I have an iPhone that may have gotten a little bit of water in it after the warranty expired.. the result is that the dock connector is fouled up. This page is NOT for people who plug their iPhone into a docking device and get a warning – this is for people who get a random warning for no good reason. Also, if your warranty is still valid, ONLY try the first fix, then take the phone in for a replacement. The second and third fix are for phones that are broken without warranty.
There are two primary symptoms of a faulty dock connector:
1. The external speakers do not click or play music from iPod, but they do make noise when the phone rings.
2. At random times a notice comes up that says, “This accessory is not made to work with iPhone Charging is not supported with this accessory. Would you like to turn on Airplane Mode to reduce audio interference? You will not be able to make or receive calls.”

This accessory is not made to work with iPhone
The bad news is, there is definitely a problem with your dock connector. The good news is that there are 3 fixes to help you on your way.
The first fix is a simple hardware cleaning. The solution entails cleaning the docking area of your phone. I suggest using a dry soft bristled tooth brush. Some people have suggested using compressed air and vacuum tools. The key with this cleaning is to not make the problem worse by being too aggressive, and don’t use water! There may be other solvents that work, but I can’t recommend any (offer suggestions if you like). The idea here is that some kind of debris is in your dock making the iPhone think a device is trying to connect. Remove the debris and fix the device! (maybe)
THIS IS THE INTERNET. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK.
The first fix works if debris caused the error, but not if the dock is actually faulty. My dock was faulty, but I was able to make the error go away with a trick – the trick basically disables the airplane warning inside the firmware. This fix does have risk, but I will make it as easy as possible. This fix works for firmware 2.2.1 and 3.0. If you can confirm that it works for other firmwares please let me know. At the time of this article, The 3GS phone is not jailbroken, so I can’t tell if it works there.
- The phone must be jailbroken. This is a deal-breaker for some, but I highly recommend it. To get details on jailbreaking, check out http://blog.iphone-dev.org. This isn’t a jailbreak tutorial, so do that and come back.
- After the phone is jailbroken, you will need to open up Cydia. There, you will be asked which kind of user you are. Choose “Developer” (it’s okay if you’re not a developer) then run the upgrades in Cydia.
- You’ll need install a package called OpenSSH. The open ssh program allows you to get to the inner workings of your iphone from a regular computer. To find it, go to Search (in Cydia) and search for OpenSSH.
- You’ll also need a program called wget, it’s a program that allows you to download files from the internet on the command line. Search Cydia for wget and install it.
- A choice: If you want to do this directly on the iphone, install MobileTerminal from Cydia, otherwise you’ll need to check your wireless router to find out the ip for your iphone so you can log in with ssh (usually something like 192.168.1.##)
- If you’re going to use SSH: If you’re using ssh you’ll need a computer with a terminal client. Mac has one built in, but for windows you’ll need to download a program called putty.
On mac: open a terminal and type: ssh root@<iphone ip> wait awhile, accept the key, and then enter “alpine” as the password. (<iphone ip> is the ip number for your iphone, it is an ip number like 192.168.1.100)
On a pc: open putty. In the “Host Name” line, type the ip for your iPhone and then hit “Open”. It will take several seconds. Accept the key, then use “root” as the login and “alpine” as the password.
In Linux: same as mac. (I actually do this fix from Linux because it’s easiest, but i wanted to tailor these instructions for the masses) - For MobileTerminal: Simply open the terminal icon on the iPhone and type: su root <enter>, then the password alpine <enter>.
6. You are in! (Aren’t you?)
7. Now all we need to do is replace the file that causes the warning screen and disables the dock when you are plugged in. Type these commands just like you see them – they will work the same for pretty much everyone (hit enter after each line):
cd /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/IAP.framework/Support/
mv iapd iapd.broken
wget http://www.huanix.com/iapd
chmod 755 iapd
chown root:wheel iapd
exit
exit
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There you go! You just disabled the dock warning nag. When you reboot you shouldn’t see the notice anymore. The external speakers generally work, but depending on how bad the dock is damaged it may or may not exit iPod randomly. So this isn’t a PERFECT fix, but it’s free.
IF something went wrong (?) and you have trouble using your phone, you will want to delete the “replacement” iapd and change the name of the backup to the original. I won’t give instructions here because people tend to copy random snippets of any instruction and i don’t want to confuse anyone.
A few useful notes from yyota@hotmail.com:
This iapd under OS 3.0 is not fully compatible, the process crashreporter keeps writting crash logs coming from iapd, it slows down the iphone a lot!!! It takes 50% cpu every few seconds.
To check this, synchronize your iphone with your Mac then check this folder on your computer:
/Users/xxx/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/MobileDevice/xxx’s iPhone/
It will be full of iapd crash logs!
used this and it fix my problem but now i can’t get sound through any other dock. phone charges but won’t play sound through the dock. deleted for now. one solution to make things easier is to instal iFile through Cydia. just navigate to the folder and do what you need to do.
Major Problem
Lads i done exactly as stated and now my iphone wont turn on just the apple symbol and itunes wont recognise it HELP please
thanks
Colin (Dublin, Ireland)
Hey Colin
Hold both the power button and the home button for like 10 seconds. It will reset it. If it resets and still just shows the logo, hold both buttons forever(approx. 30 secs) and it will enter recovery mode. From there you can restore/rejailbreak…although that my not be your idea of a good idea, at least it is not shot.
thnx friend
i found your post link in a forum and it really helped me to start using my iphone again.
i have left my iphone and was using a nokia instead, but today u gave me my iphone back.
tnx so much again.
(wanted to donate sth, but as min is 10 i cannot donate by PP, if you can accept AP or reduce the min via PP, pliz contact me, i really owe myself here)
RGDS
M. Abdi
strong blow with my mouth on the speaker and it works … thanks anyway
Works perfectly.
