The "loader not found" error persists because the developers of those original tools have moved on. The most "updated" fix is to and use the web-based TotallyNotSpyware exploit, which has better compatibility for the iPhone 9,3 (3d101ap) board.

If the developer servers are geo-restricted, activate a reliable VPN and try the download sequence again. Technical Summary for Hardware Verification

What or command-line script are you executing?

The error message is a specific technical hurdle often encountered by users attempting to restore, update, or jailbreak older iPhone models—specifically the iPhone 7 (which corresponds to the internal identifier iPhone9,3 ).

While this specific message can appear in various contexts, users most frequently encounter it during attempts to using professional-grade tools.

: In mobile forensics and custom restoration routines, a loader is a mini-program or ramdisk loaded into the device's volatile memory (RAM) via exploitation (like checkm8) to execute low-level commands.

The iPhone 7 has a specific sequence for DFU mode. If the loaders fail, it often results in the device getting stuck in a "Soft DFU" mode that standard iTunes restores cannot fix.

: The script trying to download the dynamic boot payload from the developer's server is blocked by a local firewall or a dead server link. Step-by-Step Fixes to Update and Resolve the Error 1. Force-Update Your Flashing or Servicing Tool

: The internal hardware identifier used by Apple for the iPhone 7 family. Specifically, iPhone9,1 and iPhone9,3 represent the standard iPhone 7 variants, while iPhone9,2 and iPhone9,4 represent the iPhone 7 Plus.

When a flashing tool reports that the "loader is not found," it generally indicates:

To better assist you, could you specify you are using when this error pops up? Let me know the exact iOS version currently installed on the device so I can provide precise folder paths or specific firmware links. Share public link

If 3uTools fails at 19% or 20% and iTunes reports Error 9 , this strongly indicates that the NAND chip is physically damaged or disconnected, commonly known as a NAND bootloop.

3uTools maintains a local cache of device loaders. If the cache is corrupt or you haven’t updated 3uTools itself, the software will search for iphone9_3d101ap_loader.bin and fail if an updated version is missing.