iPhone 3GS wont turn on or charge ......

+1
I updated to the latest 4.whatever, and the next day my phone spontaneously powered down in a similar manner to the above user. I noticed that the phone was getting excessively hot when I attempted to charge it when it was powered down. I could not turn it back on.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. It seems like a possible battery problem, but the fact that the failure corresponds to a update is too much of a coincidence to ignore. Grr
Thanks!
-Steve

Try holding down the on/off button and the home button at the same time until you see the syc connect on the screen (recovery mode). This can take holding both buttons down for twenty on thirty sec.

Try resetting your iPhone by pressing the home and sleep buttons until you see the Apple logo, ignoring the slider. Takes about 5-15 secs of button holding and you won't lose any data or settings. You might need to hold the buttons a bit longer, i.e. as long as a minute.

That's not recovery mode, that's just a reset but you don't see a sync connect, you see the Apple logo.

This is recovery mode... http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1808

The OP said he tried that...

Yeah, I saw that but he may not have held it long enough. Plus, sometimes (although rarely) it takes more than one try.

Yes, is should work even if your phone is off, looking at your previous post, I am thinking you may have a hardware problem or battery issue. Take it to your nearest Apple store.

Check to make sure your power supply is working, plug it into another outlet or plug it (iPhone) into your computer USB port to see if it will charge. If those things don't work you should take it to your nearest Apple store for an estimate on a repair.

Hi,

I've just had the same thing with my iPhone 3GS, on 4.3.1. It crashed out, and the back-light seemed to stop working. All my contacts / emails / photos were still on the phone, but the brightness was gone, and the date had reset to Thursday Jan 1st 1974. When I plugged it in, the brightness returned and I could change brightness via settings. Unplugged: no brightness. After about half an hour, it crashed again and now refuses to turn on / recognise when it is plugged in.

I've tried two different cables, connected to my computer and to a wall socket. Is my only remaining option taking it to the Apple store?

Thanks

Sounds like a failed battery. But plug it in to the wall charger for 4 hours, then reboot it (hold HOME and SLEEP until the Apple logo appears. If the problem does not go away you probably need a new battery.