I'm hitting the same problem, Ray. I didn't have the unknown error but am getting the slide for emergency and it's been that way for 30+ minutes. I'm going to let it ride for another 30 minutes...then see what's next

@Ray,

Before your iPhone died did you like it? I know you didn't fork out the cash for your iPhone, but now that you have one do you think you would actually buy one?

ps if anyone wants to promo me one I wouldn't mind :)

Oh yeah - anger aside - I love my iPhone. I finally can check my mail from my phone, do texting easily, and I liked the apps there were in 1.x, but 2.0 is really going to explode things (when it actually works ;). It's also great for planes. I watch movies on it and since I've done that - flights have gone a heck of a lot faster for me.

Ray - Craig again. I tried to access the iTunes store while hung. Now, when I click on my iPhone in iTunes, I get an error (unknown error -9838). I broke down and opted to call Apple. Once I get to a tech, which I am sure will happen in the next 12 hours :), I'll let you know what I find.

It does seem like it's a bandwidth thing but...

Wow - that sucks! Makes me glad I haven't tried upgrading mine yet. After reading this article yesterday (http://feeds.feedburner.com... I was planning to upgrade this weekend... maybe not.

All same for me - I did the upgrade, am stuck in emergency mode and am geting a network connection to the itunes store error. What is that I didnt even order anything. I am very annoyed because now my phone is unusable while I am still on hold 30 mins later with Apple.

Im owned, they bricked my old phone and my new iPhone isn't working yet, getting 9838

Mine is stuck the same way...i am sitting on hold waiting for a iphone rep

I'm getting the same issue too. I updated to 2.0 firmware and it's just stuck in iTunes saying "accesing iTunes store". If I unplug it, the phone just says "slide for emergency".

Perhaps it has to connect to the music store to reactivate after a firmware upgrade? That seems like a dumb design.

And the error is that a secure network connection could not be established - make sure SSL 3.0 or TLS 1.0 are enabled and try again ... OMG the pain

Hey guys. I'm having the same issue here upgrading my first-generation iPhone to 2.0. I'm getting the same error code as Craig (-9838). This sucks! This is my business phone and I can't be without it. I knew the iTunes Store would be swamped, but you just expect Apple to stay on top of traffic.

I have the same problem (in the UK).... hanging and no connection to the iTunes store to verify itself... very irritating

same problem here, the servers must be getting slammed

Got exactly the same problem. Got my iPhone 3G 8gb jut now, got told to upgrade my iTunes to 7.7, and now I get a -9838 when I try to connect to my iPhone. What a load of w**k. Well done Apple, you have exceeded yourself once again.

Same exact thing for me - this sucks - I need my phone!

I can forgive Apple for getting swamped. What is dumb is the 'you cant use the phone till you hit the store' "feature". That part is unforgivable.

If someone finds a fix for the 9838 error, please post! Sitting here with a dead phone..... :(

Same here, tried to upgrade to 2.0 now I get Slide for emergency.... Connect to Itunes, I get the "error -9838"
/sigh ....

Yep. Stuck as well. I thought it did a backup first, but I don't see that in iTunes either.

Same problem here. On the verge of tears will check back here later. Hopefully its just to much trafffic.. If its not please let the solutions lay here some where after breakfast and a shower.

WTF?!?! I was so excited to get this upgrade, and this happens? I have friends driving out to see me right now and have no access to my phone whatsoever. As much as I love Apple, they aren't too swift with things on release. aslkdfjlsakdjf

Same damn error. This blows!

same here, in england.

glad it isn't just me though!

i assume its traffic and it will all be fine

does anyone know of any confirmed successful 2.0 upgrades? I'm hanging in -9838 land as well...

I wonder why I'm seeing a different error ... why do i see "make sure SSL 3.0 or TLS 1.0 are enabled and try again" instead of the 9838 error?

I was having the same problem with my iPhone when upgrading it to 2.0... The error was in itunes and whenever I would click on the iPhone on the left side of iTunes, the error would come up.. error 9838... the solution: I had to close iPhoto... then it worked perfectly after that... I think its because iPhoto was trying to bully iTunes into letting it read photos instead of go ahead and upgrade.... hope this helps (iPhone is working perfectly now..

same here. this sucks.

same exact problem and ready to kill Apple right now.

Please someone post as soon as you find out the fix!

I'm getting this same problem with new iphone 2

Aaaargh!!!

Not a smooth launch in the UK at all

Same problem here!

So Annoying!

I get the same error -9838. I am dead in the water. I hope they get a fix soon.

Well, this pulled up pretty high on google while searching for this problem so we should make this our doa central.
I've tried syncing with dock, without, changed my itunes password, checked my network settings, nothing.
I can get to itunes store, but it pulls up an error box when I connect my phone. They're probably just swamped, but I'm getting more pissed by the minute.

I got here by googling "iphone 9838" so that should tell you enough ;) No idea how to fix it, seems to be something wrong on Apple's end...

This is the bleeding edge, folks... This happens sometimes ;)

@mike - On the Apple support forums, folks are saying that if you wait, eventually, it works. But the wait time can be 1 hour +. I think I'm about 40 mins in now.

(And by the way, this is easily the most quickly viewed blog entry I've written. 40 mins old and close to 700 views. Dang it I need to add some more ads! ;)

my iphoto is closed...even restarted computer...grrrrrr...i am sooo pissed

ps- i am really not into the music they are playing on hold

i have the same problem... sitting here with a brick and getting the -9838 error code. if anyone finds a fix, please post it!

SAME PROBLEM
AFTER 30 minutes on hold with Apple, instead of them picking up, they just hung up on me!

Same here as of 9:22 A.M. Central time in the USA. The AT&T store said they couldn't activate it because

Well, nice to see I'm not alone, I guess. Yay, progress!

They should have rolled out 2.0 a few days ago, so we could upgrade first, and they could work out the kinks. I wonder if 3G users are having any problems.

same same

this is kind of obnoxious, like how many people are without a phone right now? that's just uncool.

You know what they say...

9838 is the new Blue Screen. Wah waaahhhh. silly early adopters, when will you learn?

I'm getting this very same error. Does anyone know if there are any people who've successfully upgraded their 1G iPhone to 2.0 yet? I literally CAN'T call Apple cuz this is my only phone!

9838 for me as well. At least they have decent hold music while waiting on the support line.

I am in Kentucky and having same problem

FIX: CLOSE IPHOTO OR ANYHTING THAT CAN ACCESS THE IPHONE EXCEPT iTUNES

READ MY POST ABOVE!

Same problem here. On hold with Apple, I'll post if I find out anything.

The same in Italy... exactly the same...
:((((((((

I'm having the same issue trying to download 2.0 to my first generation iPhone. It's currently in emergency mode and I can't access the store, instead getting the cryptic 9838 error message. Extremely frustrating at best.

Same error here and the apple support website has no record of error 9838, way to go apple. Does anybody know of a fix for this issue, if not my $400 paper weight is doing me no good.

Tried your fix, no workie

Support told me that their servers are backed up. It will take a while, so just sit tight. Ugh.

Same for me! Just tried to download the 2.0 software - it went through the 20 minutes or so process, and right at the end came up with the error - 9838 message, leaving the iphone only able to make emergency calls. The graphic on the screen is requesting that I connect with itunes, but every time I do, the same error message comes up, saying - There was an error in the iTunes Store. Please try again later. Fantastic!! I am now unable to access any of my iphone details on iTunes! Has anyone on the planet been able to successfully download 2.0 I wonder?

UPDATE**

Was having this issue, with phone connected, clicked on Itunes store, it connected, so I clicked back on my phone, and magically it finished, now operating fine. Contact, emails adds, calendars, everything still there but my photos =(

I would say be patient, seems like a traffic issue.

Closing everything fixes NOTHING

This is definitely going to cause some type of class action law suit.
Just to think I am going away for a week in 12 hours, and I need my phone, if I can't get it to work, I will have to re-activate my old blackberry.

Exact same problem here.

closing iphoto doesn't work. or at least not for me. mines been closed the whole time.

Hanging after restore, 9838 also. Going to pick up a 3G iPhone right now.

All systems are a go!!! Well it seems to be working, says its doing stuff.

hey guys, just got it to work *finally* clicked on and off of the iPhone in the sidebar in iTunes a bunch of times until it took. hope it helps.

-9838 problem here too. I'm very disappointed!

same -9838 error, with iPhoto closed the whole time. wow this is unbelievably infuriating.

And Microsoft added some upgrades today as well. Guess I'll try a reboot. I've already turned on SSL 3.0 and TLS 1.0.

Same here! Any idea on wait times from apple support

Well, same error here. "Unofficial" upgrade to wife's iPhone last night worked great. I've tried forcing my phone into Recovery mode (Power off phone, Launch iTunes, Hold Home button & plug in iPhone) and now it's re-applying the firmware. Hopefully this will work!

Same thing happened to me error occurred (-9838)

I left it for about 20 minutes... same thing... I read all the posts here and tried again. My iphone was connected to itunes... I was clicking on the itunes store and back again on the iphone icon and same error message came up over and over. I then clicked on ringtones (instead of itunes store) and back on iphone and it FINALLY finished the update... I guess i got lucky.

I am at work and was able to download the new 2.0 software to my phone, however, when the restore was complete, the phone got stuck on the activation screen. Only letting me make an emergency call if needed. I connect the phone to the computer and get an error that it could not be connected to iTunes Store (error -9838). This has been going on for an hour and a half now.

@FIrstjg: there must be something else going on. i tried closing everything and still no success..

Same error (-9838). Great work Apple!

Looks like I'm not alone! Same error -9838. On the bright side, I can always make an emergency call, which I might have to do if they don't get this fixed right away!

Same here. iTunes store says it has a problem and 9838 appears. So yes, no phone! How nice! Brick mode.

it is telling itunes to load........... so hopefully it will work

Probably doesn't help that the new phone was released the same day as the update. I'm sure all the new phones are having the same access issues.

The posts sound painfully familiar. First phone release anyone?

Here's the solution to this error:

Go into Image Capture on your Mac, and set the preferences to No Application when a digital camera is connected. Then connect your iPhone to iTunes and it will complete the activation process.

Same problem. I guess I'll call AppleCare too.

Same problem here. I'm in California.
Getting a -9838 error. Must be a problem in completion of the upgrade by connecting to the servers. By the way, did anyone already download apps yesterday?

Got the new iPhone, plugged it in. Just sat for half an hour waiting for itunes store. Contacted O2, and they say that the phone has to be activated by them before it can be activated by itunes. This apparently can take "up to 72 hours". That sounds really intelligent!

Thought, OK, I'll upgrade the software to 2.0 and on my original iphone. Took ages to load the new software, and finally when the itunes restarted the phone, got (unknown error -9838) message. Now getting the same message on both the old and new iPhones.

You would have thought they'd be a little more organised than this.

Same problem with my new iPhone 8GB 3G... Posting from Finland.

OK, I got it to pass the step with the error. The solution is: brute force. Here's what I did: I repeatedly clicked my Music library, then the iPhone device (whereupon it would try to connect again), until the error went away. Now the iPhone says "Waiting for activation" and is restoring.

This makes it seem like it's a traffic issue. Hope this works for others until they fix the capacity issue.

Im getting the same error message! UGH! I so mad right now...

Closing the address book and calendar apps worked for me. Now fighting for access to the iTunes store.

Update

like what others said, just wait it out. mine is working now.

Same problem. I restarted and after a re-launch of iTunes, was able to connect to the store. The "connecting" message took a while to clear and actually connect, but it looks like everything is going forward at this point. Will report back in a few.

Common Apple, I am bricked on two phones now~

same thing ,

tried ringtone-iphone buttons a couple of times IT WORKED.

UPDATED to 2.0.

I got through to Apple Tech Support. They said they're slammed and that this error is happening to everyone. The only solution is to "wait for a bit and then plug the phone back into the computer." She said that the firmware has installed, but it needs to connect BACK to the iTunes Store to verify, and since it can't get through, it's bricking the phone. Very nice person, my hold time was 30 seconds, tops. So, I'm waiting. Worse case scenario? I get a 3G phone later. :) Great device, worth the minor headache

FIX - someone else was right.
Just click on and off of "iphone" in ITunes and by chance you will eventually get a connection to the store.
IM DONE!

Same thing in Japan. Early adopters are suckers.

I was getting the 9838 error as well. I just decided to be patient and see what happens. Looks like it is a traffic thing. Mine finally connected and completed the restore process and is restoring my data from the backup it created.

iT DUN SAIS IT IS UNABVABLE AT DIS TYME like da spice tyme

getting message stating no more activations for iphones.... wtf mate.

Just got a new message. "Iphone activations are unavailable at this time" message.

Same thing is happening to me now....... :-/

Hmm I'm now getting a -4 error instead of -9838. Has apple changed something?

Just got a new message from iTunes (replaces the 9838 error)

iPhone activations are unavailable at this time.

We're sorry, we are unable to process any new activations at this time. Please disconnect your iPhone and try again later.

Just saw a "iphone activations are unavailable at this time...." message in iTunes with iphone connected.

Dude, just restart your computer.

Here's the solution to this error:

Go into Image Capture on your Mac, and set the preferences to No Application when a digital camera is connected. Then connect your iPhone to iTunes and it will complete the activation process.

No go. Was already on No Applications.

I purchased an iPhone 3G an hour ago. The store was having problems with the iTunes activation, but I finally got it activated. When I got home, I tried to sync and got the 9838 error message. I got through to Apple iPhone support and the tech said the 9838 message means their server is too busy. He said their servers are slammed at the moment and if I wait until later, when the servers are less busy, it should work. I hope this helps.

They've just now pulled the software update from the website. Great timing Apple.

Ok, I did the image capture thing now, and now it's just stuck on "Accessing iTunes Store"... how long will it be doing this for?

Mine got through after about 45 minutes, and is now up and working. It's just a network glitch, I guess. Sucks to wait, but better than a bricked phone.

Now, iTunes is just holding forever, trying to connect through to the servers... no 9838, though, so I'm optimistic. Sort of.

Hi... Same things are happening to me this morning. First the -9838 error. Now I get an official "activations are unavailable" message.

Hold down on the home button when you are docking the phone until you get a message in iTunes.

For the record, I am having the same issue (Error: 3839) that everyone else is having. I am in California, USA.

It looks like it's basically just a busy server error. Mine seems to have completed it now (re-syncing music now).

Don Judd's post about Image Capture is correct. The 9838 error will go away if you go into the Preferences and select No Application. iTunes will connect the phone to the store and start working.

Ok after some time and another reboot, I got a restore screen and "Waiting for Activation This May Take Some Time" on the phone screen.

I had the -9838 too. I followed Don Judd's advice and it sorted the issue...

Here's the solution to this error:

Go into Image Capture on your Mac, and set the preferences to No Application when a digital camera is connected. Then connect your iPhone to iTunes and it will complete the activation process.

Strange - if I click on the store I can access it but when I click back to iphone it cannot - when will this end???

Same 9838 here in NYC.

Restarted itunes, all good!!
Eastern PA 10:35 AM EST

Hey guys, I has having this same error, but then I just replugged it in a few times and now it seems to be moving along nicely albeit a bit slow.

ack! I manually updated mine yesterday morning and it went off without a hitch. perhaps it's all down to networks being clogged?...

I'm getting the 9838 too. I've had a bricked phone for over an hour.

just tried restoring etc., it is only giving me the option to restore to 1.1.4 software (this was after i had updated to 2.0 and got the hanging screen/9838 error)

and what if you dont have a mac - what is the fix??

guys, i had the same problem so i kept clicking on the music icon then back to the iphone one and after a few tries it worked fine.

Finally working.

Now it's stuck on "Accessing iTunes Store" instead of 9838, but it's taking forever...fingers crossed

Spoke with Apple support, confirmed, this is a traffic issue. Please be patient.

FIX......................

LIKE A FEW HAVE SAID TRY CLICKING AWAY FROM THE IPHONE DEVICE ON ITUNES AND BACK AGAIN UNTIL YOU GET THOUGH

I posted earlier that I was having the same problem. Well, now all is fixed. Error 9838 is a 'Server Overload' error. You don't have to repeatedly click off and on your iPhone in iTunes to get it to work. In fact, by doing this, you lose your place in 'line'. If you just wait, it will finish. Mine updated and is currently making phone calls on 2.0 software after a 40 minute wait. This just goes to show when 6 million iPhone users upgrade all at the same time, servers start to panic. Have patience!

should it start doing something other than "accessing iTunes store" after getting past the error? lasdkfjlskdjf

I had the same 9838 error as everyone else. After reviewing posts, it seemed to me it's just a web traffic issue. I kept hitting my iPhone in iTunes over and over, and finally got a new screen instead of the error, stating that no more iPhone activations could be completed at this time, try again later. So I unplugged my iPhone and plugged it back in, and voila.

So just keep trying, eventually you might get through.

Finally worked after saying "Accessing iTunes Store" for 5-10 minutes

same here, had the 9839. closed itunes and iphoto, reloaded itunes only and now im stuck with "Accessing iTunes Store". Been about 5 minutes now. Garbage.

whoa, i just got an error message that my phone cannot be restored. this cannot be good.

OK! Now there's a new warning screen about no signal... Which is funny because I made a phone call immediately before plugging my phone in to my computer.

Same thing happened but this was eventually resolved.

Key is to not panic. It eventually goes through. I tried unmounting and reconnecting iPhone to iTunes and after 10 or so tries, I got lucky and it started communicating with the store. 5 minutes later, things are working.

Good luck and be patient.

Same issue here in New Jersey..

How many are willing to bet that this update has worked for Windows Users before Macs?? ;)

The hold music for tech support is AWFUL.

Upgrading my existing iPhone, I was also getting the 9838 error (how I found this entry), but just rebooted and now "Accessing iTunes Store", now Restoring iPhone from backup. Success!

Accessing iTunes Store...

////////////////////////

-_-

Hang in there, mine has just corrected itself after leaving it to do its thing for an hour despite the 9838 error

I've tried all of the recommended fixes and cant get any of them to work ... darn "network timed out" on accessing itunes store

Originally the error message I got was about the SSL 3.0 and the TSL 1.0 settings. I checked that in "Internet Options" and it was fine (obviously...)

Now I'm getting the could not connect to iTunes store, network timed out error.

This sounds like a server overload to me.

I got past -9838 the same way as a couple of other posters (most recently Peter Marreck) -- keep trying over and over again. There was a long wait while it was "Accessing iTunes Store", and then it finally finished reactivating and started syncing my stuff back (which it's still doing now).

Good luck, all.

