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error 29 iphone locked in recovery mode

I brought my 32 gs iphone on friday and tried to connect to my lab top (brand new toshiba windows 7)
error 29 and the iphone is permanently stuck with itunes with usb photo on screen tried all the recommended restore and restart procedures.
spoken apple support and then apple specialist support 3hours, have sent files etc and they will forward to their engineers.
I fell like smashing it

iphone 3gs, iPhone OS 3.1.3

Posted on Feb 9, 2010 12:40 AM

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Posted on Feb 9, 2010 6:30 PM

I'm in the exact same boat, except I was in the middle of an iPhone update via iTunes. Normally these periodic required updates from Apple are a non-event, but this time, it went black screen in the middle and then the Apple logo with usb plug appeared and said that I needed to do a restore. It was just like when I took the iPhone out of the box new, nearly a year ago. Now it is caught in a loop, it tries to restore, but 2/3 way through it jumps back to the apple logo with usb plug and I go round and round. HELP! I need my iPhone to work! It seems that there might be a bug with the current upgrade. The error message is so new (#29) that it is not even listed on the error code list. Help!!!
198 replies

May 6, 2010 3:53 PM in response to mrangelo

Same problem here.... Extra problem the iphone got wet a couple of months ago... worked fine aftewards... but now it is just an expensive brick...
Error 29 all the way...


I can't imagine Apple trying to solve this problem as the problem is probably caused by their latest security addition to the 3gs... (I am refering to the whole ECID issue...)

So I am "F-worded"...

Jun 1, 2010 1:49 PM in response to aussi

Hey guys I just had a thought- any of you changed your battery recently before this error? I know this won't be the reason for all the error 29s especially the new phones, but I wonder of it's the circuitry of the battery itself- reason I ask is I changed my battery before error 29 but I never put the two together. But the new battery constantly causes the phone to crash with false battery levels and do I winder if changing back to my old stock battery might cure error 29.

Jun 6, 2010 6:48 AM in response to aussi

Hi All,
I'm having the same problem, although mine was not down to me and i really dont know what to do so any advise would be very much welcome.

I had a bit of water damage on my phone, both the dock port and phone jack sensors are slightly pink. I placed in rice in the airing cuboard for a week then opened it up and gave it a clean with electrical cleaner, back in the cuboard for another week.
When i booted it up all worked perfect apart from the home button. i backed the iphone up through itunes and sent the iphone off to be repaired, explaining what had happened.

I Recieved an email stating that they had replaced the home button however this had not cured the problem and due to the extensive water damage the iphone was beyound repair!!
I thought this was a bit strange as it was working apart from the home button.
When i got the iphone back it is in a continuse recovery mode loop and gives me error 29 when i try and restore. Now i know i did not upgrade it but where do i stand............i know have an iphone that is in error 29 which i cant irecover. The only proof i have that it was working before i sent it off was the history of my back up. My questions are;

Could the iphone go into this loop any other way?
Is there any other way i can get it out of this loop without having to use the home button?

I cant help thinking that they have upgraded it or something, have relised they have put it into this loop and are now using this previous water damage as an excuse!!

Any thought or help would be most grateful, even if it's throw it in the bin LOL

Regards Bev

Jun 22, 2010 4:31 AM in response to AJMartin

"Hey guys I just had a thought- any of you changed your battery recently before this error? I know this won't be the reason for all the error 29s especially the new phones, but I wonder of it's the circuitry of the battery itself- reason I ask is I changed my battery before error 29 but I never put the two together. But the new battery constantly causes the phone to crash with false battery levels and do I winder if changing back to my old stock battery might cure error 29. "

I did change my battery, and it happens to be larger than the original. Maybe it verifies HW during the restore and the upgraded batter is what is making it fail.

error 29 iphone locked in recovery mode

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