iPhone MMS or How to End Up A Marriage of 6 Years

By Sebastien Page on Sep 30, 2009

Congratulations, today is your 6 year marriage anniversary. Like every good husband out there, you woke up extra early to prepare breakfast and serve it to your lovely wife in bed before she gets ready and goes to work.

You talk about how you met and how lucky you are to be together. She starts getting all kinky on you. Everything is doing great until you receive this MMS… Your iPhone is on the nightstand, she grabs it to find out who is contacting you so early, and there… SURPRISE!

I’ll admit I’m very bad at telling stories but you get the idea. The first time I received an MMS (thanks to this simple MMS hack), I was really surprised to see the full image being displayed on my screen. I thought “what if it was something I didn’t want people around me to see?” Luckily for me, it was a picture of Lars the dog with a stupid birthday hat on (kinda cute).

I’m pretty sure many people will find themselves in very embarrassing situations because of MMS or SMS being displayed on their screen for everyone to look at. Fortunately, there is a simple solution if you are running OS 3.X. You can hide SMS or MMS preview by going to Settings > Messages > and turn “Show Preview” off.

Have you ever had such an awkward moment because of an SMS or MMS showing up on your iPhone? If so, please tell us in the comments.

 

How to Downgrade iPhone 3.1 Baseband From 05.11.07 to 04.26.08

By Sebastien Page on Sep 29, 2009

Every time there is a new firmware coming out, updating puts you at risk of updating your baseband as well, making it impossible to unlock your iPhone. This time is no different than the others and many people accidentally updated their iPhone to firmware 3.1, updating their baseband to 05.11.07 at the same time.

Fortunately, there is an easy way for iPhone 3G users to downgrade their baseband from 05.11.07 to 04.26.08. Note that this is for iPhone 3G users only. If you have an iPhone 3GS, then read my article on how to downgrade the iPhone 3GS firmware from 3.1 to 3.0.

Note that this trick only works on iPhones that have the 05.08 (5.8) bootloader from the factory, which is just a very limited amounts of iPhone 3G that were released in the first few weeks of the production cycle. If you don’t know your bootloader version, you may run Fuzzyband and it will tell you what version you have and whether or not you can downgrade your baseband.

1. First, your iPhone 3G has to be jailbroken. For more information, read my iPhone 3.1 jailbreak article.

2. Launch Cydia and search for the Fuzzyband app. Install it and reboot your iPhone.

3. Launch the Fuzzyband app and tap “downgrade” to start downgrading your baseband from 05.11.07 to 04.26.08.

4. Reboot your iPhone. You should now be on baseband 04.26.08 and be able to jailbreak and unlock your iPhone using UltraSn0w.

 

How to Enable MMS on iPhone OS 3.0 or 3.0.1

By Sebastien Page on Sep 28, 2009

Those of you on a 3.0 or 3.0.1 jailbroken iPhone who were anticipating the iPhone MMS release last week might have been disappointed by the fact that you have to be on the latest 3.1 firmware to download and install the carrier update. Rejoice because there is a simple hack that will allow you to have MMS on your iPhone.

1. First, download the AT&T Profile .IPCC 5.5.

2. Make sure iTunes is closed and run one of these commands, depending on your operating system:

On Windows: Note that it took me a few minutes to get this to work… It seems I was always typing something wrong.

  • Windows XP: Go to “Start”, click on “Run” and type “cmd” then hit Enter. Now type the following: cd C:\Program Files\iTunes\ and hit ENTER then type iTunes.exe /setPrefInt carrier-testing 1 and hit ENTER
  • Windows Vista: Go to “Start” and type “Command Prompt” in search and then hit ENTER. Now type the following: cd C:\Program Files (x86)\iTunes\ and hit ENTER then type: iTunes.exe /setPrefInt carrier-testing 1 and hit ENTER

On Mac OS X:

Open Terminal by going to Applications > Utilities. Type the following: defaults write com.apple.iTunes carrier-testing -bool TRUE and hit ENTER.

3. Launch iTunes and plug your iPhone. PC users should hold the SHIFT key on their keyboard (Mac users should hold the ALT key) and click on CHECK FOR UPDATE, while still holding the SHIFT or ALT key. A windows will pop up.

