Restoring iPhone help!

Put it in DFU mode (Google DFU mode) and restore it. While your iPhone is in DFU mode it will appear dead bit it's not.

Connecting in recovery mode will also help: See these articles: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1808 and http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1212

I am having similar problem. I dropped my phone and the phone instruct me to restore. When I plug in to my Mac, there is an error message “The iPhone “*” cannot be used with iTunes because the it is lock with passcode. You must enter a passcode before it can be use with iTunes". My iphone screen is blank and there is nothing I can do.

There is no way I can do a hard reset.

Any help is appreciated.

There is no way I can do a hard reset.

Does this mean your home button is not working anymore? If no, connect in recovery mode, see article mentioned above. If the button is not working and you can't enter recovery mode, your phone need to be serviced.

The buttons are working.

Update: I went to bed and try again this morning. The iTunes now can detect my iphone is in recovery mode. I did the DFU (30secs both buttons + 30secs home button) and now a new story. iTunes ask for upgrade to latest software - I did and downloaded and run. During the software installation to the iphone, it stops and it says Ërror 23. I check on this error - which could be hardware error. My summary is iPhone can't sustain a meter's drop. I will probably revert to a Nokia which is better in sustaining impact.

If there is any help in recovering data - that will be great.

I have an original iphone and today it to me to plug into itunes and restore. It would not work at all,so I left my office and came home to connect to itunes. It would not restore. I tried a number of times, as well as the troubleshooting recommended. The last thing i did, as per the troubleshooting, was delete itunes and all support applications, and then reinstall.
Now itunes does not recognize my phone, I'ne no disk to put in and I've lost all my music purchases of the past 2.5 years. The phone will not work.

The error message is 1012.

Error 23, 28, 29, 1011, 1012, 1611: These errors may indicate a hardware issue with your device. Follow the steps in this article and also attempt to restore while connected to a known-good computer and network to isolate this issue to the device. If the IMEI or MAC address is missing or is a default value, this can also confirm a hardware issue.

copied from: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1275