# iPhone 3gs.locked



## Migs123 (Oct 28, 2013)

Hello,
I have an iPhone 5 that is broken and beyond repair. My sister gave me her old iPhone 3g that has iOS 6 on it. There is a passcode on it, and since it's been years since she last used it, she forgot the passcode. We tried several possible passcodes, but they were all incorrect. After a while, the iPhone said that it's disabled. This morning, however, it prompted me for a passcode. 
Seeing that I can't get through the passcode, is there a way to just do a restore so it will just go back to the factory settings with iOS6? I don't think iOS 8 will work with an iPhone 3gs. If I connect the phone to iTunes, it's probably going to prompt me to download iOS 8, which won't work on iPhone 3gs. Is there a way to sync it with iTunes and just erase everything and keep iOS6 on there? Can anyone help me figure out how to use this phone? 
Thanks


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## MartyF81 (Jan 23, 2013)

Sorry we do not provide support here for circumventing passwords or security on devices.


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

Try the instructions here: How to restore a password protected iPhone (iOS 6) - Spiceworks


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## Migs123 (Oct 28, 2013)

Ok if I get the computer to recognize the iPhone, will I be able to restore it so it runs iOS 6? Is there a way? Do I have to jailbreak it? I really miss iOS 6. Why is Apple blinding us with all the white?
Even this cheap LG Android prepaid has a bluelight filter. It makes such a difference


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

You can only go forward in iOS, not backwards.


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## MartyF81 (Jan 23, 2013)

If your phone is currently running iOS 6, you can restore it to iOS 6, but if you have already upgraded to iOS 7 or iOS 8... you cannot go backwards like Masterchief.


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## Migs123 (Oct 28, 2013)

MartyF81 said:


> If your phone is currently running iOS 6, you can restore it to iOS 6, but if you have already upgraded to iOS 7 or iOS 8... you cannot go backwards like Masterchief.


Ok, but the problem is that I can't get into the phone. My sister owns the device, and she gave it to me. She does not remember the passcode. When I plug it in to my computer, it says that I need to enter a password. What can I do? Can my sister call up apple and reset the password?
Thanks


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## MartyF81 (Jan 23, 2013)

Did you follow the link that koala posted earlier? It explains how to put the device in recovery mode, which would allow you to completely wipe the phone and install the OS from scratch.


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## Migs123 (Oct 28, 2013)

MartyF81 said:


> Did you follow the link that koala posted earlier? It explains how to put the device in recovery mode, which would allow you to completely wipe the phone and install the OS from scratch.


Oh I didn't read the instructions carefully. It says that you have to start the restore process when it is NOT connected to iTunes. Sorry about that. I will check back here when I do that.
So if I do that I will still be able to run ios6? It will just restore to factory settings, and not force you to install ios8, correct?
Thanks


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## MartyF81 (Jan 23, 2013)

Yes, an iPhone 3GS is only capable of running iOS 6 or lower. You wouldn't even be able to install 7 or 8 if you wanted to.


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## Migs123 (Oct 28, 2013)

koala said:


> Try the instructions here: How to restore a password protected iPhone (iOS 6) - Spiceworks


I followed all the steps, but now Windowis looking for 2 apple mobile device in recovery mode drivers. It searches and searches Windows Update and it is not finding them. I tried pointing the driver install to the folder in which is the apple mobile device driver but it says that it can't install the device driver software.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

You need to use iTunes to factory restore the iPhone, not Windows Updates.


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## Migs123 (Oct 28, 2013)

Masterchiefxx17 said:


> You need to use iTunes to factory restore the iPhone, not Windows Updates.


Yes I am trying to use iTunes. I do everything it says. Itunes is open on my computer. I plug the USB cable into my computer, but I don't plug in the iPhone just yet. Then I hold down home and power buttons, and turn off the iPhone. I release the power button, but keep my thumb down on the home button. Then, still holding down the home button on the iPhone, I connect it to the USB. The iPhone doesn't show up in iTunes. As soon as I plug the iPhone into the USB cord, the driver wizard starts and detects two new devices, both of which are called Apple Mobile Device (Recovery Mode) If I stop the driver wizard, it still doesn't show up in iTunes. It hunts for the drivers in Windows Update. If I stop it, and just browse for the driver myself in the system32 folder where the regular apple mobile device driver is located, it says that it can't install the driver for this device. In device manager it says that it is an unknown driver. I have attached pictures.
Oh and I did try to reinstall the apple mobile device driver and iphone driver
And I have tried searching through google, and apparently a few other people have had the same problem but no solution,.:banghead:
Thanks


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Does the iPhone show that its launching in recovery mode? Why would you stop the wizard?

