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Level 1

0 points

iPad 1, error 37 during iOS 5 upgrade, occurs at firmware restore

I was upgrading an iPad 1 to iOS 5 but when it got to the stage of "Firmware Restore" it cancels and the following error pop's up:

"The iPad "iPad" could not be restored. An uknown error occurred (37)."

I have since tried three different computers. I have tried different cables, different USB ports, I have disabled/uninstalled all firewalls and virus protection programs. When I hit ok on the error message the following message pops up immediately after:

"iTunes has detected an iPad in recovery mode. You must restore this iPad before it can be used with iTunes"

I have tried choosing older IPSW files to restore from but get the 3194 error...

Any help would be appreciated, I'm at a bit of a loss...

iPad, iOS 5, I also have an iPad 2 running iOS 5

Posted on Oct 19, 2011 9:53 AM

Best reply

nick101

Level 5

5,132 points

Posted on Oct 19, 2011 10:10 AM

You may already have done this, but...

1. Try restoring as a new iPad

2. Try downloading a fresh copy of the .ipsw file from one of the Apple links listed here:

http://osxdaily.com/2011/10/12/ios-5-download-available/

These are direct to the Apple servers, and the ones I use for each upgrade.

Then, when you've downloaded them, Option-click (Mac) or Shift-click (Windows) the Restore button to open a file dialog so you can choose the downloaded file.

Hope that helps

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24 replies

Oct 29, 2011 3:18 AM in response to simonfromPT

Problem resolved! Seems like the ebooks were the problem.

Unchecked the Books syn with the iPad which deleted all the books off the iPad2. The upgrade to iOS5 went off smoothly post this. Re-synced the books and everything is back to normal.

Thanks nick for your help.

Am trying out the same thing on my 2nd iPad2 now. Fingers crossed :-)

nick101

Level 5

5,132 points

Oct 29, 2011 6:50 AM in response to SamuraiJack

Good on you

Another one to add to the list of "I-don't-see-how-this-makes-any-difference-but-try-it-anyway-you-never-know-it- might-just-do-the-trick" suggestions for next time round 🙂

Nov 2, 2011 1:18 PM in response to simonfromPT

Dear all,

I am having the exact same problem as Simon. I feel as if the only thing I can do is to try over and over again which so far didn't help and is very frustrating. Since my iPad has been useless for over three weeks know I would really really appreciate any suggestions.

Thank you very much and kind regards

Bastian

simonfromPT Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 2, 2011 1:26 PM in response to bastianfrompotsdam

**UPDATE**

Well it was as I suspected, there was no option but to head to the Apple store with the iPad in tow. A couple Genius's stared at it for a while and tried a few restores and asked me a variety of questions. In the end I left the defeated iPad behind and walked out with a new iPad (not the 2, but the same as my original) at no charge. If there is one thing Apple has been good about it is taking care of honest customers with honest issues. It's an unfortunate that things went the way they did but I hold no grudges as I feel they did right by me in providing me with a replacement at no cost.

I went home, did a restore from my latest backup and am happily perusing my new iPad in iOS 5 with nothing lost in the process (but my time!)...

My recommendation is to make an appointment, (they will ask for your serial number but as it is innaccessible I just gave them the ECID# which can be found under "Device Manager" if you are on a PC) and they will do the rest.

Good luck...

-Simon

dkestrel

Level 1

5 points

Dec 1, 2011 10:36 PM in response to simonfromPT

I got the error 37 message too! And was horrified to think all my stuff could not be restored.

The gist of it was, the eBooks, once I figured out I had to transfer them over myself, the ios 5 loaded fine and my iPad got restored.

My problem sequence of events:

Opened iTunes

Attached iPad to computer

Clicked on My iPad

Hit the sync button and sync happened and was confirmed

Saw the button to start ios5 download

Clicked on it

Informed i needed to update my iTunes

Updated my iTunes

Clicked on the update ios5 button again

Got a message saying some of my purchases were not backed up onto my computer

Hit the continue anyway button

Waited while the process attempted to backup my iPad

Got the 37 message saying if I continued i would lose everything on my iPad and would have to reload all my apps and lose all my documents and settings

FREAKED out

Hit cancel

Dug around on the forums etc and thought about whether or not to do some of the stupid stuff some people sais, like removing iTunes from your computer and redownloading it.

Redid Sync and tried to figure out what purchases were not being synched.

Found mention of the iTunes pathway: File > Transfer new purchases

Eureka!

So, my problem was, i had some free ebooks that did not get automatically synched.

I did not know about the File<Transfer purchases .... Command, because I don't use iTunes very often AND the error message doesn't give you any clues as to what to do about the problem. It doesn't tell you that some things don't get synched automatically. It doesn't give any hints about the File<Transfer new purchases, it doesn't tell you which items are holding up the process.

So, there you go. Try the iTunes File<Transfer purchases.

I am very happy to have tabs in safari now. Thank you.