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iPhone 4S gets Error 21 and stuck in recovery mode. New batt. but dead when unplugged

McGyver

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Hi!

I was stupid and bought a used 4S the other day. I was told it was in recovery mode, but I gambled and thought it was a quick fix.

Some of the symptoms are similar to other posts found by google, but not all. Therefore I made my own thread.
So...can my 4S be fixed, or is it just for parts?

1.
-When connecting to iTunes the iPhone displays the "connect to iTunes" picture and an iTunes dialog pops up saying it discovered an iPhone in recovery mode.
-iTunes says the iPhone needs an update, so I confirm and see that iTunes downloads iOS6.
-When iOS6 is downloaded, i start the recovery option in iTunes and confirm the recovery and update.
-iTunes fetches software for a while..."verifying with Apple"...."preparing update".... then iPhone goes black screen (turns off?) and in a few seconds the apple logo comes on.
-Next thing iTunes comes up with "unknown error" "error 21" and the iPhone is back to the "connect to iTunes" picture on the screen.

2
-I tried the same procedure in DFU mode by holding both sleep/wake-button and home button for about 10 sec, then releasing sleep/wake-button right before the apple logo appears.
-The Apple logo switches to "connect to iTunes" picture quite fast. So I'm not sure I'm actually in DFU mode.
-The rest is the same as in example 1.

3.
I tried the same procedures as above but by forcing iTunes to use some .ipsw files i downloaded from iOS 6 IPSW [Direct Download Links]
but with same result as above. Tried both iOS 5.1.1 and iOS6 fw files.

4.
An odd thing is that the iPhone seems dead if it isn't plugged into a computer or a wallcharger.
I figured it had to be a batteryfault, as i found a video telling me this on youtube. Same symptoms and error 21.
Exept for me it didn't help to change the battery.

Is there hope for my iPhone?

Thanks for any tips!!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I have tried some more, but still in recovery mode or looping on/off showing just Apple logo.

The iPhone actually shuts off so iTunes looses contact, then rec mode again and error 21.

I have checked the battery connector and it seems ok. Some videos on youtube explains that a thorough rinse og the motherboard usunt alkohol could solve it, in case it has vern waterdamaged. But I still needs help here....

Anyone?
 
it doesnt sound like you entered dfu mode because the screen would be black and be able to be recognized in itunes.

i recommend getting the ecid of your iphone then searching for shsh blobs with tiny umbrella. if you find any blobs, stitch the blob to an ipsw with redsnow and enter pwned dfu mode and restore with the custom ipsw. if you get error 1 use recovery fix in redsnow. ]

good luck
 
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