Hey me too! Just searched on Google and found this page. Do you know how it can be fixed? This is annoying.

Did you figure this out? Having the same issue…

I haven’t been able to find a fix. I assume the iTunes servers are taking a beating right now.

I’ve got the same problem…its an Iphone i got in december, but I was trying to update to the new 2.0 version, and that is the same prompt I get. My settings are what it requests I have, so I can’t figure out what is wrong. Problem is, I now no longer have a phone.

Me too. Tried everything I could think of. SSL 3.0 and TSL 1.0 are enabled. I restarted, yada yada. I should have known not to do this….. I gotta stop being on the bleeding edge. Now I have a dead phone.

I’m really freaking annoyed I waited on the phone for 30 minutes for the iphone rep to get an attitude and tell me what was wrong before I could get a word in. I don’t understand why apple wouldn’t have posted some type of notice warning against downloading the 2.0 upgrade today. Now myself and countless other iphone users are going to be phoneless until the server clears up. How could a company like apple not anticipate the server overload and compensate accordingly? What aholes!

Yes I have it to. Please post when there is a solution.

Another one bites the dust

I can’t believe it i have had the same thing and did what Ben did at least i know im not the only on thankgod. I cant’t believe it i was looking forward to this soooooo much.

Looks like it is on Apple’s end. I tried again, and I got a message stating that iphone activations are unavailable at this time. WTF? I am not activating, as I have had this phone for months.

Same here. This sucks! Going to the apple store as I can’t be without a phone. Hope the lines aren’t long and I hope I don’t get suckered into upgrading.

I have the same problem upgrading my iPhone.

SAME exact problem/error message and checked settings, everything is in order… what’s the deal?!?

Sorry also forgot to say if this is any help don’t do any of that windows/system32/drivers/etc thing doesn’t work already tried it so don’t go messing up your computer!!!!

Jup, exactly the same here.

My phone is dead now. What the hell is the problem with I-tunes?

I rebooted and tried again, making sure i had both SSL3 and TLS1 and this time it timed out getting connected to iTunes store.

Dont know if this is progress or not

I plugged in my iphone this morning to my mac and it started downloading the new update and when it was restoring my firmware and error screen popped up and it told me my iphone cound not find the firmware. Then my iphone went dead and itunes told me that I had to restore my phone. So I did and then another error came up and now my iphone is completely dead. I’ve been on hold with AT&T for 45 minutes now.

Maybe too many people trying to download at once and the system is crashing

Yep. Me too! I was having a few freezing problems with my ‘old’ iphone and tried to restore just after downloading the new version of itunes. Now I’m getting the above message and my phone is dead! it shows the picture suggesting I should plug it into itunes!….er…duh! Nightmare, I have no phone!

i agree with Bruno — maybe it’s just too many people are trying at once.. guess the best possible solution is to wait it out, which DOES suck, because as stated, we will obviously be without phones for a hot f*ckin minute!

Been on hold for 50 minutes now!!! I think AT&T is scare to answer the phones…

I had that but now it just says “We could not complete your iTunes Store request. The network connection timed out.” I’m pissed. I dont have a phone…. I kinda need it today.

The apple forums are flooded with people having this same issue.

Looks like apple servers are getting crushed and the solution is to keep trying and eventually you’ll get in.

Holy crap there’s loads of us!!

I tried the windows/system32/apple thing but my host file had no reference to apple.

Just to confirm, I’m on Win XP Pro and iTunes 7.7. iPod is fine, iPhone 3G is not hacked as I only just picked it up from a rather fit bird in CPW.

I have the same screen as Gavin

my error message has changed as well..

now it’s a timeout message.. so.. i keep picking my phone up and docking it.. trying to force my way in… hahaha

Gavin did u tried restoring ur phone? And did this message come up: “Cannot restore iphone an unknown error occur”

Me Too!! updating to ver2… Should have expected it I supose. the only thing you can be sure of is that no-one will say sorry

As I keep crunching at this it’s becoming more evident that it’s a server-side problem. I’ve changed none of my settings and my error has changed from the SSL one to the network time-out one, so I’m breathing a little easier. Still a pain to not have a phone. Guess I’ll take my dock with me to work and keep trying

Same thing. Phone is dead now.

Just got off the phone with Apple. Indeed the problem is on their end, and you just need to keep retrying until it works.

It’s happening to me too. I’m on vista and itunes 7.7. Is this only happening to windows users?

Bruno, no. I initially had the message that we appeared to have, e.g. SSL TSL, blah blah. I was restoring my iphone has I was having some problems with it freezing….what an idiot day to pick. Anyway, now I’m getting the timing out network message mentioned. I could strangle that Jobs fella…they must’ve known there would be a huge attack on their servers today….why not spread it over a few days for certain areas. I’m UK by the way.

yeah, agreed Daniel, at first i started freaking out.. but the change in error message proves it’s server related, so.. just keep trying guys… we’ll get through eventually!

We should know better than to update on the first day of launch…LOL

true Bruno, but they should have also anticipated that there would be TONS of people trying to update at the same exact time.. they could have helped us out a bit, more servers, something.. LOL

After rebooting everything I’m back to the SSL error, so it does look like this is a mighty random, server-side error. In the meantime I’m going to call ATT and have them forward my calls to SkypeIn. I believe ATT can setup call forwarding if you can call them (somehow) or maybe do live chat on their site. Anyways, if you have a temporarily bricked phone I’d advise you forward your calls so you don’t miss something important today.

