iPhone 3GS stuck in recovery mode

This isn't jailbreak related. The phone was in use on a call when the battery completely died, and now the phone won't come out of recovery mode. I've tried Tiny Umbrella but it still loops. I've also got iRecovery but my command line knowledge is limited and I'm stuck on a couple of steps (terminal says "setenv: command not found"). From memory it was running iOS 5 when it died (it's not my phone, I'm helping a mate out).

I've been following the instructions on this page:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=864248

There is nothing on the phone that needs to be retained, this is only being repaired so it can be gifted to a family member.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

 

Actually I'm stuck on the first one; typing iRecovery -s give me an "invalid option" error...

 

Have you tried taking it out of DFU mode? To do so, just hold the home button and the power button at the same time until the Apple logo appears and then you can release both buttons. Hopefully, you will see the "Connect to iTunes" logo again, and then TinyUmbrella should work.
Also you can get out iPhone stuck in recovery mode with iPhone Data Recovery, which can solve the problem without any data lose

 

You also can try for these.
First is is to put your iPhone in DFU mode.
Step 1. Turn off iPhone
Step 2. Hold down the power and home button.
Step 3. When you see the Apple logo, release the power button but continue holding the home button down.
Step 4. Open iTunes and wait for it to tell you that it’s in restore mode.

Second is to fix with a iPhone Data Recovery tool.
Step 1: Fix the Problem of iPhone Stuck in Recovery Mode
Step 2: Recover Data from your iPhone Directly
Step 3: Recover Lost Data from iTunes Backup