Ever gotten the message iTunes error 3194 after you’ve tried upgrading your iOS devices? It can be confusing to know which steps to take to fix this issue. The problem occurs because iTunes can’t connect with Apple’s update servers when you’re trying to update, sync, or restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod.
Once you see a window with the message that looks like this: “The iPhone could not be restored. An unknown error occurred (3194),” you’ll know you need to follow some steps to check and edit your host files and remedy the problem. Here’s what you should do:
First, you’ll need to make sure that iTunes is stopped on your computer. Open the host files on your computer – for Windows users, type in “c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts” and for Mac users, type in “/ect/hosts”. Then, you’ll open hosts files with administrator rights by copying “74.208.105.171 gs.apple.com” into the last line of the host file. Then save the file.
Connect your iPhone (or whichever device is giving you problems) to your PC with a USB cable, and then open iTunes. Press the power button for 10 seconds to turn off your iPhone.
For the next step, you’ll want to put your iOS device into DFU (Device Firmware Update) mode. To do this, turn off the device, and hold down the home and power buttons for 10 seconds. Release the power button, but keep holding the home button down until iTunes notifies you that the device is in recovery mode. You should note that restoring your device will erase all the data on it, so it’s always a good idea to continually back up your device with iTunes or iCloud.
Once the update is finished, you should go back to the hosts file and remove the “74.208.105.171 gs.apple.com” part so that iTunes can update properly the next time. This step is important to ensure that there aren’t future errors when you update or install new iOS versions.
If after adding “74.208.105.171 gs.apple.com”, you’re still getting the iTunes error 3194 message, go back and add “#” and a space in front of the gs.apple.com entry. This means you’re voiding the gs.apple.com IP line. It should look like this: “#74.208.10.249 gs.apple.com”. Then make sure to save the hosts file and restart your computer. After you restart, you can go ahead and restore or update your device like normal.
If after trying all of these steps you still find that you’re stuck with the iPhone error 3194 then you should consider downloading dr.fone-repair from Wondershare. Known for its high success rate and easy user interface, dr.fone-repair easily fixes most iOS-related problems with the added benefit of absolutely no data loss.
You can always get professional assistance by heading to the Genius Bar at your nearest Apple store location. But make sure to try out these steps first to see if it will remedy the issue!
