iPhone Activation Problem!

[Yasinali]

okay so heres what happened,

my mates dad found a iphone in his taxi and sold it to me,
i checked if it was blocked and it wasnt,
the only thing i didnt have for it was the simcard and i it wasnt unlocked to all the networks! everything else was working pperfectly!
i conneccted my iphone to itunes and left it on,
my lil brother came and pressed restore,
so i let it restore and when i turn the iphone back on its says put in a valid sim card and connect to itunes, but the problem is that i dont have a valid sim card and if i put in some other sim in it and connect it to itunes, itunes says please enter a valid sim card!

is there any way i can activate it without a sim?

oh and i've already tried most networks ( o2,t mobile,vodafone)

[YankeeFan802]

A "valid" simcard would be one from AT&T since that's the only provider that sells iPhones. In order to "unlock" the phone for use on other networks, you would need to jailbreak it and install ultrasn0w. Then, and only then will you be able to use it with iTunes.

Now, may I ask this. When you turn the phone on, does it go the springboard (Homescreen with all the icons)?

I'll provide additional information once that question is answered.

[Yasinali]

Originally Posted by YankeeFan802 A "valid" simcard would be one from AT&T since that's the only provider that sells iPhones. In order to "unlock" the phone for use on other networks, you would need to jailbreak it and install ultrasn0w. Then, and only then will you be able to use it with iTunes. Now, may I ask this. When you turn the phone on, does it go the springboard (Homescreen with all the icons)? I'll provide additional information once that question is answered.

i live in the uk so its not on an exclusive network,
oh and when i turn it on it says "put in a valid sim card and connect to itunes",
i cant see any any of my apps!

[Devil]

I know people that run their iPhones on T-mobile, but no other.

You have two options:

1. Get a valid SIM card.
2. Jailbreak it, and then get the unlock for the version it's currently on.

EDIT:

Since you can't see your springboard, you won't be able to jailbreak and unlock.
If you go to the carrier who owns it, they won't give you a sim card anyway. (unless you have proof you bought it)
You could buy a SIM card off of amazon or something... otherwise, there's no way.

[Frey]

Ask your friends if they have an AT&T SIM card

that you may be bale to borrow

[YankeeFan802]

Originally Posted by Frey Ask your friends if they have an AT&T SIM card that you may be bale to borrow

It's different for iPhone users in Europe. They need an o2 sim card I believe.