Australian Editor WARNING:
We haven’t tested this locally, so proceed at your own risk. If you do decide to try it, let us all know how it goes in the comments.
It’s as simple as downloading the iOS 5 IPSW (iPhoneSoftware) for your device directly from Apple instead of downloading it from within iTunes.
The IPSW is the file that contains the operating system for iPhones, iPads and the iPod touch. After you’ve downloaded the appropriate file from the list below, here’s how to update your device.
Update: Looks like the workaround doesn’t offer a fix for everyone. This will speed up your download of the IPSW to your computer. But you may still run into authentication issues while Apple’s servers are being hammered. Looks like our original advice to be patient is still valid.
Here are the iOS 5 IPSW files for each device.
iPhone 3GS
iPhone 4 GSM
iPhone 4 CDMA
iPad
iPad 2 WiFi
iPad 2,2 — GSM
iPad 2,3 — CDMA
iPod touch 3G
iPod touch 4G
Apple TV2
[GDGT]
More:
- iOS 5: The Top 10 New Features
- iCloud Is A Bigger Deal Than You Think: It’s The Future Of Computing
- The Complete Guide To Updating To iOS 5
Dave
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 12:00 PMAnd for Windows users without an Option key on their keyboard it’s Shift+Click.
Dave
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 12:01 PMOh, and I did this and it worked for me. Beware that it takes longer though as it wipes the phone and puts everything back on it again.
ideasman
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 12:07 PMthis wont fix it.. this error happens when itunes contacts apple to confirm that your device it elegable for the update.
i had the file on my machine at 6am this morning and was doing the option+click thing (ex-jailbreaker) over and over.
i’d get the 3200 error, sometimes it would restore and fail at the end of the verification (when it communicates back to apple servers) with a 3004 error.
there’s no way to “fix” it with apple doing it from their end
Spanky
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 12:39 PMI use to have this trouble when forgetting to reset my hosts file after backing up my blobs via tinyumbrella! Just thought i’d mention it!
ideasman
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 1:10 PMit eventually worked.. my mac was running a fresh build of lion so no host file changes. although it did make me wonder when i first saw the error message.
BenDTU
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 12:45 PMI would have thought the same thing.
Reece
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 12:19 PMCould you use this if your iphone got bricked and is in recovery mode?
steven
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 12:22 PMi tried the normal update and FAILED miserably like 30-40 times and ended up with my phone in a permanent recovery mode… after a number of hissy fits i tried it this way and it worked on the 2nd attempt..! maybe a fluke but yeh it can work..
it wipes your phone, but once you restore from backup you’re all good… phew just in time for work but now i’m a zombie :(
Reece
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 12:25 PMthanks steven I am at work and my phones at home dead. :-( will try when I get home.
James
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 1:09 PMDitto. At work, phone at home dead as a… brick.
Andrew
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 12:45 PMTo fix it just throw the phone out and get an Android
Reece
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 1:02 PMMaybe one of the $2 phones samsung is offering at there store in Sydney next to the Apple Store. First 10 people in line each morning.
The Gremlin
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 2:21 PMYeah, because staying current in Android is such a delight
Paul
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 1:07 PMLOL!! Typical Apple… yet another iPhone update that doesnt work, and when it finally does work, wipes your phone and attempts to restore the data.
I’m glad I have a Windows Phone
Ozoneocean
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 1:46 PMAll tech has errors and nothing ever “just works” all the time. The thing is not to exaggerate the problems beyond all proportion and get all chauvinist about your chosen platform as a result (Apple is best, Android is best, Windows… and so on)
I’m sure Apple will quickly get over this and things will work fine again soon.
Maybe they’ll finally get over their jinx with bad internet service products and this will be the one that finally succeeds?
Reece
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 2:32 PMServer is not so full now. Restore worked first time for me.
Nick
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 4:19 PMI got the error a few times, but with a little persistence it updated fine.
I was half expecting something like this to happen with the amount of traffic.
The Gremlin
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 5:11 PMIts working now
Riley
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 6:34 PMVery early this morning I woke up and installed the new software, I had the same error but I read somewhere if you turn on Aeroplane mode it fixes it which worked for me, just keep trying it will work eventually, also perhaps it Apple’s Servers not being able to handle the traffic.