How to Fix “Error Establishing a Database Connection” when Using Absinthe

By , Jan 20, 2012

The Absinthe jailbreak for iPhone 4S and iPad 2 was released a few minutes ago. Of course, we were right on it and we already posted a tutorial on how to jailbreak the iPhone 4S or iPad 2 using Absinthe.

While I haven’t had any problem running the jailbreak – well, I had it a few minutes before everybody else – it appears that some users are having a problem when launching the Absinthe app installed on their device, which returns an “error establishing a database connection“.

We have a fix for that…

iOS hacker PlanetBeing who helped develop the jailbreak tweeted a simple fix for the “error establishing a database connection”. Apparently, all you need to do is go to Settings > Network > VPN > ON.

The VPN connection will most likely give an error and your iPhone 4S or iPad 2 should reboot shortly after. Once it’s rebooted, try launching the Absinthe webclip again.

Let us know if that works for you.

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  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=523635240 Dan Castro

    Problem Solved. Thanks

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2JFDZXSTUH2HWGIM6NSZX66KWA Kurt

    i have VPN already set up so i can watch Neflix here in korea…will that still help? (im on windows so i can’t try it myself)

    • http://twitter.com/patchcable patchcable

      If you use multiple VPN configurations, you can switch between them using Settings > General > Network > VPN.

    • O. Bakerman

      Had to remove my VPN cause selecting the jailbreak VPN always switched back to the preconfigured one.
      After removing it and activating the jailbreak VPN -> Error -> Absinthe -> Reboot -> Done

      • http://twitter.com/patchcable patchcable

        Thanks good to know

      • http://www.facebook.com/anudeep Anudeep Yelam

        when i open absinthe theres this error msg
        “absinthe could not open the page because the server stopped responding”

        any fix?

  • http://twitter.com/parkavekev kev m☫

    wow. your fast. thanks.

  • http://twitter.com/iMaycon  iceman™

    woooooooooorkkkkksssssssssssssss fine… thank u

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1005188634 Filip Klíma

    But i cannot make it ON bacause i have to add some configuration but i really dont know configuration to VPN…

    • http://twitter.com/patchcable patchcable

      i presume the connection is added via the Jailbreak tool itself, have you run the Absinthe tool or are you simply trying to access the website?

  • http://twitter.com/HendrikGoedhart Hendrik Goedhart

    I can’t even select the jailbreak button in Absinthe, it is greyed out even though my iPad 2 is plugged int. What to do?

    • http://twitter.com/MasterBott01 MasterBott

      I had the same problem but there was an update on my mac. so i updated it and rebooted the computer. the button then got enabled. good luck

  • http://twitter.com/ProZack27 Zachary Sloane

    didn’t work for me. it looks like it’s going to do something but never reboots…

  • http://twitter.com/matthiaars Matthias Lemmens

    Doesn’t work for me. It gives me the error, but it doesn’t reboot…

    • seanwes

      Here’s what I did:
      • Turned VPN on, it tried, then gave an error but didn’t reboot
      • After I got the error, I did a manual reboot (hold power + home)
      • Try Absinthe again

      • http://twitter.com/ProZack27 Zachary Sloane

        problem is now I can get into Absinthe but the device never reboots!!!! grrrr!!!

      • seanwes

        I just discovered that you’re right. = I can get greenpois0n website to load in Absinthe, but it doesn’t reboot. If I manually reboot it, the cycle starts over (Absinthe never changing to Cydia). Hmm…

      • http://twitter.com/ProZack27 Zachary Sloane

        I’m re-running the JB tool…not the app on the device

      • http://twitter.com/patchcable patchcable

        Seems the website is getting pounded it might not be able to trigger the jailbreak due to the load issues. Its the website that initialises the exploit on the device.

      • http://twitter.com/MasterBott01 MasterBott

        after you turn on the vpn, it errors out and the device automatically reboots. once its back. absinthe will be replaced by cyida icon. good luck

      • seanwes

        That’s the thing… it DOESN’T automatically reboot. It just throws the VPN error and sits there. Manual reboots do no remedy.

