iphone 3gs activation required constantly

im having the same problems as well. the phone cant stay connected long enough for itunes to connect to it. it sees it but when i click onthe device itunes locks up and only works again once its timed out so to speak

Yup, same problem here. Yawn & Grrrr.

iphone 4, ios 5.0.1: same problems.

Same problem here with my new 3GS. I had to replace my old 3GS because the phone was constantly turning off (with full batery). I got this new one from the Apple store. The activation process went well but the first time I had to recharge the phone, I see this "Activation Required" notification. Every time I try to connect the phone to iTunes, iTunes becomes irresponsive and the phone turns off and turns on over and over requesting activation. This is driving me crazy as I am overseas and cannot go to any Apple store here 😟

I am also having the same problem. Started when I upgraded from 5.0 to 5.0.1.

I have spent the last week trying everything to get it to work.

Is this a common problem and does anyone know if apple are working on it.

Frustrating!!

Same problem. My phone is now a paperweight with not help from Apple since I don't have an Apple Store anywhere near.

Instructions to get the phone back working temporary.. till there is a real fix.

1. turn off the phone

2. fire up iTunes

3. press and hold the home button, plug in the cable, hold till you get to see the recovery mode

4. iTunes will the allow to choose restore the phone back to 5.0.1 ( no other choice)

5. iTunes will then ask you to choose which previous backup to would like to recover.

(note: please do not reboot your phone unless necessary, i realize at times after reboot, it goes back to sq1)

I can not do this, my iphone keeps rebooting so it just won't do jack.😟

My iphone is jailbroken if that matters

try to restart the phone,

hold ( home + pwr button ) for more than 10 sec.

see if this helps.

Remove the jailbreak software then see if it still does it. If it does, call 1-800-myiphone. If it doesn't, it was the software.

Same here. 2.5 year old 3GS that has always worked like a charm. Now I get the activation message, first 5 or so restore attempts fail, then it restores, then a few days over and I start again. Kind of frustrating because I'm holding out for iPhone 5.

This just happened to me for the first time tonight. My 3gs will now only turn on if it is plugged into the wall charger. When it finally turns on, it gives me the "Requires Activation" message then a screen comes up that says plug phone into itunes. Plugged into my Mac Computer, and doesnt even recognize it. Also immediately after taking phone off wall charger, it shuts off. Not sure what to do.. i also was holding out for the iPhone 5 however now it seems i may have to upgrade tomorrow ;(

I had the same issue....it would occassionally restore from iTunes, but usually not. I typically got an error code 1 message. The Genius at GCT said that's not good. He tried to do a deeper restore but concluded that serious problem with the internal movement of data probably as a result of a physical issue (ie, i dropped the phone). In any event, it is dead. His first step was to take out the SIM to see if it had any physical damange, so maybe you should start there. Good luck

Thanks Kelly!! ahh yes, i have dropped it many times and actually dropped it yesterday before this happened. After I woke up this morning I tried to turn it on just for kicks without it being plugged into the wall charger. It turned on and I was able to access the home screen like normal. I have a feeling this may happen again, as Im sure its almost time for a new one. Hope it lasts until the iphone 5 comes out. Fingers crossed.

P.S. lmao @ "that's not good" lovely.

what happens if you dont have a sim card in the slot or a sim card adapter. My iphone is doing this and i cant talk to anyone and i cant do anything. it making me mad to where i dont want anything to do with apple anymore...

P.S. would it help me to get a sim card and a sim card adapter ???