4. Navigate to the .IPCC file we downloaded in step 1.

5. It will update your iPhone, which should take just a few seconds.

6. Unplug your iPhone and reboot it.

7. You should now have MMS enabled.

Some people report loss of cellular data network and loss of visual voicemail. I haven’t experienced any of that but if you do, here is how to fix it.

Go to Settings > General > Network > Cellular Data Network to update your configuration.

  • Visual Voicemail change wap.cingular to acds.voicemail
  • MMS settings should match the following (leave blank fields blank):

APN: wap.cingular
Username:
Password:
MMSC: mmsc.cingular.com
MMS Proxy: 066.209.011.32
MMS Max Message Size: 614400
MMS UA Prof URL:

Troubleshooting:
Reader “Since OS 7″ gives an important tip in the comments.

Those receiving the 0xE800003D error: Did you install a carrier theme from Cydia? Like the AT&T logo or MakeitMine? If so remove that and try again. It seems that others before were getting that error because of this.

That’s it. As usual, since this is a hack, you are taking the risk of messing up your iPhone…

 

Weekly Wrapup: Google Sync, MyProfiles, MMS, and More…

By Sebastien Page on Sep 27, 2009

This is a summary of the articles that were posted on the blog this week, just in case you missed anything…

Edit videos on an iPhone 3G – It is now possible to edit videos on the iPhone 3G without hacking the phone.

How to set up Google Sync on your iPhone – This step by step guide will show you how to set up Google Sync on your iPhone and sync your iPhone contacts and calendars with Google over the air and get push Gmail as well.

Create different profiles on your iPhone with MyProfiles – MyProfiles is a great application only available for jailbroken iPhones that lets you create different profiles for your iPhone.

MMS coming to the iPhone – This will come in the form of a carrier update that you will have to download via iTunes.

Fix for iPhone’s Visual Voicemail delays – The solution is actually very simple.

MMS and jailbroken iPhone, what you should know – If you’re on a stock iPhone, then there is nothing to worry about. However, it can be a little tricky if your iPhone is jailbroken and you want to keep the jailbreak.

MMS now available – MMS for iPhone is available for download from iTunes as a “carrier update”.

How AT&T kept me as a customer – I am very satisfied of how this turned out. I think AT&T did the right thing and they managed to keep me as a customer.

SmartScreen: the best iPhone hack – SmartScreen is a soon-to-be-released application that will add little widgets on your iPhone lock screen, letting you access information witout having to launch any application.

 

SmartScreen Will Be the Best iPhone Hack Ever

By Guest Author on Sep 26, 2009

SmartScreen is a soon-to-be-released application that will add little widgets on your iPhone lock screen, letting you access information witout having to launch any application. You’ll be able to rearrange these widgets in the same way you move icons around.

Looking at the video demo below, I am very eager to get my hands on SmartScreen as I think it will be one of the best iPhone hacks ever. Needless to day that SmartScreen won’t be available in the App Store…

MediaPhone, the guys behind SmartScreen, will even have an SDK available:

A SmartScreen SDK will be available to everyone in November 2009 but widget developers are being selected to participate in a Beta programme, if you feel you could participate and would like to produce widgets, please email dev@media-phone.ch and we will consider you early access to the programme.

I really can’t wait for this to be available. Exciting, isn’t it?

 

How AT&T Did the Right Thing And Kept Me As A Customer

By Sebastien Page on Sep 25, 2009

If you read this blog on a regular basis or follow me on Twitter, you probably know by now that I will be traveling overseas for about a year, starting November 3rd (as a side note, you can follow our adventures on our Traveling Puffins blog). Part of my preparation is to figure out what I will do with my iPhone.

I figured I would simply terminate my account. I don’t care about keeping my phone number so terminating my contract is not an issue. When I get to Australia, I will buy a pay-as-you-go data plan and I will do the same for the other countries we’ll visit so I can always have my internet fix…

I knew all about the $175 Early Termination Fee (ETF) but since I was moving overseas for a long period of time, I thought that AT&T would be able to waive this fee. When I moved from France to the US, I called my French operator and told them I was moving overseas and that I had to cancel my contract. They canceled it without charging me a dime. It’s the law. If you move out of the country, they don’t have to charge you ETF. This law also applies in the US.

