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User profile for user: cdeinhartrun
cdeinhartrun Author
User level: Level 1
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iPhone 3GS "in recovery mode."

My phone was working fine until a few hours ago when I looked and I had no service. A pop-up screen came up telling me to connect my phone to iTunes. Then it said I could only make emergency calls. I turned my phone off and turned it back on again. After I did that the screen would only show an iTunes icon and a USB cord. I connected my iphone to itunes. A pop-up screen then came up saying that iTunes detected my phone in recovery mode and that I must restore the phone before using it with iTunes. When I tried to restore my phone it said that the "iPhone could no be restored," and "an unknown error has occurred.(23)" I'm totally stuck. How do I get my phone to work again?

Windows Vista

Posted on May 23, 2010 10:03 PM

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User profile for user: skyfather
skyfather
User level: Level 1
0 points

May 24, 2010 7:39 AM in response to cdeinhartrun

Error 23 means you're radio died. It's considered a hardware defect and Apple will replace it for you if still under warranty. I've seen a number of posts related to this issue. For those that have the 3 GS, think it's a good idea to get Applecare so the warranty gets extended a 2nd year. I just don't have any luck with GS products. When I had an Apple II GS way back when, the company decided to abandon it.
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User profile for user: skyfather
skyfather
User level: Level 1
0 points

May 24, 2010 10:34 AM in response to modular747

Haha, I had a Toyota GS 300 that ran well too. Meant Apple GS products 🙂

Here's the last 4 lines of my error log. The Genius Bar guy confirmed it was a radio error.

2010-05-22 17:15:51.923 iTunes.exe[1880:10c]: radio-error = 512
2010-05-22 17:15:51.924 iTunes.exe[1880:10c]: radio-error-string = 'Communication failure'
2010-05-22 17:15:51.924 iTunes.exe[1880:10c]: fatal recovery mode radio error
2010-05-22 17:15:58.432 iTunes.exe[1880:9dc]: iTunes: Restore error 23
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User profile for user: modular747
modular747
User level: Level 6
19,656 points

May 24, 2010 6:19 PM in response to skyfather

2010-05-22 17:15:51.923 iTunes.exe[1880:10c]: *radio-error = 512*
2010-05-22 17:15:58.432 iTunes.exe[1880:9dc]: iTunes: *Restore error 23*

As shown in your log, the radio error is 512. 23 is a restore error. The support article below lists 23 as an "update and restore alert message" with recommended solutions. If 23 was a hardware radio failure, none of the suggested troubleshooting steps could work.
"+When you are trying to update or restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iTunes, the update or restore process may stop, and you may see an alert message in iTunes. You may also see the "Connect to iTunes" screen on your device:+
+The alert message in iTunes may also include one of the following numbers (but is not limited to): 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 13, 14, -18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 28, 29, -48, -50, 1002, 1011, 1013, 1015, 1601, 1602, 1603, 1604, 1608, 1609, 1611, 1612, 1639, 2009, 3004, 3013, 3014, 3015, 9807, -9808, 9844.+"
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1275
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User profile for user: modular747
modular747
User level: Level 6
19,656 points

May 24, 2010 11:10 PM in response to skyfather

No, error 23 is a restoring error which can be caused by a variety of problems including hardware failures. In your case it was caused by the radio failure.

Others have reported getting error 23 during a failed restore and later successfully restored using the methods discussed in that KB. This could not have happened if there was a radio or other hardware issue.
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iPhone 3GS "in recovery mode."

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