Thank you.
Hi,
I followed your instructions above and was so happy to finally stop the “this accessory was not….” message that had been popping up every 5 seconds.
The downside is that now when I’m listening to the iPod [which I do a lot] as soon as I exit out of the iPod and try to text or use another app the iPod stops playing music.
I just restored/unlocked/jailbroke my 2g to 3.1.2 and was so excited [distracted] to have picture text messaging that I followed the steps above to get the “this accessory….” message to stop popping up, fogetting that I had just restored my phone to make my iPod work again.
I really need to undo the steps above so I can make my iPod work again. It’s more frustrating to have my music cut out and my phone not work properly than to have that message pop up.
Has this happened to anyone else?
Hope you can help me!
Thank you!
Ame
So exactly where do you type this code in above. There a lot of files on the iphone when you ssh into and you dont tell me where exactly this code goes. Give me a little insight..
i cant get sound through any docks now… any suggestions?
Hi, anyone got this Hack to work on iPhone 3GS FW 3.0 jaibroaken redsn0w 0.8 ?
Really need to know before i make things go worse for my iPhone that lost speaker sounds and is bugged by annoying pop up
thanks in advance
So as i see some ppl report slow iPhone On 3.0 after applying this hack… i am in 3GS FW 3.0
anyone used this trick on 3GS FW 3.0 ?
Did it help?
Do you have any aftereffects?
Try this ..
HARD power off .. Plug – in Power the power on.
Dismiss Message
Then power off and on again.
worked for me
..Watch the battery indicator , if its got a lightning bolt your good , if not repeat
I get a permissions error when trying to rename the iapd file. Also, the wget function is not recognized. I am using MobileTerminal on a 1st gen iphone under 3.1.2.
Would an easier fix be to replace the dock port itself? It is only $70 from here:
http://www.rapidrepair.com/shop/4114-dock-connector-iphone.html
hey!
two HARD blows in the dock of the iphone and it started working!
thanks:)
FUNCIONA
Estaba confundida acerca de lo que era el dock y estaba tratando de limpiar, aspirar y hasta con un cepillito la entrada de los audifonos..y funcionaba pero al moverlo dejaba de funcionar, :S hehe..
Despues le limpie con cepillo de dientes la entrada donde lo conecto para cargarlo y ya vi que asi , SI FUNCIONO
GRacias por el consejo..
thaks for the advice..
hii…. how can i do it with iphone 3gs?
thanks
compressed air worked great for me.
now mine has crashed down THANK YOU!
I had the error message going on for about a week and my sound was playing up but after cleaning the dock station with a toothbrush and giving it a few hard blows…….it’s working fine again.
Please help! I bought an av cable and got the message saying “This accessory is not supported by this ipod” Well, i fixed it using this, but it only works for 5 SECONDS before it stops!
I get an error.. wget command not found…
Any ideas?
Applied this workaround in FW 3.1.2 .. Will still take the phone to Apple to see if they can repair the dock.
Thanks!
Hey!
It worked perfectly! Thanks.
I can finally hear sound coming out of the speaker!
All I did was used a small, folded piece of paper to gently pull out dust that had collected inside of the dock. It didnt look like much until I started pulling out big pieces and it automatically stopped the error and my sound works perfect again. But that is just dust; water damage would be harder to fix.
Bingo, step 1 worked! Thanks a lot!
Iphone 2g FW 3.12 jailbreak still having the warning error i tried the formula u posted using mobile terminal and got a director or file error what can i do? Thanks
iphone 1st generation firmware 3.1.3
worked great
I used iphone explorer to get into my phone and just replaced the file
Thanks
Amazing workaround! I ordered a new dock connector but for now its working again, thanks!!!
I’ve been trying to get this problem fixed forever. I finally decided to Jailbreak today, I found this page, and it worked! iOS 4 on iPhone 3G
Thanks a lot!
BLOW IT… seriously… it worked…
I was also getting the message and the sound wouldn’t work. All I did was take out the sim card and blow in the sim port a few times, put the sim back in and boom….it works.
It totally worked for me. I did it all from my phone, just enter everything into the terminal in order and correctly
How do you revert back to the old file? I need it to get a dock station to work with my iphone.
thankkkkkkkkk youu weary much…
Hii sooo happy….
Thannnnnnk lot…
That Work…
thhank.,.
Thanks A LOT !!!
It did work!
Regards!
I was able to run the commands after installing openssh and wget. I haven’t tested it but my phone hasn’t crashed and i’m on 4.0.1 on the 3GS.
Hey. I’m not sure where I went wrong. I am have a jailbroken iPhone 3G running ios4. I have an apple cord for USB to av. I was able to run tvout2 and get picture with audio but only for a few seconds. It gave me a different message, something about the accessory not being optimized to work with my device and could interfere with my signal. Then it would stop working. I found this page and tried this out via mobile terminal426 because I can’t ssh over wifi. My pc Internet connection is from my iphone via USB pdanet. The message is gone and now the cord won’t work at all. I don’t think I backed up my original iapd file, if I did I definitely can’t find it. I can ssh into my phone with ifunbox and I can set permissions with ifile & mobile terminal. I have tried a few different iapd files and nothing is working.I can’t restore because I won’t be able to activate my phone without Internet connection but my connection is from my jailbroken phone lol. I am hoping somebody knows where I can find a working iapd for iPhone 3G on ios 4.0 or somebody knows if I went wrong somewhere. Thanks in advance.
hey i cant find wget on cydia! what should i do!
@Christian Ortega
You can go to cydia and search “resupported” for TVout/AV cables having issues. ^^