Tell me more ×
Ask Different is a question and answer site for power users of Apple hardware and software. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 0 down vote favorite

I have what seems to be a common problem with iPhones (mine is an iPhone 4), a recovery loop, so I try to restore it but now I get this error:

"Unable to restore iPhone. Unknown error -1"

And it fails to restore after saying

"Restoring iPhone firmware"

I've tried using a local ipsw file (iPhone3,1_6.0_10A403_Restore.ipsw) however I get error 3194. I don't care about any of the data on the phone if that matters. I think the phone was jailbroken before the recovery loop.

How do I fix this and get some (any) firmware successfully into the phone?

share|improve this question
It would be helpful to disclose your iOS version if you know it. – Ben Mordecai Jan 6 at 1:54
I don't know the version that was installed prior to the recovery loop :( – Sbx Jan 6 at 3:49
I was having the same issue with my 3GS, and found that trying over and over (like 10 times) helps. Try deleting and redownloading the firmware, then installing it after the phone has been off for about a day or two. It sounds weird but I've had this "fix" the problem twice thus far. – XAleXOwnZX Mar 25 at 3:01

5 Answers

up vote 0 down vote

Try to put your iPhone 4 in DFU mode and then restore it.

You can try these steps below:

  1. Try another USB cord.
  2. Restart your computer for a try.
  3. Hold the power button, it might restart your iPhone.
  4. Update your iTunes to the latest version. Plug in your iPhone.

If iTunes can't recognize it, then in iTunes in the top left corner click help > run diagnostics.

On the box that comes up, check the last two things. Click next and it should identify your iPhone and then restore it.

share|improve this answer
I still get the same errors even when using DFU mode. – Sbx Mar 12 at 15:22
up vote -1 down vote

Connect your iPhone to your computer. It should open up iTunes and ask you to restore the iPhone in order to take it out of recovery mode. Trust me, I was panicking and was afraid to lose all of my data, but don't worry. To fix it, you do need to restore it, but you NEED to make sure you have all of your data backed up on your computer! DO NOT restore it if you don't have your data backed up, this will erase your data completely on your phone. After you've backed it up, you can restore your phone, follow the steps, and wait for your phone to restore to the factory settings.

share|improve this answer
How would you recommend to back up the phone if it is stuck in the recovery loop? – patrix♦ Mar 25 at 5:13
up vote 0 down vote

I have gone crazy trying to solve this problem trying everything tried above. If you have tried all the steps of restoring it, using apps like Tiny Umbrella and Redsn0w and things still are not working. This is an easy way that may fix your problem.

  1. Click on Finder so it is chosen in the top left corner. Click Go and choose Go to Folder.

  2. Type /etc/hosts anad press Go.

  3. Move the file hosts to the desktop then right click the file and press open with Text Edit. (Enter your password if asked through any step in this entire process)

  4. At the bottom of the page you will see these two lines

    74.208.10.249 gs.apple.com

    127.0.0.1 gs.apple.com

On your last line you will see that it does not have a # sign in front of 127.0.0.1 gs.apple.com

Add the # sign and change the file and save it. It will ask if you want the remove the extension and choose yes.

  1. Move the hosts file back into the etc folder from which you moved it to the desktop to replace the file. If asked press Authenticate.

Now go and restore your phone!!!

share|improve this answer
up vote -1 down vote

Hard Reset iPhone

To do a Reset, press and hold the Home button and the Sleep/Wake or On/Off button simultaneously until you see the Apple logo and then release - ignoring the slide to turn off prompt when doing so.

share|improve this answer
I don't think you even read the question :( – Sbx Jan 16 at 2:34
up vote 0 down vote

Per iDownloadBlog:

Step 1: Put your iPhone into DFU mode.

Step 2: Enable the TSS Server on TinyUmbrella. If iTunes is open, it will close.

Step 3: Open iTunes, and it should recognize your device in recovery mode. Hold Alt/Option+Click ‘Restore’ in iTunes, and select the iOS 4.3.3 firmware for your device

Step 4: Allow iTunes to restore. You may get an iTunes Error (1) when the restore is complete. This is due to the fact that the TSS server is still running, and can be misleading. Just ignore this error.

Step 5: Your iPhone should now be stuck in the recovery loop. You will see a “Connect to iTunes” message. Rebooting, booting out of recovery, etc will get your nowhere.

Step 6: Download the Fix TinyUmbrella Fix Recovery file for Windows or Mac via our Downloads page.

Step 7: Place your iPhone back into DFU Mode.

Step 8: Extract the contents of the fixrecovery.zip file, right click on ‘fixrecovery43′ and select ‘Open With’ then ‘Terminal’.

Step 9: The fix recovery should execute, and your iPhone will be kicked out of the recovery loop.

Step 10: Run iTunes with your iPhone plugged in to activate if necessary.

share|improve this answer
I cannot run fixrecovery43.exe on my system as I do not have 'zlib1.dll' – Sbx Jan 6 at 3:49
Okay I got zlib1.exe now, but now I am getting this error when running fixrecovery43.exe – Sbx Jan 6 at 3:59
What is the error when running fixrecovery43.exe? – Ben Mordecai Jan 6 at 4:03
paste.ubuntu.com/1502154 there is whole output of fixrecovery43.exe – Sbx Jan 6 at 4:08
Yes I pressed run as administrator – Sbx Jan 6 at 5:41

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.