0

I have an old iPad 2 (not used for a while with a sim card) that I want to use as a kindle reader. The battery was so dead that it now wants me "activate" again and complains about a missing sim card. Is there a hack to get past this? iTunes shows my old music on it, but I don't get past the activation screen...

More details (I don't know how to do the screenshot).

iTunes on Mac says:

The iPad "[name]" could not be activated because the activation information could not be obtained from the device.
Disconnect your iPad, make sure the SIM card is inserted correctly and, if you use a SIM PIN, tap Unlock to enter it, and then reconnect your iPad.

On the iPad it says (after I entered by passcode and got wifi connected):

Your iPad could not be activated because the activation server is temporarily unavailabe. Try connecting your iPad to iTunes to activate it, or try again in a couple of minutes. If this problem persists, contact Apple Support at apple.com/support.

Of course I searched the web. The server unavailable seems to be complete BS. Again, my question is: How do I get forward?

On iTunes, I do not even have the option to do a factory reset. It just shows my music.

Added: Tetsujin your link did it. I logged onto my iCloud and deleted that iPad from Find My iPhone. Now all is well again! Many many thanks!!

Nimesh Neema
  • 51,809
max_zorn
  • 215
  • 3
    You can activate over wifi, no SIM required - for everything else, see How can I bypass Activation Lock? – Tetsujin Mar 04 '18 at 11:06
  • Two choices, put a SIM card in it long enough to activate it (borrow one from another device or friend) (I don’t believe the SIM card even needs active service but I’m unsure on that point) —OR— plug it into iTunes. Google “activating iPhone without SIM” there are 100’s of articles if you use “iPhone” rather than “iPad” in your search, the same details apply to an iPad. – Tyson Mar 04 '18 at 13:41
  • I tried the ipad plug into itunes - as I wrote, it does not work... – max_zorn Mar 04 '18 at 17:56
  • Please add a screenshot (e.g. by using another device to take a picture of your iPad with the message shown) so we can better find out which problem you are facing. Activation can mean several things, unfortunately – nohillside Mar 04 '18 at 20:41

0 Answers0