How To Fix iTunes Error 3194 During iOS Restore [Guide]
A number of jailbreakers restore their iPhone, iPod Touch and iPads with custom cooked pre-jailbroken IPSW files by Sn0wbreeze. Custom cooked IPSW firmware file restore is only method by which you can preserve your baseband and still upgrade to a newer iOS firmware version. So this is pretty much the only method by which people who rely on unlocks can upgrade their iOS to a newer version.
Now the problem is that iTunes won’t let you restore a custom cooked .IPSW firmware file and it will throw “Unknown error 3194″ during the restore process. This happens when you’re upgrading your iOS device with a custom cooked IPSW file or downgrading your iOS device to lower version of iOS firmware which is not being signed by Apple.
In past couple of weeks a lot of iOS device owners faced (still facing) this issue, when they tried updating their iOS device with a custom cooked iOS 5.0 IPSW firmware file they got iTunes error 3194. In order to solve this issue you should know what causes iTunes to throw “Unknow Error 3194″ then we will teach you how to you can fix this iTunes 3194 error.
What is iTunes Unknown Error 3194?
“iTunes Error 3194″ is caused by firmware restore verification, when the firmware version you’re trying to restore is not signed (authorized) by Apple or you don’t have the SHSH blobs saved in Cydia (or Saurik) server.
Your hosts file could be pointing to either Apple or Saurik server which caused this error. You will need to edit your hosts file in order to fix iTunes error 3194.
Fix iTunes Error 3194:
There are couple of ways to fix this error let’s discuss them in detail.
Case 1: If you need to restore to an earlier firmware version and if your SHSH blobs are saved in Cydia (Saurik) server:
Method 1:
In this case you need to trick iTunes and make it believe that’s it’s communicating with Apple servers while in reality it’s communicating with Saurik’s (Cydia) servers. It’s a very easy process all you need to do is edit your hosts.txt file and add the following line:
74.208.151.171 gs.apple.com
Just like this:
Here’s how you can find and edit hosts.txt file on your computer:
Apple OS X Snow Leopard & Leopard
- Open Terminal (Click Spotlight, or press Command+Space. Now type terminal.)
- Copy and paste the following code into Terminal
sudo /Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit /etc/hosts - Press Enter.
- Add 74.208.151.171 gs.apple.com.
- Save by pressing Command+S, click Save.
Apple OSX 10.4.X Tiger
- Open Terminal (Click Spotlight, or press Command+Space. Now type terminal.)
- In Terminal type, ‘sudo pico /etc/hosts‘, press Enter.
- Insert 74.208.151.171 gs.apple.com.
- Press Ctrl+X, then Y to save.
- Type ’sudo niload -v -m hosts . < /etc/hosts’, press Enter
- Type ‘lookupd -flushcache’, press Enter.
Microsoft Windows 7 / Vista
- Click Start -> All Programs -> Accessories.
- Right click “Notepad” and select “Run as administrator”
- Click Yes on the UAC prompt.
- Click File -> Open.
- Change the file filter drop down box from “Text Documents (*.txt)” to “All Files (*.*)”.
- Browse to “C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc”.
- Select “hosts” and click “Open”.
- Insert 74.208.151.171 gs.apple.com.
- Close Notepad. Click Save when prompted.
Microsoft XP/2003/2000
- Browse to Start > Programs > Accessories > Notepad.
- Click File > Open.
- Browse to “C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc”.
- Select “All Files (*.*)” from the Files of Type drop-down menu.
- Select “hosts” and click “Open”.
- Insert 74.208.151.171 gs.apple.com.
- Close Notepad. Save when prompted.
Case 2: If you need to restore to a firmware version that is currently being signed by Apple:
Method 1:
You need to remove any line on your hosts file that has something like 74.208.151.171 gs.apple.com from your hosts file. You can also add ‘#’ in front of it e.g. # 74.208.151.171 gs.apple.com.
Method 2 (via RedmondPie):
You can also use TinyUmbrella to fix iTunes Error 3194, here’s how you can do that.
Step 1: Download the latest version of TinyUmbrella for Windows or Mac.
Step 2: Switch to “Advanced” tab and uncheck “Set Hosts to Cydia on Exit” option.
Step 3: Click on “Apply Changes”, followed by restarting your PC or Mac.
That’s it guys! You should not get iTunes 3194 error if you’ve followed this guide completely. If you’re still getting the same same error then you should change your computer for a restore (this works).
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