-9838 is a server load problem. Try again, and you will get through

GOT IT! ka ching, all to do with patience ... :-)

You just have to be patient if youre not getting the error message, it took me 15 min to get it to activate. just let it sit there

FINALLY!!! It worked. I used the method some have suggested-- clicked on ringtones and then back to the phone over and over. It was accessing itunes for awhile, but finally worked. Since the servers are slammed, the more times you try, the more chances you have to connect (in theory at least).

I had the same problem but after about 40 minutes it finally worked. I guess it just takes time.

patience, my came back on.....thank god, just let it sit, it will do what it needs to do

Who says we dont live in an instant gratification world. Dont worry people, the pain and agony of being first will soon subside.

It's making progress... When I plugged the phone in I was getting 9838; now at least it's trying to access iTunes!! guess we'll all be playing the waiting game this morning...

"Don't worry people, the pain and agony of being first will soon subside."

Lol... :)

Does anyone know if when connected it will keep trying to sync with the store? If I just let it sit will it work??

Apple should give you guys a medal - good job on keeping everybody updated, and Apple tech Support should be relieved there are postings like this to help keep everybody sane

ok at least now it's restoring my phone (i think to 1.1.4 -- WTF?)

Now i just wish I didn't have so much crap on this thing because its still backing up my videos and what nots....

Patience? This is my phone that is used for my business and children to get a hold of me. Why the hell does my phone have to connect to the iTunes Store before it will work!

Now that I've successfully upgraded. Any know how to hack 2.0? Its been 2 minutes, please help me.

I think I have some marginal success...now it's just updating everything to my phone. WOOHOO!

just started to work, 10 - 15 minutes maybe. once you access itunes store just sit back and wait.

i had the same problem of waiting for "accessing itunes store". i just waited and waited and finally it switched to "waiting for activation" then "restore complete" and now "phone is activated". for me, i didn't do anything. it was just a matter of time. although it was only about 15 or 20 minutes of waiting i believe. i hope this comment helps. best, v.

MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I bet apple put a loop in the installer just to get another story on the net about the iphone!

for(i=0;i<100000000000000000000000000000000000;i++)

You have to give them credit. They know how to produce press. bad press, but press none the less.

Like everyone else - having the same problem. I'm hooked on a 30+ minute wait. Of course I have some phone calls coming in that I can't miss... well - I guess I can miss them because I did and I don't have a land-line here. Big BITE! I think I just got pwned.....

Help My phone died too. I guess I just need to get a new one. A little help from dog lovers please! http://www.pupa-wear.com

Great Now I got a NEW iTunes Error -4 this time!

It's 10:48am EST here, I have been trying to at least 2 hours to get this update thing to work. I updated my iPhone, and when i connect it to iTunes I get an error. I am unsure of the code but it tells me the following:
"We could not complete your iTunes Store request. The
network connection times out.

Make sure your network settings are correct and your network
connection is active, then try again."

Why is it doing this? Is this the problem you are all having also? Anyone have a cure?

I waited for 10 minutes and was about to go do something while waiting and a error thing said you have timed out or been kicked off or something and I had to manually start over.

Woohoo. It worked. Like Amanda now though I'm waiting through a long sync. I assume when done I'll have a 2.0 phone. ;)

well thats great...i thought that someething was wrong with mah netwrok and went and resetted everything...

actually brought the phone to work to see if i have any better luck, but now i see its on their end...greeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaat

phone restored (no way to know if to 2.0 or 1.1.4), was hanging on the "accessing itunes store" screen that made me think the whole thing was busted the first time, then got a new error message, -4? Does anyone know what a -4 error is?

I finished the download for the software and had it put on the iphone ages ago, now i have been trying for over 2 hours to get it to connect to the store, i got the (-9838) error several times now, and i finally got it to "accessing itunes store..." and it gave me error (-4), and i have to idea what to do at this point. You would think that after the fiasco of the first night of the iphone 1.0 launch they would have brought in more servers to deal with the obvious problem. the secret is that they don't care how long we wait because in the end we will still like the 2.0 software.

I got a 9838 message error too, and now after restart iTunes, the message disappear and I got stuck with the "Accessing iTunes Store" loading message. I've been sitting here for at least 25 minutes and no luck.

Clicking refresh on this blog is the most fun I've had all week.

when i conect it says it cant access the itunes store...

wtf am i suppose to do?

what has worked for other ppl?

Nunya, I have the same -4 error now. Anybody know what a -4 error is??? I was getting the -9838 error before.

Here's an idea...email Steve Jobs and tell him to buy Cisco routers and Intel servers!

Hey Guys, Be patient. I had all these problems. I have just manage to reconnect and be successful with the upgrade. You have to respect them folks at apple. It does what it says on the box! Rob

Nunya, I disconnected and then reconnected, and now I have the -9838 error again.

Same access issues here.

Well at least we're all feeling the same pain!

im gettin a -4 error now .ughhh

network connection lost again. 4th time. I have to go to work now. this sucks.

I was getting the ~9838 error earlier as well, now am getting the ~4 error after waiting about 15 minutes with the "accessing itunes store" message.

what's a ~4?

holly, i have no idea what the problem is, i have tried using all sorts of search engines, and human help for it. and now my error is just haphazardly switching between (-4) and (-9838) with no seeming pattern or reason.

I think I'll have a beer while I wait.

i am getting 9838 error again.
awesome

lol, gettin the 9838 error now

this is ridiculous. though i am glad that it is not only me the one experiencing the issue, like nunya said, you would think they would figure something out by now to avoid this kind of problem. i have been an apple fan for about 5 years now and this is really disappointing. to top it all off i drive to the store nearby and #1 they won't let you in (because their ego is over the roof) and think it's cool to make a scene and only let iphone buyers in. #2 they tell me there is nothing i can do andthat i have to wait - without a working phone until the problem is fixed (this is when i thought it was only me with the problem).

overall Apple needs to step their game up if they want to be known for reliability and by now be prepared to face problems wit software that they seem to "never expect"

I don't understand Luc's comment above about "losing your place in line" if you disconnect and reconnect. After I get the -9838 error it doesn't appear to be doing anything, it's not hanging, it just stops doing anything at all, so it seems to me I need to unplug and reconnect in order to try to re-establish a connection to the server? Thoughts?

It seems to work if you sit on your hands and cluck like a chicken.

Did anyone having the issue this morning get it resolved? Mine's been out of commission for 2 hours.

now it is telling me randomly along with the error9838 that it couldnt compete my request and the network connection was reset...ahhhhhhh!

I just got off the phone to iphone support: 1 (800) 694-7466
The activation server is DOWN. Polite apologies. I told him Windoze users were
used to this, not die hard Mac users.

I bet Blackberry is enjoying this blog!

has anyone tried restoring to a different firware then upgrading again?

i am now

I called apple and they said to unplug and try to reconnect every hour or so...the update won't complete until it connects. Sucks!

i would call tech support, IF THIS UPGRADE HADN'T THRASHED MY PHONE. (no landline.)

Bad - Bad - Bad - Poor planing - 3G and 2.0 on the same day.

Maybe they need to buy some servers and storage, plus more bandwidth... (could buy Sun Micro :-) )

Apple also said you can't restore to a 1.x version once you've installed the 2.0 update (I told them I'd rather have a functional phone for the weekend, and apparently that isn't an option)

now it gives the 9838 over and over and over and over.

I think I'll go back to watching videos of the Gemini space program....back when computers REALLY worked....lol

same here in Los Angeles... argh!

activation server is down? like altogether down? but some people say they are successful...

It's simply a band width issue. The US has just woken. The rest of the world is out there too trying to access the site. It works. Its just that its too darn popular!

I was having the same -9838 error message and tried unplugging several times but nothing would work. But then I decided to be a little more patient. I clicked between the itunes store and iphone tabs in itunes until I didn't get the error message and it just sat there attempting to connect. I left it there and finally my phone was able to connect. My iphone was alive for a few secs but then went into another restore mode. This time a progress bar is on my screen but it's going very slowly. Maybe I'll be good to go when it's done...

I am starting to get angry emails from clients asking why I'm not picking up my phone...

Worst. Activation. Design. Ever.

But I do have a table with a short leg, so I could always shim it with my newly-bricked iPhone. Which is nice.

I am getting the error message -9838 too. How frustrating. I guess we will have to wait...I should have known..there would be a problem especially with the new 3g coming out today and also the new 2.0 software. i am just going to play golf and hope it is fixed when I return...FORE!!

Mine in no longer "accessing the store". It's just sitting there. Does it need to be "accessing" in order to eventually fix? Or can I just leave it alone after hitting "OK" after getting the 9838 crap?

And AT&T thought in store activations were a good idea... I truly hope whoever bright idea this was gets canned TODAY!!!!

It has been saying Accessing Itunes store for about an 30 minutes now.

Should I just wait or continue to unplug and replug the phone back in?????

CONFUSCIOUS SAY: iPhone activation like athlete's foot- very irritating.

same error here. any help would be appreciated.

i think if you have the "accessing iTunes Store" screen you should not disconnect. i think that is the goal. if it is spinning on that screen at least something is happening. i think if you are getting the 9838 error and hitting OK you have to eject then reconnect until you hopefully get the "accessing iTunes store" which from reading this board i have the impression can last for 40 minutes but then may work.

others thoughts?

Update: My phone finished syncing. It's definitely 2.0. In iTunes though it is stuck on the 9838 error like everyone else. So I can't manipulate the phone via iTunes yet. But I can call someone. Of course, I've got no one to call right now. ;)

anybody wanna grab some food? looks like this may be a while..

anyone who has talked with apple support....what are they telling you???????????

BIG thumbs down to Apple on this.

It's one thing to brick my iPod (music), but entirely another to brick my PHONE!

Thanks for nothing...

took a long while - with the 9838 error. I did close iphoto. That did not immediately work. Likely the busy server issue. Finally the connection to itunes worked and the phone is restored and working. The sync did take much longer than usual after the connection

One of my table legs is too short... Not anymore :)...

No seriously.... I was able to break into my house with it after I locked my keys inside... so it was not a total loss...

Wait, if I clicked out of the error message, but kept it in the iPhone pane, will it still load up? Or do I need the error message to be up for the page to load in iTunes?

i got the same problem, can't be mad though, should have no this was going to happen, we all couldnt wait just one more day. hahahahahaha

Well I'm going out to get something to eat. No sense in taking my paperweight with me. Hopefully the bandwidth ferries will wake up around turn my paperweight back into a phone by the time I get back home:)

Keep clicking around until you see Accessing iTunes Store.. with a progress bar

my husband is on line at the meatpacking (14th st NYC) retail store waiting to buy his 3G phone. we are texting and i just asked him to call tech support to ask about the status of the activation server (I'd call, but my phone is bricked!) and i will report back with an update ASAP.

A ray of hope out there... I've [finally] upgraded successfully by just rebooting the iphone on the dock and clicking between iphone and iTunes store. I think it was just patience, faith in karma and luck in getting through a window to the store to finish the upgrade. I still get the error (-9838) due to traffic I assume but I'm current and I have a working phone. Thank to everyone for the company and posts while I sweated this out. To all of you still waiting... hang in there.

ok so i started the process at home...downloading the update...but then started getting all the errors and whatnot

frustrated that i though it was my home network or something on my i end, i proceeded to work and thought id give it a try there. after getting to work i started reading this thread and found out it just wasnt me...

do any of you think thered be a problem if i managed to get it working at work instead of at home where i originally started???

ok

this time when i clicked restore itunes decided to restore it to 1.1.4 instead of to 2.0

very intersting

but i have a flight in 1 hr so i just gotta do it...now i just hope it works....

same thing, come on i need my phone back!

Same problem. -9838

Did the ringtone thing and then got through only to get a -4 error. Then goes back to square 1.

Love Apple, but come on guys maybe space out each country by one day?

Yippeee!
I finally was able to "access the itunes store" after about an hour. This process requires a lot of patience. My iphone classic is now syncing and operational again. Don't restart or disconnect, just wait it out.

Good Luck!

omg!!!!!!!!!! thiss fffffingg sux!!!!!!!!!!!1 whats this ? a 2.0 software update? yay!...[downloaded]....restored to factory settings? wtf! "cannot access to itunes store" wtf! wtf! wtf!....screw you apple!! get this fixed asap!

i was having a similar problem but after re-connecting it several times (and after a bit of time) it gave me a different error "no new activations at this time" tryed again 15 minutes later and it finally started restoring :-p it took a while for it to re-transfer all the music but its done now.. the phone works again.. and i can download apps while on the phone.. they work.. but it wont connnect to itunes properly

Holly,s got the right strategy. see 10:07 post. It worked half an hour ago for me and all is beautiful! Got all my mail, all my contacts all the music and SMSs. Have a beer, Be patient. It does work. It is seamless.

what does this mean:

"rebooting the iphone on the dock"

Mine finally updated and is now syncing.

i got a new error of -4

Accessing iTunes Store...

////////////////////////////

after a longish (20 minutes) wait this suddenly changed into: an updated iPhone!

keep retrying the iPhone icon in iTunes until you get to the stage shown above, then -

WAIT & BE PATIENT

This is an even worse disaster than firefox 3.0 launch

App Store tip:

I can browse the app store on my phone, but apparently I was too dumb to figure out how to download an app. If you click on the price (or the word Free) it changes to "Install". Not very obvious IMHO, but I now have an app on my iphone. :)

I've been dealing with this crap for over two hours and don't even get the same error messages.

just restarting the iphone [holding down the top button and the home button] while it's on the dock. I don't think it had much to do with it though. Just patience.

UK o2 iPhone user here...

Upgrading old iPhone to 2.0.. same problem as everyone else.

Error 9838... currently have a bricked phone.. pain in the rear end.. yes

Whose fault is this.. sucky Apple iTunes.. or o2? or a combination of both?

Downloaded the unofficial version that came out last night... and upon iTunes extracting it was forced to restart... Now my MacBook Pro is a paperweight with a permanent blue screen. So... Using a family member's computer to do the update and now all I get is the -9838. I've got 2 very expensive paperweights and am not too happy!

As soon as I closed iPhoto, it worked like it should. Coincidence? not sure...

Have two iPhones. Both are brick, but I have two of them.

Apple tech support say it's too much traffic for their servers. Might have been smart to release the 2.0 software update yesterday in that case. Didn't Apple realise that all these new 3G phones and the original owners all trying to update at once was gonna cause problems with their servers?

The only consolation I have that I've been able to put my 02 sim card into my old Sony Ericsson and am able to still make calls.

i am also stuck with the error.. that after waited over 30 min accessing the itunes store... now only for emergency till when? pretty bad

Wow guys,

The impatience here is mind boggling. My iPhone is bricked right now as well, but constantly clicking your iPhone only adds to the hits that Apple's site is getting. It's no wonder their server is overloaded.

The fastest way to resolve this, is wait a few minutes before trying again. The world is not going to end if your phone is offline for a couple of minutes or even hours.

Sam problem. Getting an error 9838. On hold with apple for a half hour. NOT HAPPY :(

Same problem here. If there's any consolation, it's that this is a widespread issue and Apple surely must be scrambling to fix it.

Combined with the MobileMe fiasco, Apple is really OFF THEIR GAME with iPhone 2.0. Seriously, in the words of P.B., how could they make such a colossal blunder????

I did have the accessing itunes...then it stopped and now it says I can't connect and to check my network connection....its been about an hour now.

Now getting the "accessing iTunes Store" message. been on that screen for about 25 minutes. I think I'll go mess with "MobileMe". Oh, wait... that's not functioning either.

Apple really needs to get some distance between updates, so that not everything is happening in one day. Last I checked there were 364 other days on the calendar.

Same problem here. Been over an hour and still can't use my phone. Lame Apple.

.... I had this nagging voice in my head this morning telling me wait to do the upgrade for my older iPhone... Should've listened. Been a couple hours now trying to connect but just getting the 'network timed out' message. Ugh...

Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug .....

I just "upgraded" to error 4 from 9838....anyone got this one?

Greatly disappointed. For me I guess is ok to not have a phone for a little while, but there are people out there that make their living from their phone.

I understand that for Apple is pretty difficult to predict the amount of downloads and therefore prepare the server loads. Having said that, it is funny how Apple openly complains about the way other companies solve problems.

I am sure Apple will figure it out shortly.

insult to injury...dot mac doesnt work either, and i need it for work...so no iPhone, no dot mac

I keep getting the error message "Network Connection was reset. Make sure you network connection is active and try again."

what is the mobile me fiasco? the whole reason i want this upgrade in the first place is so that i can finally get my work e-mail (exchange/outlook on a PC) on my iphone and turn in their hideous blackberry that i am currently forced to lug everywhere...

well i waited in line for 12 hours last night and ended up with a 16gb iphone 3g. The people at the AT&T store were having problems activating the phones and no one where i picked mine up was able to activate. So they sent me home and said that i should be able to activate it myself. Well i have been trying for over an hour now and have had no luck. I am also getting error message 9838. If anyone knows what to do please share!

Well, you would think that the weekend long startup the first time would of told them to boost the server capability.

AHHHHH I WANT TO USE MY 3G i waited in line for hours.. just to have a brick.... house

I love to buy products that don't work. Thanks Apple & AT&T!!! You guys are awesome.

Brickville here too. Or 9838ville. Guess I'll wait out the storm.

Also i was told by a sales rep at the AT&T store that AT&T has enough server power to simaltaneously activate 4 million phones, from the looks of it, those servers arent working right now....

house!

haha its crazy how many people across the nation are going through this right now. im still trying to get mine through the process as well.

I just updated to the 2.0 firmware with the original iPhone and this is the error that I get:

We could not complete your iTunes Store request. The network connection was reset.

Make sure your network connection is active and try again.

Robin, a bunch of us have also seen the -4 error

Knut, mine looked like it was restoring to 1.1.4 as well but i can't tell for sure because without being able to complete the upgrade my phone is stuck in brick mode and i can't access the "About" info

this is mind boggling. why are people waiting in a line for 12 hours to buy a phone that will be available every single day starting today? Just to show your friends you were one of the first to buy a 3G iPhone? I will never understand that mindset. You don't have to wait in line like you're buying bread in the former USSR to buy a freaking cellphone...I'm also having the same problem upgrading the software. But maybe I am more patient than the rest. It's not a big deal, I have other phones and once this traffic problem subsides, my iPhone will be updated...today, tomorrow, in a few minutes, in a few hours. It's not the end of the world.

My phone is activated and working, but now I can't sinc and upload my contacts etc...

Now I am still getting the error -9838 again.....

Damn upgrades

THE ULTIMATE TRICK TO SOLVE THE 9838 ERROR AFTER UPGRADING IPHONE VIA ITUNES : Wait a few minutes, then plug iphone and try again.

