Iphone 3gs 16g not restoring

Question

My iphone 3gs 16gb was working perfectly fine this morning.
I decided to plug it into my Mac as I had just bought 2 new apps (Monopoly & Scrabble) and I wanted to update my itunes so i had my back up.
When I connected it automatically popped up with a window telling me I need to restore my iphone. Went through the motions but now it is currently stuck on the status bar that says "Restoring iPhone software ...." and is stuck at approx 1/10 of the way through the process.
Its been like this for the past 10 minutes and kind of looks like its moving but I think the movement but really there isn't.
I now can't access my phone. If I unplug it then the phone is stuck on the screen that tells me to connect my iPhone to iTunes.
I've tried to reset the phone holding down the on/off switch + HOME button together and it just resets back to that itunes image again.
HELP!
Message was edited by: DJ_Ange

Answer 1

I am guessing that you are getting the error 9 after the restore process froze and you disconnected the phone.
From the article;
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1275
+Error 9: This error occurs when the device unexpectedly drops off of the USB bus and communication stops. This can occur if the device is manually disconnected during the restore process. This issue can be resolved by performing USB isolation troubleshooting, using a different USB dock connector cable, trying another USB port, restoring on another computer, or by eliminating conflicts from third-party security software.+
Not sure why it froze in the 1st place, but here are a couple of things you can try.
What happens if you use a different USB port?
Make sure you are not using a USB Hub.
Try removing the Apple Mobile Device Service as described here
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1286
If still no joy, try creating a new user on your computer and see if you can restore it that way.
(under the Advanced Steps in http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1275)
One concern I have for you is reactivation if you are roaming in England from an Australian SIM. You may need to ask around if that's possible or in England ask the at the Apple store.