Tutorials

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.

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.

Fixed: iPhone Stuck On Apple Logo

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 9, 2020

Sometimes when jailbreaking an iPhone or after installing a jailbreak app, your iPhone will get stuck on reboot, or will hang on the Apple logo. This problem happened to me before and it was kind of a nightmare. In order to get your iPhone back on track, you will have to put it in DFU mode (Device Firmware Update mode). This will help you restore your iPhone without loading the OS first.

Edit Videos on Your iPhone 2G or iPhone 3G

Sébastien Page ∙ August 21, 2009

iPhone Download Blog reader kper sent me a very good hack for iPhone 2G or 3G owners who would like to have the same video editing capabilities as the iPhone 3GS. Basically, this allows you to view the videos you record with Cycorder or VideoRecorder directly in your Camera Roll. Additionally, you can trim the videos, exactly like on an iPhone 3GS.

How to Sync Yahoo Calendar With Your iPhone Calendar

Sébastien Page ∙ August 19, 2009

A couple months ago, I wrote an article on how to sync Google calendar with your iPhone calendar. Until now there was no way to sync Yahoo calendar with your iPhone calendar but Yahoo wrote a blog post about how to do that over the air.

It's very simple but it does require you to run the latest 3.0 firmware. It is also important to note that "once you start syncing your Calendar with your iPhone you will be upgraded to Yahoo! Calendar Beta automatically. You will not be able to go back to the old calendar product once this is complete".

How to sync Yahoo calendar with the iPhone:

1. Go to Settings > Mails, Contacts, Calendars >Add Account > Other

2. Tap "Add CalDAV Account"

3 . For the Server settings, simply type "yahoo"

4. Type in your Yahoo! username and password you use to signin to your calendar.

5. Click "Next" and it should verify your information.

6. You're done :)

Next time you open the calendar app on your iPhone, you will be able to choose to view your Yahoo calendar. Every time you will load the yahoo calendar, it will sync over the air.

Give A Matte Twist to Your iPhone UI

Sébastien Page ∙ August 15, 2009

WinterBoard is one of my favorite jailbreak apps because it allows me to customize my iPhone and make it "stand out" from the crowd. One of the latest tweaks I found to push the customization a little further is to have a full custom UI.

There is a great-looking UI tweak available in Cydia called Matte UI Graphite.

Here are a few screenshots of what the new UI looks like. Changes are very subtle, yet very elegant...

How to Get Vonage on Your iPhone

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated May 26, 2017

I originally signed up with Vonage because it was inexpensive and it gave me unlimited calls to France (and other countries) where all my friends and family still are. As my fiance and I are planning our one-year trip around the globe, I started looking into getting Vonage on my iPhone so I can make calls from my iPhone, either over 3G or wifi, using my Vonage plan.

There are many reports showing that Vonage is currently working on an iPhone app but it's probably not going to happen anytime soon. By digging a little more, I found an article that shows you how to set up Vonage on your iphone by using your Vonage line as a SIP line.

First, you have to find out your Vonage SIP credentials. To do so, open your internet browser from your house and point it to:

https://im-config.vonagenetworks.net/config?&login=USERNAME&password=PASSWORD&type=1003

Replace USERNAME and PASSWORD by your Vonage account username and password.

This is going to open a page with a bunch of information. The information we need is at the top of the page. You are looking for something like that:

[SIP 2.0] ProxyUserName=iphoner ProxyUserPassword=Y0ur1Ph0ne5ux ProxyDomain=a.vonim.com ProxyPort=10000

Next step is downloading an SIP client for your iPhone. I recommend using Fring as it can be downloaded for free from the App Store. If your iPhone is jailbroken, you can also download SIPhone from Cydia.

Launch Fring then sign up or login with your existing account. Go to More > Add-ons > SIP > Other.

Fill out the required fields as follow:

User ID = ProxyUserName Password = ProxyUserPassword Proxy = a.vonim.com:10000

Save these settings. You can now place a call from your iPhone using your Vonage account, assuming you have wifi connectivity. If your iPhone is jailbroken, download VoIPover3G from Cydia and you will also be able to use Vonage from your iPhone over 3G.

It works great but for some reason, I can't have it place international calls. Every time I try to call France, it gives me an error message. It's still pretty awesome that you can use your Vonage account to place calls for free over wifi and 3G.

That's a pretty sweet hack, eh! What do you think?

Jailbreak & Unlock iPhone 3.0.1 With RedSn0w

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated August 19, 2009

The Dev Team reported that it is safe to update your iPhone to OS 3.0.1. After updating your iPhone to the latest 3.0.1 firmware, you can run the latest version of RedSn0w and point it to firmware 3.0.

Since the 3.0.1 doesn't update the baseband, you will also be able to unlock your iPhone using UltraSn0w via Cydia (for iPhone 3G and 3GS), and you will also be able to run RedSn0w on your iPhone 2G to unlock it by following these steps.

My latest tutorial on how to jailbreak your iPhone using RedSn0w still works and I suggest you check it out if you're not sure on how to update and jailbreak your iPhone.

Note that in order to jailbreak, you will have to update to 3.0.1 in iTunes first, which will remove all your jailbreak apps.

For more detailed information about jailbreaking and unlocking, I recommend you check out the jailbreak page and the unlock page of this site. It is updated with the latest info.

Add an Extension to A Contact’s Phone Number

Sébastien Page ∙ July 26, 2009

If you know the extension of the person you're trying to reach, you may enter it anytime or press 1 for more options. Hi, please listen carefully since our menu has changed. For sales and marketing, press 2. For customer support, press 3. For accounting, press 4...

You know how annoying these long messages can be, especially when you know exactly what extension you want to reach. Today, thanks to iPhone Download Blog reader Carn, I'd like to give you a quick tip on how to add an extension to a contact's phone number, so you never have to type this extension ever again.

1. Create or go to an existing contact.

2. Edit his phone number.

3. Make sure the cursor is at the end of the phone number and tap " + * # " at the bottom left of the keyboard.

4. Tap "pause", which will add a space and a coma after the phone number.

5. Enter the extension and click "Save".

That's it. Now every time you call this number, you will be directed to the contact's extension.

GeoHot Releases PurlpleSn0w iPhone 3GS Unlock

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 29, 2016

A few days after releasing PurpleRa1n, the first iPhone 3GS jailbreak, GeoHot has now created his own iPhone 3GS unlock called PurpleSn0w.

Wifi fails? Battery fails? Unlock fails? You need purplesn0w, the geohot 3GS unlock solution. Now I know you here a lot about different colors of sn0w, but I'm here to tell you why purplesn0w is the best. First off, what is purplesn0w? It's a soft unlock for your 3GS that I'd actually use day to day. It's not a daemon that takes any resources, and it doesn't add a task to your baseband. It's very close to a true unlock. All it does is patch three files, CommCenter, lockdownd, and your wildcard activation plist(which you need, activate w at&t sim first, no hacktivation support yet).

Many users reported losing wifi connection and not being able to get any signal after unlocking their iPhone with UltraSn0w, so hopefully PurpleSn0w will get better feedback.

Follow these steps to install PurpleSn0w:

First your iPhone has to be jailbroken (see jailbreak guides) Launch Cydia and add this source: http://apt.geohot.com Install the com.geohot.purplesn0w package Reboot your iPhone Done!

If you want to unlock your iPhone for T-Mobile, make sure you disable 3G in the settings.

GeoHot also posted technical information about PurpleSn0w. If you're into dissecting lines of codes, GeotHot made the source code available for you to play with.