iPad 2 - Trouble Restoring - looking for advice please

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iPad 2 - Trouble Restoring - looking for advice please

Scenario:

My wife was updating her boss' iPad 2 32Gb 3G (Rogers (GSM)) with WiFi (Model A1430) to iOS6. Something happened and the iPad will no longer boot at all.

Ok, no problem, I'll do the restore.

So I install iTunes (latest version) on my laptop, connect the iPad, and choose Restore. Windows explorer prompts me to locate an ipsw file. Hmmm... ok, so I research online and find links to the apple download site for ipsw files. I choose the iOS6 download for iPad 2 GSM. After downloading, I select it and I get the error that "could not be restored because the firmware file is not compatible".

Hmmm again. So I pick the other iOS 6 files.. the CDMA file, the "New" file, and still no luck. So then I try the 5.1.1 file for iPad 2 GSM.. and still no luck.

I'm stumped...

Any suggestions please??

Posted on Oct 3, 2012 10:30 AM

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Answer 1

Apfelwurm

Level 4

1,717 points

Oct 3, 2012 11:07 AM in response to bwlandu

I would like to know more about the vague "Something happened" part...

The following is the normal iPad restore procedure. However, read through the whole article and check whether any errors apply to your particular issues:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1414

If it still doesn't work, try restoring your iPad via Recovery Mode:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1808

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Answer 2

bwlandu Author

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Oct 3, 2012 11:27 AM in response to Apfelwurm

Apologies for the vagueness.. I wasn't personally doing the update. She initiated the update, went back to doing her day job, and came back to the iPad not powering up. When I got a hold of it I noticed the battery completely drained so perhaps it died during the install due to not being plugged in.. sorry, not sure.

As for the links provided, I did review those articles and was unable to initiate a successful restore. Any ispw I've downloaded and selected as my restore file has failed with the comment of it being incompatible firmware file. I'm 100% certain I have an iPad 2 GSM 32Gb, and that file continually says it's the wrong file.. using either the iOS6 version or the 5.1.1 version.

The only other thing I can try is doing the update on my home PC which would rule out any complication that my laptop is causing the problem.

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Answer 3

Apfelwurm

Level 4

1,717 points

Oct 3, 2012 11:52 AM in response to bwlandu

Well, in this case it is rather difficult to guess what state your iPad is in right now.

Make sure the battery sufficiently recharged and then try to restore your iPad via Recovery Mode:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1808

Just in case you get any errors during your work, here is the errors list:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1275

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Answer 4

bwlandu Author

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Oct 3, 2012 12:21 PM in response to Apfelwurm

Thanks. I have not fully charged yet.. I've attempted with partial battery life so will try that. My main concern is that the error I'm getting about incorrect firmware does not make any sense when I'm certain it is the right firmware. To me, the error messaging does NOT point to battery life, the laptop i'm using and security patches on it, the version of iTunes I have, etc... it's basically saying the device and the firmware do not match, which is puzzling.

Thanks again

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Answer 5

Apfelwurm

Level 4

1,717 points

Oct 3, 2012 12:30 PM in response to bwlandu

What exactly are you attempting?

Restoring your iPad using Recovery mode?

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Answer 6

bwlandu Author

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Oct 3, 2012 1:26 PM in response to Apfelwurm

Yes. The iPad2 will not start up at all. Only I option I can think of is restoring it to factory defaults via Recovery Mode via iTunes. That's not working.

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Answer 7

Apfelwurm

Level 4

1,717 points

Oct 3, 2012 1:40 PM in response to bwlandu

When you put your iPad into recovery mode and then tried to restore, what exactly happened?

Please be more specific.

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Answer 8

bwlandu Author

Level 1

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Oct 3, 2012 4:19 PM in response to Apfelwurm

This is resolved now. Plugging the iPad into my home computer which I had used to dock my own iPad allowed the update on my boss' iPad2 to restore.

No idea why I could not restore from my laptop running iTunes. The only difference is that i had never docked an iPad to my laptop before.

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Answer 9

Apfelwurm

Level 4

1,717 points

Oct 4, 2012 3:17 AM in response to bwlandu

If you have never synced your iPad on your laptop, there will obviously be no backup of your iPad on your laptop, but you should still be able to restore the iOS.

It is always a good idea to have a backup of your iPad on your computer, because if you lose your iPad or if it gets stolen, you still have your iPad data at home on your computer.

If restoring didn't work, you could uninstall your current iTunes from your laptop, and then download and install the latest iTunes version, and then try to restore again:

http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

Make sure that the latest Apple Mobile Device USB Driver is installed on your laptop.

Also check whether any security software (firewalls, anti-virus, etc...) does not block things.

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