From what I’ve seen, and much as I right now I am almost too angry to say it, but 2.0 is worth it

I’m in New York…finally something is happening. Its trying to restore to the 1.1.4 update…

I think I got something here…

Yeah this sucks, I’ve got the same problem. I took a half day at work so i could be in to sign for the phone and now i cant even use the damn thing!!

Im glad it’s not just me though. At least im not suffering alone!

Now I can only make emergency phone calls….

Well, just did the update and I have joined the “can’t use my Iphone” camp. Tired of a 30 minute hold for Tech support – so I guess I have no phone until they get their act together. THIS BITES.

Back to square one

does anyone know WHERE in Windows, iTunes stores the firmware download?! i want to check something out real quick!

This is a pain. All im trying to do is activate my iphone!

I’ve had it with the iPhone…time to go back to something that doesn’t have this level of software issues! How can my phone not work, I use this for a business???!!!!

Just picked one up in Memphis. Same problem here. We are assuming the site has been flooded. Hopefully that’s the problem. It’s 8am on the West coast now = all stores should be open now…Probably no hope for hours. The East Coast had a chance earlier this morning.
Without a phone now,
MemphisDAVE

what pisses me off is that this is happening to the old phones too, that are just trying to update….did apple not think they would get swarmed?!?! prepare a little, perhaps?

I’m thinking they should have thought of this scenario before thousands of us were left phoneless.

The annoying thing is…until I activate…I can’t use my phone. The phone is a brick. You should be able to use the phone at least.

Just got the new 3g and its doing the exact same, does ANYONE know what this is about?

This is painful and aggravating. Guess it is like one guy said above, this is what we get for trying to update on the first day. Here I am, out of state, on an important trip with no phone… Is that a dead and useless iPhone in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?

This is absolutely insane. How can a company like Apple not be prepared for something like this?!? Now my wifes phone is dead (did mine yesterday )… I’ve absolutely had it with these companies that market all this wonderful stuff and then when THEY ABSOLUTELY KNOW that there will be tons of people trying to activate new phones and update old phones…. THAT THEY WOULD ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN!

The annoying thing is you can’t use your phone. I mean come on – the phone is a brick now until I can get through to Itunes.

I think its quite funny that we 2g users can’t update our phones because the server is too busy and yet the server is running fast enough to allow you to connect to itunes and purchase as many apps as you want.

went thru the update process and now my phone is completely worthless!! As Stu says the only good thing is i am not alone.

Same error here… going to bed, been up all night waiting for this crap!

I just left the Apple Store in Cambridge MA and they informed me that Apples servers are indeed being overloaded right now and that they have had people calling them all day about it. The guy said he got his to work by literally docking and undocking his phone until it finally worked. Said it took him approx. 30 minutes of straight doing that. I will probably just wait until the middle of the night to try it again. Good luck everyone.

I purchased a bunch of apps last night, downloaded 2.0 this morning and then started getting an error message asking me to connect to itunes. However, whenever I connect to itunes the server times out. Well at least apple made a few million prior to every iphone user suffering.

I get it! Apple wasn’t worried about the support requests because they knew that even though the servers would be overloaded, since my phone cannot call out until it is activated, I can’t call them for support!

Ai yai yai…why oh why can’t I resist the temptation to download a new version the day it’s available? Gizmodo is calling this the “iPocalypse”…lol

We could all use the only function still working and call 911 like an Apple help desk…(Not legal and would result in a fine and possible jail time, but would illustrate the importance of having a working phone)!

I can’t even use the 911 function – no bars no signal. But, the error message has changed from the ssl 3.0 error to timed out message.

They could have been smart and staggerd the release of 2.0 and the 3G version but no that would be two smart for them

Grrr. It’s happening on Macs to (no suprise) but we get the error “WE COULD NOT COMPLETE YOUR ITUNES STORE REQUEST. AN UNKNOWN ERROR OCCURED (-9838).” Anyone get any timetable from Apple yet?

I said it above but I’ll plug it again.

Productivity idea for people who NEED a phone today (including me):

Before doing this, call yourself and check your voicemail. You won’t be able to do that (as far as I can tell) after this fix.

If you can get to some sort of working phone, you should still be able to call ATT @ 1-800-331-0500 and ask them to forward your calls to some number you do have access to: a spouse, houseline, work number, SkypeIn, etc. That way, when you get calls, at least they go somewhere…

Wait – new message just came up…restoring back up.

Success. I finally got it. You just got to keep on trying and trying. I can now download apps.

Same here….so sad….so sad

I just tried it again and it looks to be working now.

Phone finally activated after unplugging and plugging it back in about 20 times – man that annoying.

This is probably kind of self-defeating in that everytime one of us posts that we were successful, EVERYBODY is going to try.

Fun stuff though. I’m glad I’m not alone on this.

I was giving my old iphone to my wife and now it is bricked. Total loss cannot even make emrgency calls. I also got a new 3G phone this morning and cannot even activate it. The store was unable to do it at 8:15am CST. I have been trying all morning since with no luck. WTF, is Apple on crack? how do you not prepare for something like this.

