Effectively bricked some iPads

Praisethesun
New Contributor II

Hi JN!

I'll make it short 'n sweet -

Applied a configuration to some devices that had the following unchecked
1. Allow USB restricted mode (iOS 11.3 or later, supervised only)
2. Allow connection to unmanaged Wi-Fi networks (supervised only)

There was no wifi payload in the config file

After applying it, I couldn't DFU or recover the iPad by connecting to a Mac as it had the tether capability disabled

Has anyone experienced this and was there a light at the end of the tunnel for you?

My only take away is that I didn't do this to more devices. I'd definitely be out of a job.

Thank you for reading.

4 REPLIES 4

RLR
Valued Contributor

Apparently, having the USB Restricted Mode box unchecked allows the device to connect to USB accessories.

See responses in this thread:
https://www.jamf.com/jamf-nation/feature-requests/7671/config-profile-option-to-disable-restrict-usb-added-in-ios-11-4-1

So you should still be able to get the iPads in DFU mode: Turn off device > Plug into MAC > Hold down home button as it turns on. Have to be quite quick.

mschroder
Valued Contributor

@Praisethesun I had a problem like that last year, I already thought the iPad would be a total loss :( Found a hint somewhere that even if the iPad is not allowed to connect to a Mac via USB, it can share the Mac's network connection! So connect the iPad, enable 'Internet Sharing' on the Mac, and the iPad will be able to receive updated profiles from the MDM, like the needed wifi payload. Good luck!

larry_barrett
Valued Contributor

Boot into recovery, wipe (make sure you're in right prestage) and tick off that restriction. You could try doing it via Apple Configurator 2 but you would have had to establish trust before the 14.1 update with the new restriction.

Praisethesun
New Contributor II

Thanks everyone, I got in touch with an Apple Solutions Architect and he was very patient with me

I just had to plug into the Mac, hold home and power button WITH APPLE CONFIGURATOR CLOSED, and although I still get the error 'This ipad is supervised by another computer', I can still Restore

So all up and running. Cheers for the responses :)