An unkown error occurred (-1)

This is a bad Error Code. I hope one of the experts here will come by and help you with a fix. The current thinking is a Hardware Failure, which requires replacement by Apple under Warranty or AppleCare Coverage. There are many who believe this is a Baseband update Error, I would try to Restore on another computer and hopefully the Restore will take hold and be fine. I think a DFU Mode Restore is worth trying. I know persons on the Web have gotten through this Error, using tools which are not allowed to be discussed on Apple supported forums.

Anyway here are the Steps for DFU Mode Restore, because we can discuss this here:

Open iTunes on computer. Connect iPhone to computer. Hold both Home and Power buttons for exactly 10 seconds, release Power button, keep holding Home button. When iTunes recognizes iPhone in Recovery Mode, if iPhone screen is blank, black this is DFU Mode. Usually takes up to 20 more seconds of holding Home button. Restore the iPhone firmware. DFU Mode can be a bit tricky even for experienced users, so keep trying to get DFU Mode. Again it is Recovery Mode with the blank, black screen. If you have the iTunes screen this is not DFU Mode, keep trying.

I'll help you out bdubs. I am a Mac user and don't know any Terminal command equivalents for Windows

Copy and Paste the logs if you like, I'll look at them.

Step 1:

~1 is indeed a baseband error. Have you tried the following: uninstall/reinstall iTunes/update iTunes, update computer's OS, check firewall, antivirus/uninstall either?

I was stuck in error 3194 for a while, which can make the non-techie feel the need to contact Apple.

Step 2:

I recommend you download an iOS 5.0.1.ipsw (or whichever iOS you are on) from somewhere on the internet. After that's downloaded, put your phone into DFU mode and force an install. You can do this by selecting Restore BUT WHILE clicking Restore HOLD the Shift Key (for Mac), to manually select a .ipsw from your computer. If you have iOS 5 or above you must use the latest version (which is iOS 5.0.1 build 94A05 for iPhone 4 GSM). This should work.

Step 3:

If it doesn't, we will try to edit our hosts plist file in order to sidetrack Apple's signature verification (in iOS 5 builds, you MUST STILL use the latest .ipsw) In Terminal, type: dscacheutil -flushcache. This will clear up your Mac's internal cache. Now, type the following into another line: (without quotes) "defaults write.com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE" (If TRUE does not work, try replacing that with YES, TRUE works for me). You now have access to your hidden files and folders. Navigate to Finder/Hard Disk/Private/etc. Before clicking etc, change the permissions to All users Read and Write. Now click /etc and find the hosts plist file. ONLY use host, not hostconfig or anything similar. TextEdit should now popup with either many addresses (depending on what programs you have) or not a lot. At the bottom, ONLY the bottom of the document, add the following:

74.208.105.171 gs.apple.com

If you are unable to save the document, it's because the read/write permissions haven't changed. Do so before saving. Now that is taken care of, revert to step 2 to force install your .ipsw.

Sorry for the long post, but I hope this helps somewhat. Please post your error logs, so I can look. I'll get back to you when I have the chance.

Happy Holidays.