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iPhone Trying to activate a locked 3GS 6.1

M

menotiko

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 11, 2012
19
0
My friend gave me a 3GS so that I can update it for her. She was on iOS 3.? and it was jailbroken and unlocked to work on the carrier here in my country.

While updating, I first ran into a problem and had to restore to factory settings. So I did that. Now the iPhone is restored to 6.1 but it is now locked and unactivated. When i turn it on i get the "iPhone grey background screeen/setup" and on iTunes it says "The SIM card inserted in this iPhone does not appear to be supported."


Is there a way to activate the 3GS so I can unlock it to use on my carrier? I dont have any ATT sims around me.

I've heard Redsn0w can help but its difficult to find any detailed instructions.

Any help would help because she's getting pissed and wants her phone back ASAP.
 
Applejuiced

Applejuiced

macrumors Westmere
Apr 16, 2008
40,672
6,533
At the iPhone hacks section.
Wow, she shouldnt have let you go near her phone:D
Best bet for an unlock will be to purchase an IMEI unlock for $2-3 and then the phone will be unlocked for good and work with any sim card you put in.
Then you can activate it with any sim and JB it if you want with the latest JB program called evasion.
 
swoosh0217

swoosh0217

macrumors 6502a
Nov 20, 2007
579
0
NW
Applejuiced said:
Wow, she shouldnt have let you go near her phone:D
Best bet for an unlock will be to purchase an IMEI unlock for $2-3 and then the phone will be unlocked for good and work with any sim card you put in.
Then you can activate it with any sim and JB it if you want with the latest JB program called evasion.
Click to expand...

My 12 years old son did the same thing when he was trying to sync some of his songs. Unfortunately now, he has a 3GS with version 6.1.

We tried activating his 3GS using an ATT sim card that is not activated but NO LUCK.

The problem of going thru ebay and buying the official unlock is that I cant even get his IMEI number on his phone. (Cant get thru pass the activation)

Trying to figure what my next move would be. For now, he's stuck with a flip phone. :cool:
 
Applejuiced

Applejuiced

macrumors Westmere
Apr 16, 2008
40,672
6,533
At the iPhone hacks section.
swoosh0217 said:
My 12 years old son did the same thing when he was trying to sync some of his songs. Unfortunately now, he has a 3GS with version 6.1.

We tried activating his 3GS using an ATT sim card that is not activated but NO LUCK.

The problem of going thru ebay and buying the official unlock is that I cant even get his IMEI number on his phone. (Cant get thru pass the activation)

Trying to figure what my next move would be. For now, he's stuck with a flip phone. :cool:
Click to expand...

The Imei is also printed inside the sim tray that pops out.
But first he would need to flash to the iPad baseband again using redsnow and then downgrade the baseband again using redsnow. And then restore using iTunes after he gets the imei unlock.
 
swoosh0217

swoosh0217

macrumors 6502a
Nov 20, 2007
579
0
NW
Applejuiced said:
The Imei is also printed inside the sim tray that pops out.
But first he would need to flash to the iPad baseband again using redsnow and then downgrade the baseband again using redsnow. And then restore using iTunes after he gets the imei unlock.
Click to expand...

Thanks AJ!! I got the IMEI number down. I'm not gonna sweat on using redsn0w to get the iPad baseband. Im going straight to eBay to get the factory unlock.
 
Applejuiced

Applejuiced

macrumors Westmere
Apr 16, 2008
40,672
6,533
At the iPhone hacks section.
swoosh0217 said:
Thanks AJ!! I got the IMEI number down. I'm not gonna sweat on using redsn0w to get the iPad baseband. Im going straight to eBay to get the factory unlock.
Click to expand...

Nice.
Do you know if it was unlocked before wih the iPad baseband? If that was the case even after the unlock the phone might not recognize any sim you put in.
That's where those steps above would be necessary to be done.
Just for once and then the iPhone will be factory unlocked for good after you buy the imei unlock.
 
swoosh0217

swoosh0217

macrumors 6502a
Nov 20, 2007
579
0
NW
Applejuiced said:
Nice.
Do you know if it was unlocked before wih the iPad baseband? If that was the case even after the unlock the phone might not recognize any sim you put in.
That's where those steps above would be necessary to be done.
Just for once and then the iPhone will be factory unlocked for good after you buy the imei unlock.
Click to expand...

Yes I did change it to an iPad baseband in order to get it unlock with previous version. In this case, it makes sense to do your steps first.

The thing is... I already purchased the unlock thru eBay and just waiting for the buyer's confirmation.

I'm starting to sound noob here coz honestly, I have not mess with 3GS's since it first came out now that I'm on iPhone 5.

So.... which version of redsn0w should I use with IPSW 6.1.0 (10B141)?

Let me try to do some searching here..
 
Applejuiced

Applejuiced

macrumors Westmere
Apr 16, 2008
40,672
6,533
At the iPhone hacks section.
swoosh0217 said:
Yes I did change it to an iPad baseband in order to get it unlock with previous version. In this case, it makes sense to do your steps first.

The thing is... I already purchased the unlock thru eBay and just waiting for the buyer's confirmation.

I'm starting to sound noob here coz honestly, I have not mess with 3GS's since it first came out now that I'm on iPhone 5.

So.... which version of redsn0w should I use with IPSW 6.1.0 (10B141)?

Let me try to do some searching here..
Click to expand...

For the ipsw you can point the latest redsnow to the 6.0 ipsw to install the ipad bb. Not the 6.1 cause it wont recognize it yet.
Then once its done flashing the ipad bb run redsnow again and select downgrade baseband.
After that you should be ok.

Then when its done open r
 
swoosh0217

swoosh0217

macrumors 6502a
Nov 20, 2007
579
0
NW
Applejuiced said:
For the ipsw you can point the latest redsnow to the 6.0 ipsw to install the ipad bb. Not the 6.1 cause it wont recognize it yet.
Then once its done flashing the ipad bb run redsnow again and select downgrade baseband.
After that you should be ok.

Then when its done open r
