⟐ Commented Şubat 24, 2025 at 14:02 GMT-7

History: Two or three years ago, my son was given this watch; the screen was coming off and wouldn't stay in place. I ordered a new battery and force touch sensor for it and replaced the swollen battery, sealed it back up after verifying it was working, and sent it back to him. He must have used it for a year or so, then decided to upgrade, whereupon it went into a box where it sat for another year or possibly longer.

He eventually asked if I wanted it, and I said sure, I'll take it. Once it arrived, I ordered a charger and tried to bring it up. I got the red exclamation mark in a circle with the text "support.apple.com/watch/restore" underneath it in white.

Okay, I'm thinking probably a dead battery by now, given how long it's been sitting, so I ordered one from iFixit. Put it in and tried to charge it; after that it would show the Apple logo for a second then shut back off. I tried every internet solution there was out there for button presses, reseating the battery connector, hard reset, three presses on the crown, etc. Finally went to try the last one which was to let the battery die. Took a two or three weeks as I recall, but it finally did.

Back on the charger again, eventually started showing the red snake, which turned green when it was on the charger, but from there it was stuck. The snake would never go away; I could sometimes get the apple logo for a second with a hard reset (both buttons held down) but it would go right back to the snake afterwards. Spent another couple of months fiddling with it again, but never could get it to do anything else.

Finally requested a replacement battery from iFixit, which they shipped out promptly. With the new battery, I was back to the apple logo again, at least. Once more went through all the internet solutions, but no change. Let it die again, which took something like another two or three weeks, but eventually it started showing the red snake and finally wouldn't turn on.

Back on the charger again, and in a while it showed the green snake while on the charger, then red when off, but it seemed to continue to charge, as the snake went away and now it's back to the one second Apple logo and back off again.

So that's where I'm currently stuck at. If it was an iPhone, iPad or iPod, I'd do a restore, but with the watch not having been paired to a device, there's no way to connect to it to do a restore.

I'm out of ideas, so I'm hoping the iFixit community can help me out. I've been looking at the possibility of an iBus S1 programming cable, but honestly the $70 or $80 it's going to cost me is putting me off, especially when I get buy a working watch for less than that; there's one on eBay right now in good condition with charger and extra watch bands for $59.

I admit I just don't want to accept defeat, but I'm having a hard time with the idea of buying a tool that costs more than the watch is worth.

What do you guys think, any ideas for me?

This isn't so much an answer as it is an update with the hope that someone has some suggestions.

The watch has been relegated to a box as the only other thing I could think of to do was to purchase an iBus S1 adapter that would allow me to connect the watch to a computer and use iTunes to do a restore. That was put on hold due to the cost of the iBus adapter, so I set up an eBay search and let it run for the last couple of years. I just couldn't justify paying more for the adapter than what I could buy a perfectly functional Watch.

Welp, the search finally paid off and I picked up the S1 at a reasonable cost. I was able to plug the watch into my computer and see it come up. When I click on Update, however, it doesn't go to the Apple servers, but rather opens up a file open menu looking for an IPSW file (which, of course, I don't have).

I then went and downloaded 3uTools, which gave me a little more information. What I found is that the watch is stuck in Recovery mode. I can click the button to exit recovery mode, but it just comes back up in recovery mode again. It turns out that I can actually get it into DFU mode as well, but once you exit that, you're back in Recovery mode.

So I went looking through the Flash options on 3uTools, with no luck for the simple reason I can't find an IPSW file for that watch. At this point it appears there are no longer any firmware updates left that are signed for the watch1,2 version. As far as I can tell, the Series 3 is the oldest that can still be updated with iTunes, and also the oldest one available on 3uTools.

The last resort I can find is the company called MFC that makes and/or distributes the iBus adapters has software and IPSW downloads that may be able to get this watch updated, but now I'm right back at the same point where I can't justify paying $79 USD for a license when I can buy a fully functional watch on eBay for around $50, some as low as $35.

So, any ideas out there? Is there a way to update the watch without a signed IPSW? Is there a software tool I haven't found yet that can do the job for less than the cost of a watch? Have I missed anything? I'm certainly open to ideas at this point.

P.S. I happened to pick up both an iBus S1 and an S2 in case anyone needs the use of one, I'd be happy to help.

⟐ Edited by author Ocak 21, 2025 at 22:35 GMT-7

the watch battery lasts about 5 hours and I want to change it.

Question no. 1: can I use an aftermarket battery with a capacity of 530 mah or can I look for the original 310 mah battery?

