For me the nightmare began last night. I was on duty at the station and I looked down and the App Store application informed me there was an update to one of my apps. Since it was late at night and I was unlikely to get a call I decided to go ahead and update through the iPhone. When the application looked to be about 90% percent or more installed the iPhone suddenly rebooted. I got to the Apple logo and that was a far as it got. I let it sit there for about a half hour and then gave up on the phone making it through the boot process. I tried a hard reboot but again, the phone would not make it through the boot process.

My next thought was to get it hooked up to my Mac and see if I perform a restore. No go on that. iTunes would not recognize it. So, I took the last resort and that was to do a DFU restore (Information on how to do this will be at the bottom of this page). Soon I got the image of a USB cable and the iTunes logo and iTunes recognized the phone and offered to do a firmware/software restore. At this point I thought my troubles were over. After the restore the phone would boot and all my apps, music, video and contacts were back and the phone started to operate normally. Wishful thinking, the phone soon locked up again and would not respond so it was back to the DFU restore process. I did this a total of three times before I decided I needed to do a little net investigating. Well, in my search I came across a post in Apple’s own discussion forums. Seems I’m not the only one with this issue.

Forum Thread

So, where am I at now? After doing some reading online I have decided not to sync my applications through iTunes and I am not going to download anything through the App Store on the iPhone that isn’t produced by a major software developer, ie. Apple, EA, Sega, Vivendi. I will also do this slowly. Download an app or group of apps and then run the phone through it’s normal use to determine if it is going to lock up before moving on.

I will posts updates for anyone reading about the pitfalls or triumphs I encounter in this long and tedious process. Of course, Apple could save me the trouble of having to do this by releasing a firmware or software update but I don’t see that happening any time soon.

To Perform a hard reboot of your iPhone, do the following;

Hold the Power button and the Home button down until the phone reboots.

When the phone shuts off, release the buttons.

Turn the phone on as you normally would.

To place the phone in Recovery Mode;

Turn your phone off.

While holding down the Home button, plug your iPhone into your computer via your USB cable.

Continue hold the Home button until an iTunes dialog informs you the phone is in recovery mode.

Follow the on screen instructions to reformat and restore your phone.

To place the phone in DFU Recovery Mode;

Plug your iPhone into your computer via your USB cable.

Turn your phone off.

Hold the power button and the home button, after ~ 7 seconds release the power button but continue to hold the home button. Your phone’s display should not turn on.

iTunes should pop up a dialog box once it detects your phone.

Follow the on screen instructions to reformat and restore your phone.

Note – This method more or less bypasses your phone’s normal boot process allowing your to do a more through restore that is very useful with downgrading or upgrading your phone’s firmware.

This blog post has generated a lot of interest as well as hits and I would like to hear more about your iPhone woes. I believe getting your troubles with the iPhone out there in the open for the public to read helps make Apple aware of any shortcomings this phone has and prompts them to fix them as soon as possible. It’s in their best interest to ensure the public’s opinion of this device is a positive one. Please consider clicking the link below and posting your story in our forums for others to read. Thanks!

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