My iPhone 4 keeps shutting down / restarting (stuck on the apple)

[freeman034]

Hello everyone,

I've got a serious problem since yesterday.

Everything was going nice on my iPhone 4 (bought in 2010) and in all of a sudden my phone shut down and since then no way to start it back up.

I think I've tried everything. First off I told myself maybe that was the screen that gone to Heaven, but I asked someone to call me, nothing, busy, as if the phone was off. Then I tried using the vocal assistant to make sure that was really not the screen, to make sure I couldn't hear something through the speakers, but nothing. First conclusion : the phone is off.

Then I thought my battery was gone (the battery was loaded by 85-90% at the moment it shut down), but anyway I took my girlfriend's battery (she's got the same phone) to make sure the problem was not the battery, so I switched them. My battery works perfectly in her phone, hers doesn't in mine.

Still black screen. Impossible to start it either by the power button or by the power+home buttons.

Then, I decided to plug it in my computer to check if the things could get better if I link it into iTunes. And YES : the apple appeared on the screen the second after pluging in the USB cable. A few seconds later : the apple disappeared, and reappeared another few seconds later. And since then, that's the best I could get. This apple keeps appearing and disappearing on the screen, without any way to start it up.

The SECOND I take the USB cable off the phone, the screen goes black and no way to start it up as well, just like before (as if the battery was totaly empty). I plug in the cable another time, the apple comes back in, and disappears, and so on. I've tried several other cables, same result.

The apple appears when I plug it in the computer, and also in sector. But without any cable, no way to make it move, even a little.

So I tried anyway to put it in DFU mode, I could make it. I could hear the USB connection sound in the computer. iTunes has found it in Recovery Mode (but it doesn't find anything without DFU mode).

I'm then trying to restore the phone, iTunes downloads the latest iOS version, everything goes well, it goes extracted, it begins to restore, then I got several errors (1600, 1602, 40xx....) everything saying me it cannot be restored.

I've searched many hours on the net, I could figure out that during the restoring operations, iTunes shuts the iPhone off to start it back to do whatever it wants. I'm pretty sure the problem comes from here, because at the second you cut the USB cable power, the phone goes off (as well as the DFU mode).

- Some of you will probably tell me it's coming from the power/usb dock ? I bought a new one several weeks ago, changed it myself and worked perfectly (I changed it because the home button wasn't working anymore, but this problem was fixed).
- This is NOT the battery, because it's working fine in my girlfriend's phone, and hers doesn't in mine, just like I said before.
- I don't think it's a software problem, since I haven't done anything special, I was just messing around the web and texting when it suddenly got shut off.

I've disassembled the whole phone to check if there was a connector unplugged, to check for dust, nothing. As I said, it was working perfectly.

The phone NEVER got in contact with water.

So my other conclusion is : nothing happens in the phone if no USB cable is plugged in. The apple appears when plugged in the computer, and when plugged in sector. But when it is unplugged, radio silence.

So.... since I can't find a way to start it, since I can't find a way to restore it.... I don't know.... I'm now thinking about the motherboard.... But how could I make sure that's it ? Have you got any idea ? Please help me !

Sorry for the novel.
Thanks in advance for your help.

Phil

 

[bab2010]

I suggest you to download the latest firmware which is iOS 7.1 at the moment, update iTunes on your computer as well, then perform a factory restore using iTunes. (If iTunes doesn't recognize iPhone when plug it into computer at first, then put the iPhone in DFU mode like you did before and restore the downloaded firmware)
Depend on how you download the latest firmware, if it's trough iTunes it self then restore your iPhone simply by clicking restore, if you manually download the firmware, then option+restore if you are on Mac, or control+restore if you are on windows to locate the firmware on your computer and select it to install it in your iPhone.
If that doesn't work on your computer, then use another computer with an up to date iTunes to restore the downloaded firmware. If you are certain that the phone didn't fall or swim, then it should work. Good luck

 

[freeman034]

First, thanks for your reply.

To answer what you said : I'm pretty sure my phone has never swam or fell.

Also, I've already updated to the latest version of iTunes, and I've simply clicked on the "Restore" button which launches the direct download of the latest iOS7 version. All of this goes well, but when iTunes wants to restart the phone (I guess the USB power is shut off for a second since I can hear the USB sound in WindowsXP) then the restoring is a fail, because the iPhone restarts (with the apple coming in and out, so DFU mode is off) and it's as if nothing happened according to the phone, whereas iTunes keeps waiting for iPhone's response.... but there is no more DFU mode, so fail.

In my opinion, the restoring can't be completed successfully since at a moment the power is shut between the phone and the cable by iTunes....

It's as if.... there was no battery in the phone. As long as there is a cable, the phone seems to be brought in power, but when I take the cable off, the phone shuts off immediately.

I've just tried without battery, just the cable plugged in, and that's the exactly same result. I guess the battery isn't considered at all by the phone right now.

Could it be coming from the battery port on the motherboard or something.... ?

 

[bab2010]

Well, since you have already opened it before and exchanged the battery with your girlfriend's battery to verify if it works or not, the doubt can exist regarding the battery port.
At this point, I suggest you to take the phone to Apple store if there is any in your area. But before that, try using another computer if possible, with an up to date iTunes and see.

 

[freeman034]

Ok just back from the Genius Bar.
They won't help me because my phone has already been repaired. Anyway the guy told me it was probably coming from the USB dock, I didn't say anything but I'm pretty sure that's not it since I've changed it recently and it's working perfectly (when I put the USB cable, the apple appears, so I guess it's working !!).

So right now I'm gonna have to do it myself.

I think the best thing to do is to take the current logicboard out and put another one, either a functional or a new one ?

Or I thought about just changing the battery connector, but I could see some videos on Youtube and looks to be quite a precise soldering job.... I don't have the tools for that.

Anybody knows where I could grab a functional "cheap" motherboard for iPhone 4 ? I keep looking on eBay I don't find much interesting.

Thanks for your help

 

[Ledsteplin]

Ok just back from the Genius Bar. They won't help me because my phone has already been repaired. Anyway the guy told me it was probably coming from the USB dock, I didn't say anything but I'm pretty sure that's not it since I've changed it recently and it's working perfectly (when I put the USB cable, the apple appears, so I guess it's working !!). So right now I'm gonna have to do it myself. I think the best thing to do is to take the current logicboard out and put another one, either a functional or a new one ? Or I thought about just changing the battery connector, but I could see some videos on Youtube and looks to be quite a precise soldering job.... I don't have the tools for that. Anybody knows where I could grab a functional "cheap" motherboard for iPhone 4 ? I keep looking on eBay I don't find much interesting. Thanks for your help

Check on the iFixit site. They may have the parts you need and directions. Don't know about cheap.

 

[RawR]

Hi,
If there are any iPhone repair shops near you then go there. See if they offer free diagnosis. If they figure it out and tell you either have them fix it or save some money and do it yourself. You can also see if they will sell you the parts.
Hope this helps.