The Frustration Process

So I called AT&T a couple of days ago and spoke to a friendly woman who informed me that AT&T would be able to waive the ETF if I could prove that I was living overseas. A valid proof could be an electrical bill, a cable bill, or any type of bill that would show that I am indeed living in another country. The problem is that I will not be staying in one place and pay a recurring bill. I tried to explain this to her but she said it was the policy and although she understood, there was nothing she could do.

Instead she suggested I put my account on hold for 6 months, which is the maximum period of time AT&T can put your account on hold. She said the cost of the service was $10/month. So basically, you pay $10/month for NOT using your phone. Great! I then told her that I have an iPhone and that since AT&T already overcharges its iPhone customers, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some type of hidden fee for putting your iPhone on hold. Well, funny I should ask… There is indeed an extra $40/month to put your iPhone on hold.

So let’s recap here… You pay $10/month to put your iPhone on hold, and you pay an extra $40/month for the data plan, which you “HAVE TO” pay no matter what. Total is $50/month for not using your iPhone. What a deal!

At this point I started feeling the frustration and anger building up in me. I’m the type of guy who says what he thinks so I started going off on AT&T and the shitty way they treat their customers. I know it never helps to get angry at a CSR, but it does make me feel better, especially if I see it’s going nowhere. It’s worth noting that whenever I go nuts on a CSR, I always tell him/her that I don’t have anything against them as a person and that I value their help. I also always make sure they understand my situation and why I am angry by asking a question such as “wouldn’t you be angry if you were in my shoes”. The answer is always “yes”. It’s a good way to have them validate your anger.

I apologized for my language, thanked her and hang up.

Twitter to the Rescue

After this unproductive phone conversation, I went over to Twitter and vented a bit. I then remembered I had seen an AT&T Twitter account that aimed at helping out angry customers. I searched for it and found @ATTCustomerCare. I tweeted them: Do you want to do a good thing? Please waive my ETF!

Minutes later, I got a reply asking me to DM them my phone number, which I did. A couple hours later, a very friendly woman called me. She was part of the AT&T Twitter Team. I explained her my situation and how frustrated I was to be an iPhone customer because I felt taken advantage of. At this time, I was very nice and polite.

I also made sure she knew “who I was” by reminding her that I write about the iPhone for a hobby. I don’t want to sound like a self-centered arrogant blogger, but I think I do have a little reach in the iPhone community via my blog and Twitter.

Then I told her how angry iPhone users are at A&T and how the company is getting a bad rap these days. She knew I was right and didn’t say anything.

She asked me what would the ideal situation be, which I think was very nice. I told her I would like them to terminate my contract and waive the ETF. In exchange, when I return from my trip next year, I will sign up with AT&T again.

I also explained to her that my iPhone is unlocked and that I would go back with T-Mobile in a heartbeat if I had to when I come back next year. I also explained her that if they were nice to me, I would make sure to share my experience with others (which I’m doing right now). If they were not nice, I would not publicly trash them (which was a lie), but I would never deal with them again.

She said she needed a few hours to see if she could “pull some strings” and see what she could do.

The Outcome

I missed her call back that day but someone else called me the following day. They had some news for me. They offered to put my iPhone on hold for up to a year for $10/month and they will not charge me the extra $40 for the data plan. Basically, they doubled the standard time you can put a plan on hold and waived the monthly data plan cost. The only thing is that I have to prove them that I will be out of the country, so she asked me to email her a copy of the Australian entry stamp on my passport once I get there. Easy enough.

Total cost for the year will be $120. Terminating my contract would have cost $175. Putting my account on hold without speaking to the Twitter team would have cost $600.

Conclusion

Needless to say that I am very satisfied of how this turned out. I think AT&T did the right thing and they managed to keep me as a customer. Would have I been treated the same way if I didn’t blog and tweet about the iPhone? I think so.

If you have any problem with AT&T, I really suggest you deal with their @ATTCustomerCare people on Twitter. They will be much more helpful than the average Customer Rep. They are on Twitter because they understand how important social media is and they will do anything to satisfy you because they know if you’re not satisfied, you will rant about it on Twitter, in which case, the damage could be much worse than the benefits.

Do you have any success/horror story with AT&T or other carriers to share? If so, please leave a comment.

