BlackRa1n

Fake Ra1nb0wRa1n iPhone Jailbreak Website Deemed Not the Real Deal

Getting confused from all of the Ra1n? There's BlackRa1n, LimeRa1n, PurpleRa1n, and the upcoming RubyRa1n. It's enough to confuse even the best meteorologist.

To add to the level of confusion, someone(s) impersonating renowed iPhone hacker GeoHot has released a site called Ra1nb0wRa1n with little to no fan fare.

The fact that it received hardly any pub before going live was the first thing that struck us as weird. The fact that the site is actually pointing to a Chinese website, is the real thing that sent up our red flags.

For the record, although the site's whois records feature Hotz's name and a New Jersey residence, Ra1nb0wRa1n does not appear to be associated with GeoHot in any way, shape, or form...

iPhone OS 4 Jailbreak: GeoHot Reveals BlackRa1n

Just a few days after showing proofs of a jailbreak for iPad, GeoHot is back at it, this time with an iPhone OS 4 jailbreak with BlackRa1n.

The wonder kid tweeted this image of an iPhone running iPhone OS 4 with the BlackRa1n and Cydia icons on it. It is not the first proof of a jailbreak for iPhone OS 4. Recently, the Dev Team released a video clearly showing a jailbroken iPhone OS 4 and there are still talks around Spirit, the jailbreak for iPhone 3.X which supposedly works for OS 4 and the iPad as well.

If you look at this image more closely, the Cydia icon looks very prominent which makes it a little suspicious. What makes this image even more suspicious is that it's just an image. Why didn't GeoHot shoot a video like he did for this iPhone OS 3.X untethered jailbreak?

Real or fake, you decide.

GeoHot Reveals BlackRa1n iPad Jailbreak

Things are going fast in the jailbreak world these days. One day after MuscleNerd announced the Dev Team had jailbroken iPhone OS 4, it's GeoHot turns to impress us with a jailbreak for the iPad.

Ealier today, GeoHot posted a tweet with a picture showing verbose mode running on his iPad. For info, verbose mode basically shows everything that your iPad is doing on bootup. It's a clear sign that the iPad has been jailbroken.

As if it wasn't clear enough, GeoHot posted a more straightforward picture on his blog minutes ago showing a jailbroken iPad with the BlackRa1n and Cydia icons.

When the picture was first posted on GeoHot's blog, it had a caption under it saying that "The new app will not be called blackra1n". This caption has since then been removed.

The name doesn't matter. Of course what really matters here is that GeoHot is once again the first to find a new jailbreak, this time for the iPad.

There is no estimated release date but if I had a guess, I'd say that this new iPad jailbreak should hit the streets pretty soon. It seems like multitasking might come to the iPad earlier than Steve Jobs would want to after all...

Thoughts?

BlackBreeze: How to Fix iTunes 9.1 and BlackRa1n Issues on Windows

With the release of iTunes 9.1, those of you on a Windows machine and an iPhone jailbroken with BlackRa1n RC3 might experience syncing issues. Fortunately, iH8Sn0w, the developer of Sn0wBreeze and F0recast has released a tool called BlackBreeze to fix this.

How to fix syncing issues between iTunes 9.1 and iPhone jailbroken with BlackRa1n RC3:

Step 1: Create a new folder on your desktop and download BlackRa1n.exe and BlackBreeze to it.

Step 2: Launch BlackBreeze and click on Fix my Ra1n! and select the BlackRa1n.exe file you downloaded in step 1.

Step 3: BlackBreeze will patch BlackRa1n and place a file called blackra1n-fixed.exe on your desktop.

Step 4: Execute blackra1n-fixed.exe to boot your tethered iPhone. Once done, you should be able to sync your jailbroken iPhone with iTunes 9.1 on Windows without any problem.

Thanks PhilT for the tip and the tutorial!

I Guess Geohot is Not Working on an Untethered Jailbreak After All

It seems that I missed a tweet by Gehot a few weeks ago in which he made it clear that he was not going to work on an untethered version of BlackRa1n.

I don't know if you remember but Geohot said a few weeks ago that he would give us an untethered jailbreak if he won some kind of contest. Well he lost! And we all lose too!

I don't know how I feel about that. I mean, the kid is completely in his right to not develop an untethered jailbreak. But somehow, I feel like when you have such a great gift as he has, you kinda have a responsibility towards the community.

Again, he's free to do whatever he wants but I think it's very childish to say "I''l give you what you want IF I win this stupid contest" and have us hold our breath. Then of course we're all disappointed when we realize that he lost the contest and he's not going to give us what we want.

One thing is sure: the Dev Team will not let us down. The Dev Team will not play game with us and they will not have us wait and hope in vain. As I said in an article a few weeks ago, I believe the Dev Team is up to something and might very well surprise us.

What do you think about how Geohot is acting?

GeoHot Working On Untethered Jailbreak for iPhone 3GS?

Is GeoHot really going to work on an untethered jailbreak for the iPhone 3GS? That's what he mentioned in a tweet yesterday.

