IPhone 4S Bricked?

[jmace39]

At about 4:30am this morning I was awakened by a light in the bedroom. It was my 4S with an all white screen. It then went black and would not start. I connected to itunes to do a restore. The restore starts normally up to the point it starts communication with the iphone. At that point the apple logo comes on and a status bar appears but does not move at all, 2+ hours, mean while itunes message is waiting for iphone. If I disconnect from the computer the phone stay in its present state and can only be shut off by pressing and holding power and home. When I plug it back in itunes states the iphone needs to be restored. I have tried this a couple of times and no change. Any suggestions or the 4S brick itself over night?

 

[willerz2]

Put the device into DFU mode and try again. Usually it might just be a software hiccup. Since you've gotten to the point f the Apple logo with the progress bar, your device is not bricked. Bricked devices will come up with blank or 0's for IMEI/ECID/BT/Wifi, or an error -1 when attempting to restore


Sent via my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[jmace39]

Thanks for the advise. I just tried to do that several times and no change.

 

[willerz2]

Might be a host issue. Navigate to your host file, and clear any gs.apple.com lines in there, flush your DNS, and retry. Make sure iTunes is closed while doing so

 

[jmace39]

Way above my head. Need more specific details. It appears that the phone is not booting to the point that ITunes can restore it.

Thanks

 

[willerz2]

Follow this.

 

[jmace39]

Thanks again, Followed the instructions several times and once it loads the software I get a 3194 error. I have turned off virus protection, the firewall and rebooted the computer all with the same result.

 

[willerz2]

Make sure you do the portion with the host as well. That resolves 3194 issues.

 

[jmace39]

Yes I ran the tiny umbrella and just looked at all of the host files in windows and nothing with Cydia listed. I let it try overnight and still the apple logo and stuck status bar. Il try it from another computer later in the morning. Appreciate the help.

Here is the host file

# Copyright (c) 1993-2009 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

# localhost name resolution is handled within DNS itself.
# 127.0.0.1 localhost
# ::1 localhost
#74.208.10.249 gs.apple.com
#127.0.0.1 gs.apple.com


I removed the last 2 lines of the file and still the same. Altough I first got an 11 error. Tried again and got a Apple Logo and non updating status bar

 

[willerz2]

The Apple hosts are commented out. But since you ran TinyUmbrella, go back to the host directory (where your host file is located) and delete the host.umbrella file. Then retry it. Again, make sure iTunes is closed while doing so.

 

[jmace39]

Thanks. Tried that no change except I am no longer getting the 3194 error. Is this something the genius bar might be able to fix and if so any idea of the cost? Not that I want to give up but if it comes to that.

 

[willerz2]

If you have another computer, install iTunes on there and see if it works there. If you don't, create a new administrator account independent of your current user account, install iTunes and retry. If that doesn't work, then it can potentially be a hardware issue.

 

[jmace39]

Tried both and no success. Just occurred to me that this failure happened on the same day as IOS 7 was to be released. Coincidence?

 

[willerz2]

Bring it to the Genius Bar and have them diagnose the device. Diagnosis should be free, the servicing is what costs. They might run a few diagnostic tests and such to see what the issue is. Or, if your device is still under warranty, they'll replace it free of charge with a replacement refurbished device.

 

[jmace39]

Thanks for all your help. I have an appointment for 6:50pm tomorrow

John