Phone Stuck While Rebooting

[owlyn]

My wife tried to reboot her 4s, and it is now stuck. When rebooting, we get the Apple logo dim, then bright, then a spinning wheel that gets stuck at about the two o'clock position, and then it starts over. Endless loop. Not jailbroken, running latest OS7. We don't have an iTunes backup, but we do have an iCloud backup (it has all her latest important stuff-notes, contacts, calendar, etc.) What is the proper procedure to fix the phone and restore the data from iCloud?

Thanks

 

[Just_Me_D]

Connect the iPhone to your computer and fire up the computer's iTunes app. Turn off the iPhone. Put the device in DFU mode. Once the device is in DFU mode, you will not see anything on the iPhone's display, however, iTunes will detect that the device is in recovery. Select to restore and update your device. iTunes will then download and install a fresh copy of the latest iOS version. After the process is finished and you are greeted with the welcome screen, shortly thereafter, you will be asked if you want to restore from a backup. Select to restore from the iCloud backup you mentioned above. To put the device in DFU mode, follow the instructions via the following link.

http://theiphonewiki.com/wiki/DFU_Mode

 

[owlyn]

Thanks for the quick reply. Next problem is I can't seem to turn the phone off to get it into DFU mode. It just wants to keep rebooting in that loop.

 

[Just_Me_D]

Thanks for the quick reply. Next problem is I can't seem to turn the phone off to get it into DFU mode. It just wants to keep rebooting in that loop.

Press and hold both the power and home buttons until the device powers off. It should be no more than 10 seconds or so.

 

[owlyn]

Okay, I've gotten to where it is asking me if I want to set it up as a new phone, or if I want to restore from a backup, but nothing says iCloud. The last backup is from 12/30/2012. What do I do now?

 

[Just_Me_D]

It worked this time. I think I held them down too long before. I think I am in DFU mode. The screen didn't go blank- it has an iTunes logo and a graphic of the connector and an arrow pointing towards the iTunes logo.

You are NOT in DFU mode. You are in recovery mode. You should still be able to restore your device in recovery mode, however...

iTunes on the PC recognized that the iPhone was in recovery mode. I clicked on everything to continue, and it is now downloading "...the software for this iPhone and will restore your iPhone when the download is complete." It's been downloading for about 15 minutes now...

I can only assume your internet connection is a tad slow but hey, as long as it's downloading, that's all that matters.

I couldn't power the phone off while it was plugged in to the computer. This was the best I could do, and it took a few tries. Did I get into the right mode?

Thanks again!

As I stated before, you are not in DFU mode, but recovery mode will suffice. Anyway, let us know how it turns out for you. Take care...

 

[owlyn]

I misunderstood. I thought the iCloud restore would happen in iTunes, but I see now that it is done on the phone. Latest backup was about 18 hours ago! Close enough!!! It's still downloading stuff, but it is definitely working, and the data is there. Thrilled doesn't begin to describe it. Thanks so much for your help. Haven't told my wife yet, but she is going to be VERY happy, if you know what I mean...

 

[Just_Me_D]

I misunderstood. I thought the iCloud restore would happen in iTunes, but I see now that it is done on the phone. Latest backup was about 18 hours ago! Close enough!!! It's still downloading stuff, but it is definitely working, and the data is there. Thrilled doesn't begin to describe it. Thanks so much for your help. Haven't told my wife yet, but she is going to be VERY happy, if you know what I mean...

I know exactly what you mean, and you're welcome, sir......Take care, and have a great night.