This concerns all of us, hackers, developers, users, and end-users. A few weeks back, we witnessed the release of the new Ultrasn0w package available through Cydia, on which you could actually "unlock" your iPhone 3Gs by having an iPad baseband installed through Redsn0w.
However, there has been several postings I have seen concerning users not being able to perform the so called "simple" task to jailbreak and unlock their iPhones 3Gs running 4.2.1. software.
First thing you want to know before updating your iPhone 3Gs, is that there were no chances of returning to an old baseband. Therefore, attempting to restore your iPhone for whatever reason (stuck, application bug, virus, whatever thing you could have messed it with, etc) would result in obtaining an error when attempting to restore.
As you can imagine, the iPhone 3Gs firmware was originally designed to work with an iPhone's baseband. If you attempted to recover your iPhone, iTunes would not sign the firmware as the build is not compatible.
I own a 3Gs myself, and decided to take chances giving what it takes (loosing carrier unlock) to determine what was going on.
The so called issues constantly being posted on several blogs are:
- iPhone Stuck at Boot After Installing Ultrasn0w
- iPhone Stuck at DFU Mode After Installing Ultrasn0w
- iPhone Stuck at Apple Logo After Installing Ultrasn0w
- iPhone Not Connecting or Receiving GPS
I'm the type of guy that goes with little less conversation and more action, so I started the jailbreak process as most of you guys know it. However, I did run Redsn0w without updating my 4.0.2 firmware. In result, I had a jailbroken phone with Cydia, iOS 4.0.2 and an iPad basband 6.15.00.
This caused me a lot of trouble, I installed Ultrasn0w and all that I've got was an iPhone stuck at the Apple screen (iBrick). I Googled' for a possible solution, however, none of them seemed to work or seems to work. I tried the following, if you want to know or avoid:
1. Using RecBoot, and all existing kick-out-of-recovery apps
2. Restore from original iPhone software
3. Re-Jailbreak
... among others.
After 14 hours and several attempts of having my iBrick fixed, I came along to the easiest solution ever found on the web. I know it will work for you, however, the results might differ considering I'm a boot camp user, meaning I'm using a Mac with both Operating Systems (Mac OS Snow Leopard, and Windows 7).
Most of the suggested solutions on the web do not emphasize on the DFU mode. I somehow managed to get all the points of desperation where I got stuck at DFU Mode, Recovery Mode (Connect to iTunes), and finally and the hardest one is the Apple Logo (not recognized by iTunes, or PC).
These above mentioned situations came after my several attempts to re-jailbreak and re-attempt to install the Ultrasn0w software. The way I did was as follows:
1. Had my iPhone stuck at recovery, boot, or any other vegetal status.
2. Whatever the status is, I needed it to be at (connect to iTunes) screen.
3. Ran Pwnage 4.1.3 for MacOS (I downloaded it from Dev-Team's Page) using the iPhone 3Gs bundle that is described on the Update 3 from their blog.
4. After having the custom-firmware on my desktop, I proceeded to bring my iPhone to DFU mode by using the Pwnage Tool. This only worked after bringing the iPhone into the "Connect to iTunes" screen, then it allowed me to proceed with the DFU mode using Pwnage. To get the "Connect to iTunes" screen, just unplug your iPhone (whatever mode or status is at), press and hold the power and home button for a few seconds until the screen turns black, release both buttons, reconnect by pressing and holding the home button.
5. Updated iTunes to the latest version (currently 10.1.1), and in DFU mode provided by the Pwnage tool, restored my iPhone 3Gs using the Custom-Firmware I created. (To run restore, press and hold shift and click on restore from iTunes, or press and hold alt from a Mac).
6. iTunes will run a full Recovery on your iPhone, no matter which firmware you had (remember I was running 4.0.2 with baseband 6.15.00). Wait for iTunes to restore your iPhone.
7. I used an AT&T SIM Card to activate the phone from iTunes, just to activate not to unlock it. Activation is a process on which iTunes allows you to use the phone features, not to use any carrier.
8. I ran the Jailbreak (without installing the baseband, since I had it already) using Redsn0w's Latest Version.
9. Once Cydia was installed, updated all basic resources and it asked me to reboot device.
10. Ran Redsn0w once again to boot thethering mode. If you're not familiar with the term, Google it.
11. I installed Ultrasn0w and waited for the installation to complete. (This is where it gets tricky). Since I was scared of rebooting my device knowing the previous consequences, I just pressed the Home Button when it asked me to reboot the device.
THE RESULT: My iPhone 3Gs is now unlocked, however, I can't take my chances and reboot my device unless I want to see it stuck again.
THE SOLUTION: Running my iPhone on 4.2.1, and Unlocked with another carrier, leaves me only one option, which is to wait for any upcoming updates. Check the Dev-Team's blog, they're planning on a downgrade method for all of us running the iPad baseband.
I've been doing this since the very first iPod touch, and it turns very amazing how they work on stuff for us. I hope you guys find this helpful. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments.
FYI: I'm using an iPhone 3Gs running a new boot, iOS 4.2.1, 6.15.00 baseband.