 

MMS for iPhone Now Available

By Sebastien Page on Sep 25, 2009

You’ve been waiting for it. We’ve been bitching about it, but it’s here! MMS for iPhone is available for download from iTunes as a “carrier update”.

Open iTunes, plug your iPhone in and you should have a message saying that a carrier update is available for download.

As I wrote yesterday, I don’t think this carrier update can mess up your jailbreak but it might kill your tethering hack if you activated it.

Now the big question is whether AT&T’s network will be strong enough to handle all these MMS that are going to be sent.

Personally, I couldn’t care less about MMS but I know many of you are anxious to send and receive picture messages.

Are you excited?

Update: It seems you have to be on OS 3.1 to be able to download the carrier update. Yet another sneaky move from Apple. Oh well…

 

MMS and iPhone Jailbreak, Is It Safe to Update?

By Sebastien Page on Sep 24, 2009

MMS is finally coming to the iPhone in a few hours under the form of a carrier update. As usual when there is something to update on your iPhone, it is legitimate to wonder whether it will mess it up or not.

If you’re on a stock iPhone, then there is nothing to worry about. However, it can be a little tricky if your iPhone is jailbroken and you want to keep the jailbreak.

Some jailbreakers are concerned that they will have to update to 3.1 in order to install the MMS carrier update. I can’t be 100% sure until it’s actually out but I’m very confident you won’t have to update to OS 3.1 to have MMS.

The MMS capability was introduced with OS 3.0 and iPhone users in many countries have enjoyed MMS since then because their carrier allowed them to, not because they were on 3.1. In other words, you most likely won’t have to update to 3.1 to download and install the carrier update.

Now there is always a risk that Apple asked AT&T to make it so you have to be on 3.1 to download the carrier update but I really doubt it.

The biggest risk is actually you! Yes, you are the biggest threat to your jailbreak. When you plug in this iPhone in iTunes tomorrow, a message will probably pop up saying that there is a newer firmware and asking if you want to update. Don’t!

The carrier update should be a separate pop up. This is the one that you may agree to.

But hey, what do I know? These are just my thoughts and I might be way off so please follow my advice at your own risks. Something tells me you will be able to get MMS through this AT&T carrier update without losing your jailbreak though.

What do you think?

 

How to Fix iPhone’s Visual Voicemail Delays

By Sebastien Page on Sep 24, 2009

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an article that highlighted the iPhone Visual Voicemail delays some users reported. Basically the problem was that your iPhone stopped alerting you of new voicemails. The only way to find out you had new voicemails was to reboot your iPhone, or by dialing “1″ + Call to get your voicemails the old fashioned way.

My fellow Twitter friend @HifiSamurai shared a link to a ZDNet article this morning that explained why some of us don’t have Visual Voicemails anymore and how to fix it.

The problem started when we installed the iPhone tethering hack. The .ipcc file (carrier settings hack) also changed an option that disables Visual Voicemail. The solution is actually very simple.

On your iPhone, go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings. This will reset your carrier settings but it will leave the tethering hack untouched.

Isn’t this a life saver? If you have little know iPhone tips or hacks, feel free to share :)

 

It’s Official! MMS Coming to the iPhone This Friday

By Sebastien Page on Sep 23, 2009

It was announced a few weeks back but it was confirmed again today on AT&T’s Facebook page. MMS for iPhone will be available this Friday.

We know you’ve been eager for this service so we wanted to offer a quick update on the launch plans for MMS on Friday, Sept. 25. Late morning, Pacific Time, on Friday, the new carrier settings update enabling MMS should be live and ready …to download through iTunes.

This will come in the form of a carrier update that you will have to download via iTunes. Yay!

Via Gizmodo

 

MyProfiles Lets You Create Different Profiles for Your iPhone

By Sebastien Page on Sep 23, 2009

I remember my good old Nokia 8210. It was about 10 years ago and this nice little piece of technology would already let me create different profiles to fit different situations of the day. For example, I had a “night” profile where everything was silent with no vibration; I had a “work” profile where everything was silent with vibrations; I had a “normal” profile where everything would ring and vibrate, etc…

Fast-forward 10 years and about 10 other cellphones later, and here I am, with a $560 iPhone not capable of creating different profiles. It’s not a big surprise. Apple is deliberately handicapping the iPhone and releasing must-have features (hint: copy/paste) one at a time.