As usual, in order to get him motivated, you have to do something in exchange. He wants you to make #dudeitsaballoon a trending topic on Twitter. I haven't really looked into it as I don't have much time while traveling, but it has something to do with red balloons in the sky.

Some of you may be interested in this untethered jailbreak as it is a pain the the butt to always have to plug your iPhone every time you want to reboot.

So, what are these red balloons about?

“Why I Jailbroke My iPhone” From An Anti-Jailbreaker

I have to say I'm a very patient man.  I tend to wait for products to come on sale rather than make a rash purchase.  That's also how I approach the iPhone.  Instead of jailbreaking my iPhone 3G or buying workaround apps for functionality that will eventually be free, I am usually good at waiting.  But, my patience with Apple reached a breaking point and I decided to jailbreak.

The changes I made to my 16 GB iPhone 3G may seem small, but I now feel like I have a brand new phone!

So, here are my reasons for jailbreaking:

Customization - I've been told that themes are Microsoft Windows-centric and Apple is not into themes.  Skins are not available for iTunes, unlike Winamp (remember that program?).  But, isn't Apple supposed to be the "fun" computer company?  After 16 months of looking at the same basic home screen, I'm ready for a change.  Enter WinterBoard.  With a stock iPhone, you can only change the wallpaper on your lock screen.  With Winterboard, you can change your home screen background, add a percentage for your battery meter (for non-3GS users), as well as change the logos for your carrier, 3G and Wi-Fi icons.  The theme I chose is called Blue Thunder.  It also changed the stock icons of the apps that came with your iPhone and a number popular apps in the App Store.  I kind of understand Apple not wanting to give us the power of customization, lest our iPhones turn into obnoxious MySpace pages.  But, I'm tired of being a slave to Big Red.

Home Screen Managing - I've always thought folders on your iPhone home screen would be incredibly useful.  And, again, this thinking may have originated with my Windows upbringing.  But, wouldn't you think it would advantageous to Apple to have the iPhone and iPod Touch be able to max out the number of apps possible by internal storage rather than home screen real estate?  I know you can install apps that will no longer show up on the home screen but that's counterproductive.  With Categories, I trimmed down 10 pages of apps to 4 pages and everything is easy to get to.  Spotlight Search also works well with Categories.

Video Recording - I thought that since the iPhone 3GS gained video recording capabilities Apple would make video recording possible for the 3G.  Nope.  Instead, you have to choose between buying a new 3GS starting at $199 with a new 2-year contract or jailbreaking your iPhone.  Easy choice there.  So, I got Cycorder.  And I bet Apple was also behind the gimped version of Qik in the App Store which cannot do live streams.  Another reason to jailbreak.

I have at least another 7 months to wait for the next iPhone announcement.  I'm going to spend those months with my jailbroken iPhone 3G.  And I wouldn't have done it if Apple was on its game.

Tutorial: Jailbreak iPhone 3.1.2 with BlackRa1n RC3

Ealier today, GeoHot unveiled BlackRa1n RC3, his latest jailbreak for iPhone OS 3.1.2. BlackRa1n RC3 is very similar to RC1 and RC2. The difference is that RC3 includes BlackSn0w, the unlock for iPhone baseband 05.11.07.

This step by steps guide and tutorial will show you how to jailbreak your iPhone OS 3.1.2 with BlackRa1n RC3. The steps are strictly identical to BlackRa1n RC1 and BlackRa1n RC2 but I figured it might be good to write a tutorial for novices.

This BlackRa1n RC3 iPhone jailbreak tutorial will work on both Mac and PC. If you already jailbroke your iPhone using BlackRa1n RC1 or RC2, there is no need for you to run BlackRa1n again.

How to jailbreak iPhone firmware 3.1.2 with BlackRa1n RC3:

Step 1: Update iTunes to the latest version available and reboot your computer. If your iPhone is not running OS 3.1.2, update your iPhone to firmware 3.1.2 in iTunes.

Step 2: Download BlackRa1n RC3 from our iPhone Downloads page.

Step 3: Plug your iPhone to your computer and make sure iTunes is closed. Run BlackRa1n RC3 and click on "make it ra1n".

Step 4: Your iPhone will enter recovery mode and you will see the usual recovery image replaced by a picture of GeoHot.

Step 5: BlackRa1n will run on your iPhone and it will reboot when done.

Step 6: A message will show up asking to donate. If your jailbreak is successful, I think it's the right thing to do to donate $5 or more. It's a good way to keep GeoHot motivated.

Step 7: After your iPhone has rebooted, you will notice a new BlackRa1n icon on your springboard. Make sure you have an internet connection and launch BlackRa1n.app on your iPhone.

Step 8: You will now have the option to install Cydia, Rock, or both if you choose to, then tap "install". You will also notice that Icy is gone and it's been replaced by "sn0w". Run "sn0w" only if you want to unlock your iPhone.

Step 9: Once the packages are installed, your iPhone will respring and you should see Cydia (and Rock if you chose it) on your springboard.

