A dying iPhone3G?

[Nighthawk4]

A while ago I installed iOS4 on my iPhone3G, despite the fact that is was working fine. Since then it has not worked properly. It is so slow it is unusable.

Today I tried to update to 4.0.2. This has been installing for over an hour and seems stuck at about 55% of the progress bar on the iPhone.

Does that mean it is now completely broken? Is it likely to move on eventually, or is that stuck?

I think unless I can get iOS4.1 to install and unless that makes it work again I shall probably give up on the iPhone. A new iPod Touch as a PDA and a compact and ordinary phone seems a better bet than paying a huge amount for an iPhone4 which also doesn't work properly. The only disadvantage is I lose 3G browsing, but I have that on the iPad anyway.

What happened to Apple and 'it just works'. Last time that happened was the iPad, which I admit is still awesome.

Short of hitting it with a hammer, is there anything I can do now to get this useless iPhone working again please? I assume I can't downgrade now I have iTunes10?

 

[Raz0rEdge]

iOS 4.x (including 4.0.2) has speed issues with iPhone 3G. iOS 4.1 (set to be released this week) will fix that. I have it running on my iPhone 3G and the phone is usable once again..

Regards

 

[Nighthawk4]

The Restore has hung in the same place, so I guess that is it

Any help please?

 

[Nighthawk4]

It has stuck completely.

Any way I can force it to reset successfully please?

 

[Raz0rEdge]

If it's been stuck for a while..you can always try holding down the button on top and see if it will shutdown and then try to restart it by pressing it again..

Regards

 

[Nighthawk4]

Still stuck.

I tried restarting it, rebooted the Mac and started again. Each time it gets to about 3/5ths done and stops - both on the original update and subsequent attempts to restore.

Ironic this should be the day before they release the fix which might have made it work properly again.

Really wish you would let me say some rude words



Edit - going to leave it running overnight. If it is still not moved by morning, then not sure what I will do.

Charging up the old Motorola Razr for tomorrow, in case I need a phone.

 

[Nighthawk4]

Overnight made no difference.

My guess is perhaps the update file I downloaded is corrupt - which leads to it hanging at the same point each time, whether I am trying to update or reset.

If the new version (iOS4.1) comes out today, that might overcome this. If not, then I may have to hunt down the file manually and delete it, so it can be downloaded again.

Could someone please remind me where that is found on the Mac?

 

[Nighthawk4]

I have tried downloading the updates outside and inside iTunes, including 4.0.2, 4.0.1, 4.1 and even 3.*.

No matter what I try, I cannot persuade it to go past the same point.

So it seems my iPhone3G is now unusable, even more so than before.


So....... IPod Touch or HTC Desire? I don't see why I should be forced to buy an expensive iPhone4 which neither want nor need

 

[Nighthawk4]

I suppose in theory it might be a hardware issue, but it seems hard to believe that it just happened to go wrong during the update when it was at least barely functioning prior to that - even if very slowly.

As far as I can see now it is not really worth paying Apple about £160 (I forget the exact amount) so they will look at it to see if it can be repaired. Even if they can fix it, I still have a 2 year old device that was ruined by Apple and iOS4. If they knew the 3G couldn't handle the update why didn't they say so - and preferably bar the 3G from installing it?

If Apple service can't fix it, what do they do? Hand me back my inert paperweight and charge me the service fee anyway? They are not likely to give me a free iPhone4 and they don't make the 3G any more.

The strange thing is that I have loads of old mobiles which still work perfectly well but something newer and better came out, so I upgraded anyway. For some reason the fact that this one is actually broken seems to make me more reluctant to move on and buy a new one. I suppose the difference is that the others were my choice whereas this one has been forced upon me by Apple. I don't like being forced to upgrade like this. Of course, the fact that nobody has any iPhone4 in stock doesn't help.

Also I still can't help feeling there is some perfectly simple trick I am missing which will kick it into life, even if I can't go back to iOS3. I just can't work out what that trick might be. Pity 'Restore' doesn't really mean that

 

[Nighthawk4]

I suppose in theory it might be a hardware issue, but it seems hard to believe that it just happened to go wrong during the update when it was at least barely functioning prior to that - even if very slowly.

......


Also I still can't help feeling there is some perfectly simple trick I am missing which will kick it into life, even if I can't go back to iOS3. I just can't work out what that trick might be. Pity 'Restore' doesn't really mean that

Guess what?

I installed iTunes10 on my Windows7 laptop and tried doing a Restore on that. The iPhone still switched off partway through the download, presumably because my connection is so slow. I restarted the iPhone and restarted the Restore. The download completed and installed.

It worked!!!

I had a completely new iPhone with iOS4.1 on it.

Instead of setting it up on the new machine, I moved it over to the Mac and it was recognised. It prompted me that I had previously backed up an iPhone on that machine. I accepted that and restored the backup I made earlier this week before I tried to update it.

Everything is back, even the photo I took on the iPhone to use as a Wallpaper (startup, not Homescreen).

So it seems there was (maybe still is) some marker on the Mac which causes the Restore or Update to fail to complete, which was not present on the Windows7 laptop as that had never been used before.

Very odd, but nice to have my iPhone back. Not really tested for speed yet as there is no 3G signal here at Home. However, startup and moving from screen to screen seems better. Not as good perhaps as on iOS3 but a lot better than pre-4.1.

Much happier now

 

[Nighthawk4]

Recent update:

The iPhone3G responds better since 4.1 - not as well as it did with 3.1.3 but at least it responds.

Unfortunately there is no data connection. The Phone works, so it is connecting to Orange, but it will not connect for data. I tried resetting the Network but still no good.

I tried to restore it back to 3.1.3 again. This worked, except it would not accept any of my backups - including the two I took immediately before updating to iOS4.

So I have a brand new 3.1.3 or a fully restored 4.1 with no data connection.

I wish the Forum's language policy allowed me to express my feelings about how Apple have treated owners of the iPhone3G.

It still doesn't seem possible to buy an iPhone4 even if I wanted to - nobody has them in stock around here.

Maybe I need to spend a few hours trying to get through to Orange Support

 

[Nighthawk4]

Another update:

I used the phone to check the credit - plenty of credit (it is PAYG)
I also checked that I have available data - 250MB available.
This also proves the phone works of course.
Received another SMS from Orange this morning on the iPhone.

When I got Home I tested the WiFi - I had reset the Network settings, so I had to put the password back in, but it detected the Home WiFi and connected successfully. Updated Yammer and eMail.

Still no data connection over 3G though - despite 4 or 5 bars on the signal strength and it says 'Orange 3G'.

I miss the old days when Apple stuff 'just worked'

 

[Nighthawk4]

I called Orange - and got through amazingly quickly.

Laura tried to fix it - no luck. She asked her next-in-line - no luck.

Everything their end seems correct


So they are sending me a new SIM to try. Not sure if that changes the number or not. Anyway, if that doesn't work it seems the next option is to send the iPhone to Apple.

Should I wipe the data from it before I do that?

 

[Nighthawk4]

New SIM arrived - the first I have ever seen which actually has '3G' written on it.

Called Orange, setup new SIM, installed in iPhone3G, waited until I got Home, connected to iTunes, tested - no change.

So effectively I have an iPod Touch which received phone calls and texts - but the only data connection available is WiFi. Thanks Apple