This accessory was not made to work with iPhone...

stevetim · 12-07-2007, 03:05 AM

Well, I am discovering my first real problem with my phone.

No matter what mode I am in, or how my phone is set up, I am getting the constant message, "This accessory was not made to work with iPhone". It asks me below the headline if I want to set the phone to Airline mode.

Thing is, there is NOTHING plugged into my phone. I've done a reset, tried blowing some compressed air into the dock port and headphone port to loosen any dust that may have been the cause, to no avail.

I've also done a restore and reset to see if this was somehow software related. It started gradually and incrementally, but now is constantly happening.

Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this so far.

Obviously I am taking my phone to Apple to see what they do.

scandalex · 12-07-2007, 04:21 AM

Hey Steve, you havent said which accessory you are using that's giving you that message.

stevetim · 12-07-2007, 05:15 AM

Thing is, there is NOTHING plugged into my phone. I've done a reset, tried blowing some compressed air into the dock port and headphone port to loosen any dust that may have been the cause, to no avail.

I've never even plugged in any speaker systems or anything.

The only thing that ever got or gets plugged into the dock port, is the USB cable to my MacBook, or to the wall charger.

It's really probably just a bad circuit in the dock port.

ArEa_CoDe_415 · 12-07-2007, 06:10 AM

I had the exact same problem with my 1st iPhone. I took it back to the apple store and they replaced it right away.

Lincoln · 12-07-2007, 07:57 AM

I've heard of this issue popping up a few times here and there.

Apple fixed it.

- John

Griffinaz · 12-07-2007, 08:32 AM

A while back a coworker of mine told me he had to pop out the sim and put it back in to fix that error on his phone. I dont see how that could be the cause but what happened in his case was that he dropped his phone and that message came on. Reseating the sim fixed it in his case (maybe it got knocked loose). Might be worth a try.

Kabeyun · 12-07-2007, 08:42 AM

This happened to me too, and I fixed the problem as Griffinaz reported; popping out & reseating the SIM card. I'm no circuit whiz, I just decided to try playing with every moving part. Either this will work for you or Apple will replace. EIther way you should be OK. Frustrating, tho.

-K

termleech · 12-07-2007, 10:05 AM

I've also seen reports that plugging and unplugging headphones in will remove this issue. YMMV.

stevetim · 12-07-2007, 04:38 PM

It didn't have anything to do with headphones or the sim chip.

It's a docking port problem and it seems the port is somehow shorting or bridging some kind of connection within it's own terminal contacts.

I took the phone into Apple today, told them the problem and what I did to try to fix it. The Genius seemed confident he could get it to work. Nope. When he was toying with the phone, he thought he fixed it when he was in the Sounds menu and playing back a ringtone. I told him, "No, of course ringtones can play when something is docked to the phone like an external speaker system. But, you won't be able to get the iPod function to play through the speakers and the popup message will keep...popping up. Basically the phone thinks something is plugged into it that it is not compatible with.".

After this, he gave up and just gave me a new phone. It was 1.1.1 BTW.

I also asked if he had seen this problem and he didn't hesitate with a, "Oh yeah".

flaang · 02-18-2008, 02:47 PM

I have the same problem. After having the iphone in my bathroom the message appears almost every 4 seconds. I think some condensate got into it.
I would take the iphone in an apple store but my problem is I bought the phone in the USA and now I am back in Germany. Is it possible that I just go into a T Mobile store and ask them to replace it? My second and may be the bigger problem is that I unlocked the phone so I am not using an T-Mobile plan. Do you think it is still possible to get the phone replaced. Or would it be better to lock the phone again before taking it to the store?
Thanks a lot for your answers in advance!!

Originally Posted by stevetim

It didn't have anything to do with headphones or the sim chip.

It's a docking port problem and it seems the port is somehow shorting or bridging some kind of connection within it's own terminal contacts.

I took the phone into Apple today, told them the problem and what I did to try to fix it. The Genius seemed confident he could get it to work. Nope. When he was toying with the phone, he thought he fixed it when he was in the Sounds menu and playing back a ringtone. I told him, "No, of course ringtones can play when something is docked to the phone like an external speaker system. But, you won't be able to get the iPod function to play through the speakers and the popup message will keep...popping up. Basically the phone thinks something is plugged into it that it is not compatible with.".

After this, he gave up and just gave me a new phone. It was 1.1.1 BTW.

I also asked if he had seen this problem and he didn't hesitate with a, "Oh yeah".