        Attempting to run the jailbreak tool (desktop app) on it again, will report back.

      • seanwes

        Passcode was the culprit! REMOVE your device passcode, close the Absinthe Mac App, reopen the Absinthe Mac App, jailbreak your device again (this time with no device passcode! ಠ_ಠ) Now attempt to run the Absinthe iPhone App. If you get “Error Establishing Database Connection”, go to Settings > General > VPN > Turn ON. You will get an error, and WAIT! After about 3–5 seconds, this time the device WILL reboot on its own. Absinthe will now have turned into a Cydia icon. Enjoy.

      • http://www.facebook.com/faisal.sattar Faisal Sattar

        This Worked!!

      • http://twitter.com/ProZack27 Zachary Sloane

        I don’t have a passcode….

      • Jeff Appareti

        worked for me. thanks!

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=710546720 Stefano Dolce

        WOOOORKS! DO THIS!

      • http://twitter.com/microsnook3 Tyler Miller

        Thanks! I was getting frustrated.

      • http://www.facebook.com/TangCD Tang Cyn Dee

        Your advice was PERFECT. Thank you~!

  • http://twitter.com/mike_ace6 Michael Acevedo

    worked but my music icon turned white

    • Jeff Appareti

      this happened to me too, rebooting fixed this for me

  • http://twitter.com/kalps133 -kalpesh-

    works perfect …loADS thanks to the dream team ;)

  • http://twitter.com/BarbaraBom Bárbara Bom

    it worked but the iTunes an appstore icons greyed out

  • http://twitter.com/Seabellster Chris Bell

    Is anyone else having a problem using the iPod/music app? it’s been really buggy for me, and it won’t let me play any music after successfully completing the jailbreak.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=629677819 Joel Roman

      is happening to me too, i dont know what to do, im thinking about restoring and jailbreaking again…

  • http://www.facebook.com/trevorsalmon Trevor Salmon

    If i turn on VPN i get a VPN connection error. I have been able to get to the website but nothing happens there. The phone doesn’t reboot and it doesn’t change to cydia.

    • http://twitter.com/MasterBott01 MasterBott

      after you turn on your vpn. just wait it out and your phone should reboot. let absinthe run in the background. if you have passcode, turn it off. connect your cable back and do the above. it should work. good luck

      • http://www.facebook.com/trevorsalmon Trevor Salmon

        After about 10 seconds of turning on the VPN i get “VPN Connection A Configureation error occurred.” The phone doesn’t reboot.

      • http://www.facebook.com/icyzie.pk Icyzie Kornsurat

        i got the same issue !!!

      • http://www.facebook.com/trevorsalmon Trevor Salmon

        @MasterBott Thank you so much for your help. All is well and working :)

    • Gul Soomro

      I have two iPad2, One GSM one Wifi.
      I did it on both
      both gave error establishing a database connection
      tried VPN………GSM iPad reboot and got cydia icon.
      But Wifi iPad giver error on trying to op VPN but not reboots and if i try application it remains white screen nothing happens???

      • http://www.facebook.com/trevorsalmon Trevor Salmon

        FINALLY!!! i got it working!!! hello Cydia!!!!

  • http://twitter.com/mike_ace6 Michael Acevedo

    if icons disappear just respring and they should show up

  • http://www.facebook.com/icyzie.pk Icyzie Kornsurat

    mine is stuck on “error establishing a database connection“

    i tried turning on the VPN, it has a custom VPN with it named ” jailbreak ”

    but my VPN cant be turn on …. it says the same thing as greenpois0n does

    “error establishing a database connection“

    • http://twitter.com/jovanshernandez Jovan Hernandez

      same issue here!

    • seanwes

      Passcode is the culprit! REMOVE your device passcode, close the Absinthe Mac App, reopen the Absinthe Mac App, jailbreak your device again (this time with no device passcode! ಠ_ಠ) Now attempt to run the Absinthe iPhone App. If you get “Error Establishing Database Connection”, go to Settings > General > VPN > Turn ON. You will get an error, and WAIT! After about 3–5 seconds, this time the device WILL reboot on its own. Absinthe will now have turned into a Cydia icon. Enjoy.

