IPhone 3GS screen goes dark...no apparent fix for it

My iPhone 3GS has started having a problem where the screen goes dark.  The phone is still active and if you have the right light and strain real hard you can barely see the icons.  I have tried everything I know to fix this but nothing works.  One thing that did work for about a day was a Reset All Settings, from the General Settings menu.  Previous to doing that, I have tried:  1) turn it on and off, 2)hard reset, 3)restore from iTunes.  None of these worked for more than a few  minutes.  I did restore firwmare from the computer but I have not tried putting the iPhone into DFU mode...is there a difference?
Any ideas appreciated.

All iPhones require a SIM for updating/activating.
The SIM does not need to be active, simply insert a SIM card and activate the device.  Borrow a SIM from a friend if necessary.

Similar Messages

  • Why does my iphone 3gs screen goes black after reaching another party and won't come back on to press end the call

    why does my iphone 3gs screen goes black after reaching another party and won't come back on to end the call

    hi smalley3,
    Welcome to the Forums.
    The flickering issue maybe due to a bad LCD cable or in some cases, a faulty GPU (the GPU is integrated to the CPU, and the CPU is soldered to the motherboard).
    If there's still no image on the screen even after connecting an external display then you likely have a bad GPU.
    In this case, I recommend you contact support for service (and also to see if there's a consideration that can be done on the warranty repair).
    Support phone list
    Regards
     

  • Iphone 3GS Screen goes blank with full battery and ipod has no sound

    Since 10th Feb my Iphone 3GS has had no sound on the ipod, although I can see the track is playing, and more importantly the battery just goes every few mintues regardless of the amount of battery left.
    I'm assuming this has been caused by the 6.1 update. However,  the 6.1.1 fix seems aimed at iphone 4S and it does not show up on my itunes.
    Prior to 10th Feb phone worked perfectly.
    Any advice?

    First thing to try is to reset your device. Press and hold the Home and Sleep buttons simultaneously until the Apple logo appears. Let go of the buttons and let the device restart. See if that fixes your problem.
    What about free space? Do you have enough free space on your iPad? With iOS 7 it is recommended that you have 15-20% of the storage space on the device free.  For a 16 GB device that is 2.4-3.2 GB free. For a 32 GB device that is 4.8-6.4 GB free. For a 64 GB device that is 9.6-12.8 GB free.

  • Iphone 3gs screen goes blank when it rings/gets a text

    My iphone screen goes white when i get an incomming call. I can answer it if i slde my finger across the general area where the answer switch will be.
    In order to view the screen after the iphone has locked I have to hit the home button followed by the power button 3 times.
    Does anyone know if this can be fixed? If not will i be able to get a replacement. I'd be willing to pay as its out of warranty?
    Thanks in advance for any help you can give me!

    Remove your case and see how it works. It may be blocking the proximity sensors that turn the screen off/on during a call.
    Message was edited by: paulcb

  • Iphone 3gs screen goes white after unlooking but works fine before

    Hi everyone.
    This is my first post here.
    I got an Iphone 3GS that worked fine yesterday and then suddenly after the unlook the screen the screen goes totlay white.
    I have tried the rebot thing and after that the phone works untill it looks the screen and the it back to white again.
    I have tried to update the phone software to the latest because the phone looks fine in iTunes. No change
    I have done the factory reset no change.
    I have even but an old backup to the phone when the phone worked. no change.
    What can I do to get my phone working?
    thanks in advance

    This is a rare but classic iPhone 3GS White Screen Problem. It is due to faulty LCD Display.
    Before and during any iPhone 3GS repair make sure the iPhone is OFF. Because the 3GS Logic Board and new LCD is vulnerable to damage when repaired with it being ON.

  • Iphone 3gs screen goes white, after locking ???

    my iphone 3gs botts up fine, and everything works, but as soon as i lock it and then try to unlcok it, the screen turns white. tbhis has happened after i have replaced the digitizer and LCD ?? please help, what could the fault be ???

    I am not jailbroken, on 5.1.1 (9B206) and have been dealing with this problem since last night. I was using the phone like normal, nothing changed and once I tried to unlock it was white screen. I went to bed and once my alarm in the phone was going off this morning it kept being the white screen and I could not unlock it. After snoozing it somehow from hitting home and the sleep/wake button, the screen randomly came back to life. Now 9 or so hours later, with nothing being updated, added to the phone or changing any sort of way, the white screen when I try to unlock it is back.

  • IPhone 3GS screen goes black and then turns on and off

    Won't reset, just blinks back and forth from black screen to apple logo screen. What can I do?

