Bizarre iPhone 3GS malfunction - sudden restore-resistant "deactivation"
Hi folks,
Apologies if this should go in the Genius Bar forums, but I imagine a mod will set me straight if so. Haven't posted on AI in years...!
Backstory: been happily using an 8GB iPhone 3G for a year with no problems. My contract (with Australian provider Optus) was up two weeks ago, so I rolled into a new contract and got the white 32GB 3GS as part of the deal.
Swapped out the SIM, restored the new iPhone from the backup of my old one and carried on with no problems... until last night.
Last night I happened to pull my iPhone out of my pocket to send an SMS and noticed that the signal strength indicator was showing one bar, with no carrier name and no 3G/EDGE icon, as it does when the phone is switching networks. Waited patiently but nothing changed. Obviously, couldn't make calls, send messages or access wifi.
Then went to Settings and noticed that the Carrier tab was, with complete regularity, switching itself from visible to hidden every 5 seconds or so, as though Airplane Mode were being toggled. While visible, I touched it and the message "Unable to load network list" was displayed.
The interface was also chugging and choking like I've never seen even on the old model. Persistent, several-seconds-long lag interspersed with periods of complete non-responsiveness.
Concerned, I power cycled. No effect.
Reset using Home/Power button combo. No effect.
Used Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings / Erase All Content and Settings / Reset Network Settings. No effect (multiple tries).
Hooked it up to iTunes and restored from backup. The first time, I got the "There is a problem with your iPhone" error message.
Tried again and it appeared to restore successfully from iTunes' point of view, but the phone displayed the "Connect to iTunes" screen, one bar of signal, and "Waiting for Activation: This may take some time." When disconnected from iTunes, I was able to get to the home screen, but interface lag persisted.
Subsequent efforts at restoring (including DFU mode firmware restore) had only the effect of - and here is where it gets really weird - causing the number of apps visible on the iPhone home screen after each sync to continually decrease until only 8 apps remained. My backups on iTunes, however, appear to be fine.
I imagine this is a hardware failure of some description, since I've tried everything in the book and a few things that aren't, but if anyone out there has encountered a similar phenomenon I would love to hear about it.
(As for the iPhone it's back to the bloody Optus store to get a new one...)
Apologies if this should go in the Genius Bar forums, but I imagine a mod will set me straight if so. Haven't posted on AI in years...!
Backstory: been happily using an 8GB iPhone 3G for a year with no problems. My contract (with Australian provider Optus) was up two weeks ago, so I rolled into a new contract and got the white 32GB 3GS as part of the deal.
Swapped out the SIM, restored the new iPhone from the backup of my old one and carried on with no problems... until last night.
Last night I happened to pull my iPhone out of my pocket to send an SMS and noticed that the signal strength indicator was showing one bar, with no carrier name and no 3G/EDGE icon, as it does when the phone is switching networks. Waited patiently but nothing changed. Obviously, couldn't make calls, send messages or access wifi.
Then went to Settings and noticed that the Carrier tab was, with complete regularity, switching itself from visible to hidden every 5 seconds or so, as though Airplane Mode were being toggled. While visible, I touched it and the message "Unable to load network list" was displayed.
The interface was also chugging and choking like I've never seen even on the old model. Persistent, several-seconds-long lag interspersed with periods of complete non-responsiveness.
Concerned, I power cycled. No effect.
Reset using Home/Power button combo. No effect.
Used Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings / Erase All Content and Settings / Reset Network Settings. No effect (multiple tries).
Hooked it up to iTunes and restored from backup. The first time, I got the "There is a problem with your iPhone" error message.
Tried again and it appeared to restore successfully from iTunes' point of view, but the phone displayed the "Connect to iTunes" screen, one bar of signal, and "Waiting for Activation: This may take some time." When disconnected from iTunes, I was able to get to the home screen, but interface lag persisted.
Subsequent efforts at restoring (including DFU mode firmware restore) had only the effect of - and here is where it gets really weird - causing the number of apps visible on the iPhone home screen after each sync to continually decrease until only 8 apps remained. My backups on iTunes, however, appear to be fine.
I imagine this is a hardware failure of some description, since I've tried everything in the book and a few things that aren't, but if anyone out there has encountered a similar phenomenon I would love to hear about it.
(As for the iPhone it's back to the bloody Optus store to get a new one...)
Comments
Hi folks,
Apologies if this should go in the Genius Bar forums, but I imagine a mod will set me straight if so. Haven't posted on AI in years...!
Backstory: been happily using an 8GB iPhone 3G for a year with no problems. My contract (with Australian provider Optus) was up two weeks ago, so I rolled into a new contract and got the white 32GB 3GS as part of the deal.
Swapped out the SIM, restored the new iPhone from the backup of my old one and carried on with no problems... until last night.
Last night I happened to pull my iPhone out of my pocket to send an SMS and noticed that the signal strength indicator was showing one bar, with no carrier name and no 3G/EDGE icon, as it does when the phone is switching networks. Waited patiently but nothing changed. Obviously, couldn't make calls, send messages or access wifi.
Then went to Settings and noticed that the Carrier tab was, with complete regularity, switching itself from visible to hidden every 5 seconds or so, as though Airplane Mode were being toggled. While visible, I touched it and the message "Unable to load network list" was displayed.
The interface was also chugging and choking like I've never seen even on the old model. Persistent, several-seconds-long lag interspersed with periods of complete non-responsiveness.
Concerned, I power cycled. No effect.
Reset using Home/Power button combo. No effect.
Used Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings / Erase All Content and Settings / Reset Network Settings. No effect (multiple tries).
Hooked it up to iTunes and restored from backup. The first time, I got the "There is a problem with your iPhone" error message.
Tried again and it appeared to restore successfully from iTunes' point of view, but the phone displayed the "Connect to iTunes" screen, one bar of signal, and "Waiting for Activation: This may take some time." When disconnected from iTunes, I was able to get to the home screen, but interface lag persisted.
Subsequent efforts at restoring (including DFU mode firmware restore) had only the effect of - and here is where it gets really weird - causing the number of apps visible on the iPhone home screen after each sync to continually decrease until only 8 apps remained. My backups on iTunes, however, appear to be fine.
I imagine this is a hardware failure of some description, since I've tried everything in the book and a few things that aren't, but if anyone out there has encountered a similar phenomenon I would love to hear about it.
(As for the iPhone it's back to the bloody Optus store to get a new one...)
Sounds 85% to me like a hardware issue. Send it to Apple for an exchange. If you have AppleCare, good for you!