      • http://twitter.com/DjPrettybOyTank HOODRICH TANK

        Turn your passcodes off and re-install it.. Thats what I did seems to be working fine now

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=805581191 Meiklejohn Brandon

    worked but turned my notes application white

  • http://www.facebook.com/icyzie.pk Icyzie Kornsurat

    i tried rebooting my i4s several times already but nothing changed ….

    ANY SOLUTIONS .. ?????

  • http://twitter.com/Oaattas Omar Alattas

    didnt work with me, please any other advice

    • http://twitter.com/MasterBott01 MasterBott

      its really simple. after you launch absinthe and get a database connection. go to settings, turn on your vpn which errors out and the iphone should reboot automatically. keep your cable connected to mac

      • http://twitter.com/ericc05 Eric Cabranes

        its not letting me turn VPN on

      • http://www.facebook.com/icyzie.pk Icyzie Kornsurat

        ohhh so we have to connect the cable until the jailbreak is done ?

      • http://twitter.com/ProZack27 Zachary Sloane

        Ya sure sounds simple, but some of us are having problems where after we turn on VPN it errors, then no reboot happens.

      • http://twitter.com/MasterBott01 MasterBott

        sorry i had to go out. just got back. now scrolling through the comments to help out others.

        If your still having problems, all you have to do is disable your passcode and then run the absinthe. if you get an error, turn on vpn. don’t need to start the whole jailbreak over. good luck

  • http://twitter.com/Oaattas Omar Alattas

    M GETTING THIS NOW
    “http://greenpois0n.com/?p=173 is currently unavailable. It may be overloaded or down for maintenance.”

  • http://twitter.com/Oaattas Omar Alattas

    http://greenpois0n.com/?p=173 is currently unavailable. It may be overloaded or down for maintenance.

  • Anonymous

    WINDOWS version pls

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=507805505 Javier Boffill

      Get a MAC…

  • http://twitter.com/jovanshernandez Jovan Hernandez

    same issue here!

  • http://twitter.com/jovanshernandez Jovan Hernandez

    same issue here!

  • http://twitter.com/ms_ann ms_ann

    I couldn’t even open Absinthe app. It kept crashing everytime I tried to click on it. The error says “quit unexpectedly.” I have deleted and downloaded more than 5 times!! I have a MacOSX 10.5.8. Help anyone?

  • http://twitter.com/CraGRiGG Craig Riggio

    i want to jailbreak my ipad2 from a differnt computer then i have all my backup and music on. Is this possible? would i still be able to keep all my songs and apps if i do it from a different computer?

  • http://twitter.com/YarikGo Yaron Goikhman

    does not reboot for me :-/

    • http://twitter.com/Agent956 Agent956

      Yep, me neither. Restoring my phone.

  • Anonymous

    dont worry it ll be fix

  • http://twitter.com/SaidMawali Said Al Maawali

    I had the same problem and it seems I had same problem like Seanwes. I followed his instructions above exactly, and managed to get Cydia icon, it worked. Just follow his steps…

  • http://twitter.com/lejev Yevgeniy Levkovets

    cydia network error unable to load how can i fix this?

  • http://twitter.com/MagicHDx EnZiC

    Now we need a windows download

  • http://twitter.com/josher josher

    Here’s how I got it to work after multiple attempts. If you get the error message. Then hit the re-jailbreak button and after forever long waiting then don’t go to the Absinthe app but go straight to the VPN page. Didn’t work on VPN page first time around but when I went straight to that it worked on my wifi only iPad2. Hope that helps all!

