ipad1 64 wifi 3g will not activate

[keldave]

Hi, I have an ipad 1 64 gig (wifi and 3g)that started giving me trouble after 3 years of no problems about not being activated.

(it only lets you use it for like 5 minutes then you get the apple logo)

It’s my daughters and full of movies and music.

It has a sim card slot, but I’ve never used it.

I tried restoring and then using the old backup, same problem.

I tried restoring as a new device ,same problem.

I checked the internet and did a DFU restore as a new device.

It seemed to work, so I started putting on all my daughters movies and music..

Soooooo a week later it starts saying its unactivated again!

I thought, to hell with this, Im not starting over again! Lets just jailbreak it.

Well I didn’t know you couldn’t jailbreak it unless it was activated (well you couldn’t do it with absinthe anyway)

I got it to start the jailbreak, but after that 5 minutes when the activation thing came up it put a stop to that.

Now ive tried a bunch of stuff, but it wont connect to itunes or jailbreak.



I would really like to just restore it now. After all the things I read I realize I could've probably fixed the activation problem by turning off "find my iphone" and using it in airplane mode.



( I also tried putting in a new simcard from 7/11 to see if that would help activate and that didn’t help either.

I don’t even know if its locked to a specific provider either.

so when i dfu restore it, It gets to the setup screen and I choose to set up with itunes instead of wifi and it restores the firmware and then after a few minutes of restoring i get the "we're sorry, we are unable to continue with your activation at this time"

im going to try again without the sim card because i think the message is different when it stops restoring.

 

[Brian 244]

Can you elaborate on what you mean by "activated"?. Is it asking you to sign in with an iTunes account? With iOS 5.1 you need to enter your passcode whenever you install new apps or run an updated.

 

[keldave]

im not exactly sure what they mean by activated. But the ipad is not set up. I cant get past the set up.
It is recognized by itunes. I can start the restore, but it doesnt finish. The ipad is stuck on the set up screen.

 

[keldave]

i'm pretty sure I did something with that couple minutes of absinthe that I don't know how to undo.

 

[Brian 244]

If you put the iPad into DFU restore mode that should remove the jailbreak and reinstall the latest compatible version of iOS (iOS 5.1) . Then setup as a new ipad via wifi since the itunes setup is giving you a hard time.

 

[keldave]

yes it should, but it does not. And i have set it up as a new ipad. When I try to set up over wi-fi, it gets to the "it may take up to three minutes to activate" and then the wheel spins for a couple minutes and then i get a black screen/silver apple logo and its locked up for a few minutes. Then its back to the ipad welcome "slide to set up" screen.

 

[keldave]

i'm going to try another dfu restore with the sim card (from my phone that works) in it.
But its from Rogers and I have no idea if this ipad is locked to a carrier.

 

[Brian 244]

The ipad shouldn't be locked to a carrier but this sounds like it may be a hardware issue. Has the i Pad encountered any drops or liquid spills ? It seems to be more that just a problem restoring from itunes.

 

[keldave]

not that I know of, no.

 

[Brian 244]

Error -1 is usually a hardware error. Which this really seems to be.

 

[scifan57]

A hardware defect would be the only thing that can prevent a DFU restore. You can take it to the Genius Bar at an Apple Store to confirm this. If it does require repair, you may want to think of upgrading to a newer iPad.

 

[keldave]

I'm thinking its not a restore problem. It's an activation problem. It does have 3g and I believe I need to have a sim card in it when I do the set up process. I have tried mine from my phone (rogers network) but thats not it. I have no access to any of the settings to find out which sim card I should be trying. (even though i've never used a sim card in it and I dont even want to use 3g)
Also, another fix seems to be to take it apart and disconnect the 3g. I dont want to do that. Should I move this question?
And i dont want to replace it, its a 64g and holds a ton of movies and music for my handicapped daughter.
It would cost a fortune!

 

[Brian 244]

The ipads are not like the iphone and do not require a sim for activation. In regards to taking it apart, it would be a very difficult process and will likely end up with more damage (though at this point what do you have to lose?)

If you do wish to follow this further down the rabbit hole , try ifixit.com.

Another option of course is to look for a used one on your local classifieds site. If you go this route make sure that any ipad you consider purchasing is not signed into another Apple ID or iCloud and if it seems too good to be true, it probably is...

 

[keldave]

Do you have any idea why it keeps asking to be activated then?
Many people are having this problem and I cant find a fix!
It started out of the blue.
My daughter would be watching her movie and it would shut down after 3 minutes or so and ask for activation.
Then after a few minutes she would be able to use it again, but only for about 3 minutes.

 

[scifan57]

It's probably an intermittent failure in some hardware component. That's the reason I suggested a Genius Bar appointment at an Apple Store. They could run a full diagnostic to find the exact cause of the problem.