BTW Eric, it is stored under the user folder under AppData/Roaming/Apple Computer/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates

I phone sucks.

the same thing happens to me!! I have been on hold with apple for 25 minutes!!! you know, you would think apple would test this before they bricked 100s of iPhones for lord knows how long!!!!!!!

sucks big fat hairy balls…

thanks Bryan — finally found it.. hide to select view all folders or some junk! still tryin and tryin to activate now though..

OK! I GOT IT TO WORK ON MINE!

After i recieved the above error, i clicked on the ok button and then clicked the eject iPhone button on the bottom right of iTunes. After this i unplugged the cable from the phone side and plugged it back in. Immediately iTunes jumped up with an activation page and i was able to log in with my itunes account and activate the phone. Everything works like a champ now. GOOD LUCK!

it went from the ssl 3.0 message to connection timeout. even tho that is still bad its progress. i think their servers are going to be jammed for the next day or so. at least we know if we (the people) want somthing we can overload someones website server just by forming a mass of angry web surfers.

same prob here any news of solution?

after hitting the itunes store and then the iphone everytime it timed out, mine finally connected and is restoring my data from back up now. Looks like it will be back on shortly. Only 2 hours of work to upgrade the firmware…..

ughh… HAD to select view all folders.. not hide em.. they were hidden already..

im delirious behind all this activation trouble!!

Same here Bryan. I now have a brand new 3G and my existing iphone both not working. What makes it worse is I am now into a new 18 month contract.

Fancy launching worldwide without the capability to run it.

lol, same bullshit, Phone is dead^^

I just got to the “restoring from backup” phase … at least I’m not in emergency mode anymore … whew!

1hr late for work now …

I just kept unplugging/replugging the sync cord until the SSL 3.0 message stopped.

After that, it was saying network timeouts … for this one, I’d just click back and forth between the iPhone and library … eventually, it connected and continued.

people relax. it will be better soon. iphone doesn’t suck. soon as you have firmare 2.0 you’ll be happy as a kid in a candy store. we just have to be a little patient. although it is our $200 – $600 dollAR babies on the line.

Whom ever planned this apple rollout is an idiot, surely this FOOL would have thought that people would be trying to activate in the stores and people get a popup on their machine saying an update is available do you want it. You frikking idiots, release V2.0 a few days before or after the release of the 3G. Jobs is sick he has dimensia.

i use this phone for business same shit happened to me now my phone is dead and none of my client can’t contact me and the sad thing is i waited 5 hours this morning to get this phone.

Definitely server overload. I’m bummed…sitting here with a $200 iBrick right now…but at least it *will* work after things calm down.

If you are worrying about the SSL/TLS message, don’t. It will eventually switch over to a timeout message, which is really just the iPhone attempting to unlock…not iTunes itself (regardless of what the message says). Hang in there and keep clicking on iTunes Store, and then back to iPhone. Eventually you will get through!

My phone is not updating, I keep clicking in and out of the iphone button in iTunes until I connect, but I could also wait, until you know, the mad rush is over? Seriously, some of you people are just nuts over this kind of stuff.

“But meh…They should KNOW we are all rushing out to get their PRODUCT AND ACCOMODATE ME!”

Well congradulations, you are one of the first people to get the new iPhone, or upgrade your old one to 2.0. Now please be quiet.

Oh you can’t afford to have your phone offline for even 5 minutes? I doubt you are such a business savvy professional that you do all work from one phone.

garth you’re right. v2.0 should’ve been released when app store was

So i’m in the UK and having problems… where is everyone else from?

Count me in. I have an edge iPhone and tried upgrading to 2.0. ITunes is throwing the SSL error and now I am completely locked out of my phone.

Why does this have to involve locking my phone? I’ve had my phone for a year and now Apple is treating me like a criminal because they can’t handle their servers?

The arguments I’ve heard from proponents of this stiff-arming policy is, “if you’re not doing wrong, you don’t have anything to worry about”.

Seriously?

mine JUST activated guys/girls… so.. keep trying..

best of luck to you all!!

From the UK here. Having the same problem

My bad guys. Dont worry im gonna die from all this crap anyway.

I was on hold with Apple for about 35 mins and then the line went to a busy signal — sooooooo frustrated now

Arizona, US – Problems here too. I keep trying

Same trouble with the old iPhone…how long is it taking everyone? I’m going on 2.5 hours now so hopefully things cool off soon.

im in the uk too, same problem

I’m in Arizona USA.

16 GB model I bought a few months ago.

This AM I thought what the heck, I’ll upgrade. (not considering the server loads)

After the iTunes upgrade I selected the iPhone upgrade and hit the shower. Upon my return, instead of a 2.0 update, I got the emergency phone call screen.

I checked my hosts file (nothing in there). I flushed my DNS (no improvement). I restarted iTunes a dozen times, and restarted and shutdown my PC. I played with popup settings and firewall stuff.

The only thing that worked for me was a bunch of unplugging/replugging to eliminate the SSL 3.0 message. Once that one stopped, I clicked around in iTunes getting network timeout error messages … then the iPhone restore screen appeared.

Just keep trying … you’ll get thru …

Mine worked..

I have tried like 30 time in the last hour still no luck

Ugh…total lack planning by apple. We should all get a free app or something.

maybe not..

