Iphone 3g broken by iOS4, HELP!

[bkauser]

I recently downloaded the new iOS4 on to my 3g only to find that it was completely broken by the update. I took the phone to AT&T and Apple and all parties were in agreement that the hardware was in fact dysfunctional and I would need to swap out for a different phone. That said, I was not about to swap for another 3g which cannot support the new OS and think it unfair for Apple to give their customers a "hit-or-miss" update. I waited at the Genius Bar for 2 HOURS and was on the phone with (who I thought was) AT&T with a very rude and condescending gentleman who was most unhelpful. I say "I thought" he was with AT&T because at the end of the conversation he said this was an issue to take up with my carrier and I replied "You are AT&T!" The Rude Customer Service man replied "no, I'm with Apple." How the heck did I get there when I dialed toll free AT&T?! And then he continued to apologize profusely for his demeanor. In the end I was in tears because for some reason I knew that when I got the swapped 3g, I would get it home and it wouldn't work; but I could not put my finger on why I thought that. I get home, plug in the phone to sync, only to find that the new 3g is unable to sync/restore because it would force me to download iOS4, which, as you know was the last restored point on my old 3g. I'm not really sure what to do, this is a work phone and I really can't just send it in. AT&T is not an option because they will be completely packed today with their Iphone launch but at the same time I don't want to waste my evening at the Apple store again! Any advice anyone can give is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
P.S. I have attached a screenshot of the error message when I try to set up the new 3g. HELP!

 

[gayle28607]

If I were you, this is what I would try:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/954719/

Having said that, I went through a similar fiasco with my 3G, and after many hours of working with it (restore, treat as a new iPhone, and so on) I concluded that my problem, at least, was related to apps I have installed on the 3G. iOS 4 worked fine on my 3G - as long as I had none of my third party productivity apps installed!

I had Apple Care, and had an issue that allowed Apple to send out a new 3G, which mercifully had iOS 3 on it. I'll be keeping that OS on it for the foreseeable future.

If this reversion protocol works for you, would you report back? The poster noted in the link above says it seems to have worked brilliantly.

 

[iFerd]

That message just means that you will need to reinstall your applications on the new phone. As the message implies, you can't restore from a back up from a later version of the firmware than the one your phone is running. Your replacement phone itself should be fine. It's a nuisance to have to reinstall your apps from scratch, but it's not a bad idea once in awhile because it leads to house cleaning.

For what it is worth, I updated my 3G to OS4 without difficulty and it is running fine. So your experience isn't universal or even typical if I read the reports on these forums correctly. There are some who complain that it is slower on a 3G than 3.1.3 is. I am not sure that is true for me, but it might be. I'm spoiled by more by the difference in responsiveness between the iPad and the iPhone than anything associated with the upgrade of the iPhone to OS4.

 

[iFerd]

If I were you, this is what I would try:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/954719/

While trying to decide whether to keep OS4 on my 3G, I followed that protocol to downgrade back to OS 3.1.3, and it worked fine for me. It seems probable that it won't work for a 3Gs according to a different site I used to do the exact same procedure.

 

[stormchaser]

bkauser i suggest you follow those steps in my thread as it works absolutely fine now its back on 3.1.3.Its still been fine all day today.I have blocked of the reminder in iTunes to upgrade to OS4.
Good luck to all