Help! Restore needed but iTunes won't recognise iPhone

This morning, my phone's decided it needs to be restored. However when I try to connect to iTunes I get this message :
'iTunes cannot activate your iPhones because the SIM card is not inserted or a SIM PIN is required. Disconnect your iPhone, make sure the SIM card is inserted correctly and, if you use a SIM PIN, tap Unlock to enter it, and then reconnect your iPhone.'
Needless to say, I don't use a SIM PIN, and I've tried 3 times so far to switch off & on and I get the same thing every time. Can anyone help please?

Exactly the same problem with my 5 month old iPhone. Suddenly one morning it claimed that there wasn’t any simcard in the phone or it needed activation. When I connected it to iTunes I couldn’t do a thing.
But, the tip about holding standby/powerbotten and home at the same time and thereafter holding home worked and iTunes recognized my phone and was able to do a restore.

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Restore needed but iTunes won't recognise phone

Hi all
I've had a problem with my iPhone powering while fully charged. I cannot turn it back on until I plug it in. Two days ago this happened, when I plugged it into the wall it gave me a message
"Restore needed. iPhones cannot make or receive calls. Backup from iTunes. www.apple.com/support"
When plugged into the wall, the phone can turn on, shows 100% battery charge and apps can be used. However there is no network coverage. While plugged in it keeps cycling through: i) screen turning off, ii) requesting passcode, iii) displaying the message above.
As soon as i unplug it from the wall it switches off. If I plug it into a computer (either my laptop or desktop), it was showing the low battery image and the device isn't recognised in iTunes. However it doesn't even show this now.
I've tried resetting the iPhone by holding down sleep/wake and home buttons but this does nothing. I've tried google and kept getting official support pages. Finally came across omulatlantic's post which was the first mention of anything similar to my problem.
Is there a way to restore this, or should I give up and reset it in settings? Would the photos/videos from camera roll be reinstated when I restore from backup (as these are the only things I really need to get back)?
Thanks in advance.

Any ideas how I can get the photos off this thing? The network connections/wifi/bluetooth don't work. I can see the photos when the phone is plugged into the wall and turned on, but when it isn't plugged in it just switches off.
Is there any other way to reset it other than the method I mentioned in my first post? Or some way to force iTunes or my computer to recognise it so I can transfer content off it?

My daughter has an iPod Nano but just received an iPod Touch 5G but iTunes won't recognise the new device. What can we do?

My daughter has an iPod Nano but just received an iPod Touch 5G but iTunes won't recognise the new device. What can we do?

iOS: Device not recognized in iTunes for Mac OS X
or
iOS: Device not recognized in iTunes for Windows
You need iTunes 11.1 or later on the computer.
Does the iPod charge?

OS 10.7.5, iTunes 11.0.1, and iOS 6.0.2 ... everything is updated, but iTunes won't read iPhone 5 or iPad. Suggestions?

OS 10.7.5, iTunes 11.0.1, and iOS 6.0.2 ... everything is updated, but iTunes won't read iPhone 5 or iPad as devices. Syncing was easy before recent iTunes update. Suggestions?

Are you using the correct cables. iPod cables look similar, but are not, as they are 1.1 USB cables, where your iPhone and iPad require a 2.0 USB cable.
Also, make sure you are not plugging your USB cable into a Hub or keyboard USB port, but one directly on the computer.
You may want to reset the USB ports, by resetting the SMC and PRAM
HT1411 - Apple Portables: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
HT1379 About NVRAM and PRAM - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379.

ITunes won't recognise iPhone 3GS (Vista 32bit)

