For those unlucky enough to have "accidentally" upgraded their iPhones to firmware version 3.1.3 ( or received a new iPhone with that version firmware ) ... if you are looking to downgrade your firmware to, say 3.1.2, hoping that you can unlock your iPhone, sorry, no can do.
With the exception of the 2G, which can always be unlocked, once you upgrade your firmware, the component that is responsible for the unlock, the baseband, is permanently upgraded. This means that even if you downgrade your firmware, the baseband version stays the same. So, for example, if your iPhone was running 3.1.2 firmware and was jailbroken and unlocked, then you upgraded to 3.1.3, losing your jailbreak and unlock, you cannot downgrade your firmware to 3.1.2 and expect to be able to unlock with blacksn0w, it just won't work.
Those in this situation will simply have to wait until the next unlock is developed. DO NOT hold out hope that there will be an unlock developed for the baseband that comes with 3.1.3 ... it probably won't happen. The jailbreaking community in general believes that the next unlock will be developed for the next firmware release, probably 3.2 or 4.0.
The ONLY hope that I hold out is to the 3G owners. If you have a REALLY old 3G, manufactured in 2008, there is a hope that your baseband can be downgraded. Look at your serial number, Settings -> General -> About -> Serial Number.
If the third digit is 8 ( that means that it was manufactured in 2008 ) and the next two less than 36 ( meaning the week that it was manufactured ) then you have a good chance of downgrading your baseband to an unlockable version using the very solid ultrasn0w unlock.
For everyone else, the waiting game continues.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
3.1.3 iPhone firmware released today
Today Apple released version 3.1.3 of its iPhone firmware.
For those on the jailbreak/unlock train, unless you have a iPhone 2G, DO NOT upgrade to this version. My suggestion is that when you get the pop-up in iTunes, telling you about the update, you click on "Do not ask me again" and click the "Cancel" button. That way you will no longer receive the popup where you may accidentally choose to apply the update.
iPhone 2G models can be jailbroken and unlocked with the latest release of the Dev-Team's redsn0w software.
iPhone 3g and 3GS models should not be upgraded to 3.1.3, particularly if you value your unlock. While the Dev-Team is working on tweaking redsn0w so that it can jailbreak a 3.1.3 iPhone, if you perform a stock upgrade to this version via iTunes, your base band will be upgraded ... there is no unlock for that version of baseband ( 05.12.01 ).
My guess is that the Dev-Team will update Pwnage Tool so that you can upgrade to 3.1.3 with a custom IPSW firmware bundle but preserve your baseband and unlock.
Stay tuned.
For those on the jailbreak/unlock train, unless you have a iPhone 2G, DO NOT upgrade to this version. My suggestion is that when you get the pop-up in iTunes, telling you about the update, you click on "Do not ask me again" and click the "Cancel" button. That way you will no longer receive the popup where you may accidentally choose to apply the update.
iPhone 2G models can be jailbroken and unlocked with the latest release of the Dev-Team's redsn0w software.
iPhone 3g and 3GS models should not be upgraded to 3.1.3, particularly if you value your unlock. While the Dev-Team is working on tweaking redsn0w so that it can jailbreak a 3.1.3 iPhone, if you perform a stock upgrade to this version via iTunes, your base band will be upgraded ... there is no unlock for that version of baseband ( 05.12.01 ).
My guess is that the Dev-Team will update Pwnage Tool so that you can upgrade to 3.1.3 with a custom IPSW firmware bundle but preserve your baseband and unlock.
Stay tuned.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Send messages for free!
I have been playing with a couple of iPhone to iPhone messaging programs that use push notification for new message notification ( i.e. the app does NOT have to be open in order to receive a new message notification ).
Push! and WhatsApp ( 99 cents each ) both work in a similar fashion : they send messages between iPhones only and the messaging is free. No pesky SMS fees for international texting ( I have friends in the US and it's nice to now be able to regularly send them free messages from Canada ).
Push! and WhatsApp differ in a few ways ( I'm sure that there are more ). Push! requires you to use a unique id : WhatsApp uses your iPhone cellular number to provide a unique "id". Ping! allows you to link a contact in your Contacts database with a Ping! user : WhatsApp pulls other WhatsApp users from your Contact database and displays then for potential contacting. WhatsApp allows you to send pictures and videos with your messages : Ping! allows you to send pictures but it costs you an additonal 99 cents.
In the end, both do what I most care about : they allow me to send messages to my friends in the US for free ... how can that be bad?
One thing to note regarding push notification. Some iPhones that have been jailbroken and hactivated ( activated without the original provider SIM ) may not have push notification working. I have found that push also does not work if you have baseband and firmware mismatch ( i.e. baseband for 3.0.x firmware running on 3.1.2 firmware, as when you peform a Pwnage Tool upgrade from 3.0.x to 3.1.2 ). There are some fixes but the best one that will always work ( or so I strongly believe ) comes from pushfix.info - it costs a bit but is worth the cost if you want push notification to work. I will be talking more about this solution in a future post.