Fortunately for iPhone users, there is the jailbreak community which really helps make the iPhone the best phone by developing all these important features that Apple won’t let you have until year 2027.

MyProfiles is one of these great applications only available for jailbroken iPhones, and lets you create different profiles for your iPhone.

Find yourself constantly changing the settings on your iPhone depending on what you’re doing or where you are? How about getting alerted when a critical email comes in from your boss? What about being able to sleep at night without being disturbed, unless it’s a call from a loved one? Wish you didn’t have to keep changing the auto-lock function when you’re charging at your desk? Do all of this and more with MyProfiles!

Features:

  • Custom alerting of email based on Subject, Sender, Sent Only to You, and Mail Accounts.
  • Custom alerting of SMS messages and missed calls based on caller phone #.
  • Modify the Vibrate Pattern so you can be quietly alerted to a specific email.
  • Repeating Alerts for Email, SMS, and Missed Calls.
  • Silence Calls via WhiteList or BlackList
  • Escalating Rings and Vibrate 1st then Ring
  • Adjust WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, Push Email, Auto Lock, and 3G based on Location, Time of Day, and more.
  • Automatic rules engine to enable profiles
  • Manual Override Profile by holding down the home button and pressing up and down on the Volume buttons.

I haven’t personally tried MyProfiles but I hear great things about it, even though it’s still in beta. MyProfiles is available for jailbroken iPhones only via Rock Your Phone.

 

How to Set Up Google Sync for iPhone

By Sebastien Page on Sep 22, 2009

Me and my other half will be traveling for about a year starting November 3rd. That kind of long trip requires a minimum of preparation, and figuring out how to keep my iPhone up-to-date is pretty high on the list of things to do.

My biggest issue is for syncing contacts and calendars while we’re away. I will have a netbook but this netbook doesn’t have Outlook, which prevents me from syncing and backing up contacts and calendars with my PC.

After a little bit of digging around, it appears that Google Sync is my best chance to keep my iPhone contacts and calendars safe. As reluctant as I am to completely rely on Google (I’m a Google hater), I didn’t have many options. Of course I could choose to pay $99/year for MobileMe but I think this service is a terrible joke aiming at making money off Fan Boys. I’d rather go with the free Google Sync alternative…

Setting up Google Sync took me about 10 minutes from start to finish, including test time. It is very easy and straightforward. This step by step guide will show you how to set up Google Sync on your iPhone and sync your iPhone contacts and calendars with Google over the air and get push Gmail as well. Read More

 

Edit Videos On Your iPhone 3G

By Sebastien Page on Sep 21, 2009

Last month, we talked about a simple hack to let you edit videos on your iPhone 2G or 3G the same way the iPhone 3GS does. iPhone OS 3.1 just made this hack obsolete for 3G users as it is now possible to edit videos on the iPhone 3G without hacking the phone.

If you updated your iPhone 3G to the new 3.1 firmware, you should now be able to trim videos and save them in your camera roll. In order to edit a video, you should have someone email you the video and save it to your camera roll first. From there, you can access the video, edit it, and save the changes.

That’s a nice little upgrade for the iPhone 3G. Though I still think it’s scandalous Apple didn’t allow the 3G to get video recording.

 

Weekly Wrapup: iPhone OS 3.1, Jailbreak, Unlock and More…

By Sebastien Page on Sep 20, 2009

This is a recap of this week’s articles.

iPhone voicemail delays

Apparently my iPhone is not delivering voicemails on time anymore. I looked around on Twitter and it seems that a few people are experiencing the problem too.

Downgrade iPhone 3GS from 3.1 to 3.0

Saurik, the creator of Cydia, has come up with a way to downgrade the iPhone 3GS from firmware 3.1 to firmware 3.0.

Dev Team releases jailbreak for iPhone OS 3.1

The Dev Team just released PwnageTool 3.1 for Mac OS X which will let iPhone 2G/3G and iPod Touch 1G users jailbreak their device.

PwnageTool guide to jailbreak iPhone 3G 3.1

This guide and tutorial will show you how to jailbreak your iPhone 3G running firmware 3.1, using PwnageTool for Mac OS X.

