[Michael Johnston]

Is your iPhone acting up? Yes it's true, iPhones have problems too. But what can you do when it's REALLY messed up? If iTunes doesn't see your iPhone's cry for help, you may need to invoke recovery mode. Although it's an extremely helpful mode, how to get there isn't very apparent. Read on for the how-to!

As arcane as "recovery mode" sounds, it's actually very simple:

Disconnect your iPhone and turn it off by holding the "Sleep/Wake" button for about five seconds and then sliding the red slider. If your iPhone is already off, there's no need to turn it on and then off again. Once it's off, press and hold the "Home" button and plug your iPhone into a Mac or PC with iTunes installed. Keep holding the "Home" button until you see a dock cable pointing to the iTunes icon. iPhones running older software will display a yellow triangle and text which says "Please Connect to iTunes". Once you see this image, you can release the Home button.

iPhone in Recovery Mode

Open iTunes (if it's not already open) and you will be told that "iTunes has detected an iPhone in recovery mode." Click "OK" and you will be taken to the iPhone pane. Click "Restore" and you're done, it's that easy! Depending on the extent of your iPhone's ills, it may take some time to do a full restore. Once you're done, you should again have a perfectly working iPhone.

If this doesn't solve your problem, you may need to restore using DFU (Direct Firmware Upgrade) mode. To enter this mode, plug in your iPhone and turn it off. Hold down the "Home" and "Sleep/Wake" buttons for about twelve seconds. You'll briefly see the silver Apple logo and then your phone will appear to turn back off. Release the "Sleep/Wake" button but continue to hold the "Home" button until you see a message in iTunes stating that it has detected an iPhone in recovery mode. Choose "Restore" and you should be fixed right up!

If this doesn't fix your problem, your iPhone may require a visit to the Genius Bar. You can find a local Apple Store and schedule an appointment at apple.com/retail.

[uiop]

Thanks for that tidbit...hopefully we won't have to use it. I guess you use that when your iPhone is REALLY screwed up. :eek:

[Jordan Hoffmann]

Thanks, That is a really good tip. Though I hope I do not ever need to use it, it is nice to know what I have available.

This happened to me last night. I was downloading v.1.0.2. The download stopped half-way, I got an error message, and the "Connect to iTunes" screen with the yellow triangle appeared on my phone.

Also, in iTunes the serial number, other iPhone info, and the usage meter at the bottom all blanked out.

I fussed and fumed and blindly poked around, turning things on and off, plugging and unplugging, starting and re-starting.

I must have accidentally stumbled on the right combination, because - finally - everything restored. It probably took a half-hour or more to sync, compared with maybe 30 seconds after a small change in info.

But hallelujah, my iPhone's back up and running. I'm glad to know what to do in the future!

[Pepper]

nice post. I'm sure this can come in handy to some users that don't know as much about their phone.

Your instructions are the only ones that worked. Everyone else is saying hold the Home and Sleep/Wake button until the yellow triangle appears. Never worked. But when I did what you described, it worked perfectly.

I did recover my iPhone before a few times. It always worked without problems.
Today I did try to update to 1.1.1....
iTunes did start normaly with the update but after a while my iPhone did reboot and stoped with the yellow triangel.
Now iTunes doesn't see the Phone any longer :-(
Reset with holding Home and Sleep for 25 Sec doesn't work any more ;-(
Any suggestions what I can do?

Originally Posted by Bluemate

....
Now iTunes doesn't see the Phone any longer :-(
...

On an other PC it was possible to restore it again. So it looks like iTunes did destroy the USB driver for the iPhone on Windows site.
All other devices do work on that USB port.

I have this same problem, have you resolved this? please e-mail. tmanselltg@hotmail.com
thanks

[Chad Vader]

Originally Posted by *tmansell

I have this same problem, have you resolved this? please e-mail. tmanselltg@hotmail.com
thanks

Sorry, which problem are you referring to?

Hi, i have a version 1.0.2 unlocked phone. I 'virginized' it to upgrade the phone to 1.1.1. I could restore the phone to a blocked stage again.
But then I couldnt get the upgrade (itunes always timed out). So I had to unlock the phone again. Also this worked
But now the phone asks me to connect it to iTunes in order to restore it. I have followed your procedure, but at the end received an error message 6, i.e. IPhone could not be restored.
Now I am clueless.

[Chad Vader]

Try another computer, cable, usb port... etc

[key_elani]

i'm sorry if i'm stupid or something, but are you suggesting that i let itunes restore my phone? i am nervous to do so because of the 1.1.1 firmware. i have 1.0.2. will that not brick my phone?
please help?

[iPodAddict]

It only bricks your iPhone if you've unlocked it.

my phone shows the yellow triangle connect to itunes and says it needs to be recovered, but itunes itself doesnt recognize the phone. what should i do? thanks!!!

[Lulapucci]

Can someone help me with this? I tried to update my iPhone to the newest version & after it took forever to download, it said that something happened and I had to "restore to factory settings" along with the yellow triangle warning sign.

I selected it and it started pulling the software off, then stopped in the middle of it and said that "iPhone cannot be restored. An unknown error occurred (1603)." AND it won't shut down when I hold the power button down-- the triangle just keeps popping up to connect to iTunes.

Any advice?? Do I bring this phone into an Apple store? Or god forbid do I have to send it out?

many other 5sec 10sec things didnot worked but this, thanks,

OMFG THANKYOU MAN !
i thought my iPod was finished !
if anyone is reading this having any doubts, well DON'T !
BECAUSE THIS WORKS !

[seattleboii23]

Okay so I had some problems with my phone and restored and then it said please connect to iTunes. The computer would not recognize my phone. So I found this and it worked great but then when i clicked restore it would not restore it just said error: (1603) cannot restore iphone. Please can someone help and is there an way on how to get it out of recovery mode??

[JFrappuccino]

You can download the 1.1.2 jailbreak and use that program to kick it out of recovery mode