The recovery mode problem as ive found so far is unfixable apple geeks said its toast as well as att. Ive tryed redsn0w and tinyumbrella to kick it out of recovery mode and it does but restarts right back into it. Itunes fails to update or restore. This is a significant risk to be sure, i had no problems changing the battery no clips broken no unnecessary prying and its well powered brick now.on the plus side im gonna leave it plugged in cause im hoping the added power drain will end the zombie apoc sooner.