Step 10: Once Cydia and/or Rock are installed on your springboard, you can now uninstall BlackRa1n from your iPhone. Uninstalling BlackRa1n will obviously not remove the jailbreak. It will simply remove the BlackRa1n.app that was used to install the packages. To do so, simply launch the BlackRa1n.app and select "uninstall BlackRa1n".

Step 11: After uninstalling BlackRa1n, I suggest you reboot your iPhone.

Done!

The whole process shouldn't take more than 10 minutes. It definitely is an easy jailbreak.

If you have questions, please feel free to leave a comment below.

BlackSn0w is Out!

BlackSn0w is now available for download from BlackRa1n.com! BlackSn0w comes as an addon to BlackRa1n.

Here is what’s important to note:

BlackSn0w will unlock baseband 05.11.07 BlackSn0w will enable tethering

I will write tutorials on how to use BlackSn0w, but here is a quick overview of how it works, depending on your situation:

If you previously jailbroke your iPhone using BlackRa1n and you kept the blackra1n.app on it, then run BlackRa1n. The Icy icon should be replaced by the “ra1n” option. Select “ra1n” to upgrade BlackRa1n to RC3. After upgrading, run BlackRa1n and you should see the “sn0w” option. Just select “sn0w” and it will unlock your iPhone. If you were waiting to update to 3.1.2 or if your iPhone was stuck locked, then download BlackSn0w, run it, reboot, and choose the “sn0w” option from the BlackRa1n.app. If your iPhone was previously jailbroken using PwnageTool or if you deleted the BlackRa1n.app from your iPhone, BlackSn0w will be added to Cydia later during the day.

UPDATE: BlackRa1n RC3 and BlackSn0w tutorials are up:

BlackRa1n RC3 tutorial BlackSn0w unlock tutorial

BlackSn0w Unlock Coming Out Today

Yesterday GeoHot gave us a quick sneak peek at BlackSn0w and told us BlackSn0w would be bundled into BlackRa1n RC3, due to be released on November 4th.

Good news came earlier today from GeoHot when he wrote in a blog post that Sn0wDay was coming one day ahead of schedule.

At Noon EST, 5 PM GMT, I will be making it sn0w, and I'm looking to see "#blacksn0w" trending. blacksn0w is the unlock for the latest 05.11.07 baseband, and will also enable official tethering. blackra1n, a jailbreak for 3.1.2, has been updated to RC3, with hacktivation support, 15 second speed improvement, Tiger+PPC support, and installation of the latest blackra1n.app.

Here is what's important to note:

BlackSn0w will unlock baseband 05.11.07 BlackSn0w will enable tethering

UPDATE: BlackRa1n RC3 and BlackSn0w tutorials are up:

BlackRa1n RC3 tutorial BlackSn0w unlock tutorial

Sneak Peek at BlackSn0w iPhone Unlock

GeoHot gave us a sneak peek at BlackSn0w earlier today, revealing the icon of his long awaited iPhone unlock as well as details on how it will work when it's released on November 4.

From what I understand, BlackSn0w will be bundled into BlackRa1n RC3. You will have to jailbreak your iPhone with BlackRa1n first, then run BlackSn0w.

As a reminder, BlackSn0w will be the first solution to unlock the iPhone 3.1.2 with baseband 05.11.07. So all of you who accidentally updated your iPhone in iTunes and are now locked out of their carrier can rejoice!

As you can see, Icy is not part of BlackRa1n anymore which is probably due to the fact that the developers of Icy decided to stop maintaining it.

As usual, I will be updating the site with a BlackSn0w tutorial when it comes out. However, I will be flying from Los Angeles to Brisbane Australia when BlackSn0w is released tomorrow, so I might be a little late on delivering the news. My top priority when I land in Australia will be to find some internet and update the blog, so stay tuned!

UPDATE: BlackRa1n RC3 and BlackSn0w tutorials are up:

BlackRa1n RC3 tutorial BlackSn0w unlock tutorial

Tutorial: Jailbreak Your iPhone With BlackRa1n RC2

GeoHot came up yesterday with an updated version of BlackRa1n called BlackRa1n RC2. This new release supposedly fixes a bunch of issues that some of you may have encountered, especially while trying to jailbreak an iPhone 3G.

This step-by-step guide and tutorial will show you how to use BlackRa1n RC2 to jailbreak your iPhone or iPod Touch, either on a Mac or a PC. This works for all iDevices, except for the iPod Touch 3G. This tutorial was made using an iPhone 3GS but again, it should work on all devices except the iPT3G.

I already wrote a BlackRa1n tutorial and the steps are identical but a few people emailed me or tweeted me asking to write a tutorial for BlackRa1n RC2.

Before we start, you have to understand that BlackRa1n is a jailbreak and jailbreak only. BlackRa1n will not unlock your iPhone. As a matter of fact, if you want to unlock your iPhone, do not use BlackRa1n as it will update the baseband and make it impossible to unlock for the time being.

If you want to unlock your iPhone, I suggest you use PwnageTool. PwnageTool will help you create a custom IPSW that won't update your baseband, thus allow you to unlock using UltraSn0w.

How to jailbreak your iPhone with BlackRa1n RC2: