Can't access my iPhone for the next 40 years?

[AeroCare]

In Texas something typical to do is to go out on weekends and hit the yard sales on the side of the back roads. In October thousands of yard sales and vendors' booths extend 364 miles from Mesquite, Texas, just east of Dallas, to East Vicksburg, Mississippi in the U.S. 80 Hi-Way Sale. Sometimes you find some really good buys but I found something so interesting that I had to take a picture.

I stopped at a small booth from a larger well known pawn shop chain and the owner was selling an iPhone 3GS. Nothing spectacular about it but when I tried to turn it on he said the battery was dead and didn't have the charger. I went and got my charger from my truck and left it charging for about 15 minutes until it turned on.

I saw that it was disabled and the guy said he could unlock it and start pushing volume buttons then home plus power, then he would press the volume switch while toggling the vibrate switch ! It was hilarious what the guy was doing trying to make me believe that he knew what he was doing. He finally told me he forgot how to do it but he would sell it to me cheap and I could get how to do it on the 'net.

I said thanks but I'll have to think about it. I had never seen this happen to an iPhone and I really didn't have the time to wait for it to expire so I could use it.

 

[IllusionEntity]

Use DFU mode to restore it through iTunes. To access DFU mode hold the home and power button simultaneously and when the screen goes black let go of the power button and keep holding the home button. Do all of this while plugged into iTunes and it will detect the new hardware. Then restore. Try that and get back to us

 

[Europa]

I've seen similar screenshots several times before. You get lots of hits if you Google iPod/iPhone disabled for 40 years. The only way to gain access to the data that is on it right now is to connect it to the computer that it is synced with and input in the correct passcode on the computer. Otherwise, the phone has to be restored to factory settings.

 

[AeroCare]

I never bought it. The only way I need another 3GS is if it's practically free. I have a couple right now I'm selling on Craigslist along with three iPhone 4 and a Verizon iP4S.

 

[MuddyPaws]

Yup. I have fixed this problem for several people but mostly on iPods. Seems no one knows why it does this sometimes. A bug in the software somewhere. Super funny the first time I saw it though. As said, a restore from DFU works

 

[AeroCare]

I just found it interesting and never thought about even researching it since I didn't buy it. Now that you've all told me how simple the fix I might stop by someday and fix it for him so he can sell it.

 

[Lon]

The only way to gain access to the data that is on it right now is to connect it to the computer that it is synced with and input in the correct passcode on the computer. Otherwise, the phone has to be restored to factory settings.

Great information. So if I have an iPhone that has a bad screen that won't allow me to enter the password, I can do it from the computer IF it is the computer that it was last synced with?

 

[Europa]

I doubt it. That's a different problem. You can reverse the lockout through iTunes, but you can't input a password on computer as an alternative to inputting it on the phone. And even if you could, you still wouldn't be able to see the screen once it was unlocked, right? Was this defective phone set with a lockout? You could always restore it and set it up with no passcode and replace the screen.

 

[Lon]

I doubt it. That's a different problem. You can reverse the lockout through iTunes, but you can't input a password on computer as an alternative to inputting it on the phone. And even if you could, you still wouldn't be able to see the screen once it was unlocked, right? Was this defective phone set with a lockout? You could always restore it and set it up with no passcode and replace the screen.

The screen is viewable, it is just not responsive to touch on the bottom half of the screen where you have to enter the password. At the top of the screen we can swipe and turn the power off. Already have a new iPhone (this one is the original iPhone). We just want to create a backup so we can get the pictures and some other data from it, so don't want to restore as new as there is no recent backup. iTunes won't allow access to the backup as it is locked and the PC won't recognize the phone as an external drive. I didn't try it on the computer that the phone was last synced to (last April!).

 

[AeroCare]

The screen is viewable, it is just not responsive to touch on the bottom half of the screen where you have to enter the password. At the top of the screen we can swipe and turn the power off. Already have a new iPhone (this one is the original iPhone). We just want to create a backup so we can get the pictures and some other data from it, so don't want to restore as new as there is no recent backup. iTunes won't allow access to the backup as it is locked and the PC won't recognize the phone as an external drive. I didn't try it on the computer that the phone was last synced to (last April!).

That's weird. I sync my iPhone all the time while it's locked. Have you actually tried to sync it? That would take all the data from the phone and back it up to your computer and you'd have your pictures and other info in their respective files.

 

[verwon]

Maybe it takes such an odd combination of stuff to do this, that it's Apple's way of telling someone they're too stupid to own a smart phone?

 

[AeroCare]

Maybe it takes such an odd combination of stuff to do this, that it's Apple's way of telling someone they're too stupid to own a smart phone?

WHAT? What post are you referring to? That's not even funny as a joke or am I missing something here?

 

[Lon]

That's weird. I sync my iPhone all the time while it's locked. Have you actually tried to sync it? That would take all the data from the phone and back it up to your computer and you'd have your pictures and other info in their respective files.

I just tried that with my iP4S and it worked fine. I am going to have to hook up the old iPhone to the original computer it was synced with and see if that works. iTunes would not allow the backup on a new computer that the phone has never been synced with before. Maybe that is the key.

Edit: Didn't mean to highjack this Thread.

 

[AeroCare]

No problem on my side. I'm the OP of this thread and I started it as a "interesting" kind of thread. If it can now help you I have no problem.

 

[applejailescape]

how much was he looking for it , just out of interest

 

[AeroCare]

Don't remember right now.

 

[Lon]

I am going to have to hook up the old iPhone to the original computer it was synced with and see if that works. iTunes would not allow the backup on a new computer that the phone has never been synced with before. Maybe that is the key.

Just to follow up. That WAS the key. I connected the phone to the old computer that it had been synced with once before and it did not require the password. We then backed it up and now have that data to add to the new iPhone. Thanks for all the help.

 

[AeroCare]

Glad we could help.