iPhone stuck on "connect to iTunes" screen?

This is probably not the answer anyone wants, but after a succesfull restore of my iPhone did not solve the issue and drove two hours to a genius bar and they just swaped out my phone. So that is one way to solve it.

I had the same issue - at least one solution worked for me. When I tried to upgrade to 2.2, it failed somewhere in the middle of the upgrade process and got stuck at the iTunes logo. Resetting by pressing the on/off + home buttons didn't work. This is what I did (see below) and it worked. Unfortunately it wiped everything off of my iPhone. If you have an iPhone backup, you should be ok, if not it may need some additional work to get everything back. Apparently, this issue seems to be occurring only on XP machines. Also, no guarantees that it will work for all 2.2 upgrade-related issues including the issue of screen stuck at iTunes logo.

1. Uninstall iTunes (does matter which version - just uninstall it) – Don’t restart your PC, if asked
2. Uninstall Apple mobile services – Don’t restart your PC, if asked
3. Delete the iTunes directory from C:\Program Files
4. Restart your computer
5. Install iTunes 8.0.2 – once completed, restart your PC again (I know it’s frickin pain)
6. Plug your iPhone – Click Ok it you get a message saying your are resetting the iPhone to factory settings
7. Click on “Restore” in iTunes

This process downloaded and installed Ver 2.2 version successfully. Unfortunately, as I said before, it lost all my media and applications. But, once I syncd' it with my iTunes, most of them came back. I had to do a few tweaking to make like it was before.

Things to remember:
Make sure your Internet link is good when you do this.
Try to do it at some odd hours – so Apple’s servers will respond better.

Just wanted to add my name the mode list. I'm stuck in iPhone mode. I can make and receive calls, but can not switch to other 'apps'. I can't reset the iPhone holding down the button. Only turns the iPhone on and off. I have iPhone 2.2 and iTunes 8.0.2. The iPhone was fine in this morning. I was not connected to anything when the problem came up. Thanks. Richard.

I am having the same problem, and have been for a couple of days (as time allowed). I've tried all the ideas the manual gives and a few others. My phone is froze in 'plugged into itunes' mode. HELP!!!

crisser,

When you connect your iPhone to your computer and open iTunes, does iTunes see the iPhone? If not, try these steps here:

iPhone and iPod touch: How to restart the Apple Mobile Device Service (AMDS) on Windows XP and Vista
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1567

iPhone: Troubleshooting USB connections
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1286

If that still does not resolve the issue, does rebooting the computer get iTunes to see the iPhone?

Another step you can try is while the iPhone is connected to the computer, press and hold down the sleep/wake button (at the top) and the Home button (bottom) until the iPhone restarts. When the iPhone is powering back on, release the sleep/wake button, but continue to hold down the Home button. Does iTunes see the iPhone then?

Once iTunes recognizes the iPhone, you should try restoring the iPhone from iTunes. If the restore fails, and the above steps have been exhausted, here is another good article to follow:

Update and restore error messages on iPhone and iPod touch
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1275

Hope this helps,

Raleigh

My phone did the same thing. When I took it in they told me that a lot of people have been having this same problem and that it was set in a lock mode as if it were a stolen phone. They tried to unlock it but couldn't and ended up just giving me a new phone, which also happened to be faulty. My third phone worked for about 4 days and is now coming up with no sim card off and on.