Unable to restore 1st generation iPad. Please help!

[willerz2]

Those will work as well. Generally it's not necessary to remove everything, but doing so and starting truly fresh all over is always the best way to go.

 

[Icarus86]

No luck with this willerz2. Computer still won't recognize the iPad. I wonder if I should try manually pointing the "Unknown Device" to the Apple Mobile Device driver that is within the Common Files folder?

 

[zstairlessone]

Unable to help, but very interested in how this is solved.

 

[mydave]

Hello all,

. . . . It's running pretty slow these days and is bogged down with a lot of files/apps
. . . . I am completely unable to get any of my 3 computers to recognize it.
. . . . When I most recently tried to connect it, it was giving me the "unknown device" error
. . . . I've followed the correct complete un-installation of iTunes and reinstalled
. . . . I've tried placing the iPad in DFU/recovery mode and it is still not recognized by iTunes.
. . . . When connecting the iPad to computer I constantly receive the "USB Device Not Recognized" error message. :\

Hi there,
I'm not an expert, far from it.
However, I'd think that people would want to know if the iPad is still working, and is it still being charged normally ? If the problem is not with computers and cables, then perhaps it resides with the iPad ? ? ? Hope not though.
Should it be the case, try Willerz2's method, being posted somewhere, about resetting the iPad:
Press and hold the On/Off Sleep/Wake button and the Home button at the same time for at least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears. And see this post

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2798113?tstart=0

After that, try connect to computer again.
Good luck

 

[Icarus86]

Hi mydave. Thanks for the suggestion, but i've already read several threads all over the internet suggesting what you have. It still doesn't work. The iPad itself appears to be functioning fine, it's not frozen and it turns on and off just fine. It charges with no issues also. As stated in my OP, i'm wanting to restore it because it's just bogged down with too many apps/cydia tweaks and I would just like to give it a cleaning by restoring it and starting from scratch. However, it isn't recognized by any of my 3 computers or 4 different cables, or combined 12 different USB ports. I've tried both recovery and DFU mode, neither of which seem to be able get the iPad recognized by Windows.

 

[willerz2]

Does RedSn0w see your device either in the normal state, Recovery Mode or DFU mode?

If possible, create a new administrative user on one of your computers, or, if possible, create a new partition and install a fresh copy of OS on that partition just to see if you can resolve this issue. Install a fresh copy of iTunes (and all of it's co-dependencies and such) and see if that resolves the issue for either iTunes or RedSn0w.

Also see if connecting another USB device works on any of the computers, such as another iOS device, another phone/tablet (Android, BB, HTC, or the like), a flash drive, and any other variety of USB if you'd like. This will see whether or not this issue is solely for communication devices or is it for certain types.

 

[Icarus86]

Thank you willerz2, that sounds like a good idea. Ill partition my drive and try to run it from a stripped version of windows. At the moment, redsn0w doesn't detect it in any mode. Weird thing is that my iPhone 4 has no problems connecting. Also, I've never had any problems with any USB devices, so I'm fairly certain it's not my ports. My best guess would be that it's a driver issue, and the computer doesn't recognize the iPad at all. I'll have to try the partition this week when I get some free time. I really appreciate your help and the fact that you're working on this with me!

 

[willerz2]

Let us know. If that doesn't resolve the issue, we'll go for other avenues to try to get it all working again.

 

[Icarus86]

I'm reformatting my pc and installing a fresh version of Windows 7 x64 right now. Was just curious, before I install iTunes and see if it will detect my iPad, should I do all the windows updates available?

*Update*:

Still having the same problems as before. Neither iTunes or redsn0w will detect. Ugh! :|

 

[mydave]

Hi again,
Perhaps the connectors on the iPad need some clean up ? I'd use compressed air and try. Or isopropyl alcohol and compressed air then try communication with PC again. Some connector pins/receptions may not make contact well due to dirt or other residue.
Apologies if it has already been done.

 

[Icarus86]

Hi again,
Perhaps the connectors on the iPad need some clean up ? I'd use compressed air and try. Or isopropyl alcohol and compressed air then try communication with PC again. Some connector pins/receptions may not make contact well due to dirt or other residue.
Apologies if it has already been done.

Hi mydave,

Unfortunately, that's the first thing I tried. Thanks for the suggestion though!

 

[Icarus86]

Just want to state this issue remains unresolved. I'm writing this post from the iPad in question, which still exhibits functionally with performance annoyance :/

 

[mydave]

Have you considered this iLEX RAT - Remove All Tweaks ? There is a video guide here.
After all, if the tweaks are removed, your iPad may perform great once again. Then, chances are iTunes could be happy to embrace it .

Best,