Restore error 28! how to fix it?

[Sutinov]

Hello about a month ago my iphone just froze and i restarted it! after that it showed me the connect to itunes logo in recovery mode! i tryed to restore it but it showed me error 28! does anyone know how to fix this problem!

Thanks!

[GrabYourWeapons]

Error 28 is a hardware error. It's a file that the phone needs and the iPhone cannot find it. Apple suggests a hardware replacement.

[Poseidon79]

Any error in the 20's is not fixable. I've had 23 & 26 in the past on friends iPhones and no amount of DFU or Recovery restores will bring it back to life. Sorry.

[AppleRev]

I'm trying to gather some factual data about error 28. Did you jailbreak the device? Did you buy an app from iTunes after jailbreaking it?

What did you do with the bricked device?

[Melech518]

iphone error 28 Post #14

I have gotten several iPhones out of error 28. But the bad news, further down the line you will run into the issue again and again as it IS indeed a hardware problem.

[Sutinov]

I'm trying to gather some factual data about error 28. Did you jailbreak the device? Did you buy an app from iTunes after jailbreaking it?

What did you do with the bricked device?

Yup i jailbreaked the device because that was the only way to use the iphone in my country! and i bought some applications from iTunes like skype , facebook. And I still have the device because i'm from Macedonia :S! Thanks for the reply

[AppleRev]

I agree in part with what Melech518 says: This is a problem that will keep coming back. I don't think it's a HW problem because once you learn how to restore the device you can do it again and again. While the device works, the performance is perfect. This tells me this has to be a SW problem (incompatibility or a way of Apple telling us not to jailbreak a device? Who knows?)

I guess you can follow these steps every time until the device doesn't want to restore again.

Here's the process:
1. Download redsn0w 0.8
2. Download iPod IPSW 3.0 7A341
3. Jailbreak the device. If you can't do it, it's because you have to learn to put the device in DFU mode. Most people don't know how to do this correctly. In DFU mode the device seems to be turned off.
4. Very imporant step while jailbreaking the device - You have to indicate redsn0w not to install Cydia. This is the reason I believe it has to do with Apple telling us not to jailbreak.
5. You'll get the 'Restore' message again after getting a screen that shows a hard drive and the message 'Download Jailbreak Data'. This is normal.
6. Go back to iTunes. Restore it from there. The restore will go through.

I've followed this process successfully several times.

[Sutinov]

I agree in part with what Melech518 says: This is a problem that will keep coming back. I don't think it's a HW problem because once you learn how to restore the device you can do it again and again. While the device works, the performance is perfect. This tells me this has to be a SW problem (incompatibility or a way of Apple telling us not to jailbreak a device? Who knows?)

I guess you can follow these steps every time until the device doesn't want to restore again.

Here's the process:
1. Download redsn0w 0.8
2. Download iPod IPSW 3.0 7A341
3. Jailbreak the device. If you can't do it, it's because you have to learn to put the device in DFU mode. Most people don't know how to do this correctly. In DFU mode the device seems to be turned off.
4. Very imporant step while jailbreaking the device - You have to indicate redsn0w not to install Cydia. This is the reason I believe it has to do with Apple telling us not to jailbreak.
5. You'll get the 'Restore' message again after getting a screen that shows a hard drive and the message 'Download Jailbreak Data'. This is normal.
6. Go back to iTunes. Restore it from there. The restore will go through.

I've followed this process successfully several times.

i've tried this couple of times. on step 5 i'm stuck on downloading jailbreak data! i'm stuck there!ant the restore proces starts but also there i'm stuck on waiting for iphone and after some time it shows me error 28! i'm in dfu mode!

[captainhighjack]

I was stuck on the apple boot logo and my computer would not recognized the Iphone 3g. I tryed everything imaginable to get it to sync and restore. after many failed attempts and three other pc's I was able to get it to recovery mode. when attempting to restore it would stop and give me error 28 this Iphone cannot be restored. after at least 30 attempts to restore and error 28 every time. I thought it was a lost cause. this morning while holding the Iphone in my hand and turning it over and over morning the loss of my toy, I observed a piece of lint in the charging port and thought I know that has nothing to do with this issue but I should clean it out, I took a dental pick with a flat edge and started to clean the port and I wasn't overly careful because the phone was junk and I was going to send it back to apple for out of warranty replacement. and all I can say is the dental pick must have grounded out something similar to (test pointing) a cellphone because while rubbing it around in there it caused the phone to reboot and now it works perfectly. I did not even have to restore the phone. I will tell you I messed with this phone for over six hours and read every post on the internet to try to fix this issue with no luck. and I fixed it on my own with a flat dental pick. with the screen facing down in the palm of your hand stick the metal tool of your choice in the larger gap closer to the chrome bezel and wiggle it around gently like you are cleaning lint out, and see if you can get it to reboot. mine did. yahoo.

[Melech518]

Your fix is coincidental at most. The error 28 stems from a hardware malfunction in a chip on the main board itself. No matter how many times you get the phone out of this awful error 28 cycle, it will come back to haunt you eventually. Just some hints: Try not to let the battery die EVER, and be careful with forced reboots.

[captainhighjack]

I was wishing I had stumbled across something important. just lucky I guess. thanks for your reply.

[zac12345]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwEUrLtJKoM]YouTube - iPhone Error 28 Fix Part 1 of 2[/ame]

This is it. Worked for me and not hard at all. Hard to break something.

[zac12345]

As long as it isn't broken and didn't get the message after dropping the Iphone or water damage.