iPhone has no signal after battery dies. Also wants to reactivate itself.

[TESEV]

First i should note that this is my second iPhone and that the my first one was replaced due to the exact issues I am experiencing now. I will probably end up getting #2 replaced for the same reason.

Also I was wondering if it is true that if your serial number starts with a "5K" then your iPhone is a refurb.

My only crime is that I let the battery die. I plug it in and get this.

It never activates though because it is not getting a signal. It alternates between 1 bar and no bars (I always thought Apple/AT&T overestimated the signal) but it never connects to anything unless I use WiFi. So now my iPhone is USELESS as a phone.

So I do a restore. Now things get weird: there is an unavoidable lag when doing anything on the iPhone as if it's got something else on it's mind or it's getting stuck. Like if I'm entering my passcode it gets stuck on the first digit for about 10 seconds and then awknowledges the rest of my input and takes me to the home screen. Then after exactly 4 minutes later it restarts itself. And the restarting cycles does not stop. Not even after Recovery Mode.

My last iPhone seemed to get smart when I got to the Genius Bar; it proclaimed that there was a problem with the cellular reception or something (I don't have that screenshot... yet). A Genius Bar trip is in my near future and I will let ya'll know if I find anything else out or get any new screenies.

BTW, not jailbroken, unlocked, bounced off the ceiling, used as a frisbee or any other warranty-voiding activity.

 

[NeoMayhem]

This happened to my friends phone a few times. I jailbroke it, and he never had the problem again.

Are you on a mac? You can also try deleting the ~/Library/Lockdown folder, restore the phone and then try reactivating it.

 

[TESEV]

This happened to my friends phone a few times.

Um, each time it was rendered totally useless after the battery died? Restarts every four minutes on the second? Never successfully activates? Ever?

I jailbroke it, and he never had the problem again.

Not willing to do that. I'm bringing it to the Apple Store today unless...

Are you on a mac? You can also try deleting the ~/Library/Lockdown folder, restore the phone and then try reactivating it.

...this little idea works. I'll let you know.
No effect.

 

[TESEV]

Sometimes when I restart the phone it wants me to connect it to the computer. Connect it to the computer and get this:

A hard restart/restore/recovery will usually make it stop - for a while.

 

[placebo]

this same exact thing is happening to me. anyone have any ideas?

 

[NeoMayhem]

Um, each time it was rendered totally useless after the battery died? Restarts every four minutes on the second? Never successfully activates? Ever?

Yeah, it would just deactivate sometimes. I dont think it was related to the battery, but just turning it off completely. It would not activate with itunes unless he restored it first. I had some activation problems on 1.1x, and that lockdown trick fixed it for me. It was an iTunes syncing problem though, the phone still worked fine.

 

[Xtgirl]

I have power problems every time I let my battery run down really low...not dead but around 10%...it never wants to accept a charge.....I had to try to restore it 5 or 6 times before it would finally take and start charging again. It just freezes on the battery screen and doesn't every charge and won't go to the home screen.

This obviously isn't the problem that you are having, but just saying that I think there are funky things going on with some iPhones when the power gets low and I just don't get it....

 

[TESEV]

Got a new iPhone

So I'm on my third iPhone now. Took them three days just to get me one, couldn't exchange a 16gb black iPhone for a 16gb whitey. They actually had trouble activating it and we ended up switching out the SIM card. Perhaps it was the SIM card the whole time. I know it wasn't the problem when this happened to phone #1; switching the SIM card was the first thing we did. I hope I never get the chance to test this out.

Oh, and the serial # is 5K8361D3Y7K. Anything useful in there?

 

[Raevinn]

Ok, so I have the same issue that you had in your first iphones. I live in South Africa, but I bought my phone from apple in Hong Kong, since the iphone is much cheaper there. So I was wondering, do you have any new ideas on how to get this fixed? My phone randomly got signal for about 10 seconds which maden it activate itself, but theres still reseting, lag and no network signal. I'm pretty frustrated, and sending it all the way back to Hong Kong to get fixed might cost a lot and take a lot of time. Anyone have any ideas? I have jailbroken it, but it makes no difference.

 

[TESEV]

You might try getting a new sim card. Try that first. In the end I had to replace both my iPhone and sim card on both occasions. Let me know how it goes. I'm gonna let the battery die again sometime to see what happens.

Ok, so I have the same issue that you had in your first iphones. I live in South Africa, but I bought my phone from apple in Hong Kong, since the iphone is much cheaper there. So I was wondering, do you have any new ideas on how to get this fixed? My phone randomly got signal for about 10 seconds which maden it activate itself, but theres still reseting, lag and no network signal. I'm pretty frustrated, and sending it all the way back to Hong Kong to get fixed might cost a lot and take a lot of time. Anyone have any ideas? I have jailbroken it, but it makes no difference.