Error 3194 is encountered during downgrading or restoring your iDevice. Why does this occur in first place?, Are there easy ways to fix it? Well, lets discuss it all.
Apple has been very selective when it comes to the apps and features so much so that every App has to go through a rigorous screening procedure before being accepted on App store. This has its own advantages and disadvantages.
No matter how many good apps are on App Store, we always want more. Tempting us to Jailbreak our device, which is known to unleash the dormant features and bring in a host of new apps. Though legal, it has its own issues. The worst being “errors”.
Moreover Apple doesn’t support jailbroken devices, that means you need to restore your iDevice to the default system before you take your device to the support.
What if you get stuck while restoring? Anything worse? No, I guess. It can be frustrating when you can’t restore or downgrade your iOS.
What exactly is Error 3194?
Most of the iPhone users who encounter it are either trying to downgrade or restore their iPhone to an older iOS version and in majority of the cases the iPhones are jailbroken which changes the system host file to point to Cydia’s SHSH caching server.
How do we fix this error?
Though it may seem to be a pretty complicated process what we need to do is, temporarily block Apple’s firmware signing services as the issue seems to be triggered when unsigned firmware is used.
Ways to Fix Error 3194
Option A
This method involves adding a line of text to one file
1)Locate your hosts file and open it using Notepad
Mac OS X >> Go->Go To Folder->and type /etc.
Windows >> c:windowssystem32driversetchosts
2)Add this line to the bottom:
#74.208.105.171 gs.apple.com
3) Now, Connect your device to the computer & Launch iTunes
4) Put device into DFU Mode by turning your device off and then holding down the sleep and power button for 10 seconds, then release the power button but hold onto the home button until iTunes tells you that the device is now in recover mode
5)Now you can Restore using iTunes
PS. When done, remove the “#74.208.105.171 gs.apple.com” line from your hosts file again so that iTunes can properly update as usual.
Option B
The above method is pretty simple but still if you are too lazy or noobish and want a software to do the task for you, you got to download TinyUmbrella.
1) Open the software; select “Advanced” then uncheck “Set Hosts to Cydia on Exit”
2) Click on Start TSS Server, now you should see “TinyUmbrella’s TSS server is running”
3) Now Connect your iDevice to the computer and launch iTunes while keeping TinyUmbrella Running.
4) Hold the Shift Key and Click on Restore in iTunes and browse for the IPSW file
If you device gets stuck in recovery mode, you can use tools like iPhuc, iNdependence, iBricker, RecBoot or irecovery
So now Error 3194 should be fixed!
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