Ipad 2 restore issues.

Hi,

I've read through many of the previous posts and whilst this appears to be a common issue none of the advice given has resolved my issue and additionally I don't know the history of my iPad so this may be due to some other reason.

So, I've just bought an iPad 2 64GB from eBay. It was advertised as being in pristine condition with no faults and certainly cosmetically looks almost new. It sold for a similar price to others on the site so don't think I got it cheaper than would be expected. When it arrived I was able to switch it on using the power button at the top and saw that it had about 25% battery life. I was able to connect it to my home wi-fi and enter my wife's AppleID. It was then put down for a couple of hours until we had more time to play with it later in the evening.

Later that evening I tried to install an app and was told that the iPad was running IOS 7 and needed to be updated to run that particular app. I connected it to my Macbook Air and was told that the updated iPad software needed to be downloaded and installed. I waited to download the software and then found myself in the error 9 loop.

The screen shows the 'Connect USB to iTunes' logo. I connect it to my mac and it tells me that the ipad needs to be restored. I accept and it moves through a series of updates, verifying with Apple and then waits for my iPad. The screen changes to an Apple logo and a progess bar. After a few minutes iTunes tells me that there was a problem with the restore...error 9. I noticed that I am unable to power down the device as the slide bar does not appear. I've tried the DFU method and iTunes sees the iPad in recovery mode but the screen doesn't stay black as I believe it should. I am now unable to return to the working iPad screen.

I've now tried this process on 3 machines, 2 x Macs and a PC. I've tried 2 different charging cables with the same result. I have the latest OS and iTunes installed.

Having reviewed the useful posts on here I see that one of the reasons that this may happen is the 'jailbreaking' of the iPad previously. Also, but apparently rarely, it may be a hardware issue.

Before I get in to the grief of returning the iPad I'm happy to try any advice on offer but realise that the longer I wait this may affect my rights to return it as faulty. I have a concern that one reason for the failure may be that the iPad as been reported lost or stolen and may be being blocked by Apple at the verify stage but this may be me being silly.

I'd really appreciate any further advice.

Many thanks,

Andy