By trying many times a minute, you don't helps servers to manage the colossal amount of users trying to activate.
Example : If 1 000 000 users are actually trying to activate 20 times a minute, the server have to manage 20 000 000 activation request. So, try once an hour, it's really fairplay and democratic.

Cheers,

Seb from FRANCE

the error (-4) message has shown up for many people now, including myself. and also, last time i got the "accessing itunes store.." i waited and it gave me error (-4), but now i am back to error (-9838). so i'm going to try and wait for another hour again and then try to do it.

i like the guy that suggested having a beer. at 10 in the morning.

I kept clicking from the iPhone to another selection, then back on the iPhone. Keep dismissing the error message and try again. Took me about 15 minutes for it to go through. I'm up and running again.

Bad, bad, Apple.

iBrick!
GG apple way to keep us happy

I thought I was all happy - got to an AT&T store early and only waited 2 hours to get my shiny new phone. Oh, but wait, AT&T couldn't activate it. "Just take it home, plug it in iTunes, and you'll be all set." Yeah. That was 2 hours ago and I'm still getting iTunes errors like many folks here. To add insult to injury, though, AT&T moved my cell service off the old phone onto the new one. Since the new one ain't activated yet and it doesn't seem it will be any time soon, I have NO cell phone service at all.

I expect such shananigans from AT&T, but I really expected better from Apple. Here's Apple launching their new, much anticipated product - one would think that they would have done just a little planning to accommodate the demand. They really blew it.

OK, so now everything's good to go (or so I thought), software 2.0 is installed, -9838 error is gone, phone data is restored, I tried buying a couple of apps on the app store on the phone and none of them finish loading when I run them... I see the startup screen, then it crashes out to the home screen =(

Not sure if this is listed in the 100's of comments. If you plug your phone into your computer and hold down the home button for around 30 seconds it goes into a hard reset and will restore from iTunes.

Sadly with the way they are being nailed right now you may still have trouble registering it still because it is looking to confirm you are a authorized AT&T customer.

Wish everyone luck. I am waiting till Sunday to upgrade hoping their problems have been fixed.

F at pc guy from the mac commercial is getting his revenge and I am super mad at apple for this. I love mac ecept today...

I am on call for work and now I have a brick! I will for sure complaint, this is not acceptable.

The iphone upgrade is as good as steve case's health...The apple is rotten.
Apple guys they try to appear like computer gurus, they are not that cool today...

Are you ready for a class action against apple for ruining your day?

Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug ..... Plug .. 9838 - OK .. Unplug .....

thanks for contributing to the problem, jacka$$

I was fortunte enough to have upgraded my old iPhone 1.0 to 2.0 YESTERDAY morning,before the servers were swamped. I will say to all of you out there waiting that the wait is worth it.Sit tight and pretty soon you will be playing with all kinds of great free apps from the app store! Good luck,

PS I am sitting here trying to help my father upgrade his phone and the dreade unknown error 9838 is haunting us as well!

Start digging this story

http://digg.com/apple/iTune...

I can't be patient any longer.. ACCESS ITUNES ALREADY DAMMIT

Forgot to mention: DO NOT REPEATEDLY PLUG AND UNPLUG YOUR IPHONE! This puts unnecessary wear and tear on the hardware. JUST KEEP CLICKING BETWEEN YOUR LIBRARY AND THE IPHONE IN THE ITUNES INTERFACE AND HIT "OK" ON ERROR UNTIL THE ERROR DISAPPEARS!

This got me past all -4 and -9838 errors (eventually), but now I still have the issue where new iphone apps won't finish loading (even after a phone restart) and I can't run my shiny new toys!!

Alex : You don't even knows what's an ironical sentence.

dude!! i got a graphic saying ihone activations are unavail! wtf? hahahahaha

Ha, I just got it to connect, no more error. Now I get a message that iphone activations are unavailable at this time. F'n yes.

Myself and several other colleagues updated our 1.0 phones yesterday - zero problems.

The iTunes activation servers have been up and down, so that's probably the culprit, not the new software.

What a mess . . . Apple tech says wait. Can't get through to ATT.

Bought the new phone in an ATT store. To the counter at 9:30, they took all my info, signed the new contract, ponied up my CC — but they couldn't connect the new phone to iTunes. "Go home, do it there" — and it's almost 2 hours, now, minutes waiting.

Very crummy anticipation by Apple and everyone concerned.

I've had all the error messages:

-9838

-4

For a while, got the "Accessing i Tunes Store" message, but now . . . just a blank screen. Waiting for lightning to strike.

And worse of all, my old 2G iPhone, apparently because of what was done in-store, is now, totally out of service.

ok now i got the -4 error anyone knows y?

Ok well can I say "me too?" Yes I can ... yes I can.

As well, last night while checking to see if the new firmware was released a bit early, I got the iTunes update and did it. Then, for no good reason, I went to the iT store and bought a few albums. Downloading them was an absolute nightmare - every other song resulted in an error and my mbp spinning its cpus for many minutes at a time.

Let's hear it for capacity planning.

Trying to restore my old backup to my iPhone and upgrade to 2.0 later:

http://support.apple.com/kb...

Anyone else had any luck as an existing o2 customer?

I reset my internet settings the TL 1.0 and SSL 3.0 to disabled restarted then reenabled and restarted and it now works. Also set internet security to low.

Oh, even better... I've been re-trying the iPhone activation and now, instead of error -9838, I get a nice, courteous message - "iPhone activations are unavailable at this time. Please disconnect your phone and try again later."

Apple really screwed this one up. I *_WAS_* an Apple fan-boy, but they've managed to put my customer satifaction in the toilet and then flushed it.

POSSIBLE SOLUTION....

Ran into same problem as others here..... did a little digging on apple.com.... in the new manual for the new and old iphone... it specifies that you need to use the new version of itunes 7.7 in order to upgrade! .... im trying this as we speak

The same freakin error "check your network settings"!!!
Did anyone manage to get the update working??

Adit

I didn't find the image capture trick to work...the only thing that did was the brute force method of clicking between the music library and the iphone. After about 100 clicks, and one false alarm, it took. Another quibble about this whole thing is that 9838 is listed as "an unknown error", when it seems pretty clear what the error is. I would have at least appreciated an honest error message (e.g., "iTunes servers are busy, please try again later"), because until I read these posts, I had some concern that my phone was in trouble.

just got the "accessing itunes store"!!

Alex : You don't even knows what's an ironical sentence.

sorry, my internet irony radar seems to be malfunctioning...

ps: it took me about 4 tries to get my phone working.
very fast 2.0 update, don't know what the problem is there. I was PATIENT. I didn't plug and unplug...do it every few minutes and then just wait a bit.

Ok, so I got the -9838 error for a few hours as I updated to 2.0, now it's teasing me and giving me Accessing the iTunes Store bar at top for a few moments and now I get the -4 error - all this after 90 minutes on hold with apple

the apple rep told me they were the same, I am afraid that the -4 error is different, has anyone recovered from a -4 error?

RIX: thank you. f these f'rs. juvenile, big talking, asswipe know-nothin chumps.

has anyone been able to activate in the past hour at all.

HAHA People are actually trying to do this update without iTunes 7.7 first???

no wonder things are going to hell right now

POSSIBLE SOLUTION... POSSIBLE SOLUTION... POSSIBLE SOLUTION... POSSIBLE SOLUTION... POSSIBLE SOLUTION... POSSIBLE SOLUTION... POSSIBLE SOLUTION... POSSIBLE SOLUTION... POSSIBLE SOLUTION... POSSIBLE SOLUTION... POSSIBLE SOLUTION... POSSIBLE SOLUTION... POSSIBLE SOLUTION... POSSIBLE SOLUTION... HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE .........

Ran into same problem as others here..... did a little digging on apple.com.... in the new manual for the new and old iphone... it specifies that you need to use the new version of itunes 7.7 in order to upgrade! .... im trying this as we speak

Was getting the 9838 error. I unpluged from the dock, held donw the hold keyand went direct to my MacBook. The 9238 error has one away. Now getting hung on accessing iTunes Store. Back to where I was 2hrs ago! Will keep you all posted

I'm getting the -4 error now after getting the 9838 for 45 minutes.

i just got error -4 now maybe that is progress

same...accessing itunes store now for about 10 mins. not cool.

All That Is Happening to Me To.....I Think Im Just Gonna Start Breaking Stuff Until It Works ='(

like someone suggested earlier, instead of unplugging/replugging the iphone, just hit a different tab on itunes like movies or something then click back on iphone. it just now worked for me doing that.

Hang in there people. I'm in the UK, and have an original iPhone which had version 1.1.4 of the software on it. I decided to update it to version 2.0 to see what the fuss was about, and it looked like it had wiped my phone. All I had on the phone was the connect to ITunes icon, and iTunes saying there was a network error to connect to iTunes store. After finding this blog, I've been clicking on and off my iPhone for over an hour and finally the install has completed and I have my phone back (notes, txts, contacts etc).

*phew*

ME TOO DAMN IT ALL!!! SAME HANG!!! 2 HOURS and WAITING FOR SUPPORT!!.

YES IT'S WORKING Hello 2.0!!!

Sometimes bad things happen so that people can bond - so from that context it was great going through this crisis with such a huge iPhone community! thanks for the tips - in the end clicking on ringtones and iPhone repeatedly did the trick.

Apple always gets it right in the end - just imagine we were relying on Microsoft? We'd be stuck without a phone for months!!!!

enjoy...

I've been trying for about an hour... now it's skipping the 9838 error and giving me the loading the store thing and then it pops me with the -4 error.

I'm just trying over and over...

Thankfully I can confirm that once it does connect, the phone is ok. The people who think that they did something (clicked ringtones, closed iphoto, etc) were just seeing coincidences I am sure. All I did was keep trying every once in a while over the last hour.

Man, I've got iPhone App blue balls of the highest degree... I can download from the App store but, can't finish the firmware update to my Edge iPhone.

Anybody see this Shazam app? If this works as advertised, it should be freaking amazing. You supposedly hold it up to audible music and it determines the song you are listening to. Read the reviews. They're all positive.

OMG!!!!! i keep getting error -4!!!!!! this is getting really annoying, i can believe apple did this to all of us

Just connected...anyone else?

FIX: w/ phone connected click itunes store

I'm having the same problem. I keep asking myself why I put up with this? How can a company produce such a great product that they know people want and not be prepared for the influx of software updates and the data that comes alone with it? So now I have no cell phone and another "ipod" sitting around. Totally annoyed.

Trying <a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2...">this</a>.

wow... i was so excited to get this update... and now i'm stuck saying "accessing itunes store" i did all of the stuff that folks mentioned in this blog...

awesomeness... :\

i guess i just have to wait even more patiently

- iphone 8Gig EDGE.... macbook 10.5.4 itunes 7.7

HA HA HA HA HA HA.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I HAVE NEW IHPNE AND WORKING SOFTWARE!!!!!!!!!!

TAKE THAT LOSERS!!!!

glad I got mine done when it was leaked yesterday... Sorry you're all having problems.

for anyone sitting with the "accessing itunes store" screen, don't disconnect! a lot of us have been trying for an hour to get there. the alternative is an immediate 9838 error. i just got the "accessing itunes store" error for the first time in about 90 minutes. i'm expecting it to take a while but i consider this at least a step in the right direction.

Yeah same problem here in Alabama. 9838 message first, now im getting the -4 error message. If i new this would brick my iphone I wouldnt have done this, right now im 30 minutes late for work cause I cant get this phone working...

Same after getting 9838 for an hour I get -4

yeah its working!!!!!!!!
=D

wtf.. been getting time outs accessing itunes store, I unplugged to plug into my macbook, and right when I plugged into my SLEEPING macbook pro, the iphone lit up and said activated... weird

keep trying it eventually will work. Eject phone quit itunes then reopen itunes with phone connected. i did this about 5 times. it worked.

After 2 hours and 40 minutes, I finally got through and my iPhone is restoring from backup. What a bitch though!

Don't lose faith, keep trying guys.

I was tuck with the -9838 error for 20min.

I've been ejecting the iphone from itunes and plugging it back in for 20 min.

The -9838 error is gone, and now I get a -4 error.

Anyone know what -4 is?

Lucien.

hi people!

IT WORKS EVENTUALLY, I PROMISE!!!

okay so i just waited on the phone with apple for 30 mins and then got cut off. but in the meantime, i just clicked back and forth between purchased songs and "iphone". It kept giving me 9383.

Then i waited 5 minutes and tried again and it went to "Activating iTunes Store" for about 3 minutes. then -4 came up. The next time I tried, it synched and worked.

The whole thing took about an hour from when I first downloaded the update.

so it WILL happen, do not worry and don't bother calling apple.

When you click on and off of the iPhone in iTunes - does the progress bar go solid immediately, or is it zebra striped for a bit and then go solid?....

--Frustrated in CT

This is hilarious! We are so tied into our technology, it's really crazy. 2 hours without my phone and I'm ready to have a stroke. My i-tunes isn't searching automatically anymore so I don't know if it will work and I'm seeing patients all day long. If I leave the phone plugged into my mac, will it eventually work?

Finally updated.

Had the same issue for hours, it just finally worked (here in France). I guess Apple added some servers and/or network bandwidth

-4 error is that apple is -4 degrees of technology from where they SAY they are.

Looks like the brute force approach of clicking on/off iphone icon works!! I did in abt 20 clicks!! After that it says "iPhone activated" on the iphone screen.
So its a matter of patience.
Good luck to everyone else. I hope Apple fixes this soon and I hate apple for integrating the stupid activation!!

Anybody here like pancakes? It's almost 11am CST and I'm hungry for some breakfast. Instead on sitting here at work, not using any apps.

well... that didn't work... it's got pass the accessing itunes store part and then the error came up again...

i've been trying to update for almost 2 hours now...

i did the clicking back and forth stuff.. i guess imma do it again until something else happens.

this update better be PERFECT!!!

i was totally about 2 break my phone..
i love you guys (inna non-homosexual way)
=]]]]]]]]]

okay it works now! I shut off everything (itunes/iphone) unplugged and replugged and restarted itunes and iphone. Now seems to be a fully functional iphone.

MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7 MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE ITUNES VERSION 7.7

okkkkk. mine just went through everything and i now have 2.0 installed. only thing it didnt do was sync my music and now i cant get to the iphone screen with the tabs that allow me to choose what to sync

Mine is stuck in "slide for emergency" too - if anyone gets through to apple - please post how to fix this. URGH!

FYI, I updated iTunes to 7.7 two days ago and still recieved the 9838 error. Once I took it off the dock, hit the home key the update finished I am now running 2.0

be discouraged.
I have been working on this for 2 hours and 43 minutes. I have plug in and out. nothing. I have let it sit "accessing the itunes store" 18 times and have been kicked off after 5 to 15 minutes everytime. I have click back and forth onto other things and back to my iphone and waited 5 seconds and waited 5 minutes. nothing. I have reset my iphone, rebooted my mac and turned everything off and on. nothing.

we are doomed.

Listen, the guy who posted the iphoto thing just got lucky. That doesn't work at all. My iphoto is completely shut down. I'm so sick of this crap from Apple. I leave in 1.5 hours for a weekend trip with no phone to use.

Listen...I'm an Apple fan too and I am also waiting for my iPhone to complete the update process like many other people around the world. Did any of you really think that there wasn't going to be network slowdowns this morning? Let's be serious. I am not a patient man...trust me...but can only control what we can control. Everyone will get their toys working again soon. Please stop connecting and disconnecting your phones repeatedly as you will cause excess wear on those parts. Go out and get a cup of coffee and relax for a bit...it is Friday after all.

yeah Mike we all have itunes version 7.7. good lord. that's not the problem.

mine just worked woohoo!!!!! be patient peeps

Almost three HOURS! And it is finally restoring.

I just went from an error 9838 to an error 4. Hopefully it will go down to 0 :-)

I guess patience will win ... some freakin day ..

Itunes 7.7. No kidding. You think these people on the blog are complete idiots. That's the first thing they did. Apple should have known what was coming. It's really horrible planning one their part.

KJN, i feel your pain. I've been at it for 3 hrs 51 mins and nothing.

also sean is correct, the iPhoto thing is not the problem. my iPhoto has been off the whole time. that's not the problem. the problem is with Apple's servers.

If you are getting the (-9839) or (-4) error when updating your iPod to 2.0... basically just connect your iPod so it displays in iTunes then click between your music library and the iPhone icon. It will take several attempts but when it does connect it goes quickly. (Basically, if it takes more than 5 seconds try clicking back and forth again don't wait around for more than a few seconds)

Here's an idea...email Steve Jobs and tell him to buy Cisco routers and Intel servers!
# Posted By Jeff | 7/11/08 9:55 AM

Shut up nerd.....wait like the rest of us!

I've used a packet sniffer to look at what is happening (full details <A HREF="http://jimmyblake.com">here</A>. Basically the -9838 is, as someone pointed out earlier, a cannot connect to the iTunes Music Store via SSL.

I've look at the request and response packets via the sniffer and effectively the iTMS server is sending a HTTP Error 500-13 message, which is 'Server too Busy. What this means is there are just too many people trying to connect for the amount of available network connections to the server. iTunes then converts this into the -9838 message we are all seeing.

If you manage to get a progress bar, this means the connection has been established to the iTMS (you are beyond the -9838) and you should leave it to takes its course.

For some people it seems to work (not for me unfortunately) but some are bombing out with a -4 error - which is a timeout. If iTunes doesn't receive the activation response back from the iTMS within a given period iTunes will exit with this error.

So effectively, no matter what you click before you try activation on iTunes will help in the slightest. You just have to keep pounding away until you get a slot and hope that the iTMS can process the activation before it times out.

Annoying thing is that I already have activated my new iPhone 3G once with no problems, but I have to reset it after cocking up the synchronisation and ending up with masses of duplicates.

:(

Good luck guys.

I got same error... However don't worry...just be patient. The -9838 error finally didn't come up and now itunes is restoring my 16GB iPhone (not 3G)....Whew!

hour 3, and still no progress. i have been getting the "accessing iTunes store" several time now, error (-4) and error (-9838) millions of times, and now i am at an accessing itunes screen, lets see if it works this time. it is amazing though, i am going crazy because i can't use my phone and the new upgrade for 3 hours, which isn't that long in the grand scheme of things. thanks for returning my sanity, this thread is awesome =P

well still waiting, 9838 basically translates to 'sorry we're busy please try again'! Dont worry it doesnt mean your iphone is briked its just taking forever to activate all the phones (even the lite activation). AT&T in America is taking forever to complete the process and O2 in UK only processed half the orders from the pre-order, they hope to have all pre-orders complete by tonight but I think its unlikely. Thats why you might only be able to do the emergency call even after activation.

