I tried to to the ios update to my 4S phone. itunes says there was an unexpected error. now my phone is hung on a screen which show a usb cable and an arrow pointing to the itunes icon. i cannot reset the phone, everytime it appears to reboot it comes bac

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I tried to to the ios update to my 4S phone. itunes says there was an unexpected error. now my phone is hung on a screen which show a usb cable and an arrow pointing to the itunes icon. i cannot reset the phone, everytime it appears to reboot it comes bac

I tried to update my 4s to the latest ios6. itunes came back and said there was an unexpected error. the screen on the phone is hung showing a usb cable and an arrow pointing to the itunes icon. itunes does not see the phone as being plugged into my computer. I restarted itunes, no difference. I can't seem to reset the phone. It comes up with the apple icon and then goes back to the usb plug screen. I'm totally hosed right now!!!

iPhone 4S, iOS 6.1.1, OS update failed

Posted on Feb 14, 2013 11:22 AM

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Answer 1

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Malignance

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Feb 14, 2013 12:24 PM in response to rjmcl

iOS: Unable to update or restore

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Answer 2

rjmcl Author

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Feb 14, 2013 12:37 PM in response to Malignance

I attempted this procedure and it did not work. 1)after holding the home and and sleep button until I got a blank screen, as soon as I release them the apple icon comes up and the goes directly to the USB/itune screen; 2)I went ahead and held the home button and plugged the cable in but the screen says the same and itunes does not recognize that the phone is plugged in.

FYI, while writing this I decided to try and remove the USB hub from the equation. The phone appears to be restoring. I've been using the hub for years.....

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Malignance

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Feb 14, 2013 12:40 PM in response to rjmcl

rjmcl wrote:

FYI, while writing this I decided to try and remove the USB hub from the equation. The phone appears to be restoring. I've been using the hub for years.....

I'm happy you found the problem...

Best regards

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Answer 4

rjmcl Author

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Feb 14, 2013 12:51 PM in response to rjmcl

Itunes started the recovery. I came back to and error message that said "unknown error (1604)" So I'm still screwed!

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Answer 5

rjmcl Author

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Feb 14, 2013 12:58 PM in response to rjmcl

itunes does not see the phone, again. it is still plugged directly into the macbook. What's next??????

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Answer 6

Malignance

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Feb 14, 2013 1:06 PM in response to rjmcl

Error 1604:

This error is often related to USB timing. Try changing USB ports, using a different dock connector to USB cable, and other available USB troubleshooting steps (troubleshooting USB connections. If you are using a dock, bypass it and connect directly to the white Apple USB dock connector cable. If the issue persists on a known-good computer, the device may need service.

If the issue is not resolved by USB isolation troubleshooting, and another computer is not available, try these steps to resolve the issue:

Connect the device to iTunes, confirm that the device is in Recovery Mode. If it's not in Recovery Mode, put it into Recovery Mode.
Restore and wait for the error.
When prompted, click OK.
Close and reopen iTunes while the device remains connected.
The device should now be recognized in Recovery Mode again.
Try to restore again.

If the steps above do not resolve the issue, try restoring using a known-good USB cable, computer, and network connection.

From Apple Support page >

iTunes: Specific update-and-restore error messages and advanced troubleshooting

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Answer 7

rjmcl Author

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Feb 14, 2013 1:16 PM in response to Malignance

I tried both USB ports on the macbook and 3 different Apple USB cables. Restarted iTunes twice but it still does not recognize the phone is attached. The phone is in recovery mode.

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Answer 8

Malignance

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Feb 14, 2013 1:24 PM in response to rjmcl

If you cannot restore from Recovery Mode the last resort option is DFU Mode (Google it)

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Answer 9

rjmcl Author

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Feb 14, 2013 1:35 PM in response to Malignance

I restarted the macbook with the phone plugged in. when itunes came back up in recognized the phone and is attempting a recovery. If I get the 1604 error I should simply restart itunes with the phone still attached. Correct?

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Answer 10

Feb 14, 2013 1:38 PM in response to rjmcl

I recently had this problem. It's called Recovery Loop and is usually caused by a battery fault. If you can not restore it, get a new battery in it (from Apple, not anywhere else or warranty will be void and battery may be a knock off) and it should work. Did the trick with my 3GS. Hope this helps

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Answer 11

rjmcl Author

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Feb 14, 2013 1:49 PM in response to ItsJoeWhite

Well, everything seems to going OK now. The phone cleanly rebooted and is restoring from my last backup. Restarting the macbook seems to have made the big difference. I thought I was done with the hardware rebooting process when I got rid of Windows...........

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