deleting old songs off iPhone 3GS

Question

Level 4

2,481 points

deleting old songs off iPhone 3GS

Its a long story, basically, I bought an iPhone 3GS 16GB from a friend and he left it unlocked because I don't have at&t (at&t coverage isn't that good at my university) The reason I got the phone was that I use skype for most of my calls now, thus wifi = $3 month phone. Cheaper than a $40 Verizon plan.

Small problem, he didn't erase his music/unlink his iPhone to his iTunes account, which means all of his music was still on the phone. I've tried to erase the music by linking the phone to my account and loading a few songs on it. For some strange reason, it erased all of the music except for two very explicit rap beats.

Stuff I've tried- I used iPhone explorer to delete everything in the music folder, but it erased all the songs I loaded, not those explicit beats.

I've tried transfer purchases to iTunes, it didn't do a thing.

In iTunes, expanding the iPhone and selecting the music section and then trying to uncheck/delete the actual song does nothing...

I will say again, I don't have an at&t contract so I can't erase the phone and just unlock it with iTunes afterwards. Unless there's another way to unlock an iPhone, I'm all ears.

What to try next?

MBP i5, Mac OS X (10.6.6)

Posted on Jan 28, 2011 8:27 PM

Reply

Answer 1

roaminggnome

Level 10

106,365 points

Jan 28, 2011 8:32 PM in response to chattphotos

Just sync it to your computer/library.

This should erase the current content and replace with content from the new computer.

If your iphone is hacked/jailbroken/unofficially unlocked, then we cannot discuss it here and it could cause any number of problems.

Reply

Answer 2

chattphotos Author

Level 4

2,481 points

Feb 1, 2011 1:27 PM in response to roaminggnome

no jailbreaks/hacks/unlock, its just iOS 4.2.1 (I forgot to mention that earlier)

I've tried syncing, it doesn't erase the songs that are left from the first wipe, it just adds my music to the two songs already there.

Because I don't have at&t, is there any other way I can do a full erase of the phone/unlock it afterwards?

Reply

Answer 3

Sboq

Level 2

430 points

Feb 4, 2011 2:05 PM in response to chattphotos

well, if you do a restore, i don't think the phone has to have an AT&T account to unlock, but i think you do have to have a sim card in the phone for it to turn on.

Reply

Answer 4

wjosten

Level 10

95,321 points

Feb 4, 2011 2:22 PM in response to chattphotos

What you should have done when you got the phone is Settings>General>Reset>Erase All Content & Settings. This would have completely wiped the phone and left nothing but the OS. You could have then connected it to iTunes, named it what you want & synced your content to the phone. However, from your post, it is quite obvious this is a "hacked" phone, as there are no officially unlocked iPhones available in the US. I can't say for certain what will happen if you do the erase all content & settings. There is a possibility the phone will require a restore, which of course will re-lock the phone to AT&T. I'm afraid there is no good solution for your situation. One of the downfalls of a hacked phone.

Reply

Answer 5

KiltedTim

Level 10

195,441 points

Feb 4, 2011 2:29 PM in response to chattphotos

You said in your first post that the person you got the phone from left it unlocked... Do you mean it's possible to use it with a carrier other than AT&T, or do you mean there is an inactive AT&T SIM card in it? (or no SIM at all).

I'm confused because then you said "no jailbreaks/hacks/unlock".

If it's a U.S. Phone and it's possible to use it with a carrier other than AT&T, then it's been hacked. There are no unlocked U.S. iPhones and AT&T will not unlock them under any circumstances.

Reply

Answer 6

chattphotos Author

Level 4

2,481 points

Feb 21, 2011 11:46 AM in response to KiltedTim

I was able to erase the old songs by wiping my phone and borrowing my buddy's at&t SIM as you all suggested (it worked). It is very annoying that Apple forces me to use iTunes to manage music when I can delete videos and movies straight from the phone...

@KiltedTim

What I mean by unlocked- The phone does not require me to connect it to iTunes to activate it. Maybe it was Activate you were looking for? Anyways, I can power it on, and slide top unlock and start using my apps/pandora/surf the web.

I have not carrier unlocked or jailbroken this phone.

Reply