Sit tight, you have the iphone and it will sort itself out in next few days!

WTF.

Just to give you a ray of hope.. after about 3 hrs mine finally started working!!!!!!!!

It took me 2 hours but finally got through the connecting itunes store issue. One less trying to connect now guys!

JAmes Blake, you are a awesome, I've been going at this for 2 hours now with no luck, atleast now I understand the technical bs

Thanks James Blake, that was a constructive post.

TRY THIS:

Download any app inside of the iTunes store with your phone disconnected. Then, connect your phone. My phone activated and synched great after hundreds of -9838 error messages.

:)

Good luck!

I ran the Help > Diagnostics on itunes and i got this.

Connection attempt to Apple web site was successful.
Connection attempt to iTunes Store was successful.
Secure connection attempt to iTunes Store was successful.
Secure connection attempt to iPhone activation server was successful.
Last successful store access was 2008-07-11 11:45:29.

So there is no problem with itunes store and SSL. I think it is the itunes store that is getting bombarded.

thanks for walking with me this hard but at the end rewarding path!!! I still love my Iphone

Hey guys,

I ran into the same problems as you. (First generation iPhone, updated to 2.0, failed during the update, then restored, and couldn't activate.)

I am now able to connect to the iTunes store. It activated my phone and completed the restoration, and I'm happy to say it "restored" it to 2.0.

So, you might want to give activation another shot if you were unable to before!

Good luck!

no more 9838!!!!

but... now its -4 error...

lage-t-willy you must not have a job. I actually do and I must have my phone for it.

Just got it to work. Just keep ejecting and plugging back in. I did it about 4 times. I also toggled between iPhone and the Store.

Good Luck!

So I wonder how long it will take to restore 15GB of data...probably another hour or so.

You can't even leave your computer during the "accessing iTunes Store" phase because I was getting errors every few minutes forcing me to unplug and replug the phone.

Still restoring.. but I have a blue bar slowly moving. iphone info finally came up on itunes and iphone reads "Sync in Progress instead of the emergency call slider.....Fingers crossed.

Mine finally updated!!!

Apple just released a new fix patch on their website for iPhone. The patch fix a problem on the upgrade process from iPhone version 1.X. to 2.0 There is only one requirement, and that is that you need to have iPhone 2.0 or higher installed and also ITUNES VERSION 7.7 HAHAHAHAH ITUNES VERSION 7.7.

Have a good Day

what is bothering me on this is that apple made a one fit all solution: the new 3g needs to go online to sign up but for the iphone edge, why do we also need to register with the apple store again?

they could have bypassed that online registration and everybody would have been on their merry way. The apple engineers sgould be sent to beijing and run a marathon under the ultra polluted air or I guess they already have a smug a thick smug in their brain...

I was just sitting her thinking... I know alot of ya'll still haven't gotten your phones unbricked. I guess I'm blessed that mine finally got reactivated but I find my self ticked off because it has to reload all of my music and such... Its taking forever and all I want to do is just go back to bed. But I can't do that because my phone is my alarm clock. But I guess it could be worse... I could still be sitting here with a bricked phone.

kjn you must be a very grouchy individual. Let me ask you...can you control this situation? Can you, kjn, fly out to CA or where ever the hell Apple's servers are located and fix the issue? Probably not. Therefore all you can do is wait like everyone else and stop griping about it. You are not benefiting anyone with your posts and personal attacks to someone who was trying to be positive.

UP DOWN UP DOWN LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT B A Select Start...

...oh, wait. That is the code to getting 50 lives in Contra...for the original Nintendo.

...no secret order of "clicking" here.

here's a question... once you get a slot and the progress bar "accessing iTunes store"... if it is taking like 5 hours and not just immediately working... is that a sign it will probably time out? in other words, for the people now reporting success, how long did you sit on the "accessing itunes store" screen?

(i will never get an answer to this because once the people are successful i am sure they are quickly exiting this board which reminds them only of their last 3 hours of misery)

I got your back t-willy.

Put your right foot in, take your right foot out...

I'm having the exact same problem, perhaps we should return them to Apple and get free replacements.

Phew! Finally connected and now waiting for everything to sync.... which, is going to take awhile.

this is bs. 2.0 is installed on my phone now. i got aim on it, that doesnt even do anything. a white window pops up for a second then im back at home screen. and i cant sync my music and its backed up. its saying "the iPhone, "iPhone" cannot be synched. the file cannot be found"

thank you for killing my phone 2.0

Put your iphone in and you shake it all about... You get really frustrated and throw it out the window, that's what it's all about

shut up.

Hopefully we look like we are all getting on track!

I just kept clicking the iphone in the side bar and letting it try to connect in the background. It would usually beep or something after like 30 seconds and let me know which error it was getting. Then the last time i heard it beep i went to click the iphone again and realized that it was working.

I'm Getting the "We could not complete your iTunes Store request. The network connection timed out." HELP ME

When it worked, the "accessing itunes store" screen was only up for about 30 seconds. itunes is still restoring music music and videos

HALLELUJAH IT FINALLY WORKED! I sat on the "accessing itunes store" screen for about 20 minutes.

Now my phone reports Sync in Porgress and I have a box on the iPhone screen that says "Waiting for activation This may take some time." Time? I've got nothing but time!

WOO HOO!

If you've got a connection not timing out with the -4, don't close it. -9838 is that the server cannot accept any connections as there are no sockets free.

-4 is a timeout between the iTMS and iTunes, a connection reset from Apple's enf.

There doesn't seem to be a pattern to when the -4s are appearing yet (it could be some internal process that is a bottleneck within the activation system). If you've got a progress bar and no -4, you may be OK.

has anyone had a -4 error and then success?

Do you have to have service to activate??

I think kjn is right. This is pure stupidity on apples part and we are paying for it.

PATIENCE!

Just spent 1 1/2 hrs clicking between Error Message (OK) Music and iphone iconw. Sure that server traffic overwhelming.

Relax and get a coffee/tea.

in conjunction with att pricing, this iphone is so expensive that i expect a better service than today. This is just amateurism. The server may be done but how come they don't have back up servers? They launch a worldwide upgrade and can only support half the population of the vatican!

wade, i was seeing -4 errors at some point. yes now i have had success.

I've experienced 5 cycles (of varying lengths) of the scrolling "accessing the iTunes store" bar, ending in a "-4" error...over the last 45 minutes or so. Just now it stopped scrolling and I have "sync in progress" on the phone. Hope this helps!

I had the same problem and the att store told me to either take it to a apple store or call them and we all know that would be pointless. so i just kept clicking on and off of the iphone diskimage on the sidebar and about 15 mins in I got it.

Now everything is working great

kjn is right. we should be mad. I would be mad if my plane was delayed.

I'm syncing at this point. 1hr 10 min total. It'll happen...it's lunchtime on the east coast so go and grab a bite to eat. God bless.

ready for the worst, most depressing story?
today i was in line at 2 am for my new phone.
and then AT&T effed up the orders at the apple store and so they couldnt activate phones for a lot of people. and now, installing 2.0 on my old iphone
is totally stalling and i'm stuck on emergency calls mode.

/suicides.

still no go.....

the error message doesn't come up immediately anymore... it takes about 5 minutes.. and then it says the same thing... -4

yep

i will definitely post when the success happens... hopefully itll be before lunch...

See I'm not the only one.. Still stuck on hold with apple

Wow...they are still down. That must be some bug!

curse you

just kidding.

Holly, once i recieved the accessing iTunes store message i left it alone until it reactivated my phone. Before the successful attempt...i just kept trying..the only difference between my final attempt and previous attempts is: on my final attempt i completely ejected my iPhone, Quit itunes and plugged my iphone into a different port, then reopened iTunes.

I think it worked!

It took about 10 tries of ejecting, restarting itunes, plugging the iphone back in...

The software appeared to install... settings restored... in the process of music and videos restoring...

ITS SYNCING NOW!!!

so... now i'm waiting on that... this is fun!!

patience is the key

my error (-9838) messages have gone away and now i keep getting the "accessing itunes store" and then error (-4) so i am just going to keep trying till i get the connection and it doesn't time out.

Grampas, you make me laugh because I am a flight attendant and now if the crew desk calls me to get on your plane, I i can't pick up the phone, my iphone is a brick...

if the plane does not take off it is because bricks dont fly...

I too agree with kjn. this is really a ridiculous situation and apple should be ashamed.

alright, got it squared away. finally got to the iphone setup screen and used the backup option and now everythings fine. good luck to everyone and hope you enjoy your new iphones and/or the new software

I never said anyone could not get mad. Be mad all you want. Heck...take legal action against Steve Jobs if you desire. But at some point you need to stop being angry.

I'm really glad I found this thread, I was worried something really bad happened to my phone. At first I was getting the error message involving SSL and the other acronym, I forget. I disabled my firewall and stopped getting that error, and just started receiving the timeout message. I guess I'll just keep trying and hopefully get a slot...

still stuck at 11:13 Central time

Yeah, the -9838 (can't make connection error) seems to have gone away. The -4 seems to be a timeout from Apple's end as it is resetting the connection.

There are an abnormally high amount of checksum errors meaning packets are being corrupted somewhere, I think Apple's infrastructure is creaking under the load.

Packet dumps of all this at jimmyblake.com for those interested.

You know what the worst is?

Some people can't even eat dinner EVER. It's a friggin fancy phone, go read an article while you wait.

http://today.reuters.co.uk/...

like finding a parking space up close.... at the mall... at christmas.... on christmas eve....

brenden 11:09am,

Wow! That is truly a frustrating story.

I was on hold with Apple tech support for an hour this morning before giving up. My phone is now useless.

I think I'll go to the bathroom while I wait and take a hearty # 2.0

thank you for that bit of wisdom, lage-t-willy

Woohoo! Like most people on here, I just kept unplugging and plugging my phone over and over again and it eventually worked. I went from error 4 to error 9838 and back again and then it just worked. Been working on it for about and hour or more, now. Good luck to the rest of you!

restore mode won't work!!! still no network connection. keep switching from iphone to music in sidebar, should work after a while

WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS.....WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS....I think santa decided to show up early for me this year. I've just got my iPhone updated.

Wish you guys the same luck!!

I am quiting. I am going to the apple store.

Ditto and I have been on hold with tech for about 30 minutes as well. Only I did not restore, itunes decided to do that by itself. Now i know what "emergancy calls only" looks like in Japanese. Great!

@Austin

That's a very good example. :)

I have to leave my house soon, and I won't have a phone. It's slightly frustrating.

I continue to get -4 error, over and over. Someone wrote that there's a patch on the Apple website if you have iTunes 7.7 - is that true or a joke?

Time to play some Battlefield 2142 while I wait for Apple to pull their heads out and fix the issue. Everyone thinks Microsoft is so bad...looks like we have a competitor.

zanzibar, who do you think you are? my turn to tell you to go read a book. I need that phone to work! If dont answer the phone while on call, I can loose my job. So yes there are starving people etc but also they are working people that need a phone to work. Welcome to 2008!

patience is a virtue (that i don't totally have), but mine just got through...server overload...

going on 2 hours of nothing but the same old error messages. any word on when this will be resolved? patience is one thing but some of us have sh*t to do...

I never realized how important my phone was until I could not use it. My phone is my life-line, as well as my best friend. I use it to read news while i sit on the toilet, and to watch girls dance on youtube first thing in the morning while i need some pleasure. It is there when I need it, and not having it was like having a family member in a coma.

Luckily I am back up and running - from 9:05 AM finished 12:18PM - There is hope out there!- And the joy of seeing the Sync in Progress screen is like a joy you will have never experienced before. Your best friend opening his eyes from his coma, your family member taking a breath when you thought they drowned - THANK GOD MY IPHONE WORKS AGAIN - I love you all and thank you for keeping me updated on your progress throughout this tumultuous morning!

Tried updating my first gen iPhone. Got all the way to reboot and the phone seems to be in a loop. The Apple logo shows up for a while then the screen flashes and the logo comes back up. Did this for nearly an hour. I disconnected the phone, restarted my iMac and did a restore. The restore went through but I'm still at the exact same start up loop thingy.

Hopefully it's the network/apple's servers are slammed thing. Gonna leave in the cradle for a while and cross my fingers.

(kicking myself for not waiting a few days to update)

Herve-
If you are so important, don't upgrade your phone when you are on call.

OK.............................. HERE WE GO.................. First i restored my phone.... to get rid of that initial jailbreak..... it restored to 1.1.4 and kept saying my software was up to date........................................ kept clicking check for updates.......... and BOOM!!!! itunes is now downloading the 2.0 software!! ........any minute now!!!!!!

Best of luck to all..... i mean i will say this...... its still really early guys..... in california its only 9:21 AM right now...... and im sure MILLIONS are all trying to update all at once...... looks like it to me that Apple is definitely on top of this...... have patients everyone!!!!!

Best
Mike

My 3G Phone is working, I can make calls, access the internet via 3G etc, but when I connect to iTunes it just displays 'accessing itunes store', and then displays -4 error. Won't let me sync contacts or music.

O2 help desk say that they have to activate the phone first and afterward iTunes has to activate it for syncing. This seems a little stupid to me.

Anyway, I'm gonna play super monkey ball, and leave it alone for a few hours. No point in me clogging up the system. Hope you guys don't have to wait too long (and that the traffic eases up by the time i try again in a few hours)

well said MDS

Mikey-
Let me know if jailbreak works on 2.0 will ya?

that s the thing mds, I am just a worker and I trusted until this day apple too much!

haha, you poor soul, the problem isnt getting the update, its connecting to itunes after you have the download in order t finish

Why thank you Dr. Kurrle.

-4 error is a timeout from Apple's. About 30% of the data coming to and from Apple (at least on my network) is corrupted. Looks like their networks are overloaded.

Mine is also now working. I kept unplugging and restarting, unplugging and restarting. Good thing I'm sitting through a boring lecture with time to do this! Good luck!

I think I just realized why it has to do this...well I talked to a MobileMe person today because my computer said that it couldn't register my phone on the syncing network..or something like that. It must be that they have to do this so that it registers it on their network and can be used with MobileMe. I am not sure, but I think I am on to something here. If this isn't true, those who created this activation process for those who have iPhone gen 1 are a bunch of serious retards.

OK, after 2 hrs my phone now says its activated.... but i keep getting the -4 time out and it wont let me sync...

i think its weird it activated for me but now wont let me sync my data back, until it does something else over the network? which i still keep getting the -4 now

So I posted earlier (9:30ish ET) to say that the firmware was stuck on the error message. It's finally started restoring at 12:30ET... 3 hours of watching it, clicking on and off the iPhone icon to get it to reconnect to the iTunes server.

But now it IS restoring the phone... though it's taking a long time.

The need for patience is true -- though Apple should have thought of this. The only good news is that with the shortage on 3G phones at the stores, 3G registrations will pretty much stop, so the rest of the day will be Edge phones upgrading to the new firmware.

yest it was candid on my part to believe that apple is always smooth. but also we are bombarded by apple marketing to tell us, that mac are not pcs, the fat pc guy is always and the young mac guy is just cool. Well today the young mac guy is not that cool...

bend me over...i am missing important calls

I've been doing the sidebar up and down thing for like 2 hours. No luck. Problem is, I'm on vacation in the woods, and just came to town to update. Didn't bring the charger for my MacBook...b/c update will only take 1/2 hr....right?!?! Friendly man let me use his charger for an hour or so, so now I have 1.5 hrs. of battery life left. My only entertainment has been hitting refresh on this page. Sooooo wish I had waited. Thank goodness I'm on vacation and have time to do this!

Same thing happened to me this morning! was really annoying. I connected the iphone back up to the itunes and it finally backed everything up. But still it will not connect to itunes store. so all the apps I bought yesterday are not on my iphone yet. Really annoying bug! I was not expecting these problems with Apple. So I don't know what to do now?

Sat on hold for 45 minutes and then they hung up on me. Called back, got through and they hung up on me again. Is anyone else getting an error that says, "We could not complete your iTunes Store request. The network connection was reset. Make sure your network connection is active and try again."

I'm at work. My connection is fine. This sucks.

WITH A LITTLE LUCK, WE CAN HELP IT OUT,
WE CAN MAKE THIS WHOLE DAMN THING WORK OUT.
WITH A LITTLE LOVE, WE CAN LAY IT DOWN,
CAN'T YOU FEEL THE TOWN EXPLODING?

THERE IS NO END TO WHAT WE CAN DO TOGETHER, (together)
THERE IS NO END. (there is no end, there is no end)
THE WILLOW TURNS HIS BACK ON INCLEMENT WEATHER,
AND IF HE CAN DO IT,
WE CAN DO IT, JUST ME AND YOU.

AND A LITTLE LUCK, WE CAN CLEAR IT UP,
WE CAN BRING IT IN FOR A LANDING.
WITH A LITTLE LUCK, WE CAN TURN IT ON,
THERE CAN BE NO MISUNDERSTANDING.

THERE IS NO END TO WHAT WE CAN DO TOGETHER, (together)
THERE IS NO END. (there is no end, there is no end)
THE WILLOW TURNS HIS BACK ON INCLEMENT WEATHER,
WE CAN DO IT, JUST ME AND YOU.

WITH A LITTLE PUSH, WE COULD SET IT OFF,
WE CAN SEND IT ROCKETING SKYWARDS.
WITH A LITTLE LOVE, WE COULD SHAKE IT UP,
DON'T YOU FEEL THE COMET EXPLODING?

WITH A LITTLE LUCK, WITH A LITTLE LUCK,
WITH A LITTLE LUCK, A LITTLE LUCK, A LITTLE LUCK...

WITH A LITTLE LUCK, WE CAN HELP IT OUT,
WE CAN MAKE THIS WHOLE DAMN THING WORK OUT.
WITH A LITTLE LOVE, WE CAN LAY IT DOWN,
CAN'T YOU FEEL THE TOWN EXPLODING?

WITH A LITTLE LOVE, BABY, WE CAN SET IT OFF,
SEND IT ROCKETING SKYWARDS.
WITH A LITTLE LUCK, WE COULD SHAKE IT UP, OH YEAH, YEAH.

WITH A LITTLE LUCK, WE CAN HELP IT OUT,
WE CAN MAKE THIS WHOLE DAMN THING WORK OUT.
WITH A LITTLE LOVE, WE CAN LAY IT DOWN,
CAN'T YOU FEEL THE TOWN EXPLODING?

WITH A LITTLE PUSH, WE CAN SEND IT OFF,
WE CAN SEND IT ROCKETING SKYWARDS.
WITH A LITTLE LOVE, WE COULD SHAKE IT UP,
DON'T YOU FEEL THE COMET EXPLODING?

