Dear hackint0shers, after googling and reading for a few days, I’m still very puzzled about an iphone 2G I recently got from a friend and which I’m now trying to fix. Here are the facts:

- The phone is stuck in recovery mode with a picture of the itunes icon and the USB plug (not the end that attaches to the phone). I can put it into DFU mode (pwnage tool says so when I succeed) where the screen is black. It can also be turned off. Nothing else.
- When I try to restore it via itunes in recovery mode I get error 23. If I try the same thing in DFU mode I get error 1600. Occasionally I get a completely white screen, but only together with error 1600. If I get the whitescreen it disappears after 15 minutes and the phone turns itself off.
- I have tried to restore with about half a dozen different firmware versions, both official and custom (made via pwnage tool), but the results are always the same. Error messages show up after the “Preparing the iPhone for restore” in itunes and I never get any further than that.
- Part of the problem is that I’m not really familiar with the history of the phone more than that it was once jailbroken and unlocked and almost certainly was upgraded to some 2.x firmware version. I also know that Ziphone was used at some point. The phone stopped working after a firmware upgrade, but I have no idea of which one (but most likely 2.x, never 3.x [Edit: Apparently 3.0.0]).
- The phone was bought in the US and I’ve got the original AT&T SIM card, but I don’t know the status of it. I live in Germany where the phone was used for about a year before it stopped cooperating.
- I’ve tried different cables.
- I’m on OS X 10.6.1 with itunes 9.0.1 and pwnage tool 3.1.4. I did not try restoring it in Windows or with other itunes versions. Quickpwn doesn’t work since the phone can’t be recognized.

Right now I could of course try all different combinations of operating systems, itunes versions, firmware versions, pwnage tool versions, with or without an empty ~Library/iTunes/Device Support folder, SIM card inserted or not, recovery or DFU mode and different cables, but that’s not really practically possible. It might of course be a hardware issue, but according to the former owner it was always handled gently.

So, is this phone simply a brick, ready for the waste bin/ebay? Or is there still hope? I'd be grateful for any suggestions.

i had an similar problem restoring an 2g. i got the 16xx and 23 error messages.
The Problem on my phone was a probably bricked baseband, so i had
to downgrade to 1.1.4.

my solution:

- I done a clean install of iTunes 8.2 on a Windows Vista Notebook
(deinstalled tho old version an done a deep registry clean
with Registry Mechanic)
- I downgraded to an unmodified Stock 1.1.4 firmware in DFU Mode
- no errors from Itunes
- after downgrading the phone was locked and not activated
- upgraded to an unmodified 2.2.1
- then i run quickpwn

Now its no poblem to upgrade to an 3.xx firmware using Pwnagetool.


Link to my Thread:

http://www.hackint0sh.org/f146/87983.htm#post448286

not sure if U can fix with it, but try iReb

Thanks for the input!

So I started from scratch, did a clean Vista SP1 install, installed itunes 8.2.1, tried to restore to stock 1.1.4 in DFU mode but in the end I got a 1601 error. No whitescreen though. Here's the itunes log output: http://pastebin.com/m694791f0

I haven't tried iReb yet, it seems to be a quite new member in the toolbox, have people had success with it in general? I will try it though, not much to lose here anyway.

Holy sweet flying underwear! iPhone's alive! iReb did it!

Here's what I did:
The phone was in recovery mode with USB and itunes icon on screen. (Original AT&T SIM card inserted.) I connected to the computer and started iReb v3.1.2 (I ran it as administrator if that makes a difference, I don't know). Then I clicked the "Fix Recovery Mode Loop" button, installed libusb-win32-filter-bin-0.1.12.1.exe as per the given instructions. Then I proceeded and a few seconds later the phone rose from the dead and gave me the message "iPhone cannot make or receive calls. Restore from iTunes." I clicked "Dismiss".

Now, when it comes to iphones I'm a complete noob, but very willing to learn. I'm not completely sure where to go from here. I guess I'm supposed to use the latest Pwnage Tool on a Mac and make a custom .ipsw and just restore it. But is there something I should know before I go ahead? Here's some selected info from Settings > General > About:

Version: 3.0 (7A341)
Model: MA712LL
Wi-fi address: N/A
Bluetooth: 00:00:00:00:00:00
IMEI: blank
ICCID: blank
Modem Firmware: blank

What would be the right way to jailbreak, activate and unlock the phone? It will be used in Germany with a pre-paid SIM and I'd like the wi-fi and bluetooth to work. That's pretty much it. I'm a bit worried about the blank fields in Settings, but I'll start research that issue right away.

A million thanks to Daniele who tipped me about iReb and lotsa love for iH8sn0w, of course!

It looks like your baseband is bricked. At this state you cannot unlock or use your phone. You must downgrade to 1.1.4. This repairs the baseband in most cases. After this use pwnagetool again.

sekone, you're right. Baseband is bricked. When I try do downgrade to stock 1.1.4 in DFU mode I get error 1601 again. I don't, however, get 1011 which I read is a common (and unfixable, right?) error with a bricked baseband.

The phone is definitely pwned before in one way or the other. I've got Cydia and Icy 1.4.1 in there, but I can't really do anything since wi-fi doesn't work.

I have access to another jailbroken iphone of the same model (made week 48 2007, mine's from week 42), maybe I can dump some info from that one and use, but I'm guessing wildly now. Don't know in which direction to go from here. Rats.

Perhaps you can downgrade/ repair your baseband with Kiphone. This works if you´re actually on 1.1.4.

At iClarified you´ll find two tutorials for Kiphone. I´ts better to use the Win- Version because the Mac Version dosen´t work properly.

I would love to try KiPhone, but the problem is that I can't downgrade (nor upgrade) the firmware (I'm on 3.0.0). In DFU mode itunes errors out with 1601 on a pc and 1600 on a mac. According to iClarified I should be getting a 1015 error, but I don't. They also suggest:

"If you get an error in the 1600s then try putting the iPhone into DFU mode and try again. You might also want to try a different USB port, remove your SIM card and then restart your system and if all else fails use a different computer!"

I've tried all of that to no avail. They are, however, using itunes 7.5. I'm on 8.2.1 (vista). Are the itunes versions that dissimilar that it could make a difference to downgrade to 7.5?

Many thanks for the tips!

I will now proceed to answer my own question and the answer is yes, the itunes version seems to matter. I succeeded do downgrade the firmware to an unmodified stock 1.1.4 in DFU mode with itunes 7.5.0.20 in a fresh install of windows 7. itunes didn't give me any errors whatsoever.

Since I didn't have any SIM card inserted, I'm now at the emergency call screen and the phone tells me to insert an unlocked and valid SIM in order to activate. Good news is that when I click the little "i" it shows the same IMEI number that's etched on the back. I guess I don't need Kiphone after all?

So, what would be the best thing to do right now? Is there a "right upgrade path"? If so, would that be to upgrade to stock 2.2.1 (with what itunes version?), then quickpwn and then upgrade to latest 3.x with pwnage tool, just like sekone mentioned in an earlier post? I think I need someone to guide me in the right direction here, there are so many ways to do everything and it's a bit confusing to say the least.

Edit: Completely uninstalled itunes 7.5.0.20 and installed 8.2.1. Tried to upgrade to stock firmware 2.2.1, but was greeted with error 1600 (tried another usb port too). Still at the activation screen.