How to Jailbreak iPod Touch 2G 3.1.1

A few days ago was the release of the iPod Touch 2G jailbreak for 3.1.1 (as well as other devices). There is a bit of confusion because the Dev Team’s blog post says you must be pwned before jailbreaking. I’m sure a lot of people (like me) demonstrated the sad smiley to perfection when they read this. Luckily, there is a way to jailbreak it.

You’ll need the 3.0 firmware, RedSn0w, 3.1.1 firmware, and the latest PwnageTool. All these are available from the download page.

Here is a step-by-step guide/tutorial on how to jailbreak your iPod Touch 2G 3.1.1:

Step 1: First of, you need to downgrade. It’s the only way to jailbreak 3.1.1. But you don’t wanna lose your data. So back-up in iTunes. Please make extra sure iTunes backed it up properly. If you’re following me on Twitter you’ve seen my ranting on iTunes not backing mine up properly.

Step 2: Once you back-up, put your iPod in DFU mode. Then in iTunes, alt-click on restore and select the 3.0 firmware. When it’s done you should be on 3.0.

Step 3: Run RedSn0w. All you have to do is choose the 3.0 firmware when it asks and put the iPod in DFU. Just follow the steps on screen for RedSn0w, it’s really simple. Also remember if it gets “stuck” in “waiting for reboot”, unplug the cable really quickly and re-plug it in. Problem solved.

Step 4: When that finishes, Cydia should be installed. Open it, let it do it’s re-organizing thing. After that’s done, leave it alone.

Step 5: Nows’ the time to make that custom 3.1.1 firmware. Open up PwnageTool. Pwnage has both a simple mode and a expert mode. For this tutorial, let’s do simple. Select your device first.

Step 6: If PwnageTool doesn’t automatically find the correct IPSW file, click “Browse for IPSW” and locate it (it should be in your “jailbreak folder”). Click the blue arrow to continue.

Step 7: You will now get a message that tells you that you are going to create a custom IPSW that will be saved on your desktop. Click OK arrow to continue.

Step 8: PwnageTool will now start building your custom IPSW. Be patient…

Step 9: Once it’s finished it will show you a message telling you it’s done and all that. Just press OK and quit PwnageTool.

Step 10: Now’s the “tricky” part, which not even I’m sure about. I opened up iTunes and alt-clicked on restore. No DFU or anything. It gave me the 1600 error. However from  there, I did DFU and tried alt-clicking and choosing the custom firmware again. This time, it restored!

So that’s about it folks. Happy jailbreaking.