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HOW TO - Resolve iTunes Unknown Error 3194

f4780y

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Recently this problem has started to crop up a lot with users for a variety of reasons. The good news is it can be easily resolved.

Background
When you restore a stock or custom firmware on any Apple device from iPhone3GS onwards, the process is verified with Apple using SHSH Blobs. If you haven't already read the sticky on this subject, you should. It can be found here - http://www.ipadforums.net/ipad-hacking/59291-shsh-blobs-faq-new-improved-2012-a.html

Whenever iTunes is requesting your blobs from the Apple signing servers you see this message in the status bar in iTunes...

ite_01.png


If iTunes does not receive the reply it was expecting, it can throw an unexpected error which usually says

"The iPad could not be restored. An unknown error occurred (3194)"

This problem is usually caused because iTunes is not actually talking to the Apple signing servers to get SHSH blobs, but is more likely pointed towards Cydia. This is usually because you have previously used TinyUmbrella to store your SHSH Blobs or you edited your hosts file manually to point to Cydia.

If you are restoring the current / latest Apple firmware version (either stock or custom), Cydia has been known to have problem retrieving those blobs on your behalf. It is usually just a temporary issue which Saurik will fix on his servers, but if you get the error, the following solution will work...

Solution
By default, TU will set your hosts file to point to Cydia when it exits. You can tell it to point you back to Apple servers easily. If you don't already have TU, you can download it from - The Firmware Umbrella - TinyUmbrella

Start TinyUmbrella, switch to the "Advanced" tab, and UNTICK the option which says "Set hosts to Cydia on exit".

You can see the option, which is the second check box in the list, in the following screenshot:

ite_02.png


Once you have unticked the option you are done. Just exit TU and your hosts file will be back to normal and pointing towards Apple. This is the best way to leave it. If you need to restore using TU in the future, just press it's "Start TSS Server" button. You never need to change the hosts option again. Just leave it switched off and TU does the rest.

If you don't want to use TinyUmbrella to resolve this problem, then you can manually edit your hosts file. You must REMOVE any of the lines in it which point to gs.apple.com.

On Windows the hosts file can be found in: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts
On OSX the hosts file lives in /private/etc/hosts

You may also like to temporarily disable any anti-virus or anti-malware tools as these have been known to disrupt communications in some instances, and check your router configuration to ensure there are no unexpected firewall rules blocking communication with Apple.

That should resolve your iTunes error 3194.
 
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graywolf

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I had that error and a little googling solved it. Hopefully this will make it easier for other people.
 

dclifford

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HELP! I am trying to restore my jailbroken ipad due to a hardware problem. I did as the instructions said and entered DFU mode, then did a restore from ITUNES but got the 3194 error. I did as listed above twice and i am still getting the same 3194 error. What can I do?
 

graywolf

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dclifford said:
HELP! I am trying to restore my jailbroken ipad due to a hardware problem. I did as the instructions said and entered DFU mode, then did a restore from ITUNES but got the 3194 error. I did as listed above twice and i am still getting the same 3194 error. What can I do?

Reboot computer. That worked for me.
 
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f4780y

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HELP! I am trying to restore my jailbroken ipad due to a hardware problem. I did as the instructions said and entered DFU mode, then did a restore from ITUNES but got the 3194 error. I did as listed above twice and i am still getting the same 3194 error. What can I do?

Are you ABSOLUTELY sure you UNTICKED the relevant option and also pressed the "Apply Changes" button afterwards?

Paste a copy of your hosts file in your response...
On Windows the hosts file can be found in: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts
On OSX the hosts file lives in /private/etc/hosts

IF it has a line in it for gs.apple.com which does not start with a # character, then it would indicate that you are not following the instructions in the thread properly. Post your contents and I'll take a look and see if I can help.
 

OUTL4W

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stooooopid vista.....keep getting the the message from TU "DO NO TRY RESTORING YOUR DEVICE" cannot save hosts file. I have admn priv's....so I don't get the option of "apply changes".
 

sh0nuff

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Hey all.. this error is still stopping me from the update..

I'm currently on 4.2.1 tethered, and when i launch TinyUmbrella, the appropriate box is already unchecked...

I got into my hosts and remove the line manually, and after rebooting my machine, the only line referring to gs.apple.com has a hashtag in front of it, ergo is not affecting any addresses, but the error persists...

-sh0

edit: Note that I'm running Win7 Ultimate x64 and x64 iTunes
 

sh0nuff

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stooooopid vista.....keep getting the the message from TU "DO NO TRY RESTORING YOUR DEVICE" cannot save hosts file. I have admn priv's....so I don't get the option of "apply changes".

Open your Notepad by right clicking it and selecting "Run as Admin" this will allow you to local, open, modify, and save the hosts.dll in both Vista and Win7
 

sh0nuff

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I seem notoriously good at solving my own problems, which I guess is a good thing.

I put the 'Pad into DFU and after one false restart where it "couldn't find the device", it seems to be updating fine now.

I'll keep ya posted
 

ctsluder

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Oh I love this forum, I had the same problem as the above,and I had mine on cidia also and TU saved me!!! :) LOL
 
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digital4

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ipad 2 4.3.2

i have brand new ipad 2 with 4.3.1.
i tried to upgrade it to 4.3.3 however I received 3194 error message...

Is there any way for me to jailbreak this ipad since I do not have any SHSH saved, I just opened the box tonight and turned it on for the first time... Connected it to Itunes and tried to upgrade it to 4.3.3...

Thanks...
 
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f4780y

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digital4 said:
i have brand new ipad 2 with 4.3.1.
i tried to upgrade it to 4.3.3 however I received 3194 error message...

Is there any way for me to jailbreak this ipad since I do not have any SHSH saved since I just opened the box tonight and turned it on for the first time... Connected it to Itunes and tried to upgrade it to 4.3.3...

Thanks...

No, sorry. No chance as things stand.
 

threeosix

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HELP! I am trying to restore my jailbroken ipad due to a hardware problem. I did as the instructions said and entered DFU mode, then did a restore from ITUNES but got the 3194 error. I did as listed above twice and i am still getting the same 3194 error. What can I do?

Are you ABSOLUTELY sure you UNTICKED the relevant option and also pressed the "Apply Changes" button afterwards?

Paste a copy of your hosts file in your response...
On Windows the hosts file can be found in: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts
On OSX the hosts file lives in /private/etc/hosts

IF it has a line in it for gs.apple.com which does not start with a # character, then it would indicate that you are not following the instructions in the thread properly. Post your contents and I'll take a look and see if I can help.

Hi,

I'm still unable to update to 4.3.3.

I'm using Vista 64-bit, currently JB by GP on 4.2.1.

Here's what i have,

# Copyright (c) 1993-2006 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

127.0.0.1 localhost
::1 localhost
127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com
#74.208.10.249 gs.apple.com
#127.0.0.1 gs.apple.com

Here's the version i am using - tinyumbrella-5.00.10, TU doesn't have the save option but if i exit and open TU again, the option stays unchecked after removing it so i guess it was saved.

TIA!:)
 

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