Troubleshooting the iPhone 3GS is particularly treacherous, but we have made it as easy as possible below.
Take a deep breath and see if your iPhone will turn on and operate normally. In most cases, the iPhone is still functional but now a cosmetic disaster. Take a closer look and make sure the display was not damaged from the fall, as you will want to replace this at the same time as replacing your front panel if it is damaged. Generally, the front panel will have absorbed the brunt of the fall and your display will be unscathed. In this case, you must replace the front panel.
Even after furious button mashing and screen smashing, your iPhone 3GS doesn't respond.
Plugging in your iPhone 3GS does not bring it life.
No matter what you do, you can't get your iPhone 3GS to turn on.
If your iPhone 3GS won't turn on, especially if it has not been used recently, you may simply have a drained battery. Plug your iPhone 3GS into your computer or AC adapter and see if anything happens. Ideally your iPhone 3GS will recognize it has been connected to a power source and charge its battery. If it will no longer charge, the battery must be swapped with a replacement battery.
It is possible that it appears nothing is happening because the display is bad. If the iPhone sounds like it is working properly but nothing is visible, it is possible the display is bad and must be replaced. Because this is a particularly difficult install, we also offer the entire display assembly and instructions for replacement!
If none of the above solutions fix the iPhone, and both the power button and the hold button do not turn it on, you must replace the logic board.
Your iPhone 3GS turns on and appears to work, but when you plug in headphones or speakers, the audio doesn't play properly.
It's unlikely your headphones or speakers are bad, but it's worthwhile to eliminate these as the source of your problem at the beginning. Try your iPhone 3GS with another set of headphones or speakers just to make sure that the problem is with the iPhone 3GS.
The most likely cause of audio output problems on iPhone 3GS's is a bad audio-out jack. Check out our installation instructions for replacement of the headphone jack.
It isn't often that Apple gives specific directions about how to fix your problem! Restoring the iPhone 3GS will erase everything on it, so make sure everything on the iPhone 3GS is stored elsewhere prior to restoring. To restore, connect your iPhone 3GS to a computer with iTunes installed. Click "Restore" on the iPhone 3GS summary page (click on your iPhone icon on the left menu to find this page). Follow the directions to restore. If your iPhone 3GS displays the text "Please wait. Very Low Battery," leave it plugged in. This charges the iPhone 3GS enough to be able to restore. If the iPhone 3GS hangs on this screen for long periods of time, you may need a new battery.
If your iPhone 3GS is hanging with an Apple logo, or exhibiting some other software problem that prevents iTunes from recognizing it, you can force it into recovery/restore mode and then use iTunes to restore the software.
If the device is powered off, plug one end of your USB cable into the iPhone 3GS and leave the other end disconnected. Press down on the Home button, and keep holding it down while you plug the USB cable into your computer. After 5-10 seconds, you should see a "Please Connect to iTunes" image on the iPhone 3GS, and iTunes should prompt you to restore the software; follow the prompts and the instructions given above.
my iphone 3gs doesnt turn on, y changed the battery but it doesnt work do you think it may be de dock charger connector? or the logic board (really really hope not)?? Please help me!
i dropped my iphone 3gs and when i plug it into the wall socket it tells me to plug it into itunes but when my phone is pluged into the computer it is not recognised that it is pluged in at all i thought it was my computer so i plugged it into another computer and it still didnt work do you have any idea on what i could do?