Question no. 2: Are they compatible with my watch model? "YKaiserin Battery APP00296 530mAh for fossil Gen 5 Gen5/for Julianna HR FTW6035 Battery" or "Battery for Apack APP00296 for fossil Gen 5/Fossil Julianna HR FTW6035 310mAh 3.8V + tools" I don't know if I'm allowed to leave a link from AliExpress and I left only the name.

I'm open to suggestions if you have better solutions.

Thanks for the help :D

⟐ Answered Aralık 14, 2024 at 17:45 GMT-7

⟐ Answered Haziran 14, 2024 at 9:59 GMT-7

⟐ Answered Mayıs 11, 2024 at 8:15 GMT-7

⟐ Answered Nisan 29, 2024 at 17:43 GMT-7

⟐ Commented Şubat 21, 2024 at 20:03 GMT-7

I believe the issue has something to do with the backlight, but I have almost no knowledge of how that works or how I would go about troubleshooting/fixing it. The screen seems to have its full range of color, and the appearance of water under the screen disappeared a few days after I got it back up and running. The dimness varies from practically off to occasional full brightness (these moments are rare and usually fleeting). While dim, none of the software brightness controls have any effect, including the brightening of the screen when leaving ambient mode. I haven't been able to pinpoint anything that causes it to suddenly become bright for a while, but it has happened. For a while it would stay bright until I brought the watch out of ambient mode (by taking it off the charger, tapping the screen, or raising it as if to look at it), at which point it would immediately go dim again - a behavior I found particularly perplexing. However, I haven't seen this happen for a while. The most recent bright moment I had was after running around for a while (which may be a coincidence), and that time it actually started working as it was supposed to. Sadly, my excitement was short lived, as the screen went dim again the next day. I want to say the screen also stayed bright for a while after a cold day, but my memory is a bit foggier on that instance. It might have been a dream. :p I may be forgetting some details, but I'd be happy to answer questions that might help you pinpoint a cause for my problem.

TL;DR: My screen is dim after some water damage, and I would love some tips on troubleshooting and hopefully fixing the issue.

⟐ Answer accepted Ocak 11, 2024 at 7:38 GMT-7

⟐ Commented Kasım 20, 2023 at 7:05 GMT-7

Now my display works fine, force touch works fine, but I cannot get my Apple Pay working. When I double press the power button it shows my credit card and message "Move closer...", but the payment terminal doesn't see my watch. (It was working fine before the screen/force touch replacement)

The question is am I right the force touch gasket is the NFC antenna? Am I missing something? Maybe some wire contact or some additional gasket

⟐ Answered Eylül 20, 2023 at 4:19 GMT-7

⟐ Commented Ağustos 08, 2023 at 8:36 GMT-7

⟐ Commented Mayıs 30, 2023 at 17:13 GMT-7

⟐ Answered Nisan 12, 2023 at 20:27 GMT-7

⟐ Answer edited Mart 09, 2023 at 11:28 GMT-7

⟐ Answered Şubat 06, 2023 at 22:31 GMT-7

My ticwatch pro 3 is still working but in the last week or so I've noticed a big degradation in battery life.

I cannot seem to find any replacement batteries. There are a couple on AliExpress. Both require welding which I am not prepared to do, and one of them is those fake "high capacity" batteries so I refuse to give business to companies that lie about specifications.

There were none at all on eBay (UK).

Any ideas? Can I buy one from mobvoi?

Thanks!

⟐ Commented Ocak 26, 2023 at 19:07 GMT-7

How do I reattach the screen?

⟐ Answered Ocak 16, 2023 at 20:05 GMT-7

The physical replacement went well and I got the watch back together fine (actually easier than I anticipated getting into the watch). When I first put it on the charger (OEM charger and cord by the way) I got what people have termed the “Green Snake of Death”. My amp meter after some initial swings seemed to settle in at around 0.32amps with occasional moments of zeroing out. Even when leaving it on the charger for an extended time I never noticed the watch getting excessively warm. Overall, I assume the battery was charging. After multiple attempts I have not seen the “green snake” anymore and now the battery will at times power to the Apple logo and turn off (never actually power cycling though on it’s own). So basically it appears to be at the same status as before the replacement.

Has anyone been successful getting beyond a similar situation on a consistent basis? I assume that as with the iPhone there is logic involved in the whole charging system and that somewhere an IC on the motherboard, the battery and the charger are not communicating with each other correctly. Any ideas? Thanks.

⟐ Commented Eylül 08, 2022 at 11:59 GMT-7

⟐ Answered Temmuz 03, 2022 at 19:17 GMT-7

⟐ Commented Mayıs 24, 2022 at 10:34 GMT-7