Push! and WhatsApp ( 99 cents each ) both work in a similar fashion : they send messages between iPhones only and the messaging is free. No pesky SMS fees for international texting ( I have friends in the US and it's nice to now be able to regularly send them free messages from Canada ).
Push! and WhatsApp differ in a few ways ( I'm sure that there are more ). Push! requires you to use a unique id : WhatsApp uses your iPhone cellular number to provide a unique "id". Ping! allows you to link a contact in your Contacts database with a Ping! user : WhatsApp pulls other WhatsApp users from your Contact database and displays then for potential contacting. WhatsApp allows you to send pictures and videos with your messages : Ping! allows you to send pictures but it costs you an additonal 99 cents.
In the end, both do what I most care about : they allow me to send messages to my friends in the US for free ... how can that be bad?
One thing to note regarding push notification. Some iPhones that have been jailbroken and hactivated ( activated without the original provider SIM ) may not have push notification working. I have found that push also does not work if you have baseband and firmware mismatch ( i.e. baseband for 3.0.x firmware running on 3.1.2 firmware, as when you peform a Pwnage Tool upgrade from 3.0.x to 3.1.2 ). There are some fixes but the best one that will always work ( or so I strongly believe ) comes from pushfix.info - it costs a bit but is worth the cost if you want push notification to work. I will be talking more about this solution in a future post.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
SpringBoard icons ... don't move!
Have you ever forgotten to turn off your iPhone, then carried it around only to discover that your SpringBoard icons are scattered all over the place ... your carefully though out icon placement ruined!
Fortunately there is a Cydia application that solves your problem. SpringLocker is a free app that you can invoke from SB Settings or Settings and toggle on and off the ability to move your SpringBoard icons.
It's a simple application but, for me anyway, an invaluable utility. You should get it.
Fortunately there is a Cydia application that solves your problem. SpringLocker is a free app that you can invoke from SB Settings or Settings and toggle on and off the ability to move your SpringBoard icons.
It's a simple application but, for me anyway, an invaluable utility. You should get it.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Getting around Springboard
If you're like me, you load up your iPhone with lots of apps, then spend lots of time swiping right and left to get to your numerous apps, often a pain and definitely time consuming.
However, with a jailbroken iPhone you have two nice options : Orbit and OverBoard. For a mere $1.99 your swiping pains can be a thing of the past.
Both perform essentially the same key task : when activated you are presented with a screen of thumbnails that represent each of your screens. All you need to do is touch the thumbnail of the screen that you want to go to and you're there!
Both Orbit and OverBoard can be invoked by pressing the home button or tapping the application icon - OverBoard can also be activated by a screen pinch ( a bit less precise method ).
I personally prefer OverBoard over Orbit as it is a bit faster than Orbit and I likes the speed man - ( I haven't tried out the latest version of Orbit, v1.1.4 ). With OverBoard I also like that when you are at the thumbnail screen you can press the home button again to take you immediately to the first screen ( I like to "home" my Springboard on the first screen when I'm finished using my iPhone ).
Orbit and OverBoard are both valuable time saving utilities and are definitely worth the $1.99 ... get one of them!
However, with a jailbroken iPhone you have two nice options : Orbit and OverBoard. For a mere $1.99 your swiping pains can be a thing of the past.
Both perform essentially the same key task : when activated you are presented with a screen of thumbnails that represent each of your screens. All you need to do is touch the thumbnail of the screen that you want to go to and you're there!
Both Orbit and OverBoard can be invoked by pressing the home button or tapping the application icon - OverBoard can also be activated by a screen pinch ( a bit less precise method ).
I personally prefer OverBoard over Orbit as it is a bit faster than Orbit and I likes the speed man - ( I haven't tried out the latest version of Orbit, v1.1.4 ). With OverBoard I also like that when you are at the thumbnail screen you can press the home button again to take you immediately to the first screen ( I like to "home" my Springboard on the first screen when I'm finished using my iPhone ).
Orbit and OverBoard are both valuable time saving utilities and are definitely worth the $1.99 ... get one of them!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Backup!
I am amazed at the number of iPhone users who use their iPhone as the primary source of their contacts. This is a bad idea as if for any reason your iPhone becomes unusable, you risk losing your contacts for good. For most people, their contacts are important.
A good habit to get into is to sync your iPhone regularly with iTunes - I do it daily. This will first backup your iPhone so you can recover your settings, etc. from a backup if you ever need to. However, with a setting change or two you can also backup your contacts as well.
Once your iPhone is plugged into your PC/Mac and iTunes is running, select your iPhone in the left pane of iTunes and then click on the "Info" tab in the right pane. From there you can configure several sync settings but for now focus on Contacts. There are several external contact managers that you can choose to sync your contacts with - in Windows there is Outlook, Google Contacts, Windows Contacts, and Yahoo! Address Book. On the Mac there only appears to be one free external source, Mac's own contact manager ( I could be wrong here, there may be other sources but all I can see is Mac's contact manager ) - of course there's always the paid service MobileMe.
