5.1 3GS won't activate

I have 4.3.3 iPhone 3GS that I just restored to 5.1. It all worked good except for when I go to activate it. It says that the activation servers are down. I've tried a bunch of sim cards with no luck. Are the activation servers actually down or do I need to do a DFU restore? Thanks!

No, it was jail broken unlocked, and I wanted to restore it to factory settings, but now it won't activate, I tried with my active sim card and like 4 sims that are expired with no luck.

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HT201263 3gs won't activate

I just inherited my brother's old 3GS and it won't activate. No matter whether is do it via Wifi or Connected to the computer. Help???

Activation issues are almost always the result of a device that has been hacked or jailbroken.
If that is the case, no support can be provided here.

My 3GS won't activate

I've downloaded ios6 and its installed on my 3GS, but iTunes and the phone won't activate it.

Apple server is unavailaible now ,you can skip this step by tap " skip button"

Bought used jailbroken 3GS, won't activate after restore

Just bought a used 3GS that was jailbroken by the seller. We tested the SIM card in the phone and the AT&T network showed right up no problem. We didn't care to have it jailbroke, so I brought it home and did a restore on the phone. The phone rebooted and behaved like a new phone. Asking language, location, WiFi network, etc. I noticed that during this process the top showed that it was searching for the phone network.... it stayed in that mode. I went to the activation screen and it sits there forever and then comes back with a message saying the activation server is unavailable.
So... I connected this to iTunes to activate.... and iTunes says that the SIM card is not in the phone (it is).....
Anyone have this problem? And better yet... a solution

OK... so this was apparently jailbroke with Absinthe. So... I went to their site and followed their instructions in their YouTube video on how to restore this phone back to original state. I followed the instructions exactly. Which is what I had done previously. However... here's what happens.
It starts with the 'Connect to iTunes' screen. Which I did.... it downloaded and restores 5.1.1 to the iPhone. The iPhone reboots and now comes up with the screen like it's a new phone. Asking for language, location, location services off/on, WiFi network (which it sees and logs into just fine)... and then it gets to the authentication screen and just sits until it gets to a screen that says the server is down. If I try to authenticate it through iTunes it says the iPhone is missing a SIM card (it's in there and been reseated a few dozen times... and was working prior with the jailbreak). The phone shows it's in constant search for the AT&T network and never connects.
So I'm stuck in this position of not being able to authenticate.
I've not dealt with jailbreaks before, though I'm a fairly technical sort of guy. I've done a good couple hours of research to find an answer and have tried a few different things with the same result.

What am I supposed to do when my iPhone 3Gs won't activate when I uppdated it to iOS 5.0.1? Thankful for answer and help!

I uppdated my iPhone 3Gs to iOS 5.0.1 yesterday. And since then I have tried to activate it but it keep saying "Your iPhone could not be activated because the activation server is temporarily unavailable. Try connecting your iPhone to iTunes to activate it, or try again in a couple of minutes."
I have tried to connect it to iTunes but then iTunes tells that the SIM-card isn't activated or that I got no SIM-card in my iPhone. Please help me! I don't know how to get my iPhone activated so I can use it!

To update iTunes and sync an iPhone you need to be running Snow Leopard 10.6.8 on an Intel Mac.
Start by checking if you can run Snow Leopard:
Requirements for OS X 10.6 'Snow Leopard'
http://support.apple.com/kb/SP575
The OS 10.6 Snow Leopard install DVD is available for $19.99 from the Apple Store:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard

5.1.1 3GS won't activate

I just updated my 3GS to 5.1.1, but now my phone will not activate. I am going nuts because of this and how careless apple is with their older generation softwares. I just wan't to use my phone already somebody freaking help!

If your phone was ever jailbroken in the past, this is why it will not activate.

IPhone 3GS won't activate. HELP!

I have tried to activate my iPhone 3GS after an update. My SIM card is giffgaff which is O2. My paperweight, sorry, iPhone is locked to O2 so no problems with the SIM card. What I keep getting is the message: "Your iPhone could not be activated because the activation server is temporarily unavailable. Try connecting it to iTunes to activate it, or try again in a few minutes. If this problem persists, contact Apple Support at apple.com/support."
I tried connecting it to iTunes numerous times but all to no avail. I rung Apple and after a nice conversation I was told to try another wifi network and another SIM card. Now like most normal families I only have one wifi network in my house so travelled to my daughters apartment so I could use her wifi. No prizes for guessing
that that didn't work either. Now if I have to get another SIM card just to activate my paperweight, sorry, iPhone then I feel that is a bit of an inconvenience what with changing my number AGAIN and all that.
Dear Apple. Any help you can give me would be gratefully accepted. Jut don't tell me to get another SIM card or a new wifi network. Either is unacceptable from a company like yours. It feels like the attitude is " our product is fine it's your network/ SIM card / appalling taste in drapes/ terrible furnishings, that's at fault.
Yours waiting in anticipation,
A Paying Customer.

I'm not sure how O2 operates their network but I would guess that your giffgaff SIM does not use their primary network and is not allowing you to access their activation network. Since your iPhone is locked with O2 it needs to access the O2 network directly to activate. I would suggest going to an O2 shop and use one of their SIMs to activate the iPhone then replace it with your giffgaff card.

Iphone 3GS won't activate after update - asks for itunes, which just quits unexpectedly every time!

