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"Could not activate iPhone" (3GS after iOS 5.0.1 update)

Firstly can I start of by saying I am extremely annoyed. Okay so I am having trouble activating my iPhone after the iOS 5 upgrade! (5.0.1)

Sorry if this isn't the right place to post this, but I couldn't find an email address for support, and I am really quite fed up with the whole situation!

I got a pre-owned iPhone 3GS for Christmas from ebay. And as we got home yesterday I thought it would be a good idea to upgrade to the new iOS 5 firmware... How wrong I was.

5 hours its been since I upgraded my iPhone, 5 hours of looking for solutions as to why my iPhone wouldn't connect to my carrier.

"Slide to set up"

"English" Next

"United Kingdom" Next

"Enable Location Services" Next

"Choose a Network..." select my wifi, Next

"Activating your iPhone"..."It may take up to three minutes to activate your iPhone"

....

Nothing... it then tells me to try activating through iTunes, iTunes then tells me I have no sim in my iPhone.. Hmm, but I do!!

Please will you tell me how to fix this!

I have been reading forums and watching videos all day but nothing seems to work. The only successful people with this problem are the people who went to the apple store and got given a refurbished iPhone and an apology.

I can't even restore it through iTunes because it just tells me to insert a sim. It is well and truely bricked.

I am going away tomorrow and have more or less accepted that I will not be taking my iPhone away with me which is very disappointing!

If there's anything you can do to help i would be very grateful! Thanks, Sam


It is an iPhone 3GS, which had 4.1 installed before the update.

The phone is was originally set up to Orange but the seller on ebay said it had been unlocked.

iPhone 3GS, iOS 5.0.1

Posted on Dec 28, 2011 10:17 AM

Reply
25 replies

Dec 28, 2011 10:28 AM in response to samp127

I got a pre-owned iPhone 3GS for Christmas from ebay.... The phone is was originally set up to Orange but the seller on ebay said it had been unlocked.

iPhones sold on ebay as "unlocked" are typically hacked and unlocked by unauthorized methods. These hacked phones invariably will be re-locked to the original carrier whenever updated or restored, When you updated to 5.0.1, the phone likely was re-locked to Orange (though I wouldn't necessarily believe that Orange was the origninal carrier), and will work only with an Orange SIM card.


Unless this phone was OFFICIALLY UNLOCKED by Orange (or the actual original carrier which may not even be in the UK), it won't work after updating.

Dec 29, 2011 3:27 AM in response to samp127

I have an apointment with an apple genius on saturday at an apple store and i hope that they will get this problem fixed... If you find out which simcard the phone was origanlly locked to then if you get that simcard and restore the phone again. and put the simcard in, then itunes would probably detect the orig simcard and that is what im going to do so hope it works 🙂

Dec 30, 2011 9:40 AM in response to samp127

samp127 wrote:


But I am seeing a whole bunch of people having this problem, surely there is a fix by now?

So are you trying to say my iPhone is buggered just because I did the silly little update apple were asking me to do?

THe most common reason for this situation is that your phone was hacked to unlock and now is relocked because you updated it. There never will be a "fix" from Apple relating to "unauthorized modifications", i.e. hacking the carrier lock.


The "fix" is not to buy a hacked phone in the first place. Ebay is notorious for marketing hacked and stolen iPhones.

I've only had it a few days.

What's that got to do with anything?

Jan 2, 2012 9:53 AM in response to samp127

samp127 wrote:


Stop trying to be a smart ***, people who haven't jailbroken are having this problem too, its an error with the firmware.

No one said "jailbroken", which has nothing to do with this. This has nothing to do with an "errorr in the firmware" either. Stop bsing when you're totally clueless. Congratulations on awarding yourself "correct answer" with such a lame post.

Jan 2, 2012 4:31 PM in response to modular747

If the firmware didn't have any errors/bugs then why on earth is my phone bricked? It hasn't happened with the 4/4S who has had they're phones unlocked. And actually I'm not clueless, I've been reading about this a lot over the last couple of weeks and unfortunatly I've resorted to hopeless people like you who have nothing helpful to say.

Jan 2, 2012 4:57 PM in response to samp127

This really *****... An update was initiated by Apple, then you agree with it, do it and now you stuck. "There is no SIM card...". People could not call me to say Happy New Year. Thank you apple. What do we do now? I mean, cut to the point: go to the provider and try to replace/fix? Or, get some Android? It is pretty expensive to do when you are in the middle of contract...

Jan 2, 2012 9:26 PM in response to samp127

If the firmware didn't have any errors/bugs then why on earth is my phone bricked? It hasn't happened with the 4/4S who has had they're phones unlocked. I've been reading about this a lot over the last couple of weeks and unfortunatly I've resorted to hopeless people like you who have nothing helpful to say.

First, your phone isn't "bricked." It's no longer unlocked and will work perfectly well with a SIM card from the carrier it was originally locked to. This is because your phone was unlocked by an unauthorized method. Apple designed their updates to re-lock hacked phones - THIS IS INTENTIONAL on Apple's part and has been going on for over 4 years, with every update they ever issued.


OTOH, phones that were OFFICIALLY unlocked NEVER get re-locked when updated. In fact, that's a useful test to determine whether the phone is officially or factory unlocked. Official unlocking is a completely different process that ones used by hackers, who don't have the necessary unlocking codes. If you had actually read up on this you would know this already as there are hundreds, possibly thousands of threads over the last several years discussing this.


It's unfortunate that you are someone who only accepts answers you want to hear, rather than the truth. Maybe when you finish puberty you'll get on the ball.

"Could not activate iPhone" (3GS after iOS 5.0.1 update)

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