WOW, WOW, WOW,
OOH, OOH.

After the 2.0 update, when I unplug and then replug my iPhone I get a "this accessory is not made to work with the iPhone." And it wants me to put it in "airplane mode." What's up with that?

Hoooooray....it finally updated to version 2.0

As upset as I was, I am now happy. Keep trying, it eventually works

I did successfully update my iphone to 2.o this morning about 6:30 eastern time US.. I went to update my wife's iphone and thet was about 8:10 eastern time US and have been stuck in the loop ever since...typical Apple...in the meantime the wife's iphone is a pretty paperweight...I know it will happen eventually...but still...

MDS..... well i wasnt going to jailbreak it after the 2.0 update...... i have AT&T - only reason i jailbreak'd the phone initially was to get additional apps..... but with 2.0 im assuming i wont need to.....

however.... i do remember seeing an article on DIGG yesterday boasting that they had successfully jailBrOke 2.0

good luck!

as for my 2.0 update...... so far so good.... software downloaded... its installing as we speak...... any minute now!!!

2 hours still backing up my iphone.. its moving very slow.
good thing i'm off today and can keep track and able to use my home phone.
it sucks though

Wow.

footmdrph did you do anything different.

Share with us.

This is why I own a Treo ;)

Working! This Shazam app is outstanding and incredible!

So this was two hours ago: http://arstechnica.com/news...

**Anyone who purchased the 3G today and take it home to activate have any success yet? Please share if you have!**

Thanks.

Luckily I had little problem with my upgrade, but this board is too damn funny to give up on now.

I'm confused, my phone is activated but I can't sync, because i still get the -4 error... wtf

@DiddyHo

When you connect your iPhone iTunes opens a connection to Apple's activation server cluster at albert.apple.com via SSL. Earlier these servers were overloaded and not accepting connections resulting in error -9838.

Now they are just timing out most of the time resulting in a error -4.

albert.apple.com is only used for activation, not for MobileMe or other iTunes services including DRM as far as I can see.

Well Ray, if you ever wanted some real world load testing for your Blog app, this is a great way to do it. Make an iPhone post on the iPhone 3G launch day. ;-D

Yep, me too. Stuck in "Emergency Mode. Thanks for posting this blog entry - finding out others are in the same boat is the only thing saving my sanity.

son! finish your iphone upgrade, people are starving in this e-world!

does any one else get the message we could not complete your itunes store request the network connection was reset

Just had some robot tell me that, "in order to help me, I'll need to speak with a representative. And there are no representatives at this time."

I don't blame them. I'd be hiding somewhere, too.

@Mike

A -4 error is a timeout, so maybe iTunes is trying to establish a connection to another service (MobileMe?) to handle the syncing.

If I every get my bloody iPhone working I'll dump the network logs and have a look.

Same problem here! If any of you guys resolve find a way to resolve this issue through Apple tech support could you please report the resolution. This is bush league APPLE!

Well looks like I'm stuck too. I had a successful 2.0 upgrade this morning around 7am (CST). Then I tried to jailbreak it. Well apparently iTunes has to be open for the jailbreak to work, and I inadvertently closed itunes during the jailbreak. So then I had to restore it in iTunes. Now I'm getting the same error as the other 6 million people in the world.

Awesome!!! (sarcasm)

I'm still trying, too, and getting the -4.

"Fate's net is vast and its mesh is coarse,
Yet none escape it."

-Tao Te Ching

@JoshuaCurtis: Heh, yeah I know. I'm going to do another blog entry later today on what went on server side. I figure most folks here in the thread could give two hoots about ColdFusion. ;)

@All: To all who are doing their best to stay polite and respectful - thank you. I appreciate it.

too things - one, i held in power button and home button and it's restoring me to 1.1.4 - HILARIOUS - two: the image for me to enter this time are my initials - what's the chance

I got it to work!! Just use the last bit of patience before smacking it to the wall and it worked!

No success stories for 8 min. did the servers finally give up the ghost?

Kenny how long did you have to wait?

Interesting thought piqued by a prior post - anyone with .mac account able to upgrade yet - wondering if it's a mobileme issue as opposed to iTunes store only

updating 1st gen. 8 gig iPhone to 2.0 today (July 11th) gave me a 'We could not complete your iTunes Store request. An unknown error occured (-4). There was an error in the iTunes Store. Please try again later.'

anyone experience that? Any ideas on what a (-4) error means.

i gather that the issue is probably an itunes issue and not an iphone issue. seeing that you need itunes to finish the installation and itunes is probably slammed, i think i will have this unusable brick sitting in it's dock for awhile. damn this sucks...

please advise.

Okay guys... I had the same problem all morning.... I kept clicking... to get the "Accessing iTunes Store" scroll bar.... After get the error msg after about 10 attempts.... it finally worked. My phone is now restored! Thank you Jesus....

Good Luck to everyone... Definitely not a good day for Apple.

my phone just keeps showing the link to itunes screen, and when i do, itunes after about 10 seconds tells me i have timed out. help?

Let go over a cliff, die completely, and then come back to life
- after that you cannot be deceived

Zen Proverb

Let go over the apple store, kill completely, and then come back to your mac
- after that you cannot be deceived

Apple Proverb

Everything that's been written is true. Just got mine working after 3.5 hours. Just stick with it people. You'll get there. Peace out.

I kept getting the -4 error message, I rebooted my macbook and plugged in my iphone all seems right now! Not sure if the reboot actually corrected the issue, but it worked for me.

David - please read above - lot's of ideas and info here for you

I finally made it. Everything works. Except for no interface page when I try to re-sync. I won't worry about that for now.

Keep tryin' guys!

CF?! What's that? This is an APPLE blog, isn't it?

The servers are clogged up. Apple should have been prepared for this!

Jeremy said: "After get the error msg after about 10 attempts.... it finally worked." I've tried more than 100 times. There should be a que (line) or something ;-)

same problem here.... (-4) error every 5 minutes or so, i just clock ok and it pops up again. Any fixes yet? or just patience?

Wow, this is bad. My fault for even updating when I really need my phone for work right now. I should have known that when it took 3 days to activate my iphone a year ago that I shouldn't have even touched this 2.0...
Best of luck everyone!

Freakin' Lame.

I've been trying to upgrade for 3 hours now, and have had a myriad of errors.

Server overload? You think, Apple? DUH! Why didn't they release the software for previous iPhone versions a couple days ago, then you don't have new and old users overloading the system at the same time.

I demand restitution!

Same error here. No cell phone, nice...... Thanks Apple!!

Just be patient and keep trying, it will work eventually. I retried over 45 minutes and finally the iphone restarted with everything update.

the 9838 problem I solved by rechecking my system updates. It is something to do with not having the right quicktime thing installed. Getting itunes hang on synching the damn thing though.

only tried to buy one app from the app store: the football plays thing. Message came back and said, "App no longer available" !!!!!! On day #1????

ONLY ONE ADVISE.. BE PATIENT.. NOTHING WE CAN DO. IT HAPPENED WITH THE FIRST ROUND OF THE IPHONE.. AT THAT TIME WAS MORE ATT THAN APPLE.. LOOKS STUPID THAT APPLE DID NOT LET THE OLD USER GET UPDATED IN ADVANCE TO AVOID THIS JAM...

-4 is a timeout error. Most people are getting it when Apple's activation server is resetting the connection.

If you go to my blog from the link in name name below, I've got a full dump of what it looks like.

If someone has got this to work by rebooting, closing iTunes or other such thing they have just been lucky. Just keep retrying.

I've been trying to upgrade for an hour. I've only gotten one message and that's that the network connection timed out. I guess this is just the waiting game.

I've been trying since 8 this morning, Still no luck! I thinks its a Microsoft sabotage.

<a href="http://op-for.com/simpsons_...">

your phones are broken!

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. has anyone contacted apple?? im dieing!!

I have a Motorola Q here running a Microsoft OS.... working just fine today!

I'm sorry APPLE... you stand up on stage in your cocky black turtle neck being all cool and this happens! . . I'm so stupid to think this would work today ... NOW.. I don't have a phone.

BUT... when I do have a phone EVERYONE should call ATT and DEMAND credit for their lack of service. TOUGH.. they got in bed with APPLE and they can just bill them for this stupid error. I hope their stock gets slammed today too.. I'm p oed big time right now at myself for biting into the poison apple . . . . . suffer you little children!

ive been trying for 3 hours + at this point, im going to scream!

tried itunes service and support online... got a message stating "we'll be back soon" in lieu of service or support. HA!

sorry, this is what I meant to say:

http://op-for.com/simpsons_...

Seeing all these comments I'm really glad I downloaded the update and installed it manually yesterday afternoon. Total upgrade time for my phone was less than 10 minutes. Hang in there folks, the new software is worth a little pain trust me.

Apple is monitoring this blog and the more you moan and groan, the longer it takes.

So I have attempted to restore my Iphone. No luck!!!! Its restoring in brick mode. Bad jooo joooo I tell you!

Having same issue- called Apple. They said the server is done. Leave your phone connected and when it comes up in a couple of hours (hopefully- her words) it would connect and complete automatically. unitl then we are all without phones!

I contacted Apple. After waiting more then an hour on the phone I explained to the tech that I updated my phone this morning and now I can't re-activate it. He basically said that there is nothing he can do, the activation servers are down and there is no ETA on when they will be available again.

At this point I got a little angry and asked him what's the point of Apple not only releasing a new iPhone but also a new update to all original iPhones if thier servers couldn't handle it.

All he said is sorry I can't help you and hung up.

GREAT SUPPORT!!! :(

I tried 50 times in an hour and still no luck getting the update.

good work Jimmy....

One question, would it help being on a faster machine like a MacPro connected to a wired network rather than an old Powerbook on WiFi? ... or is network speed at that level not a problem?

I was going to check to see if Apple's stocks were hurting at all from this, but I quickly realized... I don't have my phone.

Just like the Pixar movie, "just keep trying, just keep trying, just keep trying"

It took 20 or so attempts and a reset of the iPhone, but finally, success.....

Welcome to the Jungle!!!!! 2hr and counting.......This f___ng sucks!!! Can we sue apple for this? lol

10 more minutes and I quit! Hear that Apple? but don't worry, i'll be back tomorrow.

I shorted AAPL stock... at least I'll be compensated for the pain.

if you keep getting a 4, eject Iphone, unplug it, then plug it back in - eventually it will take. I've been down since 9:30 EST, and finally got through - and got the phone back.
Everything restored - I think I'll wait a week or two before trying to access ITunes store for ANYTHING.
good luck

I keep getting a network connection timed out error...I have not once gotten a -9838 error.

It starts by trying to access the itunes store but then gives me the time out error

sucks because I have to wait every time to see if it will be timed out...and so far for the past hour or so it has timed out everytime

I too, have been trying for over 3 HOURS!! With no luck, this is ridiculous

am i the only one gettting the connection reset error??

IM IN IM IN IM IN !!!!!!!

IM ACTIVTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ITS BEEN 3.5 HOURS!

IM SCREAMING

Kerry wrote: "am i the only one gettting the connection reset error??" No, I get the same thing.

finally after two hours of clicking back and forth to keep the 'accessing itunes store' thing going and after getting error 4 fifty times it worked, 2.0 baby!

I still can't believe this! They hype the crap out of this launch and then fail!!!!

Shame, Shame on Apple!!!!

Could someone who has gotten through explain the best way to do so?

Option 1:Click on library, than iphone, repeat?

Option 2:Eject iphone, plug back in repeat?

Would it be better to not wait for the -4 every time, and just continue clicking between music and iphone? or is it best to wait for the error every time?

Arrggh THis sucks! I have been sitting here plugging and unplugging my phone for almost two hours now. One of the guys in my office just sat down plugged his phone in and connected! Arrrgh! Not Fair!

Is there anything i can do to see if the activation works?
i read people clickin and clickin...what do i click during the ACCCESING ITUNE STORE time?

thanks

This is truly horrible.
Took the day off today as I'm heading for vacation tomorrow and the entire day so far has been a waste.

:(

this is bullshit

what are you guys doing? are you gonna keep trying to connect, or just let it connect on its own?

as i repeat, this is bullshit.

Hey Guys I got through to atandt the server crashed they said at the most it will be several hours they said to go to apple.com/feedback for possible comps for the inconvience.

Hope this helps

Nicolle

I'm done activating and have a working phone again, but now I can't connect to the iTunes store to get the apps. Do keep trying, but know that once you're done with the update and the activation, the iTunes store still isn't working right. Sigh.

I am currently restoring music and videos. AFTER TWO HOURS!

But clicking back and forth did it for me!

Ah this has been so frustrating!

I am having the exact same problem. But look on the bright side. If Apple cant fix it, then i guess they will just have to replace our phones with an iPhone 3G

fco

during that time.. dont click anything just let it run... hopefully you will get acess.. if not keep trying itll happen...

patience is the key

Oh yeah they said to leave your phone hooked to the pc and when it is caught up it will update

any news on how to stop getting the -4 error

If Microsoft had a launch like this it would be on the front page of the NYTimes. Somehow, Apple gets treated VERY well by the media.

I've been at it since 9am, and just NOW, I mean as I type this, my phone is "Activated" so I'm hoping for the best.

click back and forth what?
sorry for the question...
i just got here LOL
thanks

its true you just have to wait, its noon in Chicago i started this at 8:30am, it just automatically went through.

There is no fix, just keep plugged in and wait....

Thankfully you all kept me humored!

Ciao

THIS IS A SCAM TO MAKE U BUY THE 3G!!!! LOL IVE BEEN GETTIN-4 FOR AN HOUR

my itunes update went fine, then it took a while to access the iphone 2.0 upgrade but then that downloaded no problem BUT NOW my iphone is in emergency call mode (like many posts here) and I keep clicking on my iphone in itunes and get a message that my itunes request cannot be completed because my network connection has been changed (which it has not to my knowledge) and to check the network connection and try again. I am able to go into my itunes account, the itunes store, etc. without any problem. My network connection is fine. I wanted to take a roadtrip this morning but am not going without my phone and so I am sitting at home staring at this computer. Any ideas?

soooo... does anyone knows a good joke??? while we wait haha

I am in MI and both my husband and I have bricks. we were told that it's because the sever cant handle all of the updates at once so we have to be patient and it blows but i guess patience is a virtue that i have to have right now

If it hangs for over 5 mins, click off of the iPhone, then back on it... KEEP RETRYING.

I dont know if this does anything, but it did when clicking "check for updates", but try holding Option when clicking the iPhone icon.

fco

if you are getting an error message just click the iphone image on the side panel and then press okay on the message and then click on something else in the itunes panel (any thing like ringtones, music, etc.)

then keep clicking back to get rid of the error message... then let itunes do its work

Yeah JR.... What's the difference between an orange?

OK, phone is now 2.0, but then it had another error. So, none of my setting or contacts or sms, plus it still won't register in iTunes, but it's still trying.

an orange and what?

A bicycle silly, a vest has no sleeves!

mike... i dont get it lol

i'm guessing the people who got it to work are not refreshing this page again and again. they are playing with their fancy 2.0 iphones. I tried pluggin, unplugging, and up down arrow off of iphone. still no luck.

What does a Pizza man and a Gynocologist have in common?

They can both smell it but they can't eat it!

That was for you Steve Jobs!!

Yeah, you're not supposed to... that's the point, it is supposed to be just a lame joke. hehe

Since a few of you seem to be getting activated, I covered my short position in the stock... made $150 in 10 minutes on the drop... so I feel like I've actually come out ahead with this glitch.

Good idea, JR. Here's a joke:

Two therapists pass each other in the hallway. One says "Hello", the other thinks "I wonder what he meant by that?".

I just left mine plugged in and it finally started to load.

STOP LOOKING AT THE SCREEN AND GO KICK THE CAT .. or something else less violent.

NOW it is doing the "sync in progress" ... I hope this doesn't time out. I wonder how many of us iPhone users are 'TYPE A" personalities?

hey aaron,

mine works... just gotta be patient

i dont get it o.)? haha

hey and What do you call a fish with no eyes?

Ugh... same problem and I can't get through to tech support... but after seeing how many people are experiencing the same issue, I'm not surprised.

I guess I'll *try* to be patient.

I was running into the whole "accessing itunes store" stalling problem so I let my phone work on that for about 3 hours. When I came back nothing had changed so I did a recovery mode restart (turn off phone, start itunes, plug in phone while holding down home key) and it re-downloaded the update. Trying to sync the phone did not work the first time around but it finally did on the second try. I think the recovery mode move helped.

Good luck everyone, there is hope.

I got it working!!!!!!!!!!!! all i did was chose a song and the little arrow that takes u to the itunes store, clicked it about 7 times and BOOM!!!! Hope this works!!!!

Well you made the news at least ... http://www.computerworld.co...

jr

lunch!!!!

Glad to see I'm not the only one with the problem. Sucks that I don't have a phone for a while, though, until I can fix this! http://www.theutensils.com

JR -

fshhhhhhh

LOl no you call it fsh but thats a good one haha

My brother is on 2.0 but he upgraded yesterday.

u got it rite caroline

My feedback to apple through apple.com/feedback:

To whom it may concern,
I support your product--obviously since I'm willing to spend $600 on a phone with you. That being said, your simultaneous launch of the new G3 iPhone and the 2.0 software update for previous iPhones was a HUGE mistake.

I (and millions like me, I'm sure) have been stuck without a phone for over 4 hours now because of your server issues. With all the hype behind the new phone and the software update, the execution was horrible.

Successful people know that you underpromise and overdeliver. Apple has overpromised and severely underdelivered in this matter. Grown adults have TAKEN THE DAY OFF WORK because of the amazing possibilites of your product and updates, and your poor planning has left those people feeling silly and in a position to be mocked for thinking so highly of Apple.

I wonder how many people that RELY on their phones for business purposes have been severely effected by this down time. I know of one for sure...

I hope you learn from this egregious error, and have the good business sense to make amends to your loyal consumers through some sort of comps. Good day.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I need my phone!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have the same problem but mine was on the Emergency only and now it went to 'No Service' after not being able to access the iTunes store for the last hour and a half. Called Apple and they said the servers are jammed due to overload. Will take a while and told to try later. My phone shows no service. Not happy. All the stores are aware of the problem

I have a good joke...

What do you call a cow with no legs?

Ground beef!

i'm getting the same damn slide for emergency screen. i can't get anybody on the phone at apple and i'm starting to get realllllllllly angry. anybody able to fix this on their own???
thanks...

Not sure if anyone's posted this tip already, but after waiting 3 hours I think I may have the solution.

Click on the iTunes Store tab.
Click on a song in the store and let the page load.
Then immediately click on the iPhone tab.

