January 1, 1970

My son thought it would be cool to try this on his phone. Tough lesson for him. Of course, it is my problem to fix. Tried several things suggested on various sites. Nothing worked. Found these instructions for DFU mode, followed exactly as prescribed and it brought my son's phone back to life. Was able to restore to last backup. Good luck

http://www.payetteforward.com/how-to-put-iphone-dfu-mode/

I did the same bonehead thing so I am hoping this fix works if the folks at an Apple Store can't

Good news I took my phone to the Apple Store and they were able to restore it.

textigers wrote:

My son thought it would be cool to try this on his phone. Tough lesson for him. Of course, it is my problem to fix. Tried several things suggested on various sites. Nothing worked. Found these instructions for DFU mode, followed exactly as prescribed and it brought my son's phone back to life. Was able to restore to last backup. Good luck

http://www.payetteforward.com/how-to-put-iphone-dfu-mode/

That's really good information. You confirm that a DFU restore fixes it? Very good news.

Deadinside361 wrote:

Yeah except no fix was posted at all just a couple people saying oh maybe apple will fix it if you schedule an appointment and wait to go in

This is literally a ******* joke and I'm switching back to android the literal second I can which is probably now because my phone that I had for a month is ****** because I changed the ******* date

Well, you have a point. But first, it's really hard to change the date to 1/1/1970. It's impossible to do it accidentally. You had to have done it intentionally. Apple tests things pretty thoroughly, but they didn't think to test whether setting the date to 1/1/1970 would cause a problem, because it never occurred to them

<Edited by Host>

I'm also guilty and did it on my iPod Touch 6th Gen. That's what I get for reading a 4chan post 😠

Sounds like putting in into DFU route will fix it.

Best of luck,

GB

Lawrence Finch wrote:

Apple tests things pretty thoroughly, but they didn't think to test whether setting the date to 1/1/1970 would cause a problem, because it never occurred to them

I am planning to put my iPhone in a microwave and run the microwave for 30+ minutes, then dip in toilet water for 30+ minutes, then publish a blog entry. I want to test how many lemmings try to swim across the Sea of Sargasso. 😁😝😉

What about the freezer? You forgot the freezer fix!!!!! 😁

GB

There is an old trick which is used on PCBs to reflow solder in heater ovens to address bad connections. I need the Oven/Freezer combo for the follow-up blog entry. 😁 Thanks for the suggestion.

Just didn't want you to have anything missing in that blog. Be sure to post a link when you get it done! 😝

GB

Loner T wrote:

Lawrence Finch wrote:

Apple tests things pretty thoroughly, but they didn't think to test whether setting the date to 1/1/1970 would cause a problem, because it never occurred to them

I am planning to put my iPhone in a microwave and run the microwave for 30+ minutes, then dip in toilet water for 30+ minutes, then publish a blog entry. I want to test how many lemmings try to swim across the Sea of Sargasso. 😁😝😉

Fortunately, the coffee was still brewing when I read this or it would have been all over my screen! Wonderful!

Just wanted to chime in to confirm that DFU fixed this issue for me. Pasting the instructions from this link below in case anyone else needs them.

I will note that when I was performing the reset, it took much, much longer than a standard reset. For a very long time, it was on a white screen with a black apple logo with no progress bar. I figured I would leave it on that screen until the phone died, but after checking in an hour or two later, it was on the "Hello" screen and I was able to restore from an iCloud backup. Good luck.

1. Plug your iPhone into your computer and open iTunes. It doesn’t matter if your iPhone is on or off.
2. Press and hold the Sleep / Wake Button and Home Button together for 8 seconds.
3. After 8 seconds, release the Sleep / Wake Button but continue to hold the Home Button until iTunes says “iTunes has detected an iPhone in recovery mode.”
4. Let go of the Home Button. Your iPhone’s display will be completely black if you’ve successfully entered DFU mode. If it’s not, try again from the beginning.
5. Restore your iPhone using iTunes.

There is a Fix folks.

Please do not go about opening your iPhone and removing battery etc. The good folks at NOC59 (who manage our corporate IT network) got this working in about an hour. Here are the steps. Some have been explained before. But here are the steps.

My iPhone was a 6 Plus. 1970 issue as of 24 hours ago.

Steps:

1.Plug iPhone cable into USB port of Computer but not into the Phone, Disable AntiVirus ( including Firewall of MAC if using OSX). Ensure iTunes is updated.

2. DFU Mode. Press Home and power buttons until the Apple logo disappear, then release the power button keeping the home button depressed. While doing so, insert the cable into the iPhone now. iTunes should launch and indicate the phone is in Recovery Mode. Do nothing else. Don't bother pressing buttons on iTunes. Remove the cable end from the Computer.

3. Leave phone on like that, not connected to anything but in Recovery mode; it will have an Apple logo, and heat up but more importantly will run through battery charge.

4. Important, place this Phone, with its back on an ice pack ( I used ice from the fridge in a plastic freezer bag. Ensure the bag does not leak or you will have a water damaged phone next!

5. Once the battery has drained to the red level, unplug it and plug it into a wall charger, while keeping it cool.

6. My phone just sprang to life with the "HOLA" screen. It is completely wiped but nobody has to break the seal and disconnect battery. I am proof that the phone is not bricked, or needs to become a doorstop etc.

Total time taken by the NOC59 team: 1 hour and 15 minutes. Thanks.

This issue can also be fixed by letting the battery in the iPhone drain completely, and then reboot the phone. This is a good option if you have no backups (which is bad news if you don't have backups...you should start using backups immediately!!)