Hi.
I brought a 32gb iphone 3 days ago from the carphonewarehouse and the guy said in the store O2 will activate the phone within the next 24hours. Fine.
Waited 24 hours then tried to sync the iphone to my windows vista Pc with itunes all loaded up, but itunes wouldn't recognise the iphone at all.I have spoken to o2 4 times and apple tech twice for 2hours each, doing complete removal of all apple/itunes related stuff then reinstalled itunes. I did this 3 complete times, and still itunes won't recognise the iphone even with the lastest itunes.
If i go onto My Computer the actual PC itself picks it up but itunes won't.
I ran a diagnostics test on itunes to find that under Ports:it says "NO iPhone or iPod found"
The next test :iPhone/iPod Touch sync tests
Results: No iPhone/iPod Touch found?
ALL the other diagnostic tests i did showed all GREEN just these two are RED,which i am now?
So yesterday mum and I decided to try and download itunes on my mums work laptop as a last resort since it won't work on my Desktop Pc.
Downloaded the lastest iTunes from apple then synced the iphone, IT picked it up instantly (at this time the iphone haden't been activated but it has now thanks to my mums laptop.)I just ran through the procedures then, tried to sync it to my Desktop Pc. I had no luck. Same again itunes carn't recognise it at all. I need to get it synced to my desktop PC becuase i have over 1000 songs and over 20 movies on my itunes.
I just don't know what to do, would appreciate some insight :confused:
Thanks.

Greetings,
Make sure to run the Apple Update routine on the PeeCee - the PeeCee can be such a royal pain, and even though you aren't required to reboot, I would, as Winblows doesn't pick up on updates as it should.
The next trick would be to reinstall iTunes.
Good Luck - Cheers,
M.

IPhone says "Restore Needed", but iTunes doesn't recognize it. Now what?

My iPhone was sitting untouched this evening. When I woke it up, it said "Restore Needed. iPhone cannot make or receive calls. Restore from iTunes." But when I plug it in to my computer, iTunes doesn't recognize it. I have reset the phone to no avail. What do I do next?

Thanks for the reply. I tried everything suggested. Now when I try to restore the iPhone from iTunes, it says the iPhone could not be restored. An unknown error has occurred (23).
I give up.
Would it be better to take the phone to the AT&T store where I bought it, or to an Apple store?

Restore needed, but itunes wont see it???

Hi,
Phone all of a sudden just turned off, then back out telling me to connect to itunes, i have done that but it comes up with
"Restore needed, blah blah" then itunes tells me that my sim is locked and doesnt see the phone??

Both of you can try this out and see if it works. The method below will put your iPhone into DFU mode:
1. Connect your iPhone to your computer and open iTunes.
2. Hold down the sleep and home button (ignore power off slider) and continue to hold for 7 seconds after the screen shuts off.
3. Let go of the sleep button, but continue to hold the home button. The screen should stay black while in DFU mode, if it turns on try the process again.
4. iTunes should pop-up saying that there is a iPhone in recovery mode.
5. Try restoring now.
Let me know if it works for you. If you are using a MAC to do this, you cannot be on 10.5.6, you have to update to 10.5.7. There was a problem with 10.5.6 recognizing iPhone's in DFU mode, but it was corrected in 10.5.7.

HT1766 itunes won't recognise iphone

I have previously synced my iphone 4S. And now after some months itunes does not recognise my phone. It charges nut does not apper on itunes. Please help.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1538
or if you're on mac: http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1591

Need to restore iPod, but iTunes won't let me...

Apparently, I disconnected my iPod the wrong way (I will admit to that) and now I need to restore it. That is fine and dandy, I don't mind. But whenever I go into iTunes to perform the restore, it's giving me a funny message and it won't let me do it. It says something like not having the proper update or proper software, but the silly thing is, I don't have the option to update it and I shouldn't have to anyway, because I just got the dang thing a week ago! This is very upsetting, and I hope someone here can help. It is a 30 GB 5th gen.

I know the difference between restoring and updating, it's just that when I go to restore it, I get two buttons. One says restore, and the other, which is faded out anyway, says update. But when I click restore, I get a message saying that it can't restore. I am actually having problems getting my computer to even recognize the iPod right now, so I can't tell you what the message said specifically. Only that it said that I could not restore the iPod because I didn't have the right kind of update or software to do so. I'll keep working on it and see if anything changes, but right now, not much progress is being made.

My iPod created its own password and locked me out, now I have to restore it, but iTunes won't restore it.

When I powered off my iPod Touch (2nd Gen) and back on, it created a password, which I never had one set. After trying several times, it has locked me out officially and is saying, "iPod is disabled Connect to iTunes." When I managed to get it into recovery mode, it will start to restore it, then come up with an error message saying, "The iPod "iPod" could not be restored. This device isn't eligible for the requested build."
Any idea on how to get it to restore?
-Thanks!
I did have a password, but got rid of it in November of 2011. I did try it, as well as several other passwords.