I got my phone activated and synced using that method after waiting from 9 a.m. to past noon.

The main stream press - old skhool press - whatever you want to call them are starting to pick up the story. Here are a few links:

http://www.solecollector.co...

So basically, everyone is having the same problem. I still am a huge apple fan, however this is not cool. I am getting -4 error as well, anyone with -4 error finally get theirs to function correctly with itunes after the installation of the software

can i walk out of the store with a phone
take my chip out of my old phone
and have it work?

Completed the update at around 9 AM Central time, then had to wait for activation. It is now, 12L21, and I am finally restoring the data. I'm none to pleased about the server issue. For those wanting to know, click between the library or store and your iPhone icon. That was my method.

Mine just finally worked. JUst keep trying to restore it and it will go through. I had to do this about 20 times until it finally worked. Good luck to all of you.

CS how long did you let it sit on "Accessing Itunes store"??

Same thing here. Waiting for the iTunes store.

Mine is stuck on slide for emergency as well, but iTunes gives me "We could not complete your itunes store request. the network connection timed out." I've been trying the clicking between music library and iphone in iTunes and still gives me the same "connectin timed out." Why wasn't I smart enough to just wait a few more days and do this after the mad rush!??

With all due respect, I'd conscript all those who slept in front of an Apple Store today and bought a new iPhone; and send them to Iraq. Better yet to Afghanistan!

Its nice to know that I am not the only one experiencing this problem after downloading the new software update. Let's hope there is a fix around the corner which will not cost us anything.

Seth 12:19,

Great solution - it worked for me. I guess Apple gives priority to $0.99 song purchases over iPhones.

Thank you!

As to speed of connection or computer - no - I have a macbook pro, hooked it up to my ethernet (as opposed to air port) and have a 20MBPS speed connection at moment and I have been getting -4 errors for HOURS

Anyone ever comment on the .mac account being a cause?

im also keep getting the -4 error should i press music and iphone back n fwd or should i keep waiting on the accessing to itunes store..?. help!!!!

I finally made it kids. Stay patient.

same "your network connection has timed out" problem here... Effff

I am having the same issue. Here is my blog post on it. I just want to get my contacts to work! Need to make some phone calls.

Apple should have postpone the 2.0 update for 1G iphones while they release the new 3G iphone. I've been waiting 4 hours patiently to reactivate my iPhone but when both family & business communication is being interrupted someone should be accountable.

People, People...

As usual, a problem with traffic.

Have just got off a live chat with a guy called Emer at Apple and he was very apologetic and said that the amount of hits the store is getting is creating issues, sit back, chill and hook up to itunes later in the evening and we'll all be playing with Apps by midnight. Remember the only thing Apple can't control is enthusiasm...

Apple won't let us down, not too much anyway...

Good thing I have the day off today, cause I feel like I'm going to be sitting in front of my computer for an undetermined amount of time...

I am thinking for those getting network errors, your computer is set to a connection timeout that kicks you out faster than apple's network kicks you out - if it's apple's fault I have been getting itunes store error - I started to sync - YAHOOOOOOOO

So, it does work. WoW. I only had to go for 4 hours and a half. Amazing.

My itunes is still saying that software version 1.1.4 is current...whats up with that? i updated itunes to 7.7 last night

Steps to getting past the (-4) error:
1. Keep your phone plugged in.
2. As you get error messages, click ok.
3. Click on your music folder and then return to your iPhone to reset the connection between your computer and the Apple servers.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you finally get through.

I'm sorry, but those of you who opted to do this right before leaving for a trip KNOW BETTER. It is the 1st day of a major launch. Don't get your panties in a wad because you could not wait to update until you got back.

We all know that there are always systems bogging down with this much activity and all of us who want the latest, shiny update. Just chill out.

I am waiting here like the rest of you... and will admit to being slightly amused as I pass the time listening to you all get so impatient. ;)

and class action guy (@ 9:25 am)? you definitely need a life. Seriously.

After over a dozen failures from "not able to access itunes store" and a dozen removals from the dock and resets and such, mine finally went through. Sync'd OK and phone was working but now its still updating music, videos, etc.. WHy on earth would Apple release the 2.0 update for the old 2.5G iPhone on the same day 58736578365489 people are going to be activating their new 3G iPhone?

It amazes me that Apple's IT department isn't more agile in getting this problem resolved.

Tens of thousands if not millions of customers have been locked out of their phone for hours now.

Virtual server enterprise? Obviously not. C'mon, bring another 50 virtual servers up and keep your customers happy instead of locking them out in the cold for hours on end.

The sick part is all of us would have been better off upgrading yesterday with the "unofficial" firmware. Wait for the official release and we're screwed.

I did it! I got it to work!

Here's how:
Simply rub the belly of your nearest and dearest pet while muttering a short prayer to the all-powers Ra, God of the Sun.
Next, turn around three times before kneeling uncomfortably in your chairm hold down the "F8" key and lick the Shift key.
Finally, picture Steve Jobs naked, and chant "Mecca lecca hi, mecca hiney ho!" for a solid 2 minutes.

That's it!

any news?

The 2.0 took some time (10 min). After downloading iphone backs up, restores. verifies and loads firmware. after that It tries to access itunes store which has not connected in 1 hour. My iphone is locked for emeregency calls untill I can access itunes store. (CRAP)

Let's see:

1). Buy iPhone for $600.
2). It goes on sale for $400 a month later.
3). Now it's $200 and new and improved.
4). My $600 iphone is now a brick.

Steve Jobs is getting a free kick in the nuts the next time I'm in Cupertino!

HOPE IS OUT THERE! I JUST KEPT SYNCING AND I GOT IT WORKING. YOU JUST HAVE TO WAIT!

10:31, LOS ANGELES

Yup, i'm pissed too. Basically, Apple put too much effort into securing their phones. The only thing that is backlogged is the "activation." This is especially retarded for those of us who either have the old iPhone, or were existing customers... we have sim cards that are active, so if Apple wouldn't have tried so hard to prevent phone unlocking, we would all be golden and the only people trying to activate today would be brand-new customers.

Let's hear it for customer loyalty incentives!!!

Yay AT&T and Apple!!!! Also, I give it less than a week before people are selling unlock procedures online anyway. This is absolutely rediculous.

d 12:25

Glad I could help. I endured 3+ hours or 9838 and -4 error messages. I found this blog by googling the error message and joined in on the round of misery and mirth.

Just want to make sure, but you didn't actually buy the song. I didn't have to do and it still worked for me.

Hope it works for everyone else too.

hahaahhaha MY PHONE WORKS NOW!!

THANKS BITCHES!!

ok so I have been at this since 9 am!!!!!!! it is now 1:30 and still I have a $400 brick. It keeps telling me the network has to reset...can anyone tell me what that means??

I'm having the same problem. I can only make emergency calls while my phone cannot access the itunes store. It says my "network settings" has been reset. I'm not sure what to do. My phone can't be accessed at all. If anyone figures out what to do, LET US KNOW please.

-James

OK -- praise GOD! I just waited and kept turning off and on my iphone, restarted computer, itunes, phone, many times. Went to get something to eat, now my phone is back on and activated. YA! Good luck all.

I keep getting this error message.
we could not complete you itunes store request. the network connection timed out.

this is while it is trying to access the itunes store. is anyone else getting that?

Mike 12:32.

Had the same problem. Used my method, see Seth 12:19, and it worked. Try it yourself.

thanks seth! that totally worked!

Not sure if anyone's posted this tip already, but after waiting 3 hours I think I may have the solution.

Click on the iTunes Store tab.
Click on a song in the store and let the page load.
Then immediately click on the iPhone tab.

I got my phone activated and synced using that method after waiting from 9 a.m. to past noon.

looks like the sync is in progress...
?
So the answer is if u continue to get the error message in iTunes.
Unplug and Replug back in the usb cable. Eventually ull get through
to complete the update and your phone will restore to Firmware 2.0.
There is light at the end of the tunnel. Keep the
Faith!

4 and a half hours and finally there, just had to sit and wait it out. "this may take some time" is a bit of an understatement.

Seriously...in a world of instant gratification good old fashion patience will prevail...been attempting since 7:20 AM PST...still hasn't worked...OH WELL...Life will continue.

Yikes??? shoulda googled before applying update.... *Sigh*
Hilarious.

i decided to take a break from trying to connect and decided to look at the apps im not going to be able to get for a few hours. As i was doing this itunes interrupted me and began connecting i was extremely happy and began to believe god perhaps didn't hate me, until i got the same awesome error message i've been getting.

I LOVE APPLE!!!

THIS WHOLE THING IS RIDICULOUS. AFTER 4 HOURS AND TRYING IT FINALLY ACTIVATED AND AFTER WAITING 15+ MINUTES FOR MY MUSIC AND VIDEOS TO "SYNC" I FIND OUT NONE OF THAT GOT SYNCED.

i wonder how much money at&t is losing because current iphone users are unable to use their phones.

im trying the song thing and it just wont work can you explain it i might not be doing it right

I can't connect to the network either - tried calling apple support and guess what?

"No agents available at this time"

- r u kidding???? This SUCKS. I've been trying to update now for 2 hours!!!!

an update to the Seth 12:19 method...

hit enter when you get the error, 'down arrow' to switch tabs, then 'up arrow' to have it try again...

this is the fastest way to get in as many attempts as you want until you get lucky and squeeze in.

Image Capture on my Mac was responsible for the iTunes activation not working.
Run Image Capture, go to options in the window itself and deselect
'Automatically download all items'.

SO AS I TYPED MY LAST ANGRY COMMENT I decided to check my iTunes and all the tabs to personalize the syncing popped up.. my iPhone is syncing as we speak. Let's hope it works this time...

itunes song stratagy didnt work for me

This is pants!!!

nunyabiz....

they are obviously losing no money. everyone already paid. if you want to return the phone, 10% restock fee.

they are set, lol

hahahahahaha! Mine is working finally! Listen to me, sound like a little girl who just cuntjob...sweetness! SOon I will have apps.

If I leave and just leave my phone plugged in, will it automatically update while im gone or do I have to sit here and click back and forth from phone to library for it to update?

Oh the things we do for our Iphones!! I'm getting that (-4) error too. Thank the heavens I don't have anything to do today cause I have a feeling that my tush is going to be sitting here for a WHILE! Good Luck to eveyone!!! May whatever or whoever you believe be with you! lol!

OMG!!!!!!!!! Sync in progress idk what i did but i did it haha im so happy well ill wait till its all synced to let u guys kno

iPhone Haiku
by K. Finley

No calls in or out
Six hundred dollars - now brick
"Accessing" always.

Same problem. Ive been on the horn with apple twice since 830 this morning and all they tell me is to keep trying or to wait until things slow down. as for the error messages try unplugging the phone exit itunes re-enter itunes then re-plug the phone. if that doesnt work try a har drestart on the iphone. Hold down lock button and home button until you see just a black screen and the apple symbol then let them go and it will reset this is bs we are all in the same boat i guess

Facebook chat and AIM are my only methods of communication right now because my family doesnt have a house phone. Its gonna be a long day.

Annnnndddd...it told me there was a network error again. sweet!

VICTORYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

guys i think that if u do the song thing it might work... i think thats what i did

i believe they would lose revenue on unused minutes and no text messaging between iphone users.

HOLY SHIT! The minute my Haiku posted the son of a b*%$# worked!

Steve still gets a kick in the nuts though!

I don't believe I am spending a beautiful Friday like this? Why couldn't I just have waited a couple days... Can you say loooosssser!!!!!

Charlotte said tush.

What I did:

Dock iPhone.
Wait to get the (-4) error message.
Click iTunes Store tab.
Click on a song title and let song page load.
Immediately click on iPhone tab.

You may have to repeat the method to get the phone synced.
Beware, apps sync very slowly, so if you're in a rush -- and let's be honest, if you're spending hours trying to activate a phone, how much of a rush can you be in -- just sync photos, songs, etc.

Good luck everyone.

I HATE MY LIFE..... =[[[[[

Same problem this morning from about 5-8am PST. Just kept clicking from the iphone icon to something else and back until it finally worked... it's a drag, but what can ya do. It'll work eventually.

nunya..... FAIL

PATIENCE:

I just plugged mine in and walked away..... cam back an hour later and it works.

just don't try and download any apps today or it will time out. Just be happy your freakin phone is WORKING again and wait for the air to clear on the server.

try thing no thanks to apple customer care.i disabled the auto lock on my sim card useing my old phone and placed the sim card back on the iphone and it upgraded it with no problem.hope this helps any one

how many of you had the song method work for you?

Well I'm one song richer, and none the better on getting my phone updated.

Good news is I'm now on an extended wait time for an apple representative!!! ye me

Just "arrow" up and down instead of clicking on music tabs... trust me, easier, faster.

Maria 12:49

Don't buy the song. Turn off one-click shopping if you must. But if you try the method a couple of times it'll work.

i've tried EVERY tip posted on this page at least 5 times....nothing.

so, no...the song did NOT work for me.

just waiting....

good luck everyone.

Okay so how long until you get the error message "We could not complete your Itunes store request"? I am running Vista and its taking 30 seconds my friend is sitting across from me with his powerbook and his times out in about 3 minutes. Is anyone having luck while running XP or Vista?

apple has to find a way to make up to all of us seriously, waste of energy, time and money

Does anyone know if it deletes all your numbers yet, if it does while I'm waiting i guess I could be compiling a list of those.

I tried to buy a song and it gave me the network error again...

I'm now just hitting the up arrow, then down arrow and hoping to sneak my way in...

i just give up im having fun reading these comments... better then staring at the accessing itunes store... bar

Brandon: When you are arrowing up and down, are you waiting for the error?

http://www.iphonealley.com/...

on that site, hit directly from apple. i dont know what happened, but i downloaded that, and all of a sudden, boom, my iphone switched to activated! this worked for someone else also. i didnt even open the program. i think just downloading it opened up my computer somehow and made the iphone 2.0 come through. i dont know if that makes any sense, but it just worked and 2.0 is awesome.

Seth: you method won't work, you just happened to be lucky and connected at same time you picked a song.. I've been trying for an hour..

Appl will do nothing but piss you off and tell u to keep trying just hang up and keep trying trust me 2 hour of hold time under my belt already today

Good choice, Timmy!

Seth, want to come over and give my phone the "magic touch?" haha.

I've tried the song method at least 20 times, and nothing yet.

i dont think so cus on my sync in progress screen of my iphone i can se the picture that i had for my wallpaper, that means that everything is how it was... even tho wring them wouldnt hurt just in case ;]

It took me about 2 hours, but I did finally get it to go through. There's hope! I had the -9838 message too many times to count. I used the back and forth between itunes library and iphone routine. Eventually, I got past that frustration. Then, I sat with the "Activating phone" message on my phone screen. After about a half hour, I finally hit cancel, and the phone is fine. Up and running! Unfortunately, my husband is sitting at work still trying to get his to work.
I'm just glad I didn't sit in line for hours, waiting to buy the 3G, then sit at home for hours, waiting to activate it.
I'm so glad I found these posts today! I knew I wasn't the only one going crazy. Thanks for all the help!

so now that my phone FINALLY seemed to re activate - how do i get my damn contacts/photos/etc back? or am i SOL?

There is a God!

Phone works 6 hours later. One hour for each C-note I shelled out for this puppy.

For the record, my method:

Keep "accessing" until there is no error. Cause it to "access" the store by clicking off the iphone list, then back on it. It took me 50 times. The first few hours I couldn't even get it to try to access the store.

Thanks for the torture Steve. They'll probably put out another commercial tomorrow about how much Microsoft sucks.

i got my number ported from verizon at like 9:00 am and left the store to wait for itunes to start working but my old phone is still receiving and making calls? anyone know whats up with that?

this is bullshit

Victory here! After an hour trying to connect to the apple store it finally did it. I guess it's just too much traffic trying to upgrade.

We love apple, we love their products and we want to be the firsts to have the new updates.

I was really angry at the beginning, but happy now.

Best of lucks to all of you!

i agreee with corey

:dies:

SE, you're not out of luck. You need to keep "accessing the store" until the second part of this wacky process completes.

Mine just started working 5 minutes ago. I got all my stuff back.

SE:

For your contacts to re-sync, I know you had to sync them to your computer using outlook or something like that. For photos I think you'd have to have that setting selected on the iPhone settings in iTunes.

LOL - 4 hours trying to get it activated. Take my son up to bed and come back down to see "Sync in Progress".

Patience. Just go off and do something else, looks like you don't need to force an attempt to connect.

Good luck everyone else. Just think, in a week we'll look back at this and laugh.

Um i just kept my itunes on witht he 9383 error mumbo jumbo and i went to grab a bite to eat and i came back and clicked the iphone tab, and it went to error -4, then i went to go do some grocery shopping, and i came back and my phone was restoring everything.

Same problem here (Wash DC) since 9:00 a.m. this morning.
You'd think that they'd be prepared for the traffic.
Glad that I'm not the only one. Thanks everyone for posting updates.

Keeo reconnecting your iPhone to iTunes and, eventually, the connection will be made and a successful download will occur. I think it's just like my experience at the Apple store this morning - you have to get in line (which, in that case, I didn't). I've got a friend with an iPhone and he's still waiting to get to get out of that frozen mode (we both began trying for the upgrade at the same time). After a few minutes of disappointment, I was just lucky to hop into a spot on their server, I guess.

Mark -- shut off your old phone. I am assuming your new phone is already activated.

Can you lucky people who have gotten through post your speeds???? go to www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ if you need to check your speed. thanks

We should specify who has a 3G iPhone, because I'm thinking there might be a difference as to the "priority" to activate/re-activate?

I'm trying to update an "original" iPhone, and have been going at it for 2 hours, getting the same timed out iTunes store connection message...

i guess misery loves company huh. Dont think illbe laughing about this tomorrow though

anyone with a ported number on a family plan get theirs to work yet????

It would not be me if I passd up an opportunity to say 'me too'.

Me too!

Note: I did nto try to get an iPhone, I just hate being left out.

hey guys so my sync is done and my iphone had a message saying tha it was activated but i still get the -4 error and i cant see my iphone info on itunes, does anyone else have that problem???

everyting on my iphone seems to work fine btw, app store, contacts, all of that

So it just activated, but my iTunes still doesn't show it yet, so I'm not synced. Ughhh....

5 Hours of trying to get the phone to connect back to the iTunes still no luck! This is on my original iPhone just wanted to upgrade the software to 2.0

All my phone does is allow me to make an emergency call. NOT COOL my businnes is now SHUT DOWN FOR THE DAY!! Is Apple going to repay me of the LOST WAGES I am not able to make?!?!?!?!?!? I think not!!!

