ANY ONE KNOW WHAT IS ERROR 3 IN ITUNES WHEN I TRY TO RESTORE IPHONE 5 TO IOS 7 IT STUCKS IN THE END AND AFTER 30 MIN THIS COME OUT "UNKNOWN ERROR 3" CAN SOME ONE HELP ME PLZ

7.1 is already out at Developers so any fix in 7.1.0 is unlikely. The issue is being looked at by Apple so depending on what they find for a possible software fix it will come later. Your device not being fixed for Error (3) by any of the techniques described on this thread may make it a good candidate for the AppleCare engineers to study for this problem. Have you talked with an Apple Genius and store manager and contacted AppleCare directly on this issue? Of not, I urge you to do both as they may be collecting some of the devices that exhibit Error (3) to study the failure mode and see if a software fix can be derived.

I already contacted them through the chat. They told me to send it back to apple so they will give me a new one (i'm still under warranty). The problem is that there is no apple representative in my country. It is now more than two months i'm looking for a solution. May be I will just buy a new one. But please, keep us informed whenever a solution is provided by apple. Thanks in advance.

Hey all, I rarely reply to these posts but i wanted to let everyone know what i did to resolve the famous "error (3)". After dozens of attemps to restore my ipad using several different methods I gave up and contacted apple. I've been through several sessions with apple engineers (hours) and were not able to resolve the issue. I came accross this thread and noticed the "freezer trick". I tried it several times to no avail. I then read someone's comment that you want to start restoring the ipad immediately after taking it out of the freezer to keep it cool. I did this about a dozen times at least and never worked. In my final desperate attempt i decided to leave the ipad in the freezer while it was being restored. I almost **** myself when i saw the "successfully restored" message! Craziest troubleshooting/solution i have ever come accross. Thanks kennethyoung for the wackiest computer fix ever! Hopefully this post can help someone else!

Hi dubiHowzer

It paid off for you to be persistent. The "physics" behind this "trick" all has to do with getting the Flash memory cells as cold as practical and keeping them as cold as possible during the Flash erase process, which is where the "failure" is occuring. I had not considered suggesting to the 2-3 others that had reported the "freezer physics trick" not working for them that they leave the iPad/iPhone in the freezer during restore, but since this technique has worked for one of us, I urge th to go back and give that a technique a try.

Thanks for taking the time to report your success to the group!

my ipad3 ios5.1.1 also having error 3 when i tried to update to ios 7.0.4 few days ago and i was googling all kind of solutions and finally found this thread discussing the same problem.. my ipad3 seems to be in recovery mode eveytime i connect it to my pc windows7..so i cannot use my ipad at all.. can't even restore...😮

my laptop could not recognize my ipad.. luckily i never did the same with my iphone4.. now i never want to update my iphone..at the moment...i guess.. but i will try to do the "freezer trick" as suggested by kennethyoung😀 during the weekend, and will update the progress!!😎

Okay so far my ipad will not work. Last night i tried the freezer trick which for me did work but i got a (3194) error and ive looked multiple places for a fix. Changing my hosts and using tiny umbrella which wouldn't work because it wouldn't install to my computer, i even tried adding hosts but still no luck. Also, I have tried using my girlfriends computer with an up to date itunes on both computers, but only ended up getting an error (-1) if anyone has a possible solution to my problem would be greatly appricated I'm at wits end trying different things. Right now i am attempting to freeze the ipad and restore it on my girlfriends computer. Kennethyoung, I have a question did you restore in recovery mode or did you recover in dfu mode?

Hi jhawk929

I restored in Recovery mode the first time I froze my iPad 3. I have read about 3194 error elsewhere for a different issue. Can you share the log file from this failure attempt by posting on this forum? We may be able to analyze it as a group and suggest something.

okay well i dont currently have access to my logs because i am not at home however i did get past the original error of the (3194) error but during the recovery process in dfu mode i made it to the last 1% area and it stopped giving me the (3) error. The way i routed past the (3194) was instead of using a ios 7 download i found in my appdata folder i went throught itunes and made sure it was the most recent version alas im stuck with the (3) error.

Hi jhawk929

Since you're back to error (3) try the freezer again, quickly pull it out and start recovery, then quickly put it back in the freezer. The Flash chips warm quickly which decreases the likelihood of this technique working so keeping the device in the freezer during recovery may be enough to get you through the Erase step successfully.

Okay as soon as i get the chance i will try the freezer step again. I am doing this on a desktop so the option of keeping it in the freezer isnt viable any other possible ideas for keeping it cold enough. Possibly would a freezer wrap that is cloth work to help keep it cold? Or maybe freezing it longer than 30 minutes?

Hi jhawk929

You might try turning down your freezer setting to as cold as it will go and give it an hour to get there then freeze for 1 hour. The issue is there is only 3 pounds of mass so more time will only do so much.

Okay I tried getting it to my desktop after an hour in the freezer and put a cold press on it through the plastic bag I had it freezing in but still the error 3 comes back. I would gladly post the logs you were talking about but I am not sure which logs in particular you are looking for that would help me the most

also on an another note i had previously tried restoring the ipad on another computer I did not get the (3) error but i did get the (-1) error I still am not sure which would be easier to bypass or currently how to get around either of them. But it is so stressful because I don't want to be stuck with a oversized paper weight.. lol 😟

Log files:

Settings

General

About

Diagnostics & Usage

Diagnostics & Usage

There may or may not be multiple files listed.

I forget the name of the default install log name but I'm sure someone else in out group can remind us if there is more than one. It should be the top file in any list of files

Tap once to open the *.plist log file

Press and hold with one finger and you should get an option to "Select All" then repeat and select the option to "Copy"

Come back to this forum repeat press and hold with one finger and select the option "Paste"

Complete by posting. We can all look at it and share our thoughts.

I'll have to research Error (1) and get back to you

Thank you Mr Young!

I have never posted in these forums before, but was amazed the freezer Worked --Wow!

Quick Story--iphone 5 off warranty. Started to say 'searching' mult time a day.

I tried power off, shut down with both buttons, reset network connections. But nothing helped.

I tried to restore from iTunes, and got 'error 3'

My phone was then useless, spent 2 days retrying everything to get it out of recovery mode.

I read your freezer idea, but thought it was crazy. But, as a last resort I tried it.

Put phone in the freezer in a zip lock bag and a paper towel for ~40 minutes.

And it worked on the first try!!!

The phone was restored and updated from a cloud backup.

I was amazed! Thank you!