I am an iOS developer. When the new iOS 5 beta came out, I got excited and wanted to be one of the few that got to play with it before everyone else. It was late in the day and I tried to rush the firmware and before you know it. It was bricked. *sob*
In case you don't know, when someone calls your phone or pretty much any electronic device a "brick" it is because the firmware has been messed up somehow and there is no way to fix it. Therefore it's only useful purpose is as a paperweight or a brick. Bricking your smartphone is not good. There is no turning back. However, there is a issue with this. when you are updating your "firmware" on your iOS, you are not just updating the firmware, but you are updating the operating system as well. These are two very different things. A firmware malfunction is deadly. An OS malfunction is salvageable!
It seems that if you get the itunes icon with a usb connection going towards it. This is just a OS issue and the firmware is most likely fine. Good news for you! You can save it. Here is how.
First thing you will probably see when trying to do a restore and why you think it is bricked is a 1065 error which basically says to reboot your machine, restart or re-install your itunes and try again. This will mostly likely not work unless you are really lucky.
To do a lower level restore, you need to hold both the power and home button down for a few seconds on your device to make sure it is off. (Just because the screen is blank does not mean it is off.)
Then hold down the home button (just the home button is needed) for 10 seconds. While you are still holding it down, connect your device to iTunes. Doesn't matter if it is a PC or Mac, works both ways. It should show you the apple logo on the screen and then the itunes connect image that you've seen before. You can let go of the home button at this point. It should also pop something up on iTunes saying it detected a device that needs a restore.
Now this is where things get a little different from others. If you just screwed up your firmware for most reasons, you can just hit the restore and it should download the latest version of the iOS and install it for you. However, if you tried to update to the beta version of the iOS, this will not work as there is a safety check on the device to make sure you don't try and downgrade your iOS. I think it is error 1015. This happens about halfway through the install bar on the device. Because you tried to beta your device, you need to do something extra.
Hopefully you still have your beta iOS firmware still. I would recommend re-downloading it as it might be the reason you have this problem in the first place. Then, when it is unzipped and waiting for you. Hold down the "option" button on your mac (or the "shift" button on the PC) and click on the restore button on iTunes. This should bring up a fileview for you to find the iOS that you are updating to. select that and you should be off to the races.
20 minutes later, it should have the OS installed and you can now re-sync your stuff onto your device.
In case you don't know, when someone calls your phone or pretty much any electronic device a "brick" it is because the firmware has been messed up somehow and there is no way to fix it. Therefore it's only useful purpose is as a paperweight or a brick. Bricking your smartphone is not good. There is no turning back. However, there is a issue with this. when you are updating your "firmware" on your iOS, you are not just updating the firmware, but you are updating the operating system as well. These are two very different things. A firmware malfunction is deadly. An OS malfunction is salvageable!
It seems that if you get the itunes icon with a usb connection going towards it. This is just a OS issue and the firmware is most likely fine. Good news for you! You can save it. Here is how.
First thing you will probably see when trying to do a restore and why you think it is bricked is a 1065 error which basically says to reboot your machine, restart or re-install your itunes and try again. This will mostly likely not work unless you are really lucky.
To do a lower level restore, you need to hold both the power and home button down for a few seconds on your device to make sure it is off. (Just because the screen is blank does not mean it is off.)
Then hold down the home button (just the home button is needed) for 10 seconds. While you are still holding it down, connect your device to iTunes. Doesn't matter if it is a PC or Mac, works both ways. It should show you the apple logo on the screen and then the itunes connect image that you've seen before. You can let go of the home button at this point. It should also pop something up on iTunes saying it detected a device that needs a restore.
Now this is where things get a little different from others. If you just screwed up your firmware for most reasons, you can just hit the restore and it should download the latest version of the iOS and install it for you. However, if you tried to update to the beta version of the iOS, this will not work as there is a safety check on the device to make sure you don't try and downgrade your iOS. I think it is error 1015. This happens about halfway through the install bar on the device. Because you tried to beta your device, you need to do something extra.
Hopefully you still have your beta iOS firmware still. I would recommend re-downloading it as it might be the reason you have this problem in the first place. Then, when it is unzipped and waiting for you. Hold down the "option" button on your mac (or the "shift" button on the PC) and click on the restore button on iTunes. This should bring up a fileview for you to find the iOS that you are updating to. select that and you should be off to the races.
20 minutes later, it should have the OS installed and you can now re-sync your stuff onto your device.