If you continue trying (mine after 15 to 20 tries) it works

I have an EMERGENCY here so can EVERYONE STOP PLUGGING AND UNPLUGGING for the next half hour so I can get mine to work. My wife is in labor and i can’t get her to the hospital until I get my iPhone to update.;-)

Sorry missed the where is everyone from comment.

Minnesota, USA

Hah.. that’s why you don’t buy an iPhone as you now have an iBRICK.

How long did you have to queue for your 3G

Irritating I activated mine this morning then wiped it because I accidentally loaded my ENTIRE gmail contact list onto the phone and couldn’t find the option to remove it.

And now the system is down for activating… grrrr!

Mine was giving the error for a while about make sure ssl 3.0 blah, blah, blah, but now it is just saying the network has timed out and I should try it again. Maybe that means a little bit of progress on Apple’s end. I hope this is over soon.

Still waiting…but I just want to say thanks for posting this…I’d hate to see what I’d be doing if I didn’t know that many other people were having the same problem. At least we all know we’ll have our phones back…sometime.

Edmond, Oklahoma

Still dead… this is my first apple product experience… very nice!

can they fix this quick

Houston, TX

Dead and pissed.

the same thing happened to me and its still not working

Everyone who is still trying here is what you do. Unplug your IPhone, Close ITunes, Wait 5 Minutes and then hopefully that will be just long enough and just enough of you to free up some bandwidth for ME

St. Louis, Missouri.
I have the sixten gig.

Didn’t get a 3G when they went on pre sale on Monday cause server crashed, didn’t get one today cause store only had 1 16GB and then I am left with a brick trying to update to 2.0……..What a crap week it’s been….cheers Apple & O2

I HATE APPLE SOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH

Haha actually not a bad idea Mike…let’s take turns! Who’s first? I’m at 3 hours! lol

iTunes wont load
i wish people would just give up already to free up bandwith for me!

IT ACTUALLY WORKED, I’m updated

Thank you people.

Damn it!!!! this happened when i bought the phone last year…waited 1 week until apple server came up and now its happening to me now just for a freaking update,.,.,,,.. oh F U APPLE!!! F U !!!!

ive been trying for 2 and a half hours now and i am getting pretty mad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! XP

Nice one Mike. Still no luck for me

I don’t get the SSL error, I get a timeout. I’m using XP.

they should put us in a q or somthing

It is happening to me too, except for my ipod touch……..it says that it cannot complete the request and that itunes store is temporarily unavailable, and to try again later

i called apple and they said that there was a problem with the release of iTunes 7.7 with iPhone 2.0, and they are doing all they can to try and fix it right now…..but no word on when they think that it will be fixed. they told me to keep on checking

hope this helps to clear things up…..

Sorry, yeah UK here for me.

THIS IS SO BORING :l
IM GONNA KEEP TRYING WITH THE REST OF U THAT HAVENT GOTTEN IT YET JUST PLEASE STOP FOR 1 MIN!
~BEN FROM ST.LOUIS

I am using vista

this clicking back and forth just doesnt get any more fun than this…. hour wasted so far and i have to travel but i CANT until this is taken care of…. thanks apple

oh yea, it says that there is a new 2.0 update for the ipod, but i cant get iTunes to download it…..it says the same thing stated above

i was waiting so long for this update… i stood up hopin i could be the first to update… lol.. i was dying for this… now look… apple seems to fuck it all up.. good job… i keep unplugging and plugging… and nothing… same shit…
no iphone…

im gonna take a 30 minute break from this. its so aggervating.
~Ben

127 times, no luck

wow lol 127. i am at about 25

r wee all sitting with a blank phone

129 now

I am at about 85

Wow I’m not counting but well over a hundred for me. Are you unplugging yours every time? I’m just clicking back and forth from the store to the iphone…seemingly has the same effect.

I cant take this anymore — I am going to throw my dead phone out my office window

I start uplugging now i on clicking. it was making my hand hurt

clickin back & forth, may have a break now im bored as f*ck

This is actually going to ruin my evening. thanks itunes!

I’ve given up for now. Will come back in an hour…. it’s those bloody Americans hogging the server I reckon…..

i read if u unplug you lose your spot in line is what the apple site said. Clickin back and forth is the way to not lose your spot

I have probably tried like 40 times now………………………………………………..i took a long break from it for about an hour because i was trying to search up what i could do.

UGH just hope I can get it done withing a couple MORE hours…I work at 4:00.

Ugh! I love my iPhone and I was too excited about the whole update, app store, mobile me, etc. and deep down I KNEW better than to update it so soon, this ALWAYS happens. My iPhone is nothing more than a paperweight at the moment. It’s giving me error after error, saying it can’t connect to the server, connection has timed out, SPL 3.0 TLS 1.0 etc etc etc. So here I set in the same boat as everyone else on here and I’m exasperated. Let me know if anyone hears a fix for the problem or knows a way around this. Thanks! scooby519@gmail.com

In New York. Same Problem.

have been waiting for 40 min. phone dead……

I love the iphone. It is an amazing tool!!

no service, emergency calls only

cannot connect to itunes to even restore

Texas, USA

People remain calm. We are giving Americans access first because they are the superior race. Everyone else will have to wait 2 days. Thanks. =0

I am having same problem….even though i am in America

seattle, wa

emergency mode = sucks… still trying

hey, i’m american and my phone is dead. it’s all over.

