Level 1

5 points

Potential solution to iPhones bricked following 4.0.1 update

At this point, this solution has only been tested on a Mac. It doesn't appear to be working for everyone, but it's worth a shot. If you can get it working on a Windows machine please post a reply.

Here's the method:

Download RecBoot 1.0.2
I found it here: http://www.sebby.net/659-released-recboot-1-0-2/
Plug in your iPhone.
Close iTunes.
Run "RecBoot Exit Only"
Click the "Exit Recovery Mode" button.
The screen on the iPhone will go black. At this point, UNPLUG the iPhone (before it starts back up)
It will boot up correctly after finishing the firmware install.
Now plug your iPhone back in and complete a normal restore.

That's it. I spent over 4 hours trying to fix my phone before someone else came up with this solution. Prior to trying this I tried restoring about 20 times. I attempted on both OS X and Windows 7, different USB cables, reinstalled iTunes, and various other solutions people have been suggesting. This one works. Right now my phone's just finishing syncing my music and apps. Good luck!

Posted on Jul 15, 2010 9:15 PM

64 replies

mkb133

Level 1

0 points

Jul 23, 2010 6:21 AM in response to nc75

So I tried to update my iPhone 4 to the 4.0.1 update this morning and was almost in tears when I encountered the "error 9" problem. Somewhat glad to know that it wasn't just me. Tried a number of different things and was bricked out about half a dozen times. Wasted half my morning, until I finally got RecBoot 1.1 to work (on my laptop running Windows 7 64-bit). Hooray! Thank goodness.

ppauer

Level 1

0 points

Jul 24, 2010 10:41 AM in response to ChowderCrab

Thank you for this. I too had the error 9 problem after attempting to update this morning. This thread saved me from a call to tech support or a trip to the apple store.

Jul 24, 2010 11:59 PM in response to ChowderCrab

There are a lot of people saying that it is apple's servers. Well it isnt because it has been over a week since the update and i have also been trying for up to 4 hours to fix this. I have read hundreds of forums with people who have had the error 9 when restoring who have brought there phones to the apple store. The guys at the apple store don't know how to fix this, they just give you a new phone. I just bought my iPhone 4 today and got an invisible shield installed which cost 35$. It would suck if i would have to buy another one.

Jul 25, 2010 12:16 AM in response to chairmanmeow

I did exactly as you did and it worked perfectly. Im running 4.0.1 and i am restoring all my apps/music right now. This really is a life saver. Thanks a lot man!!

PS: Anybody that thought "Man I dont know if i should do this. It could mess up my phone and break the warranty." Its really simple!!!

NestorP

Level 1

4 points

Jul 27, 2010 1:13 AM in response to ChowderCrab

Worked for me! Many thanks.

Aug 4, 2010 8:38 PM in response to ChowderCrab

RecBoot exit only worked for me. Perfectly. Follow the instructions from the original post.

Oaksas

Level 1

0 points

Aug 5, 2010 3:49 PM in response to ChowderCrab

Original post worked perfectly! Thank you so much.

cdalton5

Level 1

0 points

Aug 15, 2010 12:01 PM in response to ChowderCrab

This worked for my iphone 4 as well. This morning I downloaded 4.0.2 and tried to install over 4.0.1 and began getting the restore error 9. After trying the instructions with RecBoot the phone was back alive and out of the loop within 10 minutes...thx guys!

Aug 17, 2010 6:07 PM in response to ChowderCrab

Wow that worked thanks so much cause it was driving me crazy!!

dender

Level 1

0 points

Aug 20, 2010 5:30 AM in response to ChowderCrab

AWESOME, you're the man who can. Problem solved, worked exactly the way you described it in only 2 minutes.

i've been troubleshooting this for like 10 hours, tried all the fixes suggested on the apple help pages but nothing worked!

thanks alot!

Sep 7, 2010 2:01 PM in response to ChowderCrab

Wow, that's strange.

I got my i4 last friday and had the same problem Sunday evening, believe or not - Apple Stores in Poland couldn't do anything and proposed me exchange.... within 2-4 weeks... Arrghh

Cool to get that hint from you. Will try in few minutes 🙂

Thanks again and big "negative" to Apple - there is nothing about the problem on their iOS nice looking webpage.

Regards from Poland
Seb

whotony

Level 1

8 points

Nov 7, 2010 5:39 PM in response to ChowderCrab

I had a 1004 error and used this method, worked. thanks.

Jan 6, 2011 10:07 AM in response to ChowderCrab

I tried this and it booted up in emergency mode.

ampyoup

Level 1

0 points

Jan 12, 2011 10:50 PM in response to ChowderCrab

That link is dead now.

Apr 11, 2011 6:58 AM in response to ampyoup

The original post is a solution to this problem. The link, while not "working" does take you to recboot's page and you can go to the most recent version.

In my case, the link is: http://sebby.net/2011/02/02/recboot-2-2/

It did not work the first time, but did on the third try. Who knows why, and it doesn't matter. Keep doing the steps outlined until it reboots correctly.

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Potential solution to iPhones bricked following 4.0.1 update