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Passcode Problem

B

Buttons102

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 10, 2014
5
0
My nephew passed away and I am trying to get into his iphone5 to use it.. But I don't know his passcode.. He had his contract with Verzion but we cancelled it... and Verzion said they couldn't help us since we didnt know his passcode...

I can get into his itune acct but it dosen't say anything about the passcode. What does one do.. This is not a scam and I am not a hacker... I am his aunt that want's to use his iphone5... I don't want it to just sit here and not be used..That's a waste of money to have it sit here and not be used..

I have tried different things but it keeps coming back as to I need the passcode..

Any help would be greatly appreciated..

Thank you...
 
You can try putting in dfu mode and restoring it.
If it has icloud activation lock you will not be able to do anything with it unless you know his itunes login and password.
It will be as useless as a brick.
 
He didn't have an icloud acct only a itune acct.. and I tried dfu mode and restoring it but it wouldn't take it.. errors just keep coming up...and shows no serial #.. I have his serial number that I got from itunes..
 
I tried to download itune on my computer (not a mac computer) and it wouldn't download... I may have to wait and go to my mom's.. she has his mac book laptop and try it on that one.. I got it to show the serial # now but it still won't let me in.. asking for passcode...grrrrr... We had looked and looked everywhere to try and find his passcode and haven't found anything at all.. He must have kept it in his head and not anywhere else...
 
Buttons102 said:
He didn't have an icloud acct only a itune acct.. and I tried dfu mode and restoring it but it wouldn't take it.. errors just keep coming up...and shows no serial #.. I have his serial number that I got from itunes..
Click to expand...

How did you try dfu restore then without even having iTunes installed on the computer?
At least know what you're talking about or learn what dfu mode is and does before you claim that you tried and it didn't work.
You need a computer with iTunes installed to dfu restore it.
 
Buttons102 said:
My nephew passed away and I am trying to get into his iphone5 to use it.. But I don't know his passcode.. He had his contract with Verzion but we cancelled it... and Verzion said they couldn't help us since we didnt know his passcode...

I can get into his itune acct but it dosen't say anything about the passcode. What does one do.. This is not a scam and I am not a hacker... I am his aunt that want's to use his iphone5... I don't want it to just sit here and not be used..That's a waste of money to have it sit here and not be used..

I have tried different things but it keeps coming back as to I need the passcode..

Any help would be greatly appreciated..

Thank you...
Click to expand...

all u can do is log on to his iCloud account and erase the phone from the website

or

use his computer to back up , erase and restore the phone. this will clear the passcode

if you do not know the passcode and you don't have access to his computer theres not much you can do except erase it
once you erase it, you can give it or sell it to someone else

if you don't have the passcode , don't have the iCloud password i don't know what to do

if you have his iTunes password then maybe the genius at your local apple store will help you erase it

if you want to actually access the information contained on the phone without the passcode ,
well thats probably impossible


maybe apple has a policy about what to do when someone dies
 
a dfu like the previous posters mentioned will do no good if find my iPhone is enabled. do u know if its iOS 6??? u can dfu on iOS 6. but if its iOS 7 or later
you have to turn off find my iPhone before you can do anything to it

all dfu mode will do is restore a fresh copy of iOS. which will still ask you for your passcode! heh
 
rigormortis said:
a dfu like the previous posters mentioned will do no good if find my iPhone is enabled. do u know if its iOS 6??? u can dfu on iOS 6. but if its iOS 7 or later
you have to turn off find my iPhone before you can do anything to it

all dfu mode will do is restore a fresh copy of iOS. which will still ask you for your passcode! heh
Click to expand...

You can do a DFU restore on any firmware version on any device.
It will not ask you to turn off find my iphone on dfu mode. It will just ask you for it after it restores and it wont let you go any further.
Like this screen below if icloud activation lock is enabled with find my iphone.
 

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Applejuiced said:
You can do a DFU restore on any firmware version on any device.
It will not ask you to turn off find my iphone on dfu mode. It will just ask you for it after it restores and it wont let you go any further.
Like this screen below if icloud activation lock is enabled with find my iphone.
Click to expand...

yeah you can do a dfu restore but it won't do any good, if your iPhone is running iOS 7 or iOS 8

i believe it will just boot up and ask for your passcode

to clear the pass code you must erase the phone entirely with iTunes or iCloud

a regular itunes erase will clear the pass code. and reysnc the phone. in this situation

i figure if your iPhone is running iOS 6 , and you don't know the passcode. doing a dfu and making apple install the latest signed iOS 8 on it will just make your passcode situation worse.
 
Last edited:
a quick google search says to scan the death certificate and email it to
iTunesStoreSupport@apple.com

tell them that the person died. give them the serial #s and IMEI numbers of the phone. the IMEI number is printed on the back.

tell them his iTunes and iCloud accounts that should be linked to the phone


show them some proof you have the right to request the account deleted
ask them to erase the iPhone

once they erase the iPhone or you erase the iPhone using www.icloud.com you can reuse the phone for someone else. you have to go to www.icloud.com and click on erase and then click on remove this device
 
rigormortis said:
i figure if your iPhone is running iOS 6 , and you don't know the passcode. doing a dfu and making apple install the latest signed iOS 8 on it will just make your passcode situation worse.
Click to expand...

Not really. DFU restore gets past the passcode and the OP knows the "itunes account" credentials, which as the AppleID will get past activation lock if enabled.

Wipe the phone via dfu restore, activate using AppleID/password, then dissociate phone from the deceased's AppleID.

No passcode involved or needed. Contents of the phone will be gone of course.

