Downgrading iOS 9 to iOS 8.4.1

App & System Services Core OS
essodelaney OP
Created Aug ’15
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Boosts 0
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I tried to downgrade iOS 9 to 8.4.1 by .ipsw but it failed and my iPhone is in a Recovery Mode loop. It failed at Preparing iPhone then gave me an error 3194. Any help?? iPhone 5

Replies  5
Boosts  0
Views  7.4k
Participants  2
Max108 OP
Aug ’15

Hi EssoDelaney,


You need to put your phone into DFU mode using one of the following methods. Method 1 works in most cases, but there are a couple of exceptional circumstances where methods 2 or 3 are necessary:


Method 1)

  • Attach the phone to the pc
  • Turn the phone off
  • Hold power and home together for *exactly* 10 seconds
  • Release power but keep holding home until the computer beeps as a USB device is recognized.
  • At no point should the display come on. Now your restore should work.

Having problems? Try adjusting the 10 seconds to be slightly less like 9 seconds, then 8, then 7. It’s a tricky timing but you will eventually get it.

Method 2)

  • Hook up the phone powered on to the computer with the phone on
  • Now hold home / power until the phone turns off and keep holding for 10 seconds. If the phone ever turns on during this phase,start over and hold for less time.
  • Now release power and continue holding home until the computer recognizes the phone.


Method 3)

  • Attach the phone to the pc
  • Turn the phone off
  • Press and hold power. Keep holding power. As soon as you see display on the screen of any sort press and hold home.
  • Hold power and home together for *exactly* 10 seconds
  • Release power but keep holding home until the pc beeps as a USB device is recognized.
  • At no point will the display come on. Now your restore should work.


Max.

0
essodelaney OP
Aug ’15

Hi, Max108! My iPhone is stuck in Recovery Mode and cannot get out. It is stuck there for (not literally) forever! I downloaded the iOS 8.4.1 .ipsw and tried to downgrade, but it keeps coming up with Error 3194. it is stuck on the Connect to iTunes screen, and cannot successfully enter DFU mode. I was running iOS 9 PB3.

0
Max108 OP
Aug ’15

Try the other methods above. If after repeated attemps, none of them get you past "Preparing iPhone" then you may need to do the following:


  • Quit iTunes
  • Locate your hosts file, in Mac OS X this is /etc/hosts and in Windows this is c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
  • Open the hosts file with Administrator privileges (windows)
  • Add the following lines to the very bottom of the hosts file and save the change:
    • 74.208.105.171 gs.apple.com
  • Connect your iPhone to the computer
  • Launch iTunes
  • Put the iPhone/iPad/iPod into DFU mode by turning the phone off and then holding down the sleep and power button for 10 seconds, then release the power button but hold onto the home button until iTunes tells you that the device is now in recover mode
  • Allow iTunes to "recover and update" and you should be soon back on iOS 8.4.1
    • Once your iOS update is finished, go back to the hosts file and remove the “74.208.105.171 gs.apple.com” line again so that iTunes can properly update as usual. This is an essential step otherwise you may encounter future errors when trying to update or install iOS versions.
    • 0
    essodelaney OP
    Aug ’15

    I tried Method 1 again and it worked!! Thank you so much with your help. Hopefully I will never go a day without my phone again! :)

    0
    Max108 OP
    Sep ’15

    Hi Esso,


    Glad it's sorted for you 🙂


    To mark your question as answered (it goes green so that others can easily see there is a solution for it) you have to log in to these Developer Forums first (top left of this page) and then come back to the reply. Also, if a reply was helpful, click on the Actions menu at the bottom of it to "Mark as Helpful".


    Max.

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