I updated my iphone 3GS and now when I turn it on it just asks to be connected to itunes. Problem is when I do this, itunes unexpectedly quits every time. I've updated the laptop and it makes no difference, and I am left without a phone...really not impressed and can't wait for my upgrade to get rid of it.

Try this:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1808
This put's an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch in recovery mode. Should solve the problem if it is phone related. If not, you may want to post in iTunes support as well. I had a similar problem recently with an iPod touch and this fixed it.

My 3GS won't activate after i updated to 5.1.1 firmware....it keeps on saying that the activation server is unavailaible

Y is this so...???

Apple server is unavailaible now ,you can skip this step by tap " skip button"

My iphone won`t activate after updating to ios 5.1 plz help

my iphone 3gs won`t activate after updating to ios 5.1 plz help

I got mine sorted. Turns out because i got it unlocked the first time getting updates via itunes causes it to restart again. Had to get it unlocked at managed to get eveything back after restoring it from itunes. Very happy cause the guy in the apple shop told me i had to call apple and pay 35euro just to talk to them! I manged to get it unlocked for only 20 and its just like it was.
hope you're able to get yours sorted

After upgrading to a new 3GS, my original iPhone won't activate...

After I upgraded to an iPhone 3GS, I restored the original iPhone with iTunes. Now, the iPhone says it's got an invalid SIM in it, and when I plug it into iTunes, it won't activate it. It's basically a brick now.
Was I wrong in thinking I could now use the old iPhone basically like an iPod touch?

I haven't seen any press release that supercedes that, but the one you reference refers to the ORIGINAL iPhone, not a 3G. There have been posts here and elsewhere indicating that the restore/upgrade function no longer works on the 3G once you update to 3GS.
I suppose the original poster can put a phone call in to AppleCare to see if they might be able to get some help from them. I didn't make this rule, I am just reporting what everyone else is seeing, with or without the SIM card in the 3G.

Hello, i really need help. I had just updated my iphone 3gs to 6.0.1, and after I updated, it won't activate.

Hello, i really need help. I had just updated my iphone 3gs to i.o.s. 6.0.1, and after I updated, it won't activate.I tried it in itunes and it always says " We cannot activate your iphone at this time..." and when I activate using Wi-Fi, it says, "Your iPhone cannot be activated because the activation server is temporarily unavailable." I could swear that my Wi-Fi is fine, and my Itunes is on the latest version. Is this a bad thing or does this normally occurs? Can I still fix this ? I'm so desperate to use my iphone cause I use it everyday for personal purposes. I sure would appreciate any tip or help . PLSSSS ! Thank you for that wonderful being that can help.

Do not take it to a third party repair shop - downgrading causes problems and voids your warranty.
I had to unlock it so that i could really use it as a phone.
And that is the root of the problem. Unless you had your carrier unlock it, it was hacked and cannot be legitimately activated. Even if you don't care about warranty or problems, downgrading simply will not help an activation issue.

HT4623 I bought an iPhone 3GS from eBay all was fine until I had to restore software and now it won't activate I've been ushering a 3 SIM card but now it's just saying your phone could not be activated help plz

I bought an iPhone 3GS from eBay all was fine until I had an hardware fault I sorted that out on mp pc and now it won't activate I've been using a 3 SIM card since I have had it and it just won't activate.as far as I'm aware I bought the phone as new so no jailbreak can any1 help

Your ebay purchased phone was hacked/jailbroken. You cannot get help here for jailbroken phones. Sorry.

Upgrading unlocked 3GS from os3 to os6..and now it won't activate! Someone help me please!

Hello,
iPhone 3GS (8GB)
Many of my apps stopped working because I was still running on operating system 4. I upgraded from os4 to os6 on my unlocked 3GS...and now it won't activate. I get the below error message:
"Your iPhone could not be activated because the activation server is temporarily unavailable. Try connecting your iPhone to iTunes to activate it, or try again in a couple of minutes"
Well, I tried with iTunes and similar error message that activation is not possible at this time. I have waited and tried many many times over the past week and it won't activated
This 3GS phone I bought from a friend in the UK. It was locked to the carrier O2 in the UK. I had it unlocked and have been using a prepaid carrier since. I am currently studying in Spain and need help how I can fix this issue?
The nearest Apple store is 1 hour away. I took it to a local phone technician and he said it could not be fixed. I can't believe that this is true as it is just a software problem because the hardware of the phone works perfectly.
I would greatly appreciated if any expert out there could help me please!
Many thanks,
Daniel

Hi..thanks for your advice!
Ok, I am student so buying a new phone is not possible ;( This experience has turned me off Apple anyway! All I did was click yes to their iTunes upgrade prompt asking me if I want to update....and now I don't have a phone and can't access all my backup etc on my iTunes because it seems the only way to get to it is with another iPhone!?
I can't believe that through the Apple recycling program I could possibly get $50 for this phone because the hardware is perfect but there is no support for this issue...feels like Apple is just trying to force everyone with hacked phone to buy new ones!

I upgraded My 3GS to ios 5.0.1 but it won't activate and just tells me to try again later because the activationserver is down

I upgraded My 3GS to ios 5.0.1 but it won't activate and just tells me to try again later because the activationserver is down. I have tried both with and without a SIM and it still doesn't work. I also tried connecting it to itunes but it didn't help.
Anyone how knows what to do?

Activation issues are typically the result of a device that has been hacked or jailbroken.
If that is the case, no support can be provided here.

5.1 3GS won't activate

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