I lost count at 10, no more visible digits. : P

West Lafayette, Indiana

I actually preferred the -9838 errors.
The -9838 error returned within 5 seconds.
The -4 error takes minutes, and gives hope with the whole accessing iTunes Store…

lol go americans steve but iLive in america and iCan’t get iT yet.

hooray for guhmerica!! (i’m one of them, ha)

i’m american. and my phone doesn’t work. :*(

Really irritating! Apple sure knew that something like this was going to happen. I am sure Steve Jobs and comrades are laughing at us. -Steve there is a special place in hell for you!

OK everyone stop… let me try…lol

i got it!! woot

only 4 tries

sweet crackers, i’m glad i’m not the only one though. i’m gonna go mow my damn lawn.

I think my head will explode when my works

You know…I’ve always been a PC person…and Apple sorta had me with the iPhone…but this…not a good experience.

I used to like Apple. Now, I hate apple.

there’re just too many of us. we’re all so damn pissed at them now, but i’d bet anything they won’t be hurt by this. i want the update, and will be sheepishly happy when i get it, ha.

UK, London Same shit !! No activation, Useless

I’m still trying since 10AM

OK I think i have a fix
take your iphone out of the dock for 10 minutes and remove the sim. Then Open Itunes and plug your iphone back in.

(lol while I update)

I think Cypress Hill wrote ‘Insane in the brain’ about this moment in time.

LMAO!!! @ STEVE JOBS

I downloaded some 220 mb restore file, and I didn’t see it do anything with it, even when I double clicked on it. now it’s not telling me the SSL 3.0 error, it’s just a timeout error.

Someday.

If you uninstall and reinstall iTunes 7.7 it works like a charm.

Since 9:00…yawn…

ha jeff, splendidly clever (except for the “lol while i update” at the end), you shouldn’ta told.

tyler u got the update then?

I tried that Tyler and it did not work.

Trouble is, in the UK, we are all in bed when the Americans will still be trying. That should make the server at least a little less pulled out.

did it wipe out ur library when u uninstalled it?

Why can’t this be like any other mobile phone? Put a sim card in it, turn it on and WAHEY! A working phone.
What a load of crap.

i knew this was coming…total server flood or whatever you call it… lame!

it does not wipe out your library.

Well, I’ve been on since 10:00 AM EST when I came back from getting my 3G. Unfortunately even my i-Light 40Mbps connection isn’t doing much better than my home. I can access the iTunes store…but not my iPhone to activate. Oh well.

Greencastle, IN

nvm it doesnt work

oh cool i might try that.

Has anyone else gotten it recently? Ugh just getting busier as the lazy ones roll out of bed. I don’t believe the whole “line” thing I think you just have to get really lucky.

I am giving up. I hate this F&^ing phone

Remember the days before mobile phones?? Welcome back! *off to find a red phone box – probably been smashed in though*

i make it rain on apple! lol

what time zone is this website in? because i’ve been trying since 11 eastern US time and i still have the network timed out error

its working!

I ONLY GOT 6 HOURS OF SLEEP LAST NIGHT BECAUSE I WAS SO EXCITED TO GET IT. I AM ONLY 12 I NEED MORE SLEEP.
~BEN

I AM DRINKING A LOT OF COKE LOL!

Hahaha yeah same here like 6 hours! Would’ve slept a LOT easier if I knew this was going to happen.

YEAH ME TOO!

“Apple Store personnel have informed Nate Mook in Towson that the AT&T activation system is once again officially down. Sales lines were halted apparently soon after stores in the Pacific time zone, including California, had their activation systems come online”

I am very disappointed. I have no phone! How do I fix this? Ahhhh.

Has anyone tried the app store. Thats not work too.

So Ben…original iPhone or 3G?

This is total crap!!!

original 16 gig
got it in feb.

This is bullshit!!!!!!!!!!

Oh cool…8 gig for me. I got it RIGHT before the 16 came out naturally.

Little over 3 hrs now…ahhhhhhh!

2 hours now

They are calling it the Ipocalypse now.

hahaha I want a T-Shirt!!!! “iPocalypse Survivor”

hung up… will wait to figure it out. anyone got their phone to work yet?

It would be hilarious if i had another phone.

Poop!!! this sucks I so agravated. I’ll be happy with apple again once it comes back up

i started trying at 8:30AM and its been like this since. i have my phone updated but im stuck at emergency calls only like everyone else. so the issue is server load and servers going down over and over?

what im saying is theres no point in even unplugging and replugging if the servers down.

hahaha yeah I suppose we’d have to survive first…OR just get another phone. But they KNOW we’ll stick with theirs! Dammit Apple you’re good.

It works!!!! keep tryin

i even downloaded all the apps i wanted last night with hopes that i would avoid something like this. who would have thought that simply getting the new update wouldnt work…

Hey Jeff how long were you trying??

