Fixing 1601 1602 1603 1604 21 iPhone Restore Errors with iREB

Most of the time while trying to restore your iPhone or iPod Touch in iTunes with iPhone x.x firmware, you may see the following message followed by an error code 1601, 1602, 16xx or 21:

The iPhone could not be restored. An unknown error occurred (16xx).

16xx and 21 Error in iTunes during iPhone 3.1 Restore

Well, there is a way out. iH8Sn0w has released a tool called iREB (iTunes Restore Error Bypasser) for both Windows and Macs which can give you your, Custom Firmware Restores, Hope back. The latest version of this program supports iPhone 3.1 firmware running on the  iPhone 2G, iPhone 3G and iPod touch 1G.

Here’s Step by Step how to install it.

Step 1: Start iTunes and put your phone into DFU mode:

Putting phone in DFU Mode: Press and hold the Home button and the Power button at the same time. After exactly 10 seconds release the Power button. Continue holding the home button until you iTunes pops up a message telling you that it has detected an iPhone in recovery mode. At this point your iPhone/iPod touch screen will remain black.

iTunes - iPhone Recovery Mode

Step 2: Now close iTunes and Start iREB on your PC/Mac.

iH8sn0w - iREB

Step 3: Select your device and wait for a few seconds till you get white or a red screen on your iPhone.

Step 4: Open iTunes. Now press and hold left “alt” button (“Shift” button on Windows) on the keyboard and then click on “Restore”  button in the iTunes and then release the “Shift” button. Select a custom .ipsw file and restore it. Your 16xx errors are gone.

Note:  iREB is not directly for jailbreaking. It is for indirect jailbreaks i.e. restoring to custom .ipsw firmware files via iTunes without any errors.

Best when used with the iPhone 3.1 Jailbreaking guide


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17 thoughts on “Fixing 1601 1602 1603 1604 21 iPhone Restore Errors with iREB”

  1. if this dont work , try again to go to DFU mode
    but this time dont leave the home button untill you get a wait screen

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  2. They Hate making an extra option for us 3gs users? i dont understand what goes in there mind when they make these programs. yes thank you for everything and acctuly making programs like this, but please make one that helps all iphone users 🙂

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  3. my iphone was password locked and sim locked i dnt know which firmware was installed in my phone.Therefore first i tried
    restore 2.1 then when i clcik restore from itunes i got error not compatable.
    then i tried 3.1 .it gives error 1046.
    then i downloaded iPhone1,2_3.1_7C144_Restore.ipsw.
    and finaly it works ,now my phone is unlocked and installed firmware.
    I suggest if you get any error try each firmware one by one.
    here its the download link
    http://www.felixbruns.de/iPod/firmware/

    If any one having trouble please contact me

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    • I would kindly ask anyone for help. My IPhone 3g 16 GB shows SEARCHING, it means there is no net. Anyway, there is signal coverage in my other phone. It just keeps searching. I dont know what should I do. Asked in few mobile shop services about this, they dont know. There is no official IPhone service around here. If somebody would advise me, thanks a lot.

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    • hudsonriyaz
      HI IH AVE A PROBLEM WITH MY 3G IPHONE 16GB
      ICANT RESTORE IT
      WHILE DOING THE RESTORE THE SCREEN IS WHITE AND THEN THE APPLE LOGO IS SHOWN AND THEN THE IPHONE LOADING SYMBOLE AND THEN ERROR 1604

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    • i have a prob with my 3g 16 gb well its on recovery mode when entering the DFU mode itunes recognize it but while restoring it with the 3.1 the screen is white and then the apple logo appears and then error 1604 what in hell should i do

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  4. Fantastic fixes and improvements.I only knew one of them.Thank you very much for posting this.

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  5. Fantastic fixes and improvements.I only knew one of them.Thank you very much for posting this.

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  6. Hi, can any one help me, I used ired first time it worked but I had forgot the hactivation process and my carrier was not found, so I reformated it and now the update is giving the unknown error (2) while updatings
    any help!!!

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  7. Didnt work, the screen remains black and i still get the 1601 error.

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