PwnageTool guide to jailbreak and unlock iPhone 2G 3.1

This guide and tutorial will show you step by step how to jailbreak and unlock your iPhone 2G using PwnageTool for Mac.

Jailbreak iPhone 3.1

With a new OS always comes a new jailbreak…

Unlock iPhone 3.1

You can only unlock the iPhone 2G and iPhone 3G. There is no unlock for the iPhone 3GS yet.

Saurik talks about Apple

Saurik shared his view of Apple has a company. We share the same opinions about Apple.

 

Saurik’s Take On Apple’s Hypocrisy

By Sebastien Page on Sep 19, 2009

Saurik, the developer of Cydia, wrote an article last week on how to cache Apple’s signature server, which helps downgrade an iPhone 3GS from 3.1 to 3.0. Besides all the technical stuff about the downgrade process, Saurik shared his view of Apple has a company. We share the same opinions about Apple, but he expresses it much better than me, because of my poor English (remember I am French).

Here is where Saurik is right on:

I have very little respect for Apple at this point: I make no secret of this fact. Apple, as a company, has turned into a corporate hypocrisy, embodying the very ideals that it claims to be rebelling against. “Think Different”, as a slogan, has become a cold criticism of their own actions with regards to their product lines.

[...] Sometimes, it is “only” marketing restrictions: there is no fundamental reason why only the 3G[S] can record video (although the quality of the camera on the iPhone 2G and 3G is not very high), or why the iPhone 2G is somehow unable to do MMS.

Applications like Google Latitude or Voice are likewise “rejected” (Apple likes to claim that they didn’t reject these applications, they simply “didn’t accept” them…) from the App Store because they might “confuse” the user by replacing functionality that exists with better equivalents.

Our need for “more”, however, goes deeper: jailbreaking isn’t just about applications that Apple “rejected”, but is also about taking provided tools and going in a new direction. The most popular packages available in Cydia aren’t even “applications”, but are “extensions”: seamless and pervasive modifications to existing software.

What do you think about Apple and the way they do business?

 

Unlock iPhone 3.1

By Sebastien Page on Sep 18, 2009

Every time a new iPhone OS comes out, it gives headaches to jailbreakers and unlockers. This time is no exception to the rule… The new iPhone OS 3.1 has been available for a few weeks and the Dev Team has successfully been able to unlock it.

It took a while but all 3 iPhones (iPhone 2G, 3G, and 3GS) can now be unlocked. You will either need to use PwnageTool or UltraSn0w to unlock your iPhone, depending on the model. Read More

 

MobileInstallation Patch For iPhone 3.1

By Sebastien Page on Sep 17, 2009

With the release of iPhone OS 3.1, a new MobileInstallation patch is needed. I’ve been looking around for a MobileInstallation patch for iPhone 3.1 and couldn’t find a downloadable file. But there is an easier way to go at it by installing AppSync for OS 3.1 on Cydia.

You will have to add the hackulo.us source to your Cydia sources: http://cydia.hackulo.us

Once you have added this source, I suggest you reboot your iPhone, then launch Cydia and search for “AppSync for OS 3.1″. Install it, reboot your iPhone one more time and your MobileInstallation should be patched.

Visit our MobileInstallation page for more info.

 

Jailbreak iPhone 3.1

By Sebastien Page on Sep 17, 2009

With a new OS always comes a new jailbreak… As always, the Dev Team has been working day and night to bring us a reliable jailbreak for iPhone 3.1.

So far, only a Mac version of PwnageTool is available but the Team is working on updating RedSn0w for both Mac and PC. We just have to be patient.

It is also important to note that there is no jailbreak for the iPhone 3GS so far. There finally is a jailbreak for the iPhone 3GS 3.1. It’s a little tricky though so please make sure you read the information below. I wrote a couple tutorials on how to jailbreak iPhone 3.1 using PwnageTool.

Read More

 

Tutorial: Jailbreak & Unlock iPhone 2G 3.1 Using PwnageTool

By Sebastien Page on Sep 16, 2009

This guide and tutorial will show you step by step how to jailbreak and unlock your iPhone 2G using PwnageTool for Mac. At the time I am writing this, only PwnageTool for Mac is available to jailbreak or unlock iPhone 2G 3.1. Tools for PCs should be available soon. For the latest information about jailbreaking methods (including iPhone 3G and 3GS), I suggest you read our jailbreak page.

