iPhone 3Gs: Error (-1) after attemped update to iOS 5

i am also facing same problem. how to fix this .

I'm experiencing the same issue on my iPhone 4. I've got my own discussion thread started with no replies so far, but if I hear of a solution, I'll post it here, too.

Did you create a backup before you attempted to do the iOS 5 update? What was your iOS before your update? Carrier?

I had a backup from iTunes, just the standard backup that iTunes automatically makes. I was on 4.3.3 before upping to 5.0 and I'm just running on AT&T. Not sure of the carrier version in settings since I can't boot up now. I wasn't doing anything unauthorized at all, actually. Standard upgrade procedure.

I've got a similar issue. Daughter tried to update her iPhone 4 yesterday morning to iOS5 at the urging of iTunes 10.5, which of course failed. Tried using a different computer, still no joy, it won't install.

The phone is now stuck in recovery mode, but won't restore. I've tried restoring in DFU mode and that won't work either. The process fails after trying to validate the firmware, and gives me a unknown error (1) message.

Wonderful. Seems to be a $200 brick now. I didn't think software could frag a new iPhone...

Either your phone is jailbroken or you're restoring from a backup that was jailbroken. Stop it. Set up as a new device and stop jailbreaking.

Just had a (-1) error message on my 3GS after a failed attempt to update it with iOS 5. Neither the phone or iTunes is jailbroken and only carry approved apps! I tired everything but to no avail and ended up having to call Apple customer support who said there was nothing they or I could do, the phone was bricked. They have arranged for me to pick up a new replacement phone from my local Apple Store.

They claim that this is a very rare instance; I'd love to know if that is indeed the case or are there more of you out there that are suffering the same problem?

I gotta say with Apples reputation I had expected better!

I have likewise received the error message -1. Apple phone support was not able to help, recommended going into a store.

Hi I brought an iPhone 3GS off eBay which was having problems, it was jail broken and kept resetting. I wanted to restore it to normal so put it into recovery mode and proceeded to restore. Everything goes great until the very end when it comes up with error code -1 and nothing else happens.

It had no carrier no baseband and no network carrier when I brought it.

Any ideas how to get it working again as I have no backup from it as I couldn't get it to stay on long enough to back it up.

Regards jase

I am also having this issue with my 3Gs, which is NOT and never was jailbroken. I keep getting the Error (-1) when I try to restore it. BUt my phone remains a veggie on the Apple Screen and will nether turn on nor off. It syncs, but refuses to restore.

HELP, I really need to fix this :[

I've had the same exact thing happen to my iphone 3gs. Not Jailbroken, on AT&T service, not sure what baseband is or any of those other things I keep reading about in threads, so not able to provide those details. I can tell you this happened in November 2011, and i ended up having to purchase a brand new phone since i was out of warranty. Sadly, that phone has gone missing, and now i'm here trying to find a solution for this one.

Reivgaar, I will try and attempt your solution to see if that is the problem for me, but wanted to ask if you were on a mac or pc? I have a mac, but share wifi with all other users at home, and internet router is connected via a pc desktop. From what I understand macs dont have firewall. So just wondering what your set up was and if it makes a difference?

I got the same issue, and solved by change to another computer. Not sure for the difference between these two computers, it just work.

My 3gs was not jailbroken,and the error -1 happened when I upgrade to 5.1.1

Don't assume this error is because of jailbreaking your phones. It can be a corrupt backup file or something corrupt within the backup that is causing the error. For instance the restore process may start and this error can pop up right away or half way through the restore or even near the end. Once it does though, your restore is incomplete.

My recommendation is if you've tried everything that the OP stated, then there is still one thing you can try. Find the location of where the iOS firmware is on your computer and delete the file. Google it if you're not sure where it's located since the location is different depending on the operating system you use. When connected to iTunes try a restore and it will download the firmware again. This is one last thing that hasn't been tried in the list of the things above.