I have the same problem here. It says it is unable to connect to itunes store, and now my phone is stuck in emergency mode.

JR and SE:

You must continue "accessing the store" after your phone gets the 2.0 in order to get your preferences and contacts back.

So keep "accessing." Meanwhile, enjoy my haiku above at 12:44.

I successfully upgraded to 2.0 and restored my settings and data.

The only problem now is that I keep getting the "-4" error when I try to connect it to iTunes on my MacBook to sync. It seems to want to connect to the iTunes store every time I connect it.

So the phone works, but I can't sync.

I am not seeing a "9838" message, mine says, We could not complete your I Tunes store request.The network connection timed out.Make sure your network settings are correct and your network connection is active, then try again. Is anyone else getting this and how do you fix it? This happened after installing the 2.0 update. Thanks.

OMG MINE JUST WENT THROUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU BABY JESUS!!! THANK YOU OPRAH!!!!!! :CRIES TEARS OF JOY:
:NOW SOBS:

Apple support technician told me (about 10 minute wait time), that their people are working on the issue and might have it fixed by tonight - wow in 12 hours!

Makes u realize just how much of your life u have that is based on your phone - I've got a lot of time to be philosophical right now.

my friend has a plan with me and his phone is activated but he don't have any service and mine still cant get into itunes

Me Too.

but everything works, my songs, contacts the new features, it just wont appear on my itunes and cant upload any apps cus of that

thats weird anyone else with the same problem

still pants!

but everything works, my songs, contacts the new features, it just wont appear on my itunes and cant upload any apps cus of that

thats weird anyone else with the same problem

Is anyone trying to do this with an unlocked phone?

I've been trying the method of going between the library and iPhone tabs.

Can anyone who had had success tell me if I can just leave it sit and wait for it to sync?

I could be getting shit done instead of sitting here switching between iTunes tabs.

you guys think you have it bad? imagine having a microsoft fanatic for a dad! ive heard nothing but crap since this began

Are most people sitting with a dead phone? Or are some of your Apps working? Thanks

Ok, After reading a posting on Gizmodo (http://gizmodo.com/5024334/..., I just left it plugged in and I just got prompted to restore a backup. Next I'll be syncing (i hope).

Let'em stay plugged in and leave'em alone. A watched pot never boils (so mom told me).

Jim

Are you using windows? I think only Macs get the error number when connecting you along with tons of other people are getting that same error. Just keep trying. Good luck

is there a costumer service number to call and if so does it do any good?

Ha my mom used that saying too.

And that is true. I am going to play Guitar hero and check back every so often.

what i did was wait for the accessing itunes store to load and every time it showed me the error message i'd switch from iphone to itunes store... i kept doing that but it didnt work till i tried the song method... idk if it was that or i just got lucky

Mine finally worked, so keep plugging away, folks. This was a great thread...brought some levity to an otherwise frustrating situation. Thanks!

i just got my 1st generation iPhone to work. i just tried over and over then it finally synced

Anyone successful with an unlocked phone???

I can promise you that 3G customers are not getting priority. It's total luck on catching the servers at the right moment.

I am watching my iTunes and if I just leave it sitting, it doesn't seem to refresh automatically. Those of you who were successful leaving it sitting... did you just leave it with the error window up, or what?

I've had the same problem all morning long. I've tried calling iphone support at apple, then after you are on the phone with a robot for 20 min trying to explain whats wrong with your phone.. they decide to tell you that no one is available to spead to at apple support and to call back next week. all my contacts are on my phone and now i have no way of calling or getting ahold of anyone! thanks apple

Does anybody know if the update deletes your contacts? I've heard mixed answers...

i tihnk i finally got mine working, and i was pissed as hell before, curse you apple and your ability to make it seem all better when it works. im not going to be all officious like and tell you wait and it'll come, just do it as many times as possible and it might work. thanks guys for making this thread interesting for my 6 hours waiting. !! =P

Yea, just keep trying. Mine worked after about 20 times

charger

it doesnt

it finally worked for me after 3h with no phone !! ouf

I just stopped clicking for a while as i got pissed up, had a rest and tried again then it worked on my first attempt.

Hope it'll work soon for you too. Good luck

OK, I'm in. I think the song in iTunes method actually does work. It took quite a while for the iTunes store to open to the album that I selected, but after it did, I clicked on the iPhone on the left again and it worked. Thanks for the advice. I have been at this for 5 hours now.

join the club clay u arent the lone ranger

i swear im gonna be the last one on this thread to get their phone to work :(

such a piss take! im so desperate to play about =[

im from the uk... so anyone from uk got it sorted yet?

I GOT IT, EVEN IF IT KEEPS GIVING YO THE MESSAGE JUST LEAVE IT. I DIDNT EVEN NEED TO HIT OKAY AND RETRY, JUST LEAVE YOUR PHONE, IT WILL GO WHEN IT GOES!!

after constantly getting the (-4) error i continued to switch on and off the iphone tab so it always said "connecting to itunes store" and finally it worked. Sync in progress, restoring iphone from backup. Good luck everyone

Matthew,

So you just left your phone, and didn't try the clicking back and forth method?

damn thats crazy all this people are experiencing these problems, my stepfather did his this morning and i was in the middle of downloading 2.0 for my phone, then he told me what happened to his and that he was stuck in emergency mode, i'm glad i held off !!! can't survive a day or even the weekend without a phone, goodluck to those who are expericing technical difficulties !!!!

Is anyone getting error (-4) on a mac? That is what I keep getting... an error in the iTunes store, try again later. Thoughts on if I should leave it plugged in and let it go, or keep toggling between my library and phone?

I'm just wondering if you try the clicking back and forth method if it puts you at the end of the line of getting into the server.

Good to see peoples luck improving. Perhaps theres a new rack of Xservers chugging away doing what should have been set up ahead of time.

Just plug it in, let the connection time out (-4) then let it sit. It'll get there.

Then after everything's done and it restores, let it sit a good hour to re-sync 16GB of content.

I can say having played with the apps now... they're worth it! Time to buy Super Monkeyball.

leave it plugged in and let it go, you dontneed to touch anything, dont need to toggle through anything, when theerror comes up you dont need to even hit okay, i alked back in the room and the error screen was up from before yet my phone was done, it will run automatically. good luck

my phone works fine but i still cant see my iphone info on itunes cus it still trying to access itunes store.... does any of you that have updated theyre phones have the same problem?????

Anyone know if there is a way to rollback to the previous firmware? Need my phone!!!

does everyone elses say "the network connection was reset" ? and "make sure your network connection is active and try again" ???

Matthew are you using a MAC? Or a windows PC?

The following advice worked for me. 5 hours later my phone is synching.

Dock iPhone.
Wait to get the (-4) error message.
Click iTunes Store tab.
Click on a song title and let song page load.
Immediately click on iPhone tab.

HOLY @$#%^@^$#^%$@#!!!!!

MY PHONE IS RESTORING FROM BACK-UP....

HOPEFULLY IT WILL COMPLETE IT'S INSTALL/UPDATE....

KEEP YOU POSTED. JUST KEPT ON CLICKING ON (-4) ERROR MESSAGE. CLICKING OFF IPHONE ICON, THEN CLICKING BACK ON IT. LOOKS LIKE IT MIGHT TAKE...

Thanks Matthew.

I'm getting a little impatient with sitting at the computer waiting for it.

At least now I can go out and get some stuff done on my day off ha.

If anything happens with mine, I'll be sure to promptly post.

MBP here, left plugged in and finally worked. Hitting OK then out/in on iPhone for store didn't really do much.

As for rollback to older firmware, you'll still need to deal with it talking to the iTunes activation server, to confirm certificates after install.

Be patient. Trust me I've been at this since 9am Eastern and didn't realize I should have left it plugged in and wandered away.

All contacts, calendar, past text threads, and email came through. The only thing that didn't was photos. ( I think it said they wouldn't transfer when you clicked on the update button.) I saved them to iphoto beforehand.

Right the phone is working but now I can not put any of the apps that I download and it still says accessing iTunes store. Boo!

Lewis..

Mine is saying the same things and it have been for the past 3 hrs now and I have tried everything that people are saying to do on the thread and NOTHING is working AHHH I think I am just going to watch a movie and wait

Andy, let it sit. I had the same with a (-4) then all of the sudden it showed me the backup to restore from.

hey im done everything works now yey!!! i guess the key to do it is, as everyone who've don it say PATIENCE, of course it easy to ask for that once you are done haha so i understand all of you guys it was really fun dealing with this problem with a great iphone community like you guys, good luck to every one!!!

im in the same boat

omg, i get a similar message, I am using an iPod touch, in itunes it says update is availible, I click it and it says iPod 2.0 software (iPhone) is availible so I click learn more and then it sends me to the iTunes store and then gives me an error message saying "temprarly unavailible"

update - - - - I just now tried to check again and now it says that there is no update for my iPod and that I am up to date with 1.1.4.

FINALLY,

unfortunately, patience is the only thing that will update and activate the phone.

my phone is back in action and my frustration will pass immediately once i get to play with the new apps.

just keep on clicking, it'll come for you...

enjoy!

My phone is in the emergency only mode it upgraded; Does it just have to be activated

damn FINALLY it worked - Id hit iphone at least 300 times, finally switched over and started watching some youtube vids to pass the time and it popped up SYNCING lol.

Although it said activation alert, no signal is detected, a signal is required to complete activation, but when it finished its sync it worked fine. Who knows, just glad it works!

What are you continually clicking on to get it to connect ti itunes?

finally got through just waiting for it to sync music and vids

ANYONE HERE WITH AN UNLOCKED IPHONE?

UPDATE.

if like me you can not wait o try your apps you can download the one you got on your computer straight to your phone for FREE.

PS it is well worth the wait its ace! keep the faith

Finally got through and phone is back...

Johnny boy how did you do it??

ARE PEOPLE JUST LEAVING THE PHONE IN OR DO YOU HAVE TO KEEP CLICKING TABS?

Well, I'm tired of sitting here going between store and iPhone, so I'm gonna give the "leave-it-be-and-come-back-in-an-hour" method.

Hope everything works out soon for all of you. I FEEL YOUR PAIN! haha

im using a PC should i let it sit or should i use the back and forth message

and anyone know why my old phone would still be fully working and active almost six hours later after i got the number 'ported'?

Tye I have an unlocked phone

*method

Mine still isn't working:( I don't know what else to do I have tried all the tips and it just keeps giving me the same messages....:( It is soooo frustrating!

startin to get irritated lol... should i just leave it or keep clicking?

now im guessing its jus guna magically happen? lol

I was having the same problem accessing the itunes store. I kept trying for about two hours and just now it's finally restoring from backup. Let's hope it works. I'll post if I get 2.0 working.

ROCK, IS YOURS DEAD EXCEPT FOR EMERGENCY CALLS?

Is the (-4) error message the same as the WE COULD NOT COMPLETE YOUR ITUNES STORE REQUEST. THE NETWORK CONNECTION TIMED OUT....etc etc????

Tye yes at at the moment.
Tried downgrading to 1.1.4 firmware, no luck.
Guess I'm stuck till I get through on the server.

sadly yes it is the same message

My itunes says mine is up to date with the 1.1.4 update, i dont even have the option to upgrade it...

SIKDMAX you were right, I did what you did and FINALLY after four hours it started to update.

Thanks

you have it through t-mob? I hope not being AT&T kills our phone? Heard any different?

After 5 hours of trying everything it suggests on these pages it just worked after me leaving it for a while!

My phone is on but I cant sync and info with it!! It wants to keep trying to connect to iTunes. But hey I can live with that at least I can make and recieve calls again.

GUYS JUST CHILL IT WILL WORK AND THE REMOTE APP WAS WORTH THE 5 HOUR WAIT!!!!!!!

Dave
What method did you use???

What are you continually clicking on to get it to try to connect to itunes?

Lou

Im getting the same we could not complete your itunes store request message... im using a PC my friend just kept ejecting his and plugging it back in and got it to work like an hour ago... ive had no luck

Lewis, I'm getting the same "network connection reset" message. Really annoying. It's been several hours by now. Will this happen automatically or do we have to sit by our computers all day and keep clicking and trying? THANKS

So the remedy of leaving it plugged works for PC as well as MAC?

I think after you have that connection error to iTunes store, you need to dismiss the error box and click elsewhere and click on the iphone (under devices) again so it will make the connection attempt again. I don't think it's how long you've been trying, I think it's just a matter of sneaking in with the right time with an open connection. Took me 45 minutes and may be 8 retries? The AppStore is hit or miss too, I could get in and download 3-4 apps then it would not connect, but if I tried again then it would connect. The good news is that this may drive people away from the store so I can just walk in tomorrow to get my new phone without waiting in line.

Jeeze, this is outta control and really upsetting... Will leaving it be work just as well as the click method/unplug method?

The iPocalypse is upon us!

OHH MYY DAYSSS

finally... was readin the comments then my iphone jus came alive! itunes is doing its job now! =]

cant wait for the pint app haha...

good luk everyone!...

Jessica, you jsut made me laught out load!

After four hours and constant frustration I finally got it to work. I think its more about luck then any thing else. Although the more you try the luckier you get.

well mine finally worked boys and girls...after a mere 3-restores and 28-error messages

IF EVERYONE JUST STOPS CLICKING AND WAITS FOR THE PHONE TO UPDATE ITSELF THE SERVERS WILL CLEAR UP FASTER. THE MORE YOU CLICK THE SLOWER IT WILL BE FOR THE REST OF US.

I just was able to restore and then when I checked my phone it was still the old version so I went back to iTunes and it didn't show the newer version... anyone else have this problem? What are all of the steps involved in this update... I want to make sure I am doing this correctly

My iPhone 2.5G has been bricked since lunchtime. I've tried all the above to no avail. 9838 messages by the dozen, and at least as many -4's. Once I got a nice screen tell me that activation wasn't working and I should try again later.

Forcing a re-install by holding the home button whilst powering on by connecting the USB cable failed as it looks like it's not possible to revert to 1.1.4.

I'm running little snitch which tells me that when I click on iPhone under iTunes, it attempts to contact albert.apple.com, but, whilst iTunes happily proclaims "Accessing iTunes Store..." it's fibbing. No data is being transferred.

I'm getting the -4 error message as well and I've been trying since 10am EST over in Boston. I've clicked on the Iphone button to re-start the activation to the itunes store countless times - I've also done the iphoto trick, reboot, etc. I have no more patience but honestly there is nothing else you can do I guess - it's a network problem. If anyone hears anything else about this error please post. - thanks -

Hey, click on the iTunes Store while waiting for it to "Access iTunes Store" actually worked for me too. I didn't buy a song or anything…

I don't know if it was just dumb luck or if all the iTunes Store tab requests somehow escalated the iPhone tab request…

Either way… Three cheers for HTTP!

hey if you get lucky enough to catch a network reset message immediately try again as fast as you can. theats how i got through

Rock

I just kept clicking between my movie library and the phone. It is a beautiful day here in NJ and you would think I have better things to do....Loooozer... But at least my phone now works...

i cant believe this im going out of business its 305 and still no good
someone please help
i tryed everything and nothing seems to work what should i do call att for a rebate????

"We could not complete your iTunes Store request. THe Network connection timed out." is this error only for PC or its also for MAC!

I was just sitting here reading the posts and my phone came alive. The message reads:

SYNCH IN PROGRESS.
WAITING FOR ACTIVATION.
THIS MAY TAKE SOME TIME.

I'll post again if is works.

I just got to the lets get started screen.
But still getting the -4 error there

it finally worked!! you just need to keep trying, unplugging, plugging back in, etc. GOOD LUCK to you!

Called Apple, got in queue and put'em on hold. Went about my business. After about 30 minutes, my iBrick rang (wha?) and it's Apple iBrick support.

She says "The server is down. Try again in a few hours. Or maybe tomorrow. If you like, AT&T has offered to forward all calls to whatever number you'd like."

I query her some more. She got an email which said "The [activation?] server is down. We're working on it." According to her, no activations are working now until some indeterminate time in the future. Again according to her, Apple didn't foresee the demand on their servers today. [WTF!?]

I asked if there was any way to go back to 1.1.4. Nope, because you still need to do the "Activation" process, and the activation server is dead.

Clearly, she's at least partially wrong as some of you (lucky) jokers ARE getting through. But I've been trying for 5 hours now.

I told her I look forward to hearing what Apple is going to do for me to compensate me for my time and one or several days without my phone. She grunted.

Then, "Is there anything else I can help you with today?"
"Um, like what?"
"Any other issues you're having with your iPhone."
"Sure, I've got plenty of issues. But you can't help me with any of them because my iPhone is completely dead."
"Uh huh."

keep waiting, i finally got mine to work.... after you get the error each time, click on the itunes store than back on the iphone and it'll eventually finish the update..

Verifying AT&T account info

im praying for my fone to cum alive the best bet i have is to just leave it connected to the comp on itunes

ROCK,
ANYONE GOT IT TO WORK WITH AN UNLOCKED IPHONE!
IT POPPED UP BUT SAID INSERT A VALID SIM. I DONT THINK ITS GOING TO WORK FOR US

Hey I had the same problem. I tried completely shutting down iTunes and restarting a couple of times and everything worked after the third restart. I had been trying some of the previous mentioned solutions without any luck. Thanks for the help.

just keep clicking side tabs back and forth and it will eventually work

mines working! thank god! oh and i reccomend aol radio to everyone its awesome

Aha! Posting on here is clearly what makes the difference! It lives Egor, it lives!!!!!!!!!

Mine is unlocked and right now it is still on the Please wait while AT&T verfies your account

Eventually it worked like everyone else is saying... it's sync is in progress thank the Lord.

I have a PC and used the click on click off method, I dont know if you can do the wait method with a PC

Follow-up post...

The connection eventually happened for me, but now I get a new error message:

NO SIGNAL DETECTED.
SIGNAL IS REQUIRED TO COMPLETE ACTIVATION.

So, I'm still not working even after I got a successful connection through itunes.

GOT IT AND GOT EVERYTHING DOWNLOADED. MY PHONE IS JUST AS IT WAS BEFORE WITH 2.0 INSTALLED. LOOKS LIKE ITUNES IS STILL COMPLETELY JAMMED. MY PHONE WILL NOT CONNECT TO ITUNES YET. I CAN PLAY WITH THE APPS THOUGH AND LET ME TELL YOU 'REMOTE' WHICH IS THE FIRST APP I DOWNLOADED IS BAD ASS... SERIOUSLY COOL SHIT...

KEEP ON CLICKING BOYS

I finally got it to install as well. All i did was unplug the phone from the cradle and pluged it back in. finally sync in progress! Keep trying, i did for 3 hours!

