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MCMariah Author

Level 1

18 points

iPhone 6, Unknown Error 56, RED iTunes logo, stuck in recovery mode, won't restore, ios 8 - 8.0.2 update fail!

I just got my new iphone 6 and it was on ios 8 and everything was working fine i guess, i decided to download ios 8.0.2 as it was a brand new phone and i wanted the newest software on it to fix all the bugs just incase i had them.

i started the update process from the phone, and before the update was complete, i'd say 80% or so along the way, the phone goes into recovery mode displaying a red itunes logo and the cable on the screen.i tried all the suggestions out there and even googled and youtubed to try and find a solution with no luck. even did a few searches on this forum as this is the place i usually come to get most of my answers.

here is what i did in attempts to fix this.

tryed restoring through itunes on both recovery mode and DFU mode, with both ios 8.0 and ios 8.0.2 files.

let itunes re-download the update file just incase i had gotten a bad copy the first time around, tried with that

used 3 different computers, 2 macs and 1 pc

switched usb ports

unplugged all other usb devices

updated itunes and OS

always kept getting the mysterious "unknown error 56" msg searched all over for what that could mean with no luck. the process always seems to stop at the same place, and the second i unplug the phone, it jumps right back into recovery mode with the red itunes logo. if i were in a place that had a genious bar i would've gone there.

i need help fixing this problem please also i'd like to report this error to apple, really wanna do my part to help by reporting at the very least, so also if someone could tell me how to go about doing that, this is just sooo frustrating 😟

any help would be greatly appreciated.

MM.

iPhone 6, iOS 8

Posted on Oct 12, 2014 3:57 PM

69 replies

Mar 23, 2015 1:21 AM in response to MCMariah

I had this error just now (Error 56)

This worked for me after trying a couple of times

Update iTunes to latest version

Make sure you don't have any jailbreak software open

Use a different USB cable if you happen to have a spare(I had one)

Take out the sim tray, make sure nothing's in the sim card slot

Enter DFU mode (Hold Power and Home button together, release Power button after 10 secs but hold onto the Home until the screen goes black)

iTunes will detect your phone in recovery mode

go ahead and restore the phone

let iTunes download software/firmware for your iPhone( please don't use firmwares you've downloaded from elsewhere)

Wait till it finishes. If the error pops up again, repeat

Naath14

Level 1

0 points

Mar 23, 2015 1:27 AM in response to MCMariah

Get help with iOS update and restore errors - Apple Support

Mar 24, 2015 8:27 PM in response to MCMariah

I was experiencing this exact issue. Good news, Apple's support staff were able to walk me through steps to fix it.

These were the steps I took:

(Started with phone uplugged from computer)

1. Remove sim card and tray from phone

2. Plug phone into computer

3. Click update in iTunes

4. Wait for process to finish

5. Pop up appears in iTunes alerting that the phone will restart [*NOTE* at this point if the Apple logo appears skip to step 10]

6. Wait for phone to restart.

After waiting ~2-3 minutes with a blank screen I was instructed to attempt to power on the phone by holding down the power/sleep button. The red iTunes symbol and the power cable appeared again at this point.

7. Click restore in iTunes

8. Wait for process to finish

9. Popup appears in iTunes alerting that phone will restart

10. When the Apple logo appears on the phone, replace the sim card and tray

My phone went through the typical boot process from this point, and it allowed me to successfully restore from the back up.

I hope this will help you as well.

Mar 24, 2015 8:28 PM in response to MCMariah

I was experiencing this exact issue. Good news, Apple's support staff were able to walk me through steps to fix it.

These were the steps I took:

(Started with phone uplugged from computer)

1. Remove sim card and tray from phone

2. Plug phone into computer

3. Click update in iTunes

4. Wait for process to finish

5. Pop up appears in iTunes alerting that the phone will restart [*NOTE* at this point if the Apple logo appears skip to step 10]

6. Wait for phone to restart.

7. Click restore in iTunes

8. Wait for process to finish

9. Popup appears in iTunes alerting that phone will restart

10. When the Apple logo appears on the phone, replace the sim card and tray

My phone went through the typical boot process from this point, and it allowed me to successfully restore from the back up.

I hope this will help you as well.

Mar 24, 2015 8:29 PM in response to MCMariah

I was experiencing this exact issue. Good news, Apple's support staff were able to walk me through steps to fix it.

These were the steps I took:

(Started with phone uplugged from computer)

1. Remove sim card and tray from phone

2. Plug phone into computer

3. Click update in iTunes

4. Wait for process to finish

5. Pop up appears in iTunes alerting that the phone will restart [*NOTE* at this point if the Apple logo appears skip to step 10]

6. Wait for phone to restart.

7. Click restore in iTunes

8. Wait for process to finish

9. Popup appears in iTunes alerting that phone will restart

10. When the Apple logo appears on the phone, replace the sim card and tray

My phone went through the typical boot process from this point, and it allowed me to successfully restore from the back up.