Try a reinstall of iTunes which should reinstall the drivers.


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## Migs123 (Oct 28, 2013)

Masterchiefxx17 said:


> Does the iPhone show that its launching in recovery mode? Why would you stop the wizard?
> 
> Try a reinstall of iTunes which should reinstall the drivers.



OK, I figured it out. After like 3 hours of trying multiple things. This is what I did. 
I disconnected the iPhone from the USB cord that was attached to the computer. I powered down the phone pressing the home and power buttons. 
Then I connected the phone while pressing the home button, forcing it into recovery mode. The driver wizard was going bananas looking for the recovery mode Apple mobile device recovery mode drivers and NOT just the apple mobile device drivers. Again it started it's futile search in Windows Update for these drivers. So when the dialog box popped up asking me what to do, I clicked the bottom option of "do not display this message again for this device" (as you see in the attachment.)

So I went into services,and I kept turning the phone off and putting it in recovery mode, and I stopped the service and started the apple mobile device service, and then I stopped the service once more, left it off, and connected the phone, and finally, iTunes recognized that the iPhone was in recovery mode. I clicked "restore iPhone" and it started to download an update for iOS 6. 

I waited for the update to download and restarted the apple mobile device service. It continued to download and when it finished downloading, it started to restore. Unfortunately it wasn't able to restore because there was an error. I thought I had it at this point but I didn't.

So I took the advice of MasterChief, and tried to reinstall iTunes. When I did, it still went through the same problem of not showing up in iTunes. This time the iPhone was stuck in recovery mode. It also said that there was a problem with the iPod service. 

So, after pulling my hair out, I did this. 
I uninstalled iTunes. I uninstalled apple mobile device support, bonjour, application support, basically everything that had to do with iTunes. I reinstalled everything. Again, there was a problem with the iPod service....

So I again uninstalled everything that had to do with iTunes - bonjour, apple mobile device support, application support...etc.. and I ran an application called "everything search" and searched for everything pertaining to apple, iTunes, apple mobile device support, and deleted everything. NOTE: I only deleted the files that were integral to iTunes, apple mobile device and iPod,iPhone and not to others. For example, there are certain files that say "iTunes" that are part of other programs and presets which I did not delete. (this is important) So I deleted prefetch files and app data, and temporary files. 

Now I know that TSF does not agree with modifying the registry, so I will tell you that you can do the following at your own risk. I opened up Ccleaner, and scanned for registry errors. (I also don't recommend modifying the registry if you do not know what you are doing.) So after the scan, I chose all the items that had to do with iTunes and deleted them. (If you do this there is an option to backup the changes to the registry which I did)
My theory behind this, and I have done this with iTunes in the past, is that when you uninstall iTunes there are these little files that hang around that sometimes conflict with future installations... 
Another good thorough uninstaller is Revo Uninstaller, but it is sort of does the work for you and I would rather use Everything Search.
So I restarted my computer, installed iTunes, connected my iPhone, and I restored with success!
I now am running iOS 6 and it is great! It is a little slow, but I miss the old iPhone iOS. I know it is super old school but I am happy with it.

I hope this helps some people. 

TSF Rules


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## MartyF81 (Jan 23, 2013)

Glad to hear you got it working! Thanks for sharing what worked for you incase someones else has similar problems!


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Glad to hear of the success! Enjoy!


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## Migs123 (Oct 28, 2013)

Its my pleasure to try and help out. One more thing though, I did Foresee many apps to be incompatible with iOS 6, but no one would know of a thread or website to show me some decent apps that are still compatible with iOS 6? I'm getting frustrated as I keep searching the App Store and starting the process and getting the pop-up saying its incompatible. For example I would like to find an ePub reader, PDF and some multimedia and productivity tools. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

Try this site for finding iOS6 apps: https://sites.google.com/site/appleclubfhs/support/store-searches/finding-apps-for-older-devices

Click the iPhone 3GS icon, then enter the software you're looking for and click the Search For Apps button.

Some examples of its results:
Free ePub software
Free PDF Reader


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