In our 4 Rs of iPhone troubleshooting, we note that restoring the iPhone as a new phone can resolve various issues. However, some problems may require that the phone is restored while it is in DFU (device firmware upgrade) mode. Doing so may resolve issues with Exchange, an inability to send and receive MMS messages, device slowness and other problems.
To perform a DFU restore, follow these steps:
1. Backup your phone and preserve data. Follow the steps in this Apple Knowledge Base article to transfer your purchases and backup your iPhone.
2. Put iPhone into DFU mode. Connect your iPhone to your computer and open iTunes (if it doesn’t open automatically). Hold down both the top (sleep/wake) and home buttons for exactly 10 seconds, then release the top (sleep/wake) button but keep holding the home button until iTunes displays a message stating that a phone in recovery mode has been discovered.
3. Restore. Press the restore button and allow the phone to complete the restoration data. After it is done, select setup as a new phone.
4. Restore your backup (optional). Next, you can restore the phone again in the normal fashion (not DFU mode) using the most recent backup rather than setting up as a new phone. However, this may cause the original problem to return in some cases. If the problem returns, follow steps 1-3 again and do not restore your backup.
November 13, 2010 at 5:52 AM
Please help. my iphone keeps switching itself off. I then have to press the sleep/wake button to make it work again which results in a apple logo appearing for stupid amount of time, it will then start working again only for it to go off usually within seconds. It only does this when the charge/ usb is unplugged. It is now a completely unreliable phone unless i can get in rectified. Have tried to reset/restore/ dfu restore. nothing seems to work. please help.
cheers Winnie.
January 7, 2011 at 7:59 PM
This worked for me after 3g stopped working in most places
(but occassionally did work including in the Apple store).
Interestingly the genius behind the counter concluded a new phone
would be best but i insisted on a DFU restore after having read
this article (I hadnt had a chance to try it myself before my appt
so i thought i’d let them do it) and sure enough it came good! One
less iPhone in the world and i can keep my 3GS with no extra costs.
thanks all!
December 26, 2011 at 8:06 AM
i think that i have the same problem of mike w,i have iphone 3gs 4.1 jailbroken ,i have a problem my iphone keeps switching itself off. I then have to press the sleep/wake button to make it work again which results in a apple logo appearing for stupid amount of time, it will then start working again for minutes , i have no wifi,no cellular data, i can not make or receive calls also no bluetooth ,i tried to restore it to it is 4.1 using DFU mode and it lawyers give me error no.1013,i tried to upgrade without success ,please help.
Hisham obeidat
July 11, 2012 at 7:48 PM
I locked myself out of my iPhone 4. I can’t seem to get the correct passcode put in,so it’s saying disabled connect to iTunes. Is there any way to not erase everything and unlock my phone? I dont think i ever even backed this phone up before. So am I just screwed?
August 27, 2012 at 5:36 PM
I got iphone 4 in february 2011, and even before three months, it started showing problems and hence I had to get it replaced. Just couple of months later, it just switched off itself and would not just start, tried restoring and everything, but didnt help so then, i had to get it replaced, paid 150 dollars, and in just couple of weeks again, it does not have enough range for bluetooth, I have to practically keep the iphone near my mouth for the other party to hear me clearly. I guess apple just does not have the real quality phones that they claim they have and they have just set up this business of refurbished iPhones so that they keep on minting money through this way