The iPhone could not be restored. An unknown error occurred (9)

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=iPhone+error+code+9

This was a painful but fixable problem. Part of the difficulty is that there are a large number of error codes with little or no explaination (or perhaps, the explainations didn't relate to reality <s>).

I tried all the standard downloads of current and previous firmware versions to no avail. Continued to get the "Unknown Error (nn)" type error (29 in my case). Tried the downgrade only to discover that the downgrade to 6.x no longer works.

THE SOLUTION ... I had read this before be never really understood the steps and what was correct and what was incorrect ...

THE PHONE MUST BE IN DFU Mode ... following is a link (you can ignore the video at top) which not only explains it but also explains what to look for when you miss doing it right. When I followed these steps the phone restored first time: http://www.imore.com/tip-put-iphone-ipad-dfu-mode

Elsakka wrote:

Please any body in apple can help me

There is no one from Apple here, only fellow users.

Are you sure you are in DFU mode ... that was my problem, I thought I was but I wasn't ... that is why the steps from the link noted above are critical:

DFU mode, as opposed to Recovery Mode, requires a bit of timing and can take practice to get right, so if at first you don't succeed, don't be afraid to try and try again.

• Plug your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad into your Mac or Windows PC and make sure iTunes is running.
• Hold down both the Sleep Button (on top of your device) and the Home Button (on the front underneath the screen).
• Keep them both held down from about 10 seconds. (If you see the Apple logo, you've held them too long and will need to start again.)
• Let go of the Sleep Button but keep holding the Home Button for about 5 seconds. (If you see the "Plug into iTunes" screen than you held it too long and will need to start again.)
• If the screen stays black, that's it! Your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad should now be in DFU mode.

Also ... has anyone figured out what is really causing this??? Would be wonderful to know what caused all this extra work!

i had this same problem and just fixed it. firstly i tried restoring the iphone in dfu mode atleast 30 times and nothing so i gave up, woke up this morning and decided to try again. i had a cover on the phone that screwed on and squeezed the phone pretty tightly wether that was the problem im not sure, if you have a similar cover take it off. i also removed the sim card then put it into dfu mode and restored it. now its working fine, hope this helps.

did you ever solve this? My iphone 5 is doing that now. just reboots and error number 9 appears in itunes when trying to restore

Hi. Were you able to resolve this issue? My 4s shutdown in the middle of a call and this is hat happened next. I went to Apple Store at the Genius Bar they told me its a hardware issue and offered a $200 new phone replacement after diagnosing my phone for 5 mins at their back lab. I doubt that it's a hardware issue.

Why do you doubt a hardware issue exists when that is what the Genuises at the Apple store stated it was?

Did you even try any of the troubleshooting provided in this thread before posting your comment?

I've tried all the troubleshooting possible, otherwise, I will not come into that conclusion. The phone is responding when you plug it into iTunes. It goes through the restoration process but stopped somewhere in the middle and gave the error 9. If it's a hardware issue, I am just wondering, if it's a hardware issue, then it should not respond to the computer at all.