error 29 iphone locked in recovery mode

that's correct, actually there's only 2 commands the program sends to the iphone:

- setenv auto-boot true -> tell the iphone to boot normally (just like windows when it wants to boot in safe mode)
- saveenv -> safe the variable above
- /exit -> exit program session

then you boot your iphone and it should work.

Just like pammyflu says: it's not that easy to do if you don't know how the command prompt works in windows. For users who have worked with ms dos -years ago- this is a piece of cake.

Hi, I have an iphone 32gb 3GS and I have the same problem with stuck in recovery mode. read the above comments and dont understand what is going on.. could someone please write me a step to step guide of what to do, thankyou,
Joe.

My precious iphone got Error 29 on Friday arvo (12/02/10).

The first Support person suggested I try to restore on a different computer, which I did, with no luck. On Saturday, the second Support person suggested I try on an ADSL connection, thinking the file corrupted during download, as I was on wireless the first 2 times. I tried to restore on my friend's Mac with an ADSL connection & still got the dreaded Error 29. On my third phone call to Support (which had a wait time of 45 minutes....a few people with error 29 I'm guessing!) the lovely lady said straight away that she'll arrange a brand new phone for me & it would be shipped out on Monday (15/02/10) I was really pleased, but just had to work out how on earth I was going to cope without my beloved for a few days!

The new one arrived today, & I am now happily syncing my old information onto it. Itunes still says there is an update available, which I am going to avoid AT ALL COST!!!! I think I'll wait till 3.1.4.....

My suggestion to anyone with this issue is get on the phone to Apple Support straight away. They were more than helpful when they figured out they could'nt really help!!

Message was edited by: Helsy

So this very same thing (error 29) happened to me about two hours ago and I have been trying everything I can find to fix it and I am ready to cry, this is practically a brand-new phone and its completely useless now...I was loathe to try that iRecovery thing in the first place, then when I gave up and decided to try it, I couldn't figure out the "instructions" (if you can even call them that) to save my life. I don't know, maybe I just don't know as much about computers as I hoped, but I can't get iRecovery to do anything at all, mostly since the instructions make no sense, but also since even after I extracted everything in the download package and installed the libusb file, all that happens when I try to open the iRecovery program itself is for a window to flash open briefly then close.

So, basically the utility itself won't start at all, the instructions are written in Sanskrit, and I have blown $300 on a piece of crap phone that locks up and flips out from an update forced on it by its OWN MANUFACTURER, who also happen to be no help at all in providing a solution.

Can somebody please help?? Maybe at least explain how to use the iRecovery thing? I can open a command prompt without any trouble, I know how to do that much...but then what am I supposed to type?? I'm just at my wit's end...all I want to do is throw the stupid phone through the window and get some sleep.

Ok this is what I did. I used a windows xp machine (not vista, not windows 7) and these were the steps that worked for me:

1. download libusb win32 and install this.
2. download and unzip iRecover into a simple folder for example: c:\ir
3. open the command prompt: Start menu -> Run -> type cmd -> press enter -> you see a black box with a blinkin cursor
4. goto the folder by doing this: type c: -> press enter -> cd\ir -> you're in the folder
5. now you're going to do the instructions
6. start the program: type iRecovery -s -> press enter
7. the program starts (if you get a message that it sees usb but no device, turn on your iphone, make sure it's connected with the usb cable and go to step 6.
8. program shows some information (never mind that) and it gives the oppurtunity to type command that it will send to the iphone, so type this and end every line with an enter:

setenv auto-boot true
saveenv
/exit

9. reboot your iphone, and if you're lucky like me it starts normal and you can update it again with itunes and the best thing is you will have the latest operating system on your iphone.

Is above to complicated for you, please ask someone with more computer experience. This shouldn't void your warranty, because you only tell the iphone to stop with the recoverymode.

Goodluck to everyone, otherwise send it in for repairs, you did what you could do to fix it.

cheers!

Thank you so much for your help! I got a lot further this time for sure...but no matter what I do, the program won't recognize the phone as being connected. I've tried starting and restarting it, plugging and unplugging in every USB port I have, and no matter how many times I try, it says Got USB, No iPhone/iPod found. It just won't recognize the phone as being connected to the computer...so I think maybe I'm just screwed. Thank you so much for trying though 🙂

that's strange, what about itunes: does it see your iphone?
maybe a wild guess: maybe try to disable your firewall?

This has to be something to do with your computer: perhaps you could find another xp machine (laptop, or a friend's computer)

That's the really weird bit, iTunes recognizes it instantly, even though of course its just to tell me that I need to restore it...but it definitely knows its there. It may be something going on with my computer, I have had issues before getting iTunes to sync up with my phone, or maybe its a compatibility thing with Windows 7, dunno?

Also, if I restart the computer with the libusb file installed, my wireless no longer works, saying that the drivers are corrupted...its like they are kept in the same directory or something. It works again fine after I uninstall the file and restart, but it took me a couple crashes to figure that out. And, I don't have a firewall up right now because I attempted to do a System Restore to remove all the libusb parts and it wouldn't complete due to a complication with Norton, SO, I uninstalled Norton. Maybe I should attempt a System Restore, maybe I can roll back iTunes and see if that does anything...but I dunno what that would have to do with the basic USB connection itself...