  • http://twitter.com/AZIphoneRepair AZ IPhone Repair

    What WORKED for me. NO NEED TO RESTORE!
    Just keep trying and it keeps failing or you see a database error?
    Step 1) turn off your phone
    Step 2) close the absinthe app on Mac
    3) plug phone back into computer, turn on, open absinthe again
    4) if it says restore complete, really fast, then ur good to go
    5) DONT OPEN THE WEBCLIP THAT IS INSTALLED!
    6) go into settings and turn VPN on from the main screen right away then DONT TOUCH YOUR PHONE
    7) if it reboots then you are set!
    8) but if it doesnt, which happened to me MORE THAN 5 TIMES try the steps over, re-run the absinthe program
    9) most important thing is to open settings and turn VPN on first

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1526259005 Tim Biester

      that finally works! after jailbreaking go DIRECTLY to settings –> VPN on! launching Absinthe is NOT necessary! it reboots after turning VPN on and Cydia is there ;)

    • http://twitter.com/Oaattas Omar Alattas

      yessssss following your steps made it working for me thank you very much

  • val Murphy

    wow you would think that you would mention on at least one of your articles how this is a mac only jailbreak at the moment. Most people still use windows machines, and not everyone can afford macs. I just wasted a half hour searching the net for a windows version …

    • Chris Pressley

      ‘So far, only Absinthe for Mac is available. A Windows version is in the works and should be released shortly. The Dev Team’s CLI shouldn’t be too far away either. We’ll keep you informed as news come.’

      Taken from article ‘iPhone 4S and iPad 2 Untethered Jailbreak Released’

    • http://twitter.com/patchcable patchcable

      will be out later today apparently if you cant wait you could always use vmware

  • http://twitter.com/Paced98 Edgar R.

    It solved the problem, thanks! My 4s is now great!

  • http://www.facebook.com/doren.sean.michael Doren Sean Michael

    I’ve tried 8 times and the Absinthe app just simply crashes/quits after about 10min. Once activated again it says it’s found a device that failed the Jailbreak and it will attempt to recover the files. It recovers the files successfully and then I run it again and the same thing happens again. It never even gets to this database error. Anybody else?

    • http://twitter.com/MasterBott01 MasterBott

      that’s weird. reboot both your device and start over. update your mac if it has one.

      • http://www.facebook.com/doren.sean.michael Doren Sean Michael

        Done both of those things each time it’s crashed. This is maddening. Everything is updated properly already. No one else is experiencing this type of crash which sucks for me.

      • http://www.facebook.com/doren.sean.michael Doren Sean Michael

        Just to clarify this is on my iMac, not the iPhone. The iMac JB app keeps crashing.

    • http://www.facebook.com/cahcadden Carroll Atlee Hardin Cadden

      Sometimes I get the database connection error and sometimes I just get the white screen, so I know what you’re describing.

    • http://profile.yahoo.com/NZWS2KPI5MKSOWXHDW7WT27IHA Razu

      Update to 10.6 that should resolved your problem. I did.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Raul-Guzman/1388608378 Raul Guzman

    VPN will not reboot phone, i’ve been trying for the past half hour and still getting database connection error.

    Should i reboot the phone manually and try again?

    • http://www.facebook.com/cahcadden Carroll Atlee Hardin Cadden

      Rebooting hasn’t ever worked for me, Raul.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Raul-Guzman/1388608378 Raul Guzman

      Im not even getting the database error anymore, it now appears to load for a 3 seconds and just a white screen.

      • Anonymous

        for me too raul…
        I think the server of them is overloaded

  • Erik Gonzalez

    I changed My VPN and rebooted but still experiencing the same problem

    • http://www.facebook.com/cahcadden Carroll Atlee Hardin Cadden

      I accidentally deleted my Absinthe Web clip. I wonder how to get it back? Reinstalling Absinthe doesn’t make it reappear. :-(

  • Anonymous

    absinthe “quit unexpectedly”, when i tried to redo the jailbreak it says “it looks like you already tried to jailbreak and it failed, trying to resolve” then the bar goes across and it says “resolved”, and nothing happens to my phone, no icon, no reboot, tried turning on VPN and rebooting, and also quitting absinthe and trying it again, and it keeps doing it. anyone have an idea????

