How I solved my iPhone 3G/ IOS 4 issues

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Level 1

8 points

How I solved my iPhone 3G/ IOS 4 issues

The main problem with my own iPhone 3G after the upgrade to IOS 4 was constant black screen freezing (at least five times per day if not more) and a little bit of a lag when running apps. These are the things I tried:

Providing enough space on the hard drive (3GB spare) - Didn’t work.
Turned off wifi - Didn’t work.
Turned off location services - Didn’t work.
Turned off Bluetooth - Didn’t work.
Turned off all Push Data - Didn’t work.
Full restore - Didn’t work.
Full restore on brand new account followed by another restore on my account - Didn’t work.
Using a ‘memory free-up’ App - Had a marginal effect on the lag but didn’t stop the freezing up.
Turned off all spotlight options - Didn’t work.

I contacted Apple twice throughout this process. The first one told me to download the firmware for 3.1.3 from a third party website and restore using this. I tried it but got caught in the loop on recovery mode insisting that I upgrade to 4.0.1 before I can exit recovery.

I contacted Apple again to ask them how to get out of recovery after downgrading to 3.1.3 and they basically told me that I should never have been told to do this and the only way out of recovery is to upgrade to 4.0.1. I think my previous advisor got into a bit of trouble for that one.

I told them their upgrade had basically broken my phone and that it was becoming as good as useless, bearing in mind I’d had no problems with it when running 3.1.3. They refused to accept that IOS 4 was the problem as it had been ‘thoroughly tested’. They told me to try restoring it on a new account, then going back to my own. Something about corrupt files. Still didn't work.

Anyway, I was reluctant to use a third party program to ‘force exit’ my phone from recovery but in the end Apple gave me no choice and the freezing up was becoming intolerable.

I bit the bullet at five days ago, downgraded to 3.1.3, used a program to help me exit recovery and that was that. My phone is now back on 3.1.3 and working fine again.

How many freeze ups since the downgrade? Zero, and no lagging either.
How many freeze ups when running on 4.0? At least five a day, every day.

I feel like I've got my phone back, and I won't be upgrading it again.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Aug 12, 2010 2:03 AM

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Answer 1

The Prole Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 16, 2010 1:58 AM in response to The Prole

It's now well over a week since my downgrade to 3.1.3 and I'm happy to report I still haven't had a single issue with the phone since I did it. Everything works, no lagging and not a single freeze-up.

My advice to anyone having trouble is downgrade to 3.1.3. Despite what Apple say iPhone 3G is just not built for IOS4. There are guides on how to do it all over the net if you 'Google' it.

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Answer 2

Smithdog

Level 1

0 points

Aug 16, 2010 2:11 AM in response to The Prole

Hi Prole,

I am having similar though not so catastrophic issues since 'upgrading' to 4.0. I have seen several fixes on the web, do you have 5 minutes to detail which one has worked for you as obviously that would give me more confidence than random posts on websites.

Thanks

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Answer 3

The Prole Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 16, 2010 3:19 AM in response to Smithdog

Redmondpie have all the details you need. The firmware, the procedure and the 'recovery mode exit program' you need.

I'm not providing a link and I'm not going into too much detail cos I'm trying to avoid getting the thread deleted so I'll also point out that none of this is endorsed by Apple (though that is exactly where their technical person told me to download the firmware from, but shhhh!).

Good luck.

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Answer 4

Aug 20, 2010 10:43 PM in response to The Prole

I keep telling people to downgrade back to 3.1.3 for the issues on 3G and the 3GS. I have a 3GS and the screen, keyboard, software, etc. was lagging. I downgraded back to 3.1.3 and haven't had a single problem. Careful though when you mention downgrading, forum members like Tom Alperin might think you're a hacker or spammer for providing a solution that actually works. But I agree with you. 3.1.3 > 4.0.*.

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Answer 5

ic0nic

Level 1

8 points

Aug 25, 2010 7:26 PM in response to The Prole

After much sifting through these insane threads - I too was able to successfully revert back to 3.1.3 (from IOS 4.0.2) and thank gawd! I was ready to throw my phone out the window! Now it is noticeably snappier, no hangs and all my apps work flawlessly. Honestly, there was NOTHING in IOS4 that i absolutely needed. Lesson learned.

Let's cut the crap.

What every post in these forums is missing -is one (very) key part to the downgrade. For Windows users, you "have to change the Windows hosts file" to prevent iTunes from calling home. Don't know how? Google it.
(Add this line: 127•0•0•1 gs•apple•com) -remove it when you're restored (and replace • with .)

If you work through this missed step - every other instruction works "flawlessly". Get your files in order (you only need 1 and a tool). Took me 20minutes for the entire IOS downgrade, another 30mins to "restore" (sych) my data (apps, music, etc).

NOTE: You can not (can not!) restore your IOS 4x data ("data"), to your IOS 3.1.3 OS. Ensure you have a pre-IOS4 backup -we're talking data here (contacts, apps, etc).

If you can get through this - the process of laying down a fresh 3.1.3 image will be a snap. Lastly, don't forget to get the RecBoot tool that takes you out of DFU mode.

I am very happy with my iPhone 3G once again.

Good luck.

Message was edited by: ic0nic

Message was edited by: ic0nic

Message was edited by: ic0nic

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Answer 6

jacci66

Level 1

0 points

Aug 26, 2010 2:20 AM in response to The Prole

Okay so I would appreciate some help. I am not a technical wizz. So I need some assistance. I recently updated my iPhone 3G to the 4.0.2 software and now I can't send picture via sms. And my phone is running extremely slow. If anyone can tell me step by step exactly how to get rid of this software, please email me. My email address is jacksick911@yahoo.com. Please, I need help ASAP. Thank you.
-Jackie-

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Answer 7

MonWheel

Level 1

0 points

Aug 26, 2010 6:58 AM in response to The Prole

To unfortunately confirm what others have said, Apple's response to the 3G-IOS 4 problem is "wait and see." My 3G, which never had problems before, went berserk after the IOS 4 download, slow/crashing apps, etc. I took it to Apple this week and they said to do a full restore. All this did was cause me to lose all of my text history, notes, etc. and the phone still had the same issues. I took it back to Apple 2 days later and the official (generic) answer was basically "Ummm... the 3G can't really handle IOS-4 so wait until the new upgrade comes out and HOPEFULLY that will fix the issues, until then, too bad for you." I only half-jokingly asked if this whole situation is a carefully crafted ploy to get people to give up and buy newer iPhones...

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