and to the other poster, I never thought of going to the #$@%@ police.
My prayers go out to dustinsmom.
Last edited by a moderator:
- Status