BAH!!! i better be able to get this shit back on by 5pm im goin out of town. tonight SUCK!!

jeff is lying

from iphoneblog

As we just noted earlier today, iTunes is feeling the hurt of all the traffic today. Case in point: Activation is confirmed to be down all across Canada. We’re also getting reports that some people who did manage to buy an iPhone 3G are stuck in emergency call mode and can’t activate. It seems that activation is so tough right now some AT&T stores are letting customers leave without activating their iPhones. Our advice: do not leave the store without getting it activated, at least for today.
Meanwhile, there’s even worse news: people who applied the 2.0 update to their first-generation iPhones are reporting in the comments that since iTunes is hurting so much, they can’t connect to activate their phone.
In other words, hold off on that update for a bit, otherwise the only person you may be able to call today is going to be 911, and as unhappy as you may be about the entire situation, the police really don’t want to hear about it.
Quick Update: If you’re looking at a non-functional iPhone 3G that can’t be activated but your old phone had its SIM de-activated, pop the new sim out and slap it in your old phone so you can at least make some calls and suchlike.

lol well I’m still trying no matter what anyone says so let’s be honest fellow iPocolypse sufferers…

from iphoneblog

iTunes is feeling the hurt of all the traffic today. Case in point: Activation is confirmed to be down all across Canada. We’re also getting reports that some people who did manage to buy an iPhone 3G are stuck in emergency call mode and can’t activate. It seems that activation is so tough right now some AT&T stores are letting customers leave without activating their iPhones. Our advice: do not leave the store without getting it activated, at least for today.
Meanwhile, there’s even worse news: people who applied the 2.0 update to their first-generation iPhones are reporting in the comments that since iTunes is hurting so much, they can’t connect to activate their phone.
In other words, hold off on that update for a bit, otherwise the only person you may be able to call today is going to be 911, and as unhappy as you may be about the entire situation, the police really don’t want to hear about it.
Quick Update: If you’re looking at a non-functional iPhone 3G that can’t be activated but your old phone had its SIM de-activated, pop the new sim out and slap it in your old phone so you can at least make some calls and suchlike.

I’m glad its not just me, otherwise I’d be screwing… hold on, I am.

Yeah I had to call my boss an makeup some story about how late I was going to be only to run out of time and have to goto work with no phone!

So this update doesn’t come with a backup feature? I could’ve sworn I saw it backing up my iPhone.
Wait, a system restore would make too much sense, why would the almighty apple need a backup plan? HA!

Eh, I’m sure Apple’s flipping they’re shit too, but probably not as much as those of us who are PHONELESS.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1594716&tstart=0

This might help

this stinks i didnt realize that the server would be sooooo crowded…:(

This is absolutely ridiculous.

Firstly there was NOTHING to say that we would experience problems with the upgrade

Secondly why can’t we just revert back to the old version while the useless people at Apple sort out their mess?

Trying to update in the UK and the same things happening. Looks like I wont be playing Monkeyball any time soon.

(Updated old iPhone to 2.0 BTW)

Hey the whole press “enter” “m” then “i” thing is a good idea…saves on the fingers a bit.

And I didn’t believe the whole don’t unplug it thing! Shoot hope that didn’t ruin for me. :’(

Just got the same thing here, using a factory iPhone EDGE I got last year, updated to 2.0, and now my phone is locked and iTunes won’t connect. Awesome Apple, I’m leaving for Italy tomorrow and I don’t have a phone.

This is nuts. My phone is now a brick, I’ve tried manual restore to 1.1.4, manual to 2.0 etc. No matter what you do it gets stuck at the iTunes part. Called tech support, they said to unplug then plug back in over and over until it works! They also said it could take 48 hours.

hahaahaha i got in suckas!

itunes is restoring my music again. I got the original iPhone…can’t wait to put on my new apps!!

Good Luck everyone

I just kept trying and got thru.

And apple is still great.. you kinda have to assume this would’ve happened, after all its a world wide release.

Oh, no, it’s working. It just updated and registered. Maybe tech support do know stuff!

Methinks it could be an ATT thing…Apple is too perfect to screw up. lol jk

I got thru!!!!!!!!! WOOO HOOOOO!!!!!! ONLY TOOK 3 1/2 HOURS

Can’t think of the last time I was happy to hear cell phone buzz in my speakers, but it was a welcome sound today! FINALLY!

I told them so, you don’t release the software update on the same day you make the 3G available. It will jam things up. At least a week in advance. What a stupid thing to do. Apple should be beyond that kind of thoughtlessness.

ha congrats…almost there (3 1/2 hrs I mean)

YES!!!!! I have my phone updated to 2.0…..Good Luck everyone….I’m out!!!!!

Its restoring everything….I didn’t lose anything…

No, it’s now worked but the phone is running like a pig. Typing is really slow, I get the feeling it’s not exactly running as it’s supposed to. I can’t SMS and don’t have visual voicemail.

I’m not angry anymore….As soon as u see that appstore all ur anger just melts away….

F U bruno

Its good to hear one more person has it working. Now it must be my turn soon.

That’s what I am expecting to happen too Bruno…ugh Apple…can never stay mad.

I avoided the 3G hype but thought i would check out version 2.0 software on my existing iPhone. Like everyone else, now stuck with a brick on the desk and no phone to use. This is outrageous!!

Dont be mad….I’m sure everybody will get theirs soon…I tried for 3 1/2 hours…

Anyone know if you can you take out the SIM (of an old iPhone) and put in a regular old cell phone (old cingular SLVR). Might do this until the nitwits at Apple/ATT or whoever’s fault it is, get their act together.

In the same boat. The lack of foresight is mind-boggling.

well, it’s not working for me and I’m getting ticked.

so I’m guessing 3 1/2 hours is the magic number?