UPDATE: This tutorial also works for iPhone OS 3.1.2. Instead of using the 3.1 firmware, simply use a 3.1.2 firmware.

Please make sure you read and understand everything before starting the process. If you’re new to jailbreaking, please take the time to follow the tutorial step by step. Problems often come when people want to go to fast or skip a step, so again, please take your time to read and understand every step.

1. First, make sure you have the latest version of iTunes installed on your computer. If not, update to the latest iTunes available.

2. On your desktop, create a folder called “jailbreak”. In this folder download and save the following files available from our downloads page:

  • PwnageTool 3.1
  • 3.1 IPSW firmware for iPhone 2G (iPhone1,1_3.1_7C144_Restore.ipsw), or
  • 3.1 firmware for iPhone 2G (iPhone1,1_3.1.2_7D11_Restore.ipsw) if you want to jailbreak 3.1.2
  • BL 3.9
  • BL 4.6

When downloading the 3.1 firmware, make sure you use FireFox and not Safari as Safari often brings up unwanted issues. To download PwnageTool, you will need a torrent downloader such as uTorrent.

3. Launch PwnageTool. Click OK to the warning message. Then choose “Expert Mode“.

4. Choose your device. It should be the one on the very left. A green check mark should appear when you click on it. Click the blue arrow to continue.

5. You will now be able to “Browse for IPSW“. Click on it and look for the 3.1 firmware you downloaded in step 2. Select the IPSW file and click the blue arrow to continue.

6. You should now be taken to the general menu where you have 7 different options. Choose “General“.

7. In the “General settings“, make sure that “activate the phone” and “enable baseband update” are checked. This is important. Again, make sure these 2 options are checked. Change the root partition size to about 600 MB and click the blue arrow to continue.

8. In the “Bootneuter settings“, check “Neuter bootloader“, “Unlock baseband“, and “Auto-delete bootneuter.app“, then click the blue arrow to continue.

9. You should now be in the “Cydia settings“. This allows you to install packages so you don’t have to do it later via Cydia. I like to install my packages manually but feel free to select a few if you want to. I will skip this step. Click the blue arrow to continue.

10. In “Custom packages settings“, I recommend only checking Cydia. Icy is quite unstable so I don’t recommend installing it. Do as you want but make sure at least Cydia is checked. Click the blue arrow to continue.

11. You are now taken to the “Custom logos settings“. You can choose pre-selected logos or upload your own. I don’t recommend installing any. I suggest unchecking the 2 custom logos that are pre-selected, then click the blue arrow to continue.

12. You should now be back to the general menu. It is time to start building your custom firmware. Click “Build“, then click the blue arrow to continue.

13. If you haven’t pwned your iPhone before, you will have to upload the bootlader files you downloaded in step 2. Follow the instructions on the screen to upload BL 3.9 and BL 4.6.

14. PwnageTool will then ask you if “you have an iPhone contract that would activate normally with iTunes”. If you’re using an official phone carrier (ie AT&T in the US, 02 in UK, etc…), and don’t want to unlock your iPhone, click YES. Your iPhone will just be jailbroken. Click NO if you want to unlock your iPhone to use with other carriers.

15. You will now have to save your custom IPSW. Save it to your “jailbreak” folder on your desktop. PwnageTool will now create your custom IPSW which may take up to 15 minutes.

16. If asked for it, enter you admin username and password.

17. PwnageTool will ask you if your iPhone has been pwned before. Just say No.

18. This is a very important step. PwnageTool will ask you to turn off your device, the put it into DFU mode. After turning off your iPhone, follow the on-screen instructions to put your iPhone into DFU mode. Hold the power and home buttons for 10 seconds. Let go of the power button but keep holding the home button until you enter DFU mode. If you fail, PwnageTool will give you an error message and you will have the opportunity to start over this process until completed successfully.

19. Once your in DFU mode, launch iTunes if it hasn’t already launched automatically. It will tell you that iTunes has detected an iPhone in recovery mode. Click OK.

20. We will now restore your iPhone using the custom firmware you created. In iTunes, hold the Alt/Option key while clicking “Restore”. This is extremely important that you hold the Alt/Option key while clicking. A window will pop up and will let you browse for the custom firmware you created (which should now be saved in your “jailbreak” folder). Select it.

