iPhone update server could not be contacted, but why ?

I posted this over on the MMi forums also (I'm TypeRBass), I had the same issue. Stop blaming it on jailbroken phones because that's not the problem, I'm now using an iPhone 4 and I ran into this problem BEFORE the jailbreak while trying to update to 4.0.1. Same thing I posted over there.

"I just followed these steps..

Step 1 – Open the Terminal.app
Either by start typing Terminal on the Spotlight, or by going into Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal.

Step 2 – Open the hosts file
Open the hosts by typing on the Terminal that you have just opened:
sudo nano /private/etc/hosts


Type your user password when prompted.


then i scrolled down to the bottom, and where it says :
127.0.0.1 gs.apple.com, I just added a # and a space before it. Then saved it, and it updated without a problem."

Excellent write-up, 100% correct!

Hey All.

So I have this issue also. Except that I am trying to update my iPad which is NOT jailbroken. I am trying to perform the update on my Mac, where I successfully updated my iPad to 3.2.1 a few weeks ago. My hosts file does NOT contain any reference to gs.apple.com. There are no apple.com references there at all. I don't understand why I would be able to update my iPad to 3.2.1 just a few weeks ago, and now I can't update at all. Can anyone from Apple please step up and provide some possible fix?

Perfect. It worked for me.

Same issue, my non-jailbroken iPhone 3G (ios 4.0.1) and non-jailbroken iPad wifi+3G (ios 3.2.1) on the UK network 3, both have the same error 1638 when trying to "Verifying iPad upadte with Apple"

Noticed the following errors in the OS X console for both devices, I'm guessing it's something to do with the provider settings update I got sent from Apple after updating to 3.2.1 -
13/08/2010 22:29:41 iTunes[156] AMDeviceCopyAuthInstallPreflightOptions (thread 0xb0a6f000): device reports an incompatible baseband certid
13/08/2010 22:29:41 iTunes[156] AMDeviceCopyValue (thread 0xb0a6f000): There was an error getting the value for []:[BasebandNonce] from lockdown: GetProhibited
13/08/2010 22:29:41 iTunes[156] AMDeviceCopyAuthInstallPreflightOptions (thread 0xb0a6f000): device reports an incompatible baseband nonce

OMG unvaluablespace you're awesome. Just changed that on my Mac and was able to restore my iPhone after hours of looking on the internet and trying different "solutions" to the problem. Thanks!

I did this update using terminal, and finally i could update again. Never had a problem before until recently...anyone know why this has happened all of a sudden???

Hi. can you please tell me how can i save the changes on my mac please. I'm new to the mac world. thank you

how do you save the changes?

i need help saving the changes. thx

This also worked for me! Thank-you so much!

Saving host files on Mac:
Source: http://decoding.wordpress.com/2009/04/06/how-to-edit-the-hosts-file-in-mac-os-x- leopard/

"*Step 4 – Save the hosts file*

When done editing the hosts file, press control-o to save the file.
Press enter on the filename prompt, and control-x to exit the editor."

how do i do these steps on windows xp

Try editing the host file. If you are on a Mac go to finder and then at the top click on the Go drop down menu then click on Go to Folder and type etc hit return
look for a file called hosts click on it and at the bottom if you have some 72. something delete that line then go to file save as and save to desktop uncheck the check box on there(sorry doing this from memory dont have actually stuff) hit save.
after that drag the desktop hosts file to the etc file and you are done

Sorry for inconvinience

Thanks much this worked like a charm when I suddenly started seeing this problem this morning while trying to update to 4.2.

Thanks, Hammer!
This worked for me when my (not jailbroken) i4 refused to update to 4.2.1.