Well I’m at 3 1/2 but still nothing…but an hour or so back I was unplugging…so maybe that screwed me up I don’t know.

More like 31.2 hours

Remember don’t unplug ur phone. Just keep clicking music and then iphone. Good luck everyone…

I still have over an 1 hour then.GREAT

mine is up n going 3g swish Devon UK

If you have an old at&t phone, pop the sim card out of your iBrick and into the old phone to use as a backup until the servers are back up. I did this with an old $20 prepaid phone I had, and it works! Yes, it feels like the stone age, but it makes and receives calls!

i must have tried like 250 times now maybe more

Me too, I am going to sue them for RSI

No kidding! Free iPhone 3G for everyone!!!!!!!!!! ha iWish

And yeah…when this DOES work, I’m gonna have a heart attack so if I don’t post for a bit…

cornwall UK, not workin 200+ attempts

It is 2pm in NYC, I have been trying since 9:30am.

ha! i got a different message, i keep getting:
“We could not complete your itunes store request. The network connection timed out. Make sure your network connections are correct and your network connection is active, then try again.”

i’ve been trying for over 2 hours now, meanwhile i don’t have a working phone.

For those of you in the UK that have just spent your hard earned cash on the iPhone might be interested in what O2 says about activation….

“Customers new to O2 can start using their device once they have synced with iTunes and the phone account has been activated. When syncing with iTunes you may see ‘Activation cannot be completed without service.’ The activation of the mobile service for new customers will be within 2 to 3 days given the volume of sales on Friday.”

Has anyone been successful recently or are the servers actually down….?

/Stockholm

2 to 3 days?!??!?!??!?!?!?!? That’s a joke. I used to be with O2 and i hated them, so i went with Orange, but because the iPhone is ONLY available on O2 i had no choice.

This is shit.

i was trying to sync my phone when a msg from o2 came after i read that the phone was good to go. im still getting the same shit on itunes but i an use the phone

HA!!! just keep trying guys. It’ll work.

It’s not my luck, i assure you; i have terrible luck.

It works if you keep alternating tabs and never disconnect. Honestly, it only took like 5 minutes once i did that.

It will be wonderful. I love you.

Ok…4 hours now. Starting to get a little upset…

We should have hired google for activation purposes. They handle many more than a few million hits per day. We are all just suckers. I have been here since 7:30am trying to get my OLD iPhone to work…why the H@#$ do we have to activate this thing again! Retards.

Finally in, took about an hour. Cheers!

One Hour. LUCKY

No kidding! What are we doing wrong?

I like how Itunes throws up an error message asking me to check my settings as though its my fault. Why cant they just throw up a server busy, try later message.

I think steve jobs hates me

wooh my phone finally works after three hours. the facebook app is much better than using safari!!

ditto

Good to see that some guys make it, there is still hope just a matter of time.

Well it’s now almost 7.30pm UK time got mine this morning and have been trying on and off for SIX hours now and still nothing ;(

I really hate O2 bunch of monkeys & now apple as well!
Just downloaded v2.0 firmware as been having problems with poor or no signal and now can’t connect on itunes site.

Phoned Apple support guy Mr patel and he accused me of dropping my phone !!!!

Same problem, got this messege :

“We could not complete your iTunes Store request. The network connection timeout. Make sure your settings……bla bla”

Bn trying for 2 hours now

my brother just phone to let me no he got it quicker than me 15 min for min just donr take the phone out keep it conneted

The activation of the O2 account is a separate issue to being able to register the newly aquired iBrick 3G. Even this would be a plus, activating a SIM… happy to have that conversation next!

Given time zones, the US is going to be hitting itunes right through to midnight, so you UK boys hop off and let me keep an eye on it

Basingstoke, Hampshire ……….

well 4.5 hrs total for me…2 hrs plugged in… :’(

thats the same for me a dont know:(

Hey, at least we all meet the requirement for charging the device prior to use!

Upside guys

LOL Paul!

wow going on 5 hrs…hope Apple gets it for this…

Another positive, while we’re fecking around with dead phones, Apple are losing revenue on itunes and apps downloads!

Majestic on the other hand are seeing sales up for wine and beer, boost to the UK economy… and, while we’re all in trying to activate phones, stabbings across the UK have plummeted

maybe this is a global ploy to get the economy back on track

im at nearly 4hrs. How much long till i go mad.

Maybe i already have as i am still trying

Okay, another issue. The phone seems real sluggish after the update. Did a reboot and still seems to lag on wireless and keyboard. Downloads seem fine but general response sucks.

omg it finally works, im so happy, im leaving on a trip in a few hours and i thought i would go without out an iphone, thank god it finally works, dont give up

Ugh I wish I could get a sluggish phone rather than a brick. One expensive paper weight.

going on 5 hours in Chicago

Well folks…one more hour and I’m out.

This is crazy! After 4 hours of wearing my hands out from clicking Music to iPhone my iPhone lit up, I looked down and jumped up!!! IT’S WORKING!!!!!!!!!! When this moment comes guys, you will forget all the misery it had caused!!

Good luck!!!

yeh its workin right now

I wonder what PC would say?

i was having the same problem as everyone kept gettin same message itunes store could not process your request connection timed out or something like that i just kept clicking on iphone and it finally went through

I just got in…I guess says restoring iPhone from Backup… I have been trying off and on (mostly on) for the last 5 hours. Got to play a lot of solitaire on the PC while I waited.