    Try a reset or restore

  • IOS iphone 3GS update - sync/backup/update fail fix for frozen Iphone

    Hi
    downloaded new itunes 9.2, updated iPhone software.
    Result: perma fail of apple logo with empty sync bar, nothing goes.
    Fix:
    essentially you need to to go and restore to factory setting twice with a step of restoring an old iPhone back up and after repeating the same procedure restoring to your latest back-up.
    how to fix it step by step:
    - disconnect iPhone from computer
    - relaunch iPhone by holding down power & home button
    - close and restart itunes
    - reconnect iPhone
    - watch closely when iPhone reappears, click immediately on restore (before it starts another freezing sync/back up session)
    - restore factory settings
    - when asked if you want to back up first, click yes
    - when asked if you want to restore from backup after the factory settings restore - DO NOT CHOOSE the latest backup, restore from old pre-upgrade backup, even if its a year old (you will later do another restore, and than choose your latest back-up)
    - restore iPhone successfully, turn on, use
    - go back to itunes, connect iPhone again, click restore to factory settings again
    - do NOT back up this time
    - after restore, now use latest back up from before the restore to rebuild
    result: all pictures, email settings, apps are back as they were pre-perma-freeze fail.

    Read the above post but having difficulty - how to fix it step by step:
    disconnect iPhone from computer
    relaunch iPhone by holding down power & home button
    close and restart itunes
    reconnect iPhone
    watch closely when iPhone reappears, click immediately on restore (before it starts another freezing sync/back up session)
    restore factory settings
    I can get this far but do not get this option! - when asked if you want to back up first, click yes
    ONly get one type of restore option! Any ideas

  • HT1414 Suddenly my iphone 3GS scrren went dark.  Seems like the backlight is out? Tried to reset with no luck??

    Suddenly my iphone 3GS screen went dark.  Seems like the backlight isn't working.  I tried to reset it, with no luck.  Any other suggestions?  The phone was working just prior to this...

    I Plugged it into computer and hit the reset buttons and Now I have a screen! Thanks so much  

  • On iPhone 4, the screen goes dark and freezes when I start Safari

    All of a sudden, today I can't access the internet via Safari on my Verizon iPhone 4. If I click on a link in an email or start Safari, the screen goes dark and freezes. What's up with this and what the fix?

    Hi
    Try holding sleep/wake + power button for 10 seconds, until you see the Apple Logo.
    See how that goes.
    Taylor

  • My iphone 4 screen goes very dark when i unlocked it

    my iphone screen suddenly goes very dark when i unlocked it.
    i already push the power adn home button at the same the and it fixes just for awhile, then it goes dark again. my iphone is still working, when somebody calls, it still ringing and i can hear the "click" sound when i lock the phone.
    i reset all the setting on my iphone but then the screen goes dark again. is that any problem with the software or hardware? please advice
    thanks

    Just what do you think we can do for you?  You broke your phone again.  Get it fixed or buy a new one.

  • Why does my iphone 3gs screen go white after it goes "to sleep" for the first time after turning it on?

    Why does my iphone 3gs screen go white after it goes "to sleep" for the first time after turning it on?
    The screen isn't broken because it works after i turn the device off and back on, but after it goes black once, it's only white again.
    But it takes the touches although it's only white, because I can answer my phone when I slide my finger on the bottom of the screen, eventhough there in not the button to see.
    This is so weird. I have already done everything I can think of that might help. But I cannot think of anything that might be causing it, because nothing has happened to the device.

    Let me know if I should start a new discussion instead of opening a new topic here.
    My wife's iPhone is the same vintage as mine 3Gs, but has never had the battery problem.  Its affliction instead is that it cannot detect WiFi networks unless it is quite close to the source.  Often, when my iPhone not only detects but shows a maximum cells connection with a network, hers cannot detect the network at all.  In contrast, her iPhone seems to detect ourcellular carrier just as well as mine does.
    Is there any help for this affliction?

  • HI all, i'm using Mac Pro 15" Retina. My screen goes darker and after brighter after a while? How to fix it?

    HI all, i'm using Mac Pro 15" Retina. My screen goes darker and after brighter after a while? How to fix it?

    System Preferences > Displays.
    De-select "Automatically adjust brightness"

  • Screen Goes Dark During iPhone Sync

    This sounds strange and I can't seem to find a logical explanation for this.  I noticed that I went I plug my iPhone via USB for iTunes to automatically synch, within seconds the screen goes dark.  What I have been doing lately is to rest the phone on top of the MacBook Pro, just left of the trackpad.  I have also noticed that if I just place the iPhone elsewhere, rather than laying directly on the MacBook Pro, the problem doesn't happen.

    That's where the magnetic sensor for the lid is located.  It causes the computer to think that it is closed!  Now, an iPhone doesn't have a magnet, except in the speaker, so maybe that's what happens.  Our your case has a magnet. 
    I hope this answers your question. 

  • Can I increase time before screen goes dark on iPhone 5?

    Can I increase the time before screen goes dark (to sleep) on iPhone5?

    iPhone User Guide (For iOS 6 Software)

Maybe you are looking for