This occurred when trying to update my jailbroken 3.0 (not 3.01) iPhone 3Gs to a jailbroken 3.1 using purplerain. In the middle of the update purplerain had an error and it was interrupted mid-install. Hence it is stuck in recovery mode or DFU mode or whatever it's called when you see the iTunes logo with a USB cable on the iPhone.
iTunes sees my phone and says that it needs to be recovered. It downloads the software and gives me an error when trying to install it. iTunes is updated to the most recent version.
I have read a lot and watched some horrible videos with no luck.
Here's what I have tried:
-Attempted to do various forms of reset, holding down the power then home and power, then just home, then power then stand on your head. I might not be doing the right durations. I had to do this sort of reset once before and it took me about an hour to get it right. I messed with it this time for about an hour but I could be doing it wrong. If you think this is my issue please give me baby steps instructions on this as I am clearly handicapped.
-One post suggested that I uninstall iTunes. Dumb idea, didn't work.
-I downloaded and attempted to recover using a cracked firmware. I tried 3.0 and 3.01. No dice. I suppose that I could try 3.1 but I seriously doubt it will work. I get an error telling me that it is not compatible.
At this point I am more than happy to start all over with a raw iPhone. I can reinstall all of my apps and settings in no time.
I will continue to research this problem and will report back if I find a solution as I know a lot of people have this problem for varying reasons.
not to sound like a jerk, but you should have done 5 minutes of research and you would have found that:
-purplera1n only worked for 3.0
-apple will no longer let you restore to anything other than 3.1
-there is no jailbreak for 3.1 (though geohot, the inventor of purplera1n is said to be close)
again not trying to sound rude, but there's alot going on lately in the jailbreak scene and if you want to be in the loop, i'd suggest looking at modmyi,everythingicafe, and geohot's tweets. this isnt the best site for info.