I am in Gainesville, FL.

ITS WORKING. MY HEAD HAS JUST EXPLODED

GGGGGGEEEEEETTTTTTT IIIIIINNNNNNNN

Anyone in NYC got it activated in the last 4 hours?

its saying activation alert might take awile lolololol

6 hours but it’s finaly restoring WOOT at least i can now get in touch with people to find out where I’m getting drunk tonight

me 2

It works! It works! It works!

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Little over 5 hours and I got it! Good luck all…don’t unplug…and I’ll keep everyone posted.

not NYC but close enough Long Island Suffolk county, NY
Just got it 2min ago

i got 2.0 last night and had it installled and working but my mail app was messed up so i waited for the official release and now it finally works

and i read that maybe this weekend winpwn will be released for 2.0 and we can all have the best of both worlds

Finally back up for me – 5.5 hours.

minneapolis

Wow. Got through randomly.

just keeep tryin the abilty to delete all ur mail at once awaits lol

What about some of you that have been on here for awhile like me, Ben…Ian…Xavier…get it yet?

funny thing happened i dock undock phone and without accessing itune, now it says, iPHONE is activated and got all my txt messages ppl sent in couple of hours but yes I lost all data Or, wait now restoring from back up…

I FINALLY GOT IT TO WORK — 5 hours later

Ahhh..Finally… It got through.. Guys I’m from London and have been trying for 8 hours..just got in..keep trying!All the best but this experience hurts

I LOVE YOU ALL. C U NEXT TIME.

IAN

Hey a lot of us are getting it now…wonder if the server’s finally unjamming.

looks like they did something

it’s restoring data ; were you guys able to see everything even txt msgs after it’s done?

definitely a NIGHTMARE

FINALLY! works.

//Stockholm, Sweden

5 hours exactly in Chicago…and finally activated…fight on!

Persistance pays off

Got mine at 6pm and tried for 2 hours. got it working after 5 minutes when i came back from walking the dog.

Keep trying guys it’ll be worth it.

In NYC, started trying at 10am, it’s now 3:15pm and it’s finally restoring (although now it’s waiting for activation… could just be tease or another level of waiting). What a debacle. Guess I’ll wait a day next time. Hate having the same problem as everyone else.

I know…after 5 hours (seemingly the new magic number) you get Apple’s “cute” little message…”restoring from back up…this may take awhile.”

After 6 hours, I read that if you leave it plugged for like 15 minutes then try it it works. Well I did and it is restoring now. Good luck

So…while waiting for part II of the iPocalypse…any must have apps? Monkeyball and Tetris look amazing!

oh my freaking god, it’s going through!!

dALLAS TX 6 hours

Got mine to work. Left it connected to itunes and all of a sudden it was alive again.

Well I guess we’re done posting here…peace out everyone THANKS!

it still doesn’t work for the iPod touch tho…

well i was able to activate but it keeps saying it’s searching for network anyone having this issue.

IPod Touch not upgrading for me either. Sometimes iTunes recognises an update is available, sometimes not.

Keep trying…..

Now I know how Will Smith felt…

is anyone there?

Yep, the iphone is up and running, but no service.

well i’m still bricked. What the hell…. i’ve been trying since 6pm.. it’s almost 11 for crying out loud.

ok kids… anyone still having an issue, eject the i phone like you’re supposed to, close everything down , restart the computer, restart itunes and plug it back in… should do the trick.
Amazing how the a$$hats at apple didn’t think to put a disclaimer on the install site saying that the server was overloaded.

ok guys… if you’re still stuck, here’s what worked for me….
after about 700 tries I ejected the iphone, closed i tunes, shut down the computer, rebooted, opened itunes and re-connected the iphone. as soon as i did everything started downloading and I didn’t lose any data and my phone is not sluggish like some are reporting. Good luck!

Well iPhonie is up and running but no service so at the moment it’s a touch with a monthly subscription!

kaite, where is the install site? iv been plugging my iphone in and itunes doesnt come up with the 2.0 version to download so im stuck…

after serveral tries hooking up to Itunes, my phone started working, but no service. i switched out my new 3g sim card for my old one out of a blackjack and i now have service. cant tell if everything is working the way it is suppose to, but i do get service now. so i will swing by the AT&T store in the next week or so to have things checked out.

not real impressed with the signal indicator, seems like a rarely get full bars. nothing new with AT&T, coverage sucks.

I have the same exact problem as you guys, but today’s October 8th 2008! How come. that I still cannot find any solution for it? Is there anyone out there that had the problem solved since July 11th?? I just got an iphone and after a few days of trying to unlock it I am soo frustrated, I’d throw it out of the window. Apple and Itunes sucks!!! My advice to all is: Don’t buy this Ijunk!!!

Ahhhhhhhhhhh, im having an issue with the network. upgrading to a 3.0 and its not worked

It´s easy to fix, just remove the apple line from you host file!, and enable SSL3.0 in IE

Finally got it solved
i know how to do it in vista
go to start search "appdata"
the folder will be faded click on it
click on roaming
go to apple computer
and delete "MobileSync" "Preferences" "Safari" "Lockdown"
and there you should be fine