If you use windows 7 you need to right-click some programs to "run as administrator". Perhaps windows is blocking certain things because it thinks you're not privileged (is that correct english) to do it.

Possibly, it does yell about permissions a lot. I gave up and just called Apple, the tech I'm talking to asked a bunch of questions and then put me on hold to get one of his "senior advisors"...uhohhh doesn't sound good right? I was hoping they had come up with something new by now...

Update!! So, I went to work after having to give up on the service call, not because the tech was no help or we had exhausted all possibilities but because I had run out of time. I got to work and, on a hunch (or out of desperation or boredom I suppose), I decided to try once more, on my work computer (Dell Optiplex running Windows XP Pro). Downloaded the package, installed the libusb file, and followed all instructions carefully...and HALLELUJAH!!! IT'S WORKING!! What's even better is that I have a backup of my phone on this computer from September, so an old one (and from a previous iPhone) but better than nothing until I get home and fidget with it some more...it's restoring right now, hopefully that goes off without any further trouble...only time will tell of course. SO, in summary, I have learned a few things from this nightmare that I hope will help others with a similiar problem:

- mrangelo is a god among men for laying out clear, easy-to-follow instructions for using iRecovery with Windows, because the ones on the download page are too smart for me

- It seems like trying to run iRecovery on 7 was the cause of my further problems trying to get my computer to recognize the device, probably because the libusb file is designed for XP SP 2, and even installing the file with compatibility settings for that OS didn't seem to help, SO, do yourself a favor and don't bother running this utility unless you're on a computer running XP, it's just waaaaayyy easier and you will save yourself a headache...it literally took me like, five minutes start-to-finish with XP, compared with 2 hours of useless fighting with 7

- Uninstall the libusb file after you're finished, to make sure there are no lasting changes to your registry or anything...I don't know why, but installing the file on my 7 computer caused the wireless drivers to malfunction (see previous post), so its just safer that way...the file comes with an uninstall function so you should be able to remove it completely, a nice thing since I did this on my work computer

- According to the tech I spoke with this morning, Apple is giving them a set of several steps to try (i.e. uninstalling iTunes completely and reinstalling, attempting to restore from a new User profile, etc.) before doing any real repair work because they are unhappy with the number of phones being sent in and replaced due to this error (my response? Hmmm...maaaybe they should fix it then?!) All the steps the tech mentioned either failed me or failed someone else in this thread, so I would recommend one of two things before you waste your time: take it to an Apple store (not AT&T, Apple) so they can attempt fixing it, fail, and replace your phone, or run iRecovery. It works and makes no lasting changes to your phone, so will not void the warranty, though I wouldn't recommend telling the store you tried it if you did and it failed, unless you want to risk further headache and a scolding at the Genius Bar.

- These appear to be the only, or at least the easiest, options for this error, until Apple gets around to coming up with a real fix, which they do NOT have as of this morning, even though my tech was very nice and eager to help me

Thanks again for all your help mrangelo, if I knew you I would send you cookies. Restore is done and I have most of my contacts at least, and a working phone. Whew...good luck to everyone else having this issue...

Just like pprowler3, I got success with iRecovery, on a Vista box, but only after some trial & error on the loose instructions from the iRecovery site. mrangelo was instrumental in letting me know that I would not ruin my phone or void my warranty, so for you others who have not had success, it is because of some tiny little step that is being omitted or in the wrong order, because it really does work.

As for Apple, it is now time for them to acknowledge that this is the result of poor QC/QA testing prior to releasing the firmware and/or iTunes ugrades, giving us no real choice in the matter... we all "fell into the well." Someone in charge of this effort needs to be reminded (and even reprimanded) that they have more than tarnished the sterling reputation of Apple. Hundreds or maybe even thousands of us who have had our critical iPhones taken from us, have suffered real damages because of it. I was left to try anything in order to not send my phone to Apple, who required large credit card holds, etc. C'mon, Apple, what can you do for us who have truly suffered (and are still suffering) with this fiasco? Why the silence? Why aren't you all reading this thread before you go into your emergency support meetings? We have been wronged here and you won't even acknowledge it... don't wait too long like Toyota did... I have lost a ton of resale value on my Camry and won't buy my next car from them, so learn a marketplace lesson in this.

ooh cookies, nice! 🙂

Glad I could help, also credits to the people who created iRecovery.

It would be nice if everyone who has this problem (and solved it using this tip) replies to this message to let us know how big the problem is and if it helped you.

Best,
Angelo

For the Mac Users try this

In the Finder, locate iTunes in the Applications folder and drag it to the Trash.
Go to
/System/Library/Extensions
and locate the file called
AppleMobileDevice.kext and drag it to the Trash.

Go to
/Library/Receipts/
Locate the filecalled
AppleMobileDeviceSupport.pkg and drag it to the Trash.

Go to
/System/Library/LaunchDaemons/
Locate the file called
com.apple.usbmuxd.plist and drag it to the trash

Go to
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks
and locate the file called
MobileDevice.framework and drag it to the Trash.




Empty Trash and restart the computer. Empty the trash again if needed

Download and install the current version of iTunes.

Now try your restore again.

Deleting these files helped me get out of that loop during a recent problem with my iPhone

(Sorry windows users I have no knowledge of how to apply this to a windows system)