Thread: Need help with iphone error 23

ok first of all thanks for taking the time to look at this. my iphone says restore needed but when i connect it to itunes it says sim is not in or it has a pinlock, im using a att sim and it dosent have a pin lock. ive tried setting my default browser and such. when ever i put into recovery mode and restore i just get error 28. ive tried using winpwn, quickpwn, ziphone, idk what else to do. is there any program so i can go back to factory setting or anyway of doing it without using itunes? or at least activate the sim somehow. please help me, i need my phone back haha.

I, too, have struggled with some problems of this nature.

I believe that some of my challenges have a root cause from my using a laptop with Windows XP (my laptop is also getting close to 4 yrs old). As a result, I try to avoid upgrading my firmware as loonnggg as is possible. I am currently running on 2.1 firmware.

I've had to go through the process (every time) of removing all of my Apple software from my laptop (folks at the Apple Genius Bar advised me to do this), install the most recent interation of iTunes and THEN try to Restore my iPhone.

If and when that does not work, I have to treat my phone as if it has just been newly purchased. This annoys me quite a bit because I lose my entries on my calendar and some of the setting that I take for granted.

Once the economy improves a bit more, I will purchase a new Apple laptop and--hopefully--put this bizarre ritual behind me for good.

I hope that you are not on a Windows machine; if you are on an Apple computer, you are likely to have fewer challenges such as this.

Have you fully charged your iPhone? I've heard that you do have such problems when your iPhone is not charged.

Also, is it iPhone 3g or iphone normal? It may differ in the ways I can help you.

Let me know of these things and I'll help you more. Your problem does seem complicated though, I'll help when I know if its iPhone 3g or normal.

I think that everything has to be done through iTunes to begin with. I cannot believe that you cannot have other methods of doing things with this phone. I think that is something they need to work on.

Ok folks, I too have had this problem with a host of strange answers such as browser setting and "oh, how much memory have you got on XP!"
If you too fall foul to the dreaded 23 error message then heres how... I, after 2 days of messing about, I got it to work. ( I didn't need the bosch codetools administration hammer after all )

Ok, Itunes is saying it cannot restore...

Easy way 1:
first, see if you can get the restore to work in the DFU mode (with iphone off and itunes minimised )(hold down on power and home - when the phone switches on, continue to hold down home (the button on the bottom of the iphone) until you get a screen on the phone and itunes mentions that you need to restore ).... try this.... still not working???? ok.

Moderate annoyance 2:
leave your dead iphone buzzing on the desk connected to itunes for like 30 minutes.. (it should switch on and off again at 5-10 min intervals)..make a coffee....
after 30 mins... maximise itunes and do a sync... if it can sync..

use itunnel and winscp into your phone and replace offending file... (mine was mobileinstallation) .. once done.. your phone will automatically come back to life

Rue the day I bought this 3:

quickpwn into your iphone and replace the firmware.
This will have you putting everything back again, however you may well be able to sync back your details.

Good luck heroes

Thanks robskj really works i did Item 2 Moderate annoyance and works !!!! for error 28. It Is not a Hardware problem.

how exactly did you fix the error 28 plz help , i have spent more than a week looking for an answer

Hi,
I have exactly the same probleme with a 3G iphone and I couldn't find any fix for error 28 on the net. Please help ! I moved to a country where the apple support is not present, so no way to use the warranty !

Hey, I'm having the same issue (error 23) when restoring in recovery mode or DFU mode. I'd like to know how you guys were able to fix this using robskj's suggestions. As it is, my iPhone will not show up in iTunes at all unless it's in DFU mode or recovery mode, and in normal mode I just get the Apple logo with the spinning wheel and it's stuck (won't even spin). So, how would I be able to run iTunnel with WinSCP if I don't have SSH installed on my iPhone to replace the missing files, and how can I QuickPwn when my iPhone OS version is 3.1.2? Please help!