----------
rigormortis said:
show them some proof you have the right to request the account deleted
Click to expand...

That proof will typically be a copy of the "Letters Testamentary" which grant the legal authority to the Executor or Executrix of the decedent's estate. (different states may do this a little bit differently)
 
the OP did not say anything about if the phone is running iOS 7 or later or if it has iCloud. or if their apple iTunes credentials are used to keep find my iPhone enabled
 
Last edited:
rigormortis said:
a dfu restore WILL NOT clear find my iPhone
Click to expand...
Correct, but the issue is the phone's passcode not activation lock. As the OP claims to be able to login to the iTunes account then activation lock should not be an issue.

even DFU can't erase the iPhone
Click to expand...
Actually it will. It won't clear the Activation lock, but it will wipe the phone.
Note we're specifically mentioning DFU restore, not just the basic restore.

OP did not say anything about if the phone is running iOS 7 or later ... or if their apple iTunes credentials are used to keep find my iPhone enabled
Click to expand...
iPhone 5 so it's at least iOS6. Unknown if iOS7. Should be moot however due to posession of the AppleID credentials.

Just curious, is it common for "apple iTunes credentials" to be different from the AppleID credentials? I thought they were the same.
 
iCloud "find my iPhone" can be a different account then iTunes. heh


dfu won't clear find my iPhone

still waiting on downloading ispw to check on what i am saying
when iOS 7 came out i dfu'ed my iPhone 5 over and over to prove that activation lock was still on


if you have an iPhone, and you don't know the lock code, and you want to bypass it, and you don't have the iTunes it is synced with . or if you don't have the persons iCloud and iTunes accounts, the best bet you have
is to throw the gadget away, buy an android, because at least with android you can break the lock screeen by using ADB. this is not a standard feature of ios. i am sorry and i do apologize.
 
Last edited:
rigormortis said:
dfu doesn't clear passcode anymore then iTunes does.
Click to expand...

Interesting.

You'd better let Apple know so they can correct their documentation, since recovery mode (aka DFU restore) is their prescription if you can't get iTunes to do it.

Forgot passcode for your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, or your device is disabled

BTW, my question on iTunes credentials vs. icloud was not if it was possible for them to be different (effectively having two AppleIDs) but how common it was. I already knew it was possible, just rarely saw anyone bother with it.

----------
Buttons102 said:
I can get into his itune acct
Click to expand...

Try the following:

  1. Go to icloud.com/#find on a computer web browser
  2. If prompted, sign in with your nephew's iTunes credentials
  3. Click All Devices at the top of your browser window.
  4. Select the device you want to erase.
  5. Click "Erase [device]" to erase your device and its passcode.
  6. Use the Setup Assistant on your device to restore the most recent backup.
 
okay i double checked. and dfu'ed my iPad

restore wanted find my iPhone off

dfu cleared the passcode and it started to resync from iTunes

so i was wrong about the iPad booting up to the passcode screen.

but i had to know the iCloud password to do anything to it, like actually activate it. heh

i think since iCloud / mobile me came out , the average person has 2 apple ids. one for all the stuff they purchased since the original iPod , and another for email, calendar, find my iPhone, iCloud.

i think the average person who bought an iPhone for the very first time since iOS 7 came out probably only has one apple id

is there a support document to take all my music and apps to my newer iCloud id???

if u want @me email you must sign up for iCloud mail. and iCloud mail comes with find my iPhone
which has to be manually switched back to your regular iTunes account in settings
 
Last edited:
rigormortis said:
i had to know the iCloud password to do anything to it, like actually activate it.
Click to expand...
Yep. As mentioned...
deeddawg said:
Wipe the phone via dfu restore, activate using AppleID/password, then dissociate phone from the deceased's AppleID.
Click to expand...
deeddawg said:
It won't clear the Activation lock
Click to expand...

is there a support document to take all my music and apps to my newer iCloud id???
Click to expand...
I haven't looked lately but last I knew Apple had not provided a way to merge two AppleIDs. (seems to remain true: http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT4895)

If you have your "main" iCloud account using an email you want to keep using for iCloud but have your music all attached to an older email address you can change the email addresses forming the AppleIDs. Basic tactic is take the iCloud AppleID and change its email (and alternates) to a secondary email address, then change the iTunes AppleID email address to the one you'd used for iCloud. Make sure you have local copies of any documents stored in iCloud, sign out on all devices before making the changes and then sign back after making the changes.
See http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT5621
 
i dfu'ed my iPad to prove i was wrong about booting the screen up to passcode prompt. but it took me 2 days to get my iPad back!! hahaha

i dfu'ed it. i gave it the ispw to restore. i told iTunes to restore from backup
after the backup was restored all macs would say "welcome to your new iPad" and it asked me to restore it from backup again!

applecare said to just click setup as new and everything will be fine haha

i still had to redownload some apps
 
I know this is late in getting back with you.. But I want to give you an update about my nephew's iphone 5. and to say thanks for your help..


I had called Apple and was on the phone with them for hours and a few days.. and they couldn't figure out what the problem was..They had logged on to my computer to look at it to see if they can see a problem.. So one of the helpers said she would call me back after she talked with someone else.. So a few days later she called me back and said that it wasn't the iphone it was my internet provider or a router problem..

I went to a friend house and was able to restore the phone on her computer... Came back home and tried it again on my computer.. and nothing..

Called my internet provider and they said it wasn't them that it was the router I was using.. So I unplugged the router and put the modem cord to just one computer and it worked.. So it was the router that was giving me the problem all this time..

Thanks again...
 
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