Unless you already use a contact manager such as Outlook, you can keep it simple and choose "Windows Contacts" ( this is on Vista, it may be called something slightly different on an XP or Windows 7 PC ).
Now, once you click on "Sync contacts with" and select your external contact manager on the right you just need to select "Apply" or "Sync" at the bottom right of iTunes. After the sync your iPhone contacts will be saved in Windows Contacts on your PC. Your initial sync may ask you if you want to replace the contacts on your iPhone with the ones on your PC and vice versa ... just choose "Merge" to play it safe.
Now if you lose your iPhone ( pray that never happens ) or if it gets bricked or unusable for any reason, you will always have your precious contacts saved on your PC or Mac, you simply have to sync them from your contact manager ( e.g. Windows Contacts ) to your new or fixed iPhone, disaster averted.
If you're like me, your contact information is precious/valuable, you don't want to EVER lose them. With these simple steps you can ensure that your contacts will always be safe.
A good habit to get into is to sync your iPhone regularly with iTunes - I do it daily. This will first backup your iPhone so you can recover your settings, etc. from a backup if you ever need to. However, with a setting change or two you can also backup your contacts as well.
Once your iPhone is plugged into your PC/Mac and iTunes is running, select your iPhone in the left pane of iTunes and then click on the "Info" tab in the right pane. From there you can configure several sync settings but for now focus on Contacts. There are several external contact managers that you can choose to sync your contacts with - in Windows there is Outlook, Google Contacts, Windows Contacts, and Yahoo! Address Book. On the Mac there only appears to be one free external source, Mac's own contact manager ( I could be wrong here, there may be other sources but all I can see is Mac's contact manager ) - of course there's always the paid service MobileMe.
Unless you already use a contact manager such as Outlook, you can keep it simple and choose "Windows Contacts" ( this is on Vista, it may be called something slightly different on an XP or Windows 7 PC ).
Now, once you click on "Sync contacts with" and select your external contact manager on the right you just need to select "Apply" or "Sync" at the bottom right of iTunes. After the sync your iPhone contacts will be saved in Windows Contacts on your PC. Your initial sync may ask you if you want to replace the contacts on your iPhone with the ones on your PC and vice versa ... just choose "Merge" to play it safe.
Now if you lose your iPhone ( pray that never happens ) or if it gets bricked or unusable for any reason, you will always have your precious contacts saved on your PC or Mac, you simply have to sync them from your contact manager ( e.g. Windows Contacts ) to your new or fixed iPhone, disaster averted.
If you're like me, your contact information is precious/valuable, you don't want to EVER lose them. With these simple steps you can ensure that your contacts will always be safe.
Monday, November 16, 2009
3GS bootrom issue
While ALL iPhone models ( 2Gm 3G, 3GS ) can be jailbroken at any firmware versions, newer 3GS iPhones have an issue that require a re-jailbreak EVERY TIME you shut off, then restart, your iPhone ( whether deliberately or not ) ... this is called a tethered jailbreak. NOTE that your iPhone will be completely unusable until it is re-jailbroken.
This issue arose because Apple patched the exploit that hackers have been using, this impacts the iPod Touch 3 units as well.
The 3GS iPhones ( and iPods as noted above ) impacted are ones that were manufactured on or after week 40 or 2009. How to tell if your 3GS has this bootrom issue? Look at the 4th and 5th digits of your serial number to determine your production month, see Settings -> General -> About -> Serial Number. In this example, 87942 ( the first five digits of the serial number ), the third digit tells you the production year, 2009, and the 4th and 5th digits tell you the production week, 42. For this fellow, his iPhone 3GS has the new bootrom and will require a re-jailbreak after any powerdown.
I am confident that the iPhone hackers will eventually find a new bootrom vulnerability to exploit. However, I have not heard of anyone who is looking for one ( doesn't mean that no one is looking for one ).
This issue arose because Apple patched the exploit that hackers have been using, this impacts the iPod Touch 3 units as well.
The 3GS iPhones ( and iPods as noted above ) impacted are ones that were manufactured on or after week 40 or 2009. How to tell if your 3GS has this bootrom issue? Look at the 4th and 5th digits of your serial number to determine your production month, see Settings -> General -> About -> Serial Number. In this example, 87942 ( the first five digits of the serial number ), the third digit tells you the production year, 2009, and the 4th and 5th digits tell you the production week, 42. For this fellow, his iPhone 3GS has the new bootrom and will require a re-jailbreak after any powerdown.
I am confident that the iPhone hackers will eventually find a new bootrom vulnerability to exploit. However, I have not heard of anyone who is looking for one ( doesn't mean that no one is looking for one ).
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