How do I unbrick my iPhone 3G?

It’s a global problem. I’m not sure what to tell you except for wait for the dust to settle.

I’m getting the same error.

you just have to wait like the rest of us, and wait like the Apple stock holders as the market drops very rapidly (no joke) http://finance.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ:AAPL

the itunes store is offline, and the UK store opened not long ago, and California will be coming online in the next few minutes, meaning it really isn’t going to work.

I’m about to just leave my computer and do something else because nothing fast seems to be happening but more and more stuff just stops working for apple.

I can’t say I’ve seen apple fail at something so badly before, but this is upsetting, tons of people are without cell phones right now, tons of people with halfway\broken firmware… its just a mess..

but can the phone be “unbricked” at home? i know the system is swamped, but i keep reading things online that say the phone must be unbricked at the store using a special version of iTunes. but they sent me home to do it. will it work?

My friend managed to unbrick his. I’m gonna wait an hour and try periodicly after.

Buddy of mine bought his bricked, told to take it home for unbrick, didn’t work, returned to store, argued a bit, found an acquaintance to help, eventually got home again, got one unbricked okay, working on the other.

Moral of the story: like @fortis intimates, be patient.

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This is a massive worldwide rollout of software including new activations, firmware upgrades, iTunes upgrades, and App Store downloads.

Not apologizing for Apple… they knew it was coming. But I can say that the challenges they face in this effort are somewhat unprecedented.

No one who has a serious background in technology would expect a rollout of this scale to go without some hiccups. We might desire such a thing, but expect it as a matter of course, no.

I have zero worries about the long-term effects on Apple’s stock price.

Apple was just stupid about it and I was right, they should have released 2.0 for all of us ipod and 1st gen iphone users a week or so ago, whoever decided to do all of this in one day was just plain not thinking. And whoever decided that Sweden or Finland or wherever got their new iphones a day ago..

Apple isn’t thinking straight.

Mac=Devil. This just proves my theory. You release the app store on the 8th, the ipod update on the 9th, iphone update on the 10th. Then everyone has bandwith for the release of the 3g! Retards.

The comments thread on the link I provided above said to just keep clicking back and forth in iTunes between your phone and music (or whatever other heading). Mine’s starting to activate now.

@kevbo Thats what I’m curently doing. I’m hoping Im gonna get lucky one time.

Bingo!

Oh, and I bricked my old iphone installing the 2.0 firmware.

I was lucky enough to get the upgrade this morning the second it went live, and my phone bricked like everyone elses. I managed to unbrick and activate it, with 2.0 software, but Itunes cannot get any of my backed up information. My phone works like a new phone though, I can do calling and texting, etc.

Here’s the link. It should at least reactivate the phone.

My father suspects the SIM card isto blame, anyone agree?

Not really, it’s more likely the worldwide problem that every one else is having.

Is the phone actually bricked, as it it can only make emergency calls?

Yes. Both my phones are (I acidentaly bricked the other when I downloaded the 2.0 on it without a functioning SIM in it)

Yeah, so it’s most likely the fact the itunes is down and so can’t activate or do anything with a lot of iphones. It’s because there are 50 bazillion people trying to fit into a phone booth.

I still can’t belive apple. Their either total douches or completely incompetant. I went in line at 5:30 AM today to get a phone and havent been able to use it!

I know, xcnuse’s link that was posted in the second answer to your question is quite interesting. You can actually watch apples stock deteriorating by the second.

Good, I hope they burn in hell. Oh wait, I forgot they run it. Its full of bricked iphones.

@fortris, for someone who has/had the original iPhone (1, 2, 3), and obviously got in line early this morning to get the 3G, you certainly are waa-a-a-a-y far over into the buyer’s remorse area. I mean, you haven’t even had the thing in your hands for 6 hours yet.

Once unbricked and with all the 3rd party app goodness you can load up, do you think you’ll switch polarities?

Either way robmandu, not to sound like an ass, but there are thousands of people out there, that kinda somewhat.. NEED a cell phone for their daily lives thanks to the economy, unfortunately they don’t have a cell phone most likely because Apple can’t get it together, but that’s just from a broad point of view.

_
Just a little news update, the iPhone developer center has gone offline, and is currently “updating”

Okay i’m going to say this one more freaking time… WHO DECIDED TO PROCRASTINATE IN THE APPLE DEPARTMENT?!?! WHY IS ALL THIS HAPPENING IN ONE DAY!

I think apple was trying to beat firefox with their download day, but are you freaking serious; a several gazillion dollar business, vs a business that gives out freeware?
you have to be joking Apple…

@XCNuse, I agree in large part. Would not have surprised me if a gradual rollout of elements had occurred. Perhaps it should have. Maybe it couldn’t for good reason. Who knows (besides Apple)?

But I think you hold up a bit of a strawman argument. No one has to have an iPhone 3G today. I submit that if a cell phone is a mission critical element of your life, then you’d be a fool to attempt relying solely on any new product on the very first day of its global launch.

Again, not apologizing for Apple. They screwed up for sure.

But they screwed up in a way that any reasonable consumer, IMHO, should’ve expected to be possible, even likely. (I say expected, because problems with the activation servers also happened during the launch of the original iPhone. The rollout this time is an order of magnitude larger.)

Yeah, my iPhone’s messed up too. However, my iPhone is also awesome. I was lucky enough to get the early update yesterday and mess around with my apps before my phone bricked this morning when I reinstalled the original upgrade, so I know how worth it this is. My iPhone is doing things I had no idea it was capable of (and I have the old one).

ahhh, good point, @monsoon… and in all fairness, probably the real point @XCNuse was trying to make as well.

I had already forgotten that today’s problems were also bricking the original iPhones as well.

For someone who relies on their original iPhone as a mission critical piece of his/her daily life, this outage must indeed be hell.

Ugh.

YESSSS!!!!!! ITS UNBRICKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sad day for apple I suppose, but their stock is going back up for the most part.. dunno why, nothing has seemed to be happening except I guess people are walking out of stores with 3g iphones (sort of), some still waiting at home waiting for the software to make its way around but..

lol it’s all these websites that keep talking about all the apps and stuff and showing them off and it keeps happening bleh…

and it isn’t the prettiest day outside so…

SUCCESSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!11

And I canrestore my orignal settings! YES!!! Worth the wait, happy robmandu?

heh… as long as you are, @fortris.

Yeah I got mine up half an hour ago or so too. Cool beans.

Now I just gotta wait 5 hours for the restore. :(

..I hate you two lol

I’m still sitting here waiting for the dumb itunes store to come online so I can purchase and download 2.0 and laugh at my older sister who got an ipod touch a month and a half ago and decided 10$ was to much
.. she didn’t even have to pay the $20 for mail and maps and other ridiculously expensive uselessness came with the software update. It was quasi worth it, but not $20 worth it.

Have you been clicking back and forth between the library and iphone each time itunes denies your request?

i don’t have an iPhone, just the touch so..
It’s back to believing that 1.1.4 is the latest and isn’t finding 2.0 so i’ve been clicking the link from http://Apple.com
so yea.. so much for being so excited today, as we wind down to the last hours of business.

3G is awesome. Because I live DEAD CENTER in a giant coverage zone.