Q: Lost Mode but not in iCloud

Then please tell me, in the simplest words possible, what exact steps does one take to make this happen:

"After you contacted the previous owner, he disabled the Activation Lock by logging into his iCloud account, and disabled "Find my iPhone" for the device that you had in front of you."

How did the previous owner disable the Activation Lock, exactly? How did the previous owner disable "Find My iPhone" exactly, from an iCloud.com account?

GB

Hi eldavies,

Glad to see you are still around ....I think it has been a bit confusing for everyone!

So, here is what your phone looks like on your iCloud.com account when it is signed into Find My iPhone and online:

My iPhone 5s is online here and showing in the devices list. When I click on that phone, because it is online, I see the same screen you posted above.

Then, I turn my iPhone 5s so that it will go Offline. And now, this is what I see on that same screen that you previously posted:

As you can see, I also now have the option to "Remove Your Device". If I click on that option, it removes the device from my iCloud list:

So, if you had my device right now, and I told you that I removed it from my iCloud account, then when you went to set it up, you would run into a screen that asked for MY Apple/iCloud ID and Password in order to Activate the phone. You would get that request because even though it wasn't showing on my iCloud account device list anymore, the device would still be signed in to Find My iPhone, and would still be Activation Locked.

However, once you turn on the device, and it connects to Wifi again, guess what I see on my iCloud.com account again:

Since it is now back in my iCloud list, I can click on the devcie, and display the screen you had in your post, and then click on Erase Device. That would ask me to put my Apple/iCloud ID and password in in order to initiate the Erase. By doing that, it automatically turns off Find My iPhone on the device prior to erasing it. Once it is erased, I can go back in to the screen you saw for when it is Offline, and then click on Remove My Device. At that point, the device no longer is associated with my iCloud ID, and all of my data is completely erased, so it is ready for you to use as your own!

Thanks for sticking with this, and if you have any further questions or concerns, don't hesitate to post back!

Best of luck,

GB

YAY!!! When you said it was asking for the seller's ID and password, it seemed like the only thing that could have been happening was that it was still Activation Locked. Thanks for hangin' in there, and glad that seems to provide an explanation that makes sense! The best part is that you are good to go now, so Yippee Skippee!!!

GB

eldavies wrote:

 

Since you two are still arguing it out (though I can't say I 100% follow it), let me try one more time with specifics of what I saw & what happened:

 

1) I received the phone with a different case than the original and no screen. Repaired the display connector & attached a screen, charged the battery, connected it to wifi

2) The display said "this phone has been lost", along with contact instructions for the owner.

3) I managed to contact the owner through his facebook, as his phone # was not in use. '

4) I told him based on my research that all he needed to do was remove the device from his icloud account, which I believe he did.

5) The phone then went to "this phone has been lost and erased, sign in with the apple id that was used to setup this phone"

6) I was tempted to do a restore on the phone, but did not. Instead posted here & contacted the owner again

7) While we were chatting on facebook about temporarily giving me his ID & pw he logged into icloud again, did something (we don't know what), and it started to work for me.

 

So, maybe we'll never understand....

Here is what Gail didn't get. Once removed from the server(icloud website) if you were to really restore the phone there would be 2 scenarios.

1. If original guy really removed device from account and not just told you he did - device would activate without any apple id's

2. You would get to the same activation screen because he actually didn't remove it - he did it the second time you spoke to him.

Your quote.

"7) While we were chatting on facebook about temporarily giving me his ID & pw he logged into icloud again, did something (we don't know what), and it started to work for me."

The part that is wrong with her version of events after removing from icloud she signs in to the 5s back with her apple id which automatically reactivates find my iphone and puts it back in to her icloud. If she were to restore her phone after it was removed she would never have to sign in.

fromsouth wrote:

 

Here is what Gail didn't get. Once removed from the server(icloud website) can you elaborate on what you mean when you say "removed from the server"? Removed how? Exactly what steps are taken to remove the device from the server here?

 

if you were to really restore the phone there would be 2 scenarios. Restore how? Are you indicating that the device has already been erased and is now in the new phone set up prompts? If not, is the person who has the phone in hand supposed to erase the device via Settings>General>Erase>Erase All Content & Settings, in order to get the device into a state in which it can be restored?

 

 

1. If original guy really removed device from account and not just told you he did - device would activate without any apple id's

OK -I really removed my iPhone 4 from my iCloud account:

Before I removed it:

 

Put the device offline so I could remove it in the only way I am aware of that one can remove it:

It is now removed from my iCloud account:

 

So, I go to my iPhone as the new owner, and I try to erase it so I can then restore it or set it up as brand new. Here's what happens when I try to do that:

I click on Erase All Content & Settings so I can set this up as Mary Appleseed's device. Gail has removed it from her iCloud account, and has told me I can now restore it as my own device. So, I click on Erase All Content & Settings, and I get this screen:

Now what am I supposed to do? Gail removed the device from her iCloud account as is evidenced above. I go to the device, erase it, and then attempt to move forward so I can set up this device as my own device for Mary Appleseed. But, I can go no further until Gail removes the Activation Lock on the device.

Had Gail Erased the device before removing it from iCloud, I would be able to do exactly what I want to do - which is to set up my new phone. When my device went back online, and I contacted Gail and told her that it was asking for her Apple ID and Password, she checked her iCloud.com account again, and lo and behold, the iPhone 4 was showing up again:

So, now I can erase the device from my iCloud account (which will require me to type in my Apple ID and password in order for it to turn off Find My iPhone and the Activation Lock as a part of the erasure process). Once the erase is complete, the iPhone 4 will appear as Offline on my iCloud account again, at which point I can remove it, knowing it will not come back....ever....(unless someone signs my iCloud account on to that phone and turns on Find My iPhone (which is not likely).

 

 

2. You would get to the same activation screen because he actually didn't remove it (so, if by "remove" it here, you mean he didn't erase it, you would be absolutely correct) - he did it the second time you spoke to him (and if you mean he erased it at this point, that also would be correct)/

Your quote.

"7) While we were chatting on facebook about temporarily giving me his ID & pw he logged into icloud again, did something (we don't know what), and it started to work for me."

The part that is wrong with her version of events after removing from icloud she signs in to the 5s back with her apple id *** correct, because that is the only ID that the device will allow to be signed on at that time, because the Activation Lock is still Active, and until that has been turned off, only the person who put it on, or someone who knows that person's Apple ID and password, can sign in in order to remove it....

which automatically reactivates find my iphone and puts it back in to her icloud - no....the device showed up in iCloud as soon as the device was connected to Wifi. As soon as I selected a Wifi service - long before any signing in takes place.... .

If she were to restore her phone after it was removed she would never have to sign in. Can you clarify what you mean by this sentence? Restore the phone how? Doesn't one have to erase the phone in order to restore it?

Cheers,

GB