Start here.
There have been some problems accessing pages on the Apple web site. If the hyperlink doesn't work, try again.

TS1538 iTunes won't recognise iPhone

I have recently installed updates for iTunes and now it will not recognise my iPhone. I have tried all suggested fixes with no success. any ideas?

Greetings,
Make sure to run the Apple Update routine on the PeeCee - the PeeCee can be such a royal pain, and even though you aren't required to reboot, I would, as Winblows doesn't pick up on updates as it should.
The next trick would be to reinstall iTunes.
Good Luck - Cheers,
M.

ITunes won't recognise iphone 3Gs since upgrading to Leopard

I have just upgraded from Tiger to Leopard (all updates are done) and now neither my or my wife's iPhone 3Gs are being recognized by iTunes. I have run disc utilities and restated everything. Sometimes I wish I left things alone! Any help would be much appreciated.
Cheers. Steve

Do you have the latest version of iTunes? A good place to post is either the iTunes forum:
http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=153
or the iPhone forum:
http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=201

I've recently changed my network provider. iTunes recognized the new number and amended it in iTunes. My original number is now available but iTunes won't accept it or allow me to change the number on the device. How can I resolve this?

Hi Guys
I have just changed my telophone provider in the UK from )2. To transfer the number, which I wanted to retain, took 24 hours and I was given a new number by the new provider Virgin Mobile. To unblock my iPhone I had to connect it to iTunes, which recognised my device and changed the telephone number. 24 hours later, my old number returned but iTunes won't recognise the device or allow me to change the number back to the original. How do I reslove this?
Many thanks ;-)

If you only changed the name of your ID rather than creating a new ID, just go to Settins>iCloud and tap Delete Account then sign back in with the new name. (Deleting the account from your phone does not delete it from iCloud. Your data will be synced back to your phone when you sign back in.)
If you created a new ID, you'll have to go to Settings>iCloud on your phone and turn all data you are syncing with iCloud (contacts, calendars, etc.) to Off. When prompted choose to keep the data on your iPhone. (If you are syncing iWork documents with iCloud, also open your iWork apps and turn off iCloud syncing and choose to keep the documents on your phone.) After everything is turned off, scroll to the bottom and tap Delete Account. Next, set up a new iCloud account using your other ID, then turn syncing for your data (contacts, etc.) back to On. When prompted, choose Merge. This will upload the data to your new account.
You won't lose any photos in your camera roll or photo library. If you have any photos in your photo stream that are over 30 days old that are not in your camera roll or saved on your computer, be sure to save these to the camera roll before deleting the account. To do so, open the photo stream album on your iPhone in the thumbnail view, tap Edit, tap all the photos you need to save to select them, tap Share, then tap Save to Camera Roll.

Itunes won't recognise password

I'm trying to de-authorize an older computer but itunes won't recognise my password... I know I'm using the correct one because 1 - i just re-set it and 2 I'm using it right now on my laptop to log in and post this question...
The computer I'm trying to de-authorize is an old imac (the one with the movable screen) running osx 10.4.11...
Any suggestions?

Just dealt with this...I unplugged my ApTV and moved it to another television; this is why the trouble began. The date and time wouldn't update, so hitting menu didn't help and home sharing wouldn't recognize our password. Reset my password on iTunes -- everything else took it except for ApTV. We reset ApTV a few times, same issue...
We rebooted our router! BINGO!
Works perfectly again!
Good luck but definately try rebooting your router first -- it will save you the frustration, believe me.
Cheers!

My iPhone 5S says it's disabled and to connect to iTunes, iTunes says it needs 4 digit pass code. I tried to restore it but device wasn't recognised. Any ideas? I only got it yesterday.

My iPhone 5S says it's disabled and to connect to iTunes, iTunes says it needs 4 digit pass code. I tried to restore it but device wasn't recognised. Any ideas? I only got it yesterday.

How did the passcode get on the phone to begin with, if you "only got it yesterday"? Regardless, to remove it, you'll have to force the phone into recovery mode, as described here, & restore it:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1808
This will remove the passcode.

Help! Restore needed but iTunes won't recognise iPhone

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