Month: September 2009

Edit Videos On Your iPhone 3G

Sébastien Page ∙ September 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…

Sébastien Page ∙ September 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

Sébastien Page ∙ September 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

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

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.

MobileInstallation Patch For iPhone 3.1

Sébastien Page ∙ September 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

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

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.

Tutorial: Jailbreak & Unlock iPhone 2G 3.1 Using PwnageTool

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated October 13, 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

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated October 3, 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.

Jailbreak Now Available For 3.1 iPhone 2G and iPhone 3G

Sébastien Page ∙ September 15, 2009

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. So far, only PwnageTool is available and is for Mac only, but the Dev Team is working on updating RedSn0w for both Mac and PC.

There is still now way to jailbreak the iPhone 3GS and the iPod Touch 2G and 3G but I assume these will come in the near future.

GOLDEN RULE: If you are using a 3G iPhone with ultrasn0w and rely on ultrasn0w to obtain cellular service, then you should only upgrade to 3.1 with a PwnageTool created .ipsw. - Stay away from Apple’s direct updates as described here and here please get up to speed on the whole subject by reading the information contained in these posts. If you have an original iPhone (1st generation) then 3.1 unlock works with this PwnageTool release. iPhone 3G users upgrading to 3.1 will need to continue using ultrasn0w with a PwnageTool created 3.1 .ipsw Please read all parts of this post before downloading and using these tools. Read items 1, 2 and 3 again and again. At the bottom of this post are the bittorrent files for the 3.1 capable version of PwnageTool. This app is suitable for the recent 3.1 release. This version of PwnageTool will NOT work for the iPhone 3GS. PwnageTool WILL work for Original iPhone (1st Generation), Original iPod touch (1st Generation) and the iPhone 3G.

I will post a tutorial soon on how to jailbreak the iPhone 2G and 3G using PwnageTool. Stay tuned! If you can't wait, you may want to have a look at an older tutorial for PwnageTool (files are differents but the tutorial remains the same).

UPDATE: I Just finished writing the iPhone 3G 3.1 tutorial using PwnageTool for Mac OS X.

How to Downgrade iPhone 3GS From Firmware 3.1 to 3.0

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated February 10, 2010

Saurik, the creator of Cydia, has come up with a way to downgrade the iPhone 3GS from firmware 3.1 to firmware 3.0. The method is not for the faint of heart but it can be a life saver if you accidentally upgraded your iPhone 3GS to 3.1. Saurik did a great job at explaining how and why this downgrade works and I invite you to read his article for detailed information. On my part, I will only give you a step by step on how to downgrade from 3.1 to 3.0.

1. First and foremost, you must have saved your ECID file through Cydia. If this was done, you should see the following message at the top of Cydia's homepage: This iPhone 3G[S] has an ECID SHSH on file.

2. Now we're going to duplicate the functionality exposed by Apple's signature server and trick iTunes into thinking it is connected to Apple's servers. Make sure you have iTunes 9 installed on your computer.

On a Mac, go to /etc/hosts. On a PC, go to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts. Open the file in a text editor and add the following entry at the bottom of the file: 74.208.105.171 gs.apple.com

Save the file and close it.

3. Now we have to put your iPhone into DFU mode. To do this, open iTunes, plug your iPhone and hold down the power and home buttons for 10 seconds, then let go of the power button but continue to hold the home button until iTunes recognizes the device with the message: "iTunes has detected an iPhone in recovery mode. You must restore this iPhone before it can be used with iTunes." Your iPhone screen should be completely black. If you see an image on your screen, you most likely didn't perform the previous step correctly. Try again.

4. You can now do a "normal" restore to the 3.0 software. To do this, hold down the Option key (on Mac OS X) or the SHIFT key (Windows) while clicking the Restore button in iTunes. Select the firmware 3.0 (which can be downloaded here).

Theoretically, you should be done with the downgrade. That's just for the theory though... You're most likely going to get several errors.

If you get the "unknown error (3002)", it's because you probably don't have your ECID SHSH's for 3.0 on file with Cydia and it is unfortunately impossible to register your device with Cydia anymore. There is no solution, your iPhone can't be downgraded from 3.1 to 3.0 and you're gonna have to wait for a new jailbreak.

If you get the "The iPhone "iPhone" could not be restored. An unknown error occured (1015)" error, then re-do the process all over again. You will get the same error again and it is normal. Ignore the error and jailbreak your iPhone using RedSn0w.

I agree that this is definitely not the easiest way to downgrade your iPhone from firmware 3.1 to firmware 3.0, but you don't have much choice at this point. If you don't feel like taking on this project, I suggest you just wait for a proper 3.1 jailbreak, which may take days, weeks, or months. I am very confident that the jailbreak community is getting closer to a 3.1 jailbreak though.

If you have any tips and tricks to make this whole process smoother, or if you have any question, please leave a comment.

UPDATE: If you have an iPhone 3G, you can now downgrade from baseband 05.12.01 to o4.26.08.

What’s With These iPhone Voicemail Delays?

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated September 24, 2009

It all started last week when I got a phone call from my dentist's secretary. The first thing she asked was if I had listened to the voicemail she had left me the day before. I hadn't seen any voicemail and I really thought she actually never left a voicemail in the first place. I didn't think about it anymore until the next day, when I received her voicemail as well as a few others that were from the last 5 days.

Apparently my iPhone is not delivering voicemails on time anymore, which is not a big deal to me as I am not much of a phone person, but it can be extremely important to businesses, and it can even be vital for people. I looked around on Twitter and it seems that a few people are experiencing the problem too.

It's not really clear where the problem is from as it appears on jailbroken and non jailbroken iPhones as well. Apparently it started after 3.0. I haven't installed 3.1 yet so I don't know if this has been fixed or not. I'm not even sure it's a firmware problem. I'd rather think that the problem is from AT&T but I'm not positive about that.

--- UPDATE ---

There is a fix for this. Please read my article called how to fix iPhone's visual voicemail delays.

As usual in these cases, one of the first things to do is to reset all settings and maybe even restore. I'm not going to go as far as restoring my iPhone but you may want to consider this option if you find the voicemail delays annoying.

Have you guys experienced such problem? If so, do you know where it might come from?

Weekly Wrapup: Twitter Errors, App Giveaway, 3.1, Jailbreak, and More…

Sébastien Page ∙ September 13, 2009

This is a wrapup of the articles written this past week...

Twitter apps "secure connection failed" errors

Recently I’ve been getting the same error more and more often and it’s getting very annoying: Secure Connection Failed.

mQuickDo review and app giveaway

A review of the mQuickDo jailbreak app with a contest to give away 10 copied of the application.

iPhone stuck on reboot fix

A fix to the problem where your iPhone gets stuck on reboot, or hangs on the Apple logo.

iPhone 3.1 is out!

If your iPhone is jailbroken, you should not update to OS 3.1. Doing so will just wipe out your jailbreak and may make it impossible to jailbreak or unlock in the future.

Everything you need to know about iPhone 3.1

There is not much to it! It seems to me all this event was actually kinda disappointing but that’s what happens when you expect too much…

How Apple does business by giving us less

That’s interesting how a $149 iPod Nano gets a video camera with speaker and microphone but yet, the $399 iPod Touch doesn’t.

No 3.1 jailbreak yet

There is no jailbreak yet for firmware 3.1 but I am confident the Dev Team is working overtime to deliver to us a jailbreak (and maybe an unlock) for 3.1.

The recession case for iPhone

This case was developed to provide basic protection for your iPhone without leaving you broke.