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Adamlo
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: 3GS unlock/restore problem

I have a 3GS AT&T unlocked for me yesterday. Today when I do the restore in itunes on my imac, I get a message that The itunes store is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later. I waited 24 hours and am still getting this message. I have tried doing the restore about 20 times now. I put the phone in restore mode and it did not change my results. I am the original owner of this phone and I have never jailbroken this phone or done anything not apple approved with it. I also tried doing the restore from my Windows machine and I get the same message. Does anyone have any ideas how to fix this? I just want to complete the unlock process.

Posted on Apr 13, 2013 7:08 AM

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Adamlo

Q: 3GS unlock/restore problem

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Adamlo,

    Adamlo Adamlo Apr 13, 2013 7:09 AM in response to Adamlo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 13, 2013 7:09 AM in response to Adamlo

    I forgot to mention the phone has its original AT&T SIM card in it, that is no longer active.

  • by Ingo2711,

    Ingo2711 Ingo2711 Apr 13, 2013 7:21 AM in response to Adamlo
    Level 7 (25,977 points)
    iPhone
    Apr 13, 2013 7:21 AM in response to Adamlo

    As far as I remember, you'll have to insert an active SIM to get it recognized by the provider's database.

     

     

    Follow these instructions to unlock your iPhone:

    1. Check if your carrier offers unlocking. Only your carrier can unlock your iPhone.
    2. Contact your carrier and request an unlock.
      • You may need to meet certain requirements to qualify for unlocking. This may take up to seven days.
    3. Once you receive confirmation that your iPhone unlock has been processed, back up your iPhone.
    4. Erase the contents of your iPhone.
    5. Complete the setup assistant and restore your backup.

    Additional Information

    Follow the steps below if you experience issues or receive the following error message displayed in iTunes or on your device:

    "The SIM card inserted in this iPhone does not appear to be supported. Only compatible SIM cards from a supported carrier may be used to activate iPhone. Please insert the SIM card that came with your iPhone or visit a supported carrier store."

    1. Restore your iPhone.
    2. Contact your carrier to verify that the unlock was applied in your carrier's system.

    Copied from

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5014

  • by RajaRani,

    RajaRani RajaRani Apr 13, 2013 7:55 AM in response to Adamlo
    Level 4 (1,455 points)
    iPhone
    Apr 13, 2013 7:55 AM in response to Adamlo

    Check status of unlock request here

     

    https://www.att.com/deviceunlockstatus/client/en_US/

     

    Any sim, active or inactive, from original carrier will activate locked iPhone. For unlocked iPhone any sim will do.

     

    Download firmware from here and save on your computer

     

    iPhone2,1_6.1.3_10B329_Restore.ipsw

     

    Insert any non-AT&T SIM inside. Connect iPhone in iTunes. Option+Restore pointing to saved IPSW.

     

    At the end of restore, iTunes will display "Congratulations, your iPhone 3GS has been unlocked".

     

    Don't forget to backup first.

     

    Message was edited.

  • by Adamlo,

    Adamlo Adamlo Apr 13, 2013 9:35 AM in response to RajaRani
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 13, 2013 9:35 AM in response to RajaRani

    I could never get itunes to give me the unlock message. It always just says at the end that itunes is temporarily unavailable try again later.  I just purchased a tmobile prepaid sim card and put it in the phone. It connects to tmobile with no problems. This tells me that the phone is unlocked even though it never gave me the message in itunes. Weird...

  • by Ingo2711,

    Ingo2711 Ingo2711 Apr 13, 2013 9:36 AM in response to RajaRani
    Level 7 (25,977 points)
    iPhone
    Apr 13, 2013 9:36 AM in response to RajaRani

    I tried to activate my unlocked phone for my son to use it, but I could not use an inactive SIM from the same provider to activate it.

    Only when I used an active SIM it worked. And the phone has been unlocked when I was still using it with my SIM months ago.

  • by RajaRani,

    RajaRani RajaRani Apr 13, 2013 9:54 AM in response to Adamlo
    Level 4 (1,455 points)
    iPhone
    Apr 13, 2013 9:54 AM in response to Adamlo

    Unlock message is displayed only once and that too first time you connect in iTunes after unlock is approved.

     

    If during this session in iTunes, the restore errors out for some reason, the unlock does get attached. However, instead of "Congratulations" message error message is shown.

     

    Weird...that is how it is.

  • by RajaRani,

    RajaRani RajaRani Apr 13, 2013 9:54 AM in response to Ingo2711
    Level 4 (1,455 points)
    iPhone
    Apr 13, 2013 9:54 AM in response to Ingo2711

    These are personal experiences. I could activate with inactive sim, in both the conditions, locked and unlocked. There are some exceptions.

     

    Regards