    • http://www.facebook.com/doren.sean.michael Doren Sean Michael

      Yes, I commented just a few minutes ago. Same thing. Error log below too. No !@#$%! clue.

      • http://www.facebook.com/doren.sean.michael Doren Sean Michael

        I was actually thinking of restoring my iPhone from my backup, no Sync just yet, then JB, then Sync. Perhaps there’s some app messing with the process?

  • http://www.facebook.com/doren.sean.michael Doren Sean Michael

    This is the error log, I’ve actually tried it on 3 different Macs too.

    Process: Absinthe [869]
    Path: /Users/USER/*/Absinthe.app/Contents/MacOS/Absinthe
    Identifier: com.chronic-dev.greenpois0n.absinthe
    Version: 1.0.0 (1.0.0)
    Code Type: X86 (Native)
    Parent Process: launchd [329]

    Date/Time: 2012-01-20 15:10:14.520 -0500
    OS Version: Mac OS X 10.7.2
    Report Version: 9

    Interval Since Last Report: 5569460 sec
    Crashes Since Last Report: 80
    Per-App Interval Since Last Report: 2297 sec
    Per-App Crashes Since Last Report: 4
    Anonymous UUID: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    Crashed Thread: 5 com.apple.appkit-heartbeat

    Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV)
    Exception Codes: KERN_INVALID_ADDRESS at 0x0000000082b559c4

    VM Regions Near 0x82b559c4:
    VM_ALLOCATE 0000000009800000-000000000a7fc000 [ 16.0M] rw-/rw- SM=ALI
    –>
    __TEXT 000000008fe2b000-000000008fe5e000 [ 204K] r-x/rwx SM=COW /usr/lib/dyld

    Application Specific Information:
    objc[869]: garbage collection is OFF

    • Anonymous

      did you restore?

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/3G3BGVZ4QC4G2L5AFYGL6UDUJI BostonMA

    How is this a fix if it only works for about 2% of the population?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Raul-Guzman/1388608378 Raul Guzman

    WTF? after like 45 minutes of trying to connect, i was so happy to see the blog page load up, but sucks cause nothing is happening. LMAO!

  • Satyam Veean

    my phone says “no service” now. I have a verizon iPhone 4s…hmm what to do??

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/I5D4O6WMBS7J4O4KC3VYLAE4IU Luiz

    When I tried to turn on the VPN it stills a configuration error occurred so it the app won’t run either

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Davey-Le/759609650 Davey Le

    im stuck :/ i jailbreak it and then the Absinthe icon is on my home then i tap it and it say “Error establishing a database connection” then go to settings and turn on VPN and it has a error and i waited it didnt reboot. My lock screen is turn off and passcode is turn off as well as my wifi and i use the 3G from the data.

  • http://www.facebook.com/max.reynoso Max Reynoso

    where is this setting that everyone is talking about??? The absinthe doesn’t have any setting. please help!!!

    • http://www.facebook.com/hector.e.oyola Hector Oyola

      on your phone or ipad

  • http://www.facebook.com/gilsplash Gil Das

    it worked! thanks

  • http://twitter.com/sam0910 Samir Chopra

    Stuck on the white screen saying, Cannot open Absinthe. Absinthe could not open the page because the server stopped responding. any words of wisdom?

    • http://profile.yahoo.com/J2LCQGLX6N6DOUGRGS2SZXHRPQ Jelani

      Same problem
      Stuck on the white screen saying, Cannot open Absinthe. Absinthe could not open the page because the server stopped responding. any words of wisdom?

      Any help?

    • http://twitter.com/GianCortese John Cortes

      I’m having the same issue…Please help.

  • Anonymous

    Me three. The webpage will not load and VPN work around isn’t connecting for me neither.

    Sucks.

  • Anonymous

    Same problem for me too. The webpage does not load!! Help!!

  • Saud Alhaddad

    no it does not work when i start VPN this message show up to me ( A configuration error occurred )

    • http://www.facebook.com/hector.e.oyola Hector Oyola

      same here

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