I hope this will help you as well.

Mar 27, 2015 5:44 PM in response to MCMariah

Solved! I had the same thing happen, tried a lot of things but nothing worked until I mysteriously found a solution!

Steps how it worked for me:

1. I started restoring through Itunes normally

2. When it got to the point where it stopped restoring I bumped out the sim card

3. Then on my screen it showed that the restoration was successful

4. Then the phone started to restart so i put the sim card back in

5. But it looked like it got stuck again so I bumped out the sim card once again

6. Woala! It worked! back in goes the sim card and your set

Good Luck

John Wiebe Mexico

Mar 27, 2015 5:47 PM in response to ar1414114

Solved! I had the same thing happen, tried a lot of things but nothing worked until I mysteriously found a solution!

Steps how it worked for me:

1. I started restoring through Itunes normally

2. When it got to the point where it stopped restoring I bumped out the sim card

3. Then on my screen it showed that the restoration was successful

4. Then the phone started to restart so i put the sim card back in

5. But it looked like it got stuck again so I bumped out the sim card once again

6. Woala! It worked! back in goes the sim card and your set

Good Luck

John Wiebe Mexico

Mar 27, 2015 5:48 PM in response to Chiruta

Solved! I had the same thing happen, tried a lot of things but nothing worked until I mysteriously found a solution!

Steps how it worked for me:

1. I started restoring through Itunes normally

2. When it got to the point where it stopped restoring I bumped out the sim card

3. Then on my screen it showed that the restoration was successful

4. Then the phone started to restart so i put the sim card back in

5. But it looked like it got stuck again so I bumped out the sim card once again

6. Woala! It worked! back in goes the sim card and your set

Good Luck

John Wiebe Mexico

Mar 27, 2015 5:48 PM in response to MCMariah

Solved! I had the same thing happen, tried a lot of things but nothing worked until I mysteriously found a solution!

Steps how it worked for me:

1. I started restoring through Itunes normally

2. When it got to the point where it stopped restoring I bumped out the sim card

3. Then on my screen it showed that the restoration was successful

4. Then the phone started to restart so i put the sim card back in

5. But it looked like it got stuck again so I bumped out the sim card once again

6. Woala! It worked! back in goes the sim card and your set

Good Luck

John Wiebe Mexico

Apr 1, 2015 6:43 AM in response to ar1414114

did your method actually work ?

was your iphone a jailbroken one ???

Jul 1, 2015 8:15 AM in response to MCMariah

I have the exact same error. iPhone 6 128GB never a problem before but after trying to upgrade to iOS 8.4 it failed (and I didn't do a backup!). After speaking to Apple they basically say go to the Genius Bar. It looks like a possible hardware issue as it fails at the exact same stage - about 80% of the way through when it says "updating firmware" it stops and returns error code 56 or 3014.

AV is off
as is firewall
Tried on multiple computers
2 different itunes accounts
tried restore
tried update
tried right-click update with the ipsw files
2 different cables
SAME result

What a waste of time and I'm just angry at myself for not backing up my data!

I have an appt at Genius on Friday. If anyone has any ideas before then, please give me a shout!

Terrible and gutted that the phone didn't say "please ensure you have a recent iTunes backup before you update" or similar. Just as a prompt. 😟

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

232,028 points

Jul 1, 2015 8:19 AM in response to JimmyJames75

According to the Apple Support document for update and restore error codes If you see Error 3194, Error 17, or 'This device isn't eligible for the requested build' in iTunes - Apple Support the error code you indicate 3014, has to do with an error with the device not eligible for the build, as if you are trying to downgrade to an earlier, unsigned iOS. You can check out the document I gave the link for, but you may have to wait for the Genius Bar appointment for help.

Jul 2, 2015 4:27 AM in response to ChrisJ4203

I tried everything but problem not solved. In Turkey, You should wait for reservation about a week. I dont know what to do.

alp26

Level 1

0 points

Jul 2, 2015 2:12 PM in response to MCMariah

Error 56 occured yestarday after update ios 8.4 but i have still found any successful idea to solve this problem. When i tried itunes restore , Error 56 occured . i have no idea what to do . if someone solve , please tell me

Jul 2, 2015 6:08 PM in response to alp26

I also tried to upgrade my iphone to IOS 8.4 and it is stuck in recovery mode. Whenever I try to update or restore it, it doesn/t work and I get unknown error 56 😟

iPhone 6, Unknown Error 56, RED iTunes logo, stuck in recovery mode, won't restore, ios 8 - 8.0.2 update fail!