If you just use the "leave it alone method" without clicking between tabs or plugging and unplugging... don't you still get th -4 error message? If so do you just leave it anyway?

I'm having trouble getting past the AT&T verification process

mine just kicked in and is restoring since 8est keep trying

I got it! Good lluck everyone, there is hope!

I tried what Matt said and it worked. I opened the itunes store in a tab then I clicked on the iphone and waited?

Just try everything above and hopefully soon it will work for you:)

ROCK,
WERE SCREWED BRO!

Adam if apple told you that no activation were working, they are lying, mine just started after working on it since 10am CST

I worked for me on vista: not sure which method worked but this is what i did.....try it and let me know

I confirmed safari and made it my defult web browser

i then tried to access the store again

whilst waiting i clicked istore/itunes apps (new) in a box in the upper left box of the page!

My itunes store then came on

Not sure which part of what i did made it work!!!

Good luck guys

FINALLY!
It's in "waiting for activation" mode.

I can say that clicking back and forth IS quicker than just letting it set. I just let it sit for an hour to no avail, came back and clicked onto the iTunes store then back onto iPhone and it started working.

So, as other people have said, it will probably work if you just leave and come back, but it will work sooner if you keep clicking back and forth.

thank god it came alive its restore in now after 4 hours holy crap its moving pretty quick once it started cuming alive still pissed tho

I just want everyone that is sitting here reading these posts, looking for something to try to make their phone work (which is what I have been doing for HOURS), NOTHING is going to work!!!! I think there are people posting that if you click on this or click on that, your phone will start syncing, but I think the reason they think that is what worked for them is because that is what they had just done when their phone started syncing. Believe me I have tried everything that everyone has suggested, but nothing has worked. I was sitting here, reading some of the latest posts, and the phone started syncing on its own!!!!! I did absolutely nothing to make it work, so the leave-your-phone-docked-and-come-back-later method works!!!!!!!!!

I'm in finally, the itunes store trick worked for me on the 2nd try.

click on your iphone so it starts the searching for the itunes store process. then click on the normal itunes store button, when in the itunes store i just clicked on one of the featured movies, when in loaded to the screen where you could buy it, I just clicked back to the iphone where it was still searching and 3 minutes later I'm fully functional.

FYI - i have a 1st generation phone - upgrading the software with AT&T (not an unlocked phone) using a macbook.

Thanks for your help everyone!

OMG. FINALLY I HAVE BEEN TRYING EVERYTHING THAT EVERYONE ON HERE SUGGESTED AND WHEN I WENT BACK TO IT, I CLICKED ON A SONG IN THE STORE TO PREVIEW IT THEN CLICKED ON IPHONE AND

WHALA!

THANK YOU JESUS

Here's the deal: I've done everything. I've clapped, cried, sang, danced, prayed with my dog, drank vodka (calm my verves), I even placed my phone on the Holy Bible. Obviously nothing worked. I finally got my 1st gen. phone to sync and update. I've been trying since 9am (cst). It's just luck. Just keep trying and have faith! By the way, Apple blows! You'd think since they make $457889768755599 a day, they'd use our hard earned money towards better server and ISP connections. I guess that's why they are so frickin rich! Bastards!

keep trying... after 45 minutes, my phone is now activating.

THANK YOU TO ALL THAT LEFT TIPS>>>I am synching....waiting for activation after 4hours!!!!!!!!

Just started to go after almost four hours. Mine and my girlfriends.

Is anyone able to download the update now? I can't find it on Apple's site and when I "check for update" in iTunes it tells me 1.1.4 is up-to-date.

I just got through... i was toggling between the itunes store and my iphone... the phone has just started to sync

I STILL GET THE ERROR (-4) MESSAGE WHEN I TRY TO CONNECT TO ITUNES. I HAVE EVERYTHING INSTALLED AND CAN USE MY PHONE JUST AS IT WAS. JUST CANT CONNECT TO ITUNES SEAMLESSLY. I WOULD IMAGINE THAT ITUNES WILL BE HAVING TROUBLE ALL DAY AND PROBABLY A BIT TOMORROW AS WELL.

Just keep trying and have patience. I tried doing 2.0 on my old iPhone first thing this morning.

One hour of trying over and over, with error -4.

Gave up, went to the Apple Store to get the new one. Line was longer than the first day of the initial release. Drove on to work.

Tried over and over, licking on iTunes Store than back on the iPhone. Eventually it got traction and worked.

THe following sync is VERY slow to restore all the music and videos. But all is working fine now, and I'm downloading mew wild apps.

just keep trying...eventually it will work

ATTENTION!!! FIX FIX FIX!!!!

Download a Free App such as Remote. Then Simply Plug your iPhone in. INSTANT Fix. Restores you backup data and activates the phone in a flash if you have less than 5gb Used.

Oh thank the FSM. It's working.

Yes, of course, the Apple person was not telling me the truth. The problem is that she DIDN'T KNOW the truth. They're mushrooms at iPhone support land (kept in the dark and fed s....).

yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

finally got activated and sync in progress now... touchwood..

keep switching between itunes store and the iphone.

Man.. iam an aethiest... may be i shud start trusting in god .. phew....

After its tried to access itunes store does it say

'We could not complete your Itunes store request. The network connection timed out.
Make sure your network settings are correct and your network connection is active, then try again.'

thats what mine says... is that the same for you?

REMOTE IS A VERY COOL APPLICATION. LOVE IT...

just as i posted my iphone came along and now says SYNC IN PROGRESS and 'Iphone is activated' underneath, itunes is slowly restoring Iphone from backup... hope this is good lol

You do realize that the more people that call, the longer its gonna take to get a call through. Since there are about 700 of us in this blog alone calling, that already takes some time, but imagine all the independent people calling as well, i imagine that apple is getting at least 10,000 calls right now, probably more, everyone should just wait, and sit patiently, until we get the answer.

FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY. That took waaaaaayyyyy toooo long but it worked.

Good luck

I was having the same issue, the emergency call screen. It just seems to be a matter of patience. Everytime I would get the error pop-up I would just click on the "iTunes Store" on the sidebar and back on the iPhone, and it magically worked. I did that for about 30 minutes. It's annoying but it's not too high of a price to pay to get your toy working again.

YEEEAAAAHHHH!!!! Hang in there everyone! It works eventually! Just leave it plugged in!

Holy Crap, I think it's finally working!! Took 3 hours, but that sounds like better than a lot of you. Keep on trying...

After trying for about 6 hours, the activation process started, and now i am ok. I just kept trying

Just went through for me, just clicked iPhone after being away for a while and now it is restoring finally.

I called around 3 hours ago... before I had chance to explain my problem he knew exactly why I was calling and just said 'the server is down at the moment i can only sugest you try again in a few hours' so i dont really think theres any need to call, were all in the same boat... i only called because i thought maybe it was a problem with just my phone

I have the same problem, so frustrating, one word, iBrick. But you named my issue perfectly

it works...

ROCK, HOW DID YOU GET IT TO WORK WITH AN UNLOCKED IPHONE? ANYONE HAD LUCK WITH AN UNLOCKED IPHONE?

SUCCESS, third try is the charm.
What I did was click on the iphone then as it was trying to load the store i clicked on the store and then back to the iphone and it worked. Hop that helps

left mine for a few hours as I got sick of sitting here...

but it just worked, and is restoring music and video as we type ;-)

only thing I did different this time was to keep the screen on the phone open, and not let it go into powersave so to speak, so I just typed random numbers on the emergency screen and within seconds it was working ;-)))))) that said, it may be just luck and timing... worth a try though if your still stuck....

also, I had problems in the 1st instance where I had downloaded 2.0, it was hanging for a good 30-40 mins so I disconnected thinking that I had too much open on the mac and it had frozen.... Which is when the probs started with the emergency screen and all the other symptoms stated above, I also held down the home button and the power button to force a restore, and then tried to download the update again only to notice that it was 1.14 (or something, not 2.0 anyway). So I assumed it was going to reinstall an older version, BUT it seems that 2.0 is up and running as I can se the App Store in my menu items....

hope that waffle helps anyone who is puzzled out there - sorry for any typos

iPocalypse is over for me! I chilled out for a little while, randomly unplugged it and now its doing it's thing!

iBrick status 10:59AM-3:14PM

Downloaded 2.0, bricked my phone, finally came back on and it's in 1.1.4 and it says that is the newest version! Did apple take it down??

FINALLY WORKING!!! It took me 4.5 hours and it finally is starting to sync. I used the leave it alone connected to my music library for 30 minutes method. After that I clicked on my iPhone and it finally connected to the iTunes Store.

mine is still restoring but says signal alert on phone anyone seen that yet

Finally got it working!!!!! It wont update to 2.0 even though I have itunes 7.7....... any suggestions?

To whoever suggested clicking "enter" when you get the error message fro the itunes store then clicking the page down and page up button in sequence, thank you. It got be in after about 10 tries. Been trying to upgrade since about 10 am. What fun!

i dont think theres a certain method. i just think we all need to wait lol

>> Finally got it working!!!!! It wont update to 2.0 even though I have itunes 7.7....... any suggestions?

WAIT A FEW DAYS - if the phone is working, just chill and wait till this madness is over

I AM SYNCING!!!

I went and played Guitar Hero Aerosmith for about 40 minutes, came back, hit the iPhone tab, and it just went on try number one.

So, everyone, go play guitar hero, and come back and try haha.

Final post from me...

Along with others, I can now say "have patience". Mine now finally works, is activated and fully functional. Just leave your phone connected to itunes and wait. No need to keep clicking on it. Once "synch in progress" message appears, expect another error message... just leave it alone and eventually things will clear up. Have faith... bitches.

Finally worked!!

I let it sit at the "network error" in iTunes went and played some Halo and came back 20-30 minutes later.. NOTHING had happened, I clicked off iphone to playlist and back to iphone. The sync occurred instantly within 3-5 seconds. my pictures appear to have been backed up as well

I think I remember someone saying something about sliding to hit cancel after it says iPhone is activated? To me that seems like a bad idea to "slide to cancel"

Any answers?

loads of success stories coming in, maybe Apple finally sorted it ??????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LISTEN CAREFULLY!!
DO NOT CLICK, DISCONNECT,CHANGE FROM IPHONE TO MUSIC ETC, DON'T REBBOT, DON'T UNPLUG!!!
Just got thrpogh to my son on the genius bar, after 6+ hours of doing all the above. He said the "official" word is to "LEAVE IT CONNECTED, AND DON'T TOUCH OR CLIK ANYTHING. IT WILL EVENTUALLY JUST D/L. PERIOD.
i did just that, and in 10 minutes....DONE!!

That was brutal! It took 7 hours to get my phone back! It finally connected to the activation server about 5 minutes ago. I clicked back and forth for a while, ignored it for a while, then clicked some more... and finally it worked. Now I have to weed through my voicemails that have been piling up over the past 7 hours! Best of luck to the rest of you!

had problem everyone here is talking about. it just worked and is now restoring iphone. update from 1.1.4 to 2.0 mark

I was at this for hours and it finally went thru and is now syncing my music. I do believe the key to successfully getting thru was to stare at the screen for hours, repeat the same steps, pull out some hair and throw it at the monitor and occasionally yell cuss words. That seemed to work for me.

True!! Thanks Rob

WOOOOHooooooo I'm done. I think they are fixing the server issue. It seems people are getting in now. Keep trying. Click between store and iPhone tab, you'll get through. One plus, my girlfriend feels bad that I wasted my day so she said she'll make it up to me tonight. I guess the 6 hour update is worth it?

Had the same "slide for emergency call" problem. I docked my phone, turned it off, then back on again and iTunes now recognizes the phone and I have service again. I get a message stating that an iPhone has previously been synched w/ this computer and the option of setting up as a new iPhone or restoring to from the backup of the previous iPhone (which are one and the same). I haven't decided yet - if I restore to previous backup, will that be 1.x ver of software? If I set up as new phone will compromise my ATT account?

it works - click - cuz - repeat is what worked for me.

I used BONES' method above (2:10pm) and it worked. Try and see if it works for you. I waited 4 hours today. These apps better be worth it. HAHA!

Hey Pete,

You should tell the g/f that she owes you the same amount of time you waited for this ordeal haha.

I tried alternatively clicking the store / songs and the iphone for hours, but with no luck. The "network error" message kept popping up. I pressed the ok button and then left it (I don't think you need to keep clicking back and forth on the phone, and store), and it activated by itself! - took about 5 minutes wait, now it is restoring.

Sadly I've not got the 2.0 upgrade (after all that!!) - but this 4 hour wait has dampened my appetite. I can wait.

Good luck people. It can happen to you too!

HOORAY!!!

for(attempt=0; attempt<100000000000;attempt++) and 4 hours later, iphone updated successfully going past error 9838 and error 4.

I let mine sit for several hours and it didn't work. I clicked ok on -4 error message. Clicked another folder and then clicked iphone so it would try to connect again and then immediately clicked itunes store. It immediately came up saying that it was restoring iphone from the backup and the iphone itself says waiting for activation.

My phone just re-booted before doing the contacts/music/photos etc. sync, and i've had about 15 alerts for missed texts, emails, calls, and voicemails. Thanks Apple. Lucky for me, it's my day off, and are most likely relatively unimportant calls *knock on wood*

Oh, and thanks Raymond for letting all of the distraught iPhone users utilize your home as a triage center.

I literally unplugged my computer, internet everything out of the wall but left the iphone on the base. Waited 10 minutes and plugged the computer back in. I am now in restore mode after not being able to connect since 9 am this morning. Hope this helps!
It says SYNC IN PROGRESS...but im getting text messages and phone calls...But I'm not touching this till the restore is done, I have been waiting all day for this!

finally got mine to go through! Ooh woo

I stopped the Clickfest that a lot of people were saying to use (I even set up a macro to handle it for me) about an hour ago. I accidentally clicked on iPhone in iTunes about a half hour later and it worked instantly. I'm almost done syncing my music and videos back.

I recommend just taking a long break and coming back and seeing what happens.

har har har

http://gizmodo.com/5024372/...

Timmy,

I think that's a fantastic idea!!! 6 hours of loving for 6 hours Apple's corporate bullshit!! I'll spank her and say this is dedicated to Apple from all the people who wasted their brain cells today! Cheers!

Oh thank god! I thought it was me. I did everything you did. I have that same Slide for Emergency picture and can only make emergency calls. I have had that picture for at least two hours. I am on eternal hold with applecare. This sucks.

YAY!!!! After clicking back and forth between the iphone icon and my library for several hours, i went out to get something to eat. upon my return, i tried again and it worked on the very first time! good luck to the rest of you! By the way, anyone in the market for an AppleTV unit?

anyone able to to update an unlocked iphone?

Got through to the applecare site. Here is the scoop. The activation server has reached capacity. There are so many people trying to activate and update, that the server can't handle it. It is taking a long time to find everyone's previous activation information. That is why we keep getting the message that "Itunes store can not connect, etc." The technician said that you should leave your phone plugged into the computer and it will eventually activate. I just plugged my phone back in and joy of joys, saw the "Sync in Progress" sign. It also says "Waiting for activation. This may take some time." You may have even heard me scream. So I hope this helps my fellow Iphoners. TLanette

I think mine is finally working. i came back this morning at about 10 mtn time and it didn't work, so i put my SIM in my old phone and went to Buffalo Wild Wings. I came back and i think its working now.

FINALLY!!!!! my phone has updated and 2.0 is so worth it I am playing with the apps right now..so just leave it a lone for a little bit and it will work hope everyone is having food luck

Well after 3 hours earlier this evening of trying to get it to work, I decided to switch of the pc and wait until later. I've just now connected it again and it is finally working, currently restoring music and videos. I have to say I think it is absolutely ridiculous that Apple decided to release the 3G and this update on the same day producing all of this traffic that they couldn't handle. I mean it's common sense to let the first gen iphone users update to 2.0 before the 3G is released. Apple made a huge mistake, and I really hope they learn from it.

Good luck to those of you still trying to get it work. I just hope after it has finished restoring that everything works ok. Fingers crossed.

After 6.5 hours and repeatly going back and forth between Itunes and Iphone, it just activated and is now restoring my music. The servers are working, you just have to be lucky to catch them....

I think Apple has finally fixed everything now, I seem to be able to connect to iTunes store at will, it was giving error even on sync earlier (after successful update to 2.0).

Just got mine working about 20 minutes ago. Installing apps now. Update worked well once it started. Been going since it first came out though I took a few hour break to give people who needed it immediately a chance to get going. Here's a hint for once you get through. You have to authorize your computer through itunes at the top bar on the screen under store where the file/edit/etc menu's are to install the apps. Might save you some time. I'm sure we could all use a bit of that :) Try not to be too hard on Apple. It's a good thing that there is overload, means there are a ton of users and that is great for the platform. If you don't want a little down time maybe you should wait for day 2 to try the next install. Hopefully they will get a better system in place sometime though to solve that in the future.

anon: I think after you have that connection error to iTunes store, you need to dismiss the error box and click elsewhere and click on the iphone (under devices) again so it will make the connection attempt again.

been trying for 5 hours. did this and it worked first time.

I jus waited a little bit and eventually it came on, i jus left it plugged up

it finally worked.. jesus what a day. (so Far)

100% updated to 2.0, and synced. All my contacts, pics, music, and vids went over without a hitch (aside from the 4 hours I spent going between store and iPhone).

The server must be clearing up some.

To those of you still waiting it out, it will work eventually!

Any suggestions on getting 2.0 to download? I have iTunes 7.7 and when I click "check for update" it says I have the latest version even though it says I'm running 1.1.4. Help?!

FIXED - DIFFERENT FROM ALL ABOVE:

After trying for several hours by restarting iphone, itunes and pretty much everything I could think of, what finally did it is to reconnect the iphone to a DIFFERENT usb port on my computer. That caused a reinstall of the drivers and itunes picked it up and now everything is back to normal!

Eric - I believe they are switching the ability to start the update on and off, probably as the server traffic clears up I'd guess. Try again in a while and it will probably let you do the 2.0 again. I've seen it switch a few times myself. Make sure you don't need your phone in a hurry and just leave it connected once it starts even if you get an error message. Good luck to ya.

2 issues:

1) my contacts did not come back, although my photos did. What can I do about that? (they are just the phone #'s of friends and family that were on my phone previously, not already stored in Outlook or anything like that)

2) I tried to download a free application - Remote. went to apps store, downloaded it, but when i try to sync applications it says "The Application 'Remote' was not installed on the iPhone because you are not authorized for it on this computer." BS! this is my computer...how can i not be authorized?

SE - Look for the store menu in itunes in the file/edit/store type menu at the top of the screen and select authorize computer.