Hello - I'm at my wit's end (common I'm sure) with this 3GS. I am not trying to jailbreak, just restore to factory functionality after the phone locked up.

The phone will not enter Recovery mode at all, and in order to communicate with it I have to put it in DFU mode.

When I do, iTunes will see it and tell me to restore. I say OK.

Once iTunes gets to the point where it is "preparing iPhone for restore," the phone will lose its USB connection (dong sound) and never regain it.

Here is, hopefully, a copy of my iPhone updater log file: 2012-03-21 15:48:15.485 [2572:2308]: restore library built Feb 6 2012 at 17:46: - Pastebin.com

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you for reading.

Error 1601 info here Error 1601 or 1602 when restoring iPhone or iPod touch in iTunes

Originally Posted by aneagle

Error 1601 info here Error 1601 or 1602 when restoring iPhone or iPod touch in iTunes

Thank you for your response. I have seen that article and tried the solution listed three times, on two different computers, with two different 30-pin Apple USB connectors. The result is the same.

Any other ideas from anyone?

Well, it's fixed. But in a good news/bad news sort of way.

I decided that it had to be hardware related, maybe something in the USB connector (thanks to n1ckn4m3 for the suggestion) and I disassembled the iPhone.

I took out the daughterboard for the USB connector and cleaned it with some Deox-IT and then re-installed it, making sure everything was tight.

I had also removed the motherboard, thinking that it could be related a loose connector or something. When re-assembling the motherboard, I damaged the ribbon cable connecting the camera to the motherboard. Sheist.

I went ahead and finished putting it back together and plugged it into the computer. After about 20 minutes of charging, it came up in Recovery mode. Restored to 5.0.1 with no problem, and restored from iTunes backup.

Net: My wife has a working phone again, but with no camera.

Does anyone know if replacing that ribbon cable is possible? Or maybe the camera assembly?

I think you want this:

Replacement Camera Lens FPC Connector Flex Ribbon Cable for iPhone 3G IPF38X - $1.93 - Affordable Parts & Repair

or this:

Cet iPhone 3GS Compatible Replacement Camera Module Assembly (20032206) - iPhone, Cell Phones, Electronics & Computers - nuLime.com

One of the two should fix your issue. Been a while since I broke open a 3GS so I can't remember directly whether the top piece alone would do it for you.

Thanks. I ordered the CET replacement. We'll see how that goes. Appreciate the help!