21. The restore will start, which may take up to 15-20 minutes. Once done, your iPhone will reboot.

Congratulations! You just jailbroke and unlocked your iPhone. If you have any question or comment, please leave a comment below.

 

Tutorial: Jailbreak iPhone 3G on 3.1 Using PwnageTool

By Sebastien Page on Sep 15, 2009

This guide and tutorial will show you how to jailbreak your iPhone 3G running firmware 3.1, using PwnageTool for Mac OS X. So far, only PwnageTool is available for jailbreaking the 3.1 iPhone 3G and it is only for Mac. I believe a RedSn0w method for both Mac and PC will be available soon.

1. Make sure you have installed the latest version of  iTunes (iTunes 9).

2. On your desktop, create a folder called “jailbreak” or whatever name you want to give it. It doesn’t really matter. Download PwnageTool 3.1 and the 3.1 IPSW (iPhone1,2_3.1_7C144_Restore.ipsw) from here and save them into the “jailbreak” folder. Note that you should download the firmware using FireFox as Safari often brings up issues. Also note that the PwnageTool download link is a torrent and you will need a torrent downloader (ie. uTorrent) to download it.

3. Launch PwnageTool. It will give you some sort of warning. Just click OK. On the next screen, choose the “Expert Mode”.

4. Select your iPhone model and click the blue arrow to continue.

5. Browse for the IPSW you downloaded in step 2. You should then get a green check mark.

6. You will now be offered several options. Choose “General”. Make sure the “Activate the phone” box is left UNCHECKED if you use an official carrier (such as AT&T in the US, Roger in Canada, etc…). This is very important. If you are not using an official carrier, then CHECK “Activate the iPhone”.

7. Increase the root partition size to 700 MB. This is not necessary but it is safer. Then click the blue arrow to continue. Click the blue arrow one more time to skip the bootneuter settings, which aren’t available for the iPhone 3G.

8. You will now have the possibility to pre-install a few packages from Cydia so you don’t have to do it manually later. I will skip this part. Click the blue arrow to go to the next step.

9. You will now be in the “Custom packages settings”. Make sure Cydia is selected and you may want to select Icy as well. For what it’s worth, I do not use Icy. I only use Cydia but you’re free to select both if you want. Whatever you do, make sure at least Cydia is selected. Click the blue arrow to continue.

10. You can now set your own “Custom logos settings”. I don’t use any but again, you can choose the one pre-selected or you can even upload your own. If you choose to upload your own, remember the logo mustn’t be bigger than 320 x 480. Click the blue arrow when done to continue.

11. It is now time to start the pwnage process. You should be on the main options screen offering you 6 different options. Choose “Build” and click the blue arrow to continue.

12. You will now have to save your custom IPSW file. Save it in the “jailbreak” folder we created in step 2.

13. Your custom IPSW firmware will now be built, which may take up to 15 minutes, so be patient.

14. You will most likely be asked for your administrator password. Fill in the blanks and click OK.

15. You will then be asked if your iPhone has been pwned before. Just answer “No”.

16. Now is the most important step. You will first be asked to turn off your iPhone. Follow the instructions on your computer screen to put your iPhone into DFU mode. Basically, you have to hold the home and power buttons together for 10 seconds, then release the power button but still hold the home button. If done correctly, PwnageTool will tell you you successfully entered the DFU mode.

17. If iTunes hasn’t launched automatically, open it. iTunes should tell you it has detected an iPhone in recovery mode. Click OK.

18. In iTunes, hold the “Alt/Option” key and click Restore at the same time. DO NOT click “restore” without holding the “Alt/Option” key! A window will pop up and you’ll be able to choose the custom IPSW file you created in step12 that you saved in your “jailbreak” folder.

19. iTunes will now work on restoring your iPhone using the custom firmware.

20. Done! You will now be offered the option to set up your iPhone as a new phone or restore from a previous backup. I personally like to start fresh and I always choose to set it up as a new phone, but it’s your choice.

21. You should now see the Cydia icon on the second page of applications on your iPhone. Congratulations, you just jailbreaked your iPhone 3G 3.1 with PwnageTool.

If you have any question or concern, please leave a comment.

 
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