johna1992 Author

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OS4 upgrade failed & will not restore - error code (21)!!!

My OS4 upgrade failed & will not restore - error code (21)!!!
My iphone 3gs is now stuck on a black screen and when i plug it into itunes it says that it needs to be restored. When i restore the phone it just says restore failed with error code 21? Does anyone know how to sort this please?

3gs, Windows XP

Posted on Jun 21, 2010 12:22 PM

122 replies

Jun 21, 2010 2:08 PM in response to johngsxruk

im also having the same problem and im on orange! also if u try to restore it be aware as i have been on the restore screen now for 50 mins and the bar hasnt moved at all!

Message was edited by: samanthajw1

Jim6756

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Jun 21, 2010 2:10 PM in response to samanthajw1

I'm on O2 so the problem would appear to be apple and not the network 😟

philogy

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Jun 21, 2010 2:15 PM in response to johna1992

Am in the UK and have the same issues am completely locked out of my phone itunes wont recognise i have even attached my phone to the PC so i cant restore even if i wanted to goin to get on to apple tomorrow and demand a new phone am on o2 aswell but would say its an apple problem without a doubt

Message was edited by: philogy

dfa1986

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Jun 21, 2010 2:14 PM in response to Jim6756

I am also on O2, having the same problem. My girlfriend is having similar problems with her iPod Touch.

Have tried reinstalling iTunes several times, restoring using DFU etc. No luck.

Jun 21, 2010 2:16 PM in response to johna1992

Very Odd, I upgraded my 32GB 3GS, my wifes 16GB 3GS, and my daughters 32GB Ipod Touch, no problems whatsoever.

Wifes, about 15 mins TOTAL
Daughters about 10mins TOTAL
My 32Gb about 1hour 20mins (only had 200mb free, didn't think to free some up first, i'm sure this had an impact on time taken to do the upgrade.)

If I can help anyone on here, feel free to fire questions.

Kind Regards
Toptechnical

Romford,Essex,UK

Message was edited by: Toptechnical

Message was edited by: Toptechnical

Jun 21, 2010 2:21 PM in response to Toptechnical

I've got a different laptop that didn't have itunes 9.2 on, downloaded it and plugged the iphone in. It's automatically downloaded 4.0 software and now seems to be updating...

if i then plug this in to my old PC, will it recover my back up?

Jun 21, 2010 2:22 PM in response to Toptechnical

I am on Vodafone in the UK and had the same problem, been trying to solve it ever since 6 o'clock with no luck. I read somewhere that if you delete the "iphone software update" folder then try to restore it will re-download and install without a problem.. but I can't find this folder! any ideas?

dfa1986

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Jun 21, 2010 2:23 PM in response to Toptechnical

I would just like some sort of acknowledgement from an Apple rep that this is an issue. It certainly doesn't seem to be an isolated incident, so I would hope that they would have something to say on the matter.

Why is it happening? What can be done? etc.

Jun 21, 2010 2:24 PM in response to grahamw02

On Windows:
Documents and Settings\<User>\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPhone Software Updates

On Mac:
~/Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates

Jun 21, 2010 2:24 PM in response to dfa1986

On O2 here with 8GB 3G. Same problem as it's attemting to restore. Incredibly frustrating.

Jun 21, 2010 2:26 PM in response to Jayde1983

Do you have a particular reason for wanting to restore the backup?

You say its updating as we speak, if it completes successfully, when you plug this phone into your original laptop make sure to do a new backup.

otherwise repost the issue.

kind regards

Toptechnical.

jma7

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Jun 21, 2010 2:29 PM in response to SimonP_85

glad there are other people with this problem. I'm on orange, but like others had said it's probably an apple problem. I've been trying to fix this for hours. feel like crying!

I keep getting told on other threads to go see an Genius, but i don't have an apple store in my city -would have to go through to glasgow (over an hour a way and an expensive train journey to boot) to get to a store. *** are we all supposed to do!

Jun 21, 2010 2:29 PM in response to Toptechnical

I'm on a mac & got this error. Glad I'm not alone. Here's what solved it for me:

Having backed up & sync'd prior to grabbing the update (right?)
Create a new user account on your mac
Login to new account, open iTunes & sync
Go back to your usual account, restore from backup.

Should have you sorted

R

Jun 21, 2010 2:30 PM in response to Toptechnical

These locations are what I found before, but I cannot find them for the life of me! I am using Windows 7, so is it somewhere else? I even did a search for "iphone software updates" and couldn't find it 😟

Jun 21, 2010 2:33 PM in response to grahamw02

Im in a similar boat and cannot find the file or folder. Im on Vista

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OS4 upgrade failed & will not restore - error code (21)!!!