You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

💡 Did you know?

⏺ If you can't accept iCloud Terms and Conditions... Learn more >

⏺ If you don't see your iCloud notes in the Notes app... Learn more >

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

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

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

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

Jun 22, 2010 5:53 PM in response to aussi

Hi all,

I am so happy! I can confirm the error 29 has been resolved and it is to do with the battery gauge. I ordered a higher capacity battery from Ebay, that messed around with the readout in 3.1.3. I was on the verge on making a claim for a replacement iphone until just now. Also as a word of warning, Non apple OEM battery will cause the phone to crash. Maybe the phone is sensitive to calculating the gas gauge so when it can't work out the exact charge it'll force the phone to reboot every 5 minute interval, this is apples ploy to dig out illegal modifications?

This is very interesting, Phone fully functional now after installing OEM battery. I will now install the bigger capacity battery to see if it is compatible with it. I'm guessing not.



Dr

Jun 22, 2010 7:29 PM in response to Guepardo

I think it is the battery as well. I just had mine changed out and when updating to latest version of the software it bricked the phone with a error 29 message!!! I voided the Apple warranty so any further explanation of how to fix would be greatly appreciated. I have tried the irecovery stuff all night to no avail. Would someone please simplify that process. My terminal is acting strange and I would like to know more about how to fix this. I just wonder if Apple is slimy enough to brick phones with replacement batteries in them. HELP!!

Jun 22, 2010 8:20 PM in response to aussi

What I can suggest you do is purchase a genuine apple battery from ebay then open up your phone and swap that over. My phone is rocking the OEM battery now, only played around with the phone (non intensive applications) and the battery already went down to 92%_ Lame _.

When I fully exercise this battery i'll try out my old battery since my phone is fully up and running (knock on wood).


D

Jun 22, 2010 8:57 PM in response to aussi

My battery has been acting weird since day one. It hasn't been replaced so maybe that's it. When logging to the phone with iRecovery it clearly states a problem with the "gas gauge". Something about funky readouts (-1mv) and the problem keeps happening. Hope someone, or Apple, does something in the form of a 4.0.1 update to bypass this problem. It al starts to make sense.

Jun 23, 2010 2:56 AM in response to aussi

Hi there I don enough about the phones working to give you a clearer answer. I think if the phone doesn't have enough charge it'll give the error 29 message? Cause my battery worked without a problem with 3.1.3 and needed calibration every so often. Hmm I'll put in the old battery later this evening. I think you might be right,


Dr


Dr

Jun 23, 2010 12:13 PM in response to saj_singh

was on the phone to orange uk last night to see if they could help as i got the phone off them. they asked me all the same things ie try to use another pc or new profile etc.... no joy, then they fobbed me off by giving me apple support number...no but kissing but apple deserve an award, they were absolutley great, the first guy helped me with the usual tests and diagnostics, then he put me to a senior technician who ran some more tests with no joy then booked me in to get it replaced the same day (today!!!!). i called them 8:40am wednesday 23 june, the lady had offered me appoinments for 8:30am but i couldn't make that (too early) so i asked for 11:30am. engineer checked it in store and got the same eror code (error 29) which is a hardware fault apparently. so he replaced the phone and 10 minutes later im back online. im releaved cos i use this phone for my company. good luck to all u guys. im using ios4 successfully on my 3gs now and it seems stable.

Jun 23, 2010 12:42 PM in response to aussi

It can't be the battery my phone is only 2 weeks old and it can't of been the hardware as mine is now fine i personally think Apple couldn't cope with all the downloads which led to the problems.

My version 4 is working fine now after having to add all my contacts again and set up my email again. was a royal pain in the ** but glad i managed to fix mine. To be fair i wouldn't bother upgrading the software it's nothing to amazing for all the trouble !

Jun 23, 2010 2:51 PM in response to aussi

Using the oem battery from ebay will cause error 29 when upgrading to a new version. You can bypass it using irecovery. It also does not show the battery percentage correctly. if u have to use the oem battery, my suggestion is to solder the original circuit board from the original battery to the oem battery, do not use the circuit board that comes with the oem battery. Thats what i did and everything works fine. Hope this helps!

Jun 23, 2010 8:32 PM in response to aussi

FYI for all of you with this error code - bythegilmores' response here worked for me: http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=11195661#11195661

Was getting Error 29 last week and their instructions worked. Plugged my phone in tonight to try and update to iOS4 and got the error again. Went through iRecover and my phone is now recovered, updated to the new OS and in the process of syncing. The instructions on the iRecover site are a bit jumbled, so follow the ones in the forum post and you should be golden.

error 29 iphone locked in recovery mode

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.