My iPhone 3Gs (3.1) has been running fine, until several hours ago today, when I plugged it to my MacBook, the iPhone is no longer detected - it doesn't show up in iTunes, nor it is charged. I tried opening iPhoto, and it wasn't there too. Not with Image Capture too. I tried charging it using the out-of-box wall charger using the same out-of-box USB cable I use for MacBook, and it can be charged without any problem. Then I put it into Recovery mode, and there iTunes can see it. I don't want to restore it before I figure out exactly what went wrong, as I don't want the restore process somehow gets stuck in the middle that the connection is lost again.

I've tried reinstalled iTunes, including completely removal of Apple Mobile Device Support, as instructed by Apple. But still no luck.

I've tried switching to another USB port of my MacBook. No luck.

My iTunes is the latest 9.0.1, and my Mac OSX is 10.6.1. My iPhone is on 3.1, upgraded from 3.0.

I've read from web that it seems I'm not the only one out there having this problem. But none of them seem having any real working solution.

Urgent help needed & appreciated. Millions of thanks in advance.

Gary

MacBook (Black) 2.0 GHz, 2GB RAM, 200GB HDD Mac OS X (10.6.1) Airport Extreme

Does the phone detect when it's connected to the wall charger?

Yes, and it can charge like normal.

One's opinion's might differ, but seems like a restore might be your best bet. Especially if you're already on 3.1. Is this the itunes 3.1? Or Custom firmware? The good news is that it is detected in Recovery Mode, so you're probably safe with a restore if you choose to go that route.

JB using Pwnage 3.1.3 from 3.0 to 3.1. The reason why I'm worried about restoring is that (i) the iphone will reboot in the middle of the JB restore and I'm afraid if it will lose connection right there then I will be stuck, and (ii) even if the whole JB restore completes without any problem and if the connection is lost then, then I will end up with an empty iPhone that I can't even sync/use. That's why I want to figure out what exactly caused the problem first, and see if any brothers out there has any confirmed working solution.

Can you try another computer? That would establish if its the phone or your laptop...

__________________
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 iPhone 3G White 16GB 3.1.2,
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 MacBook Air 1.8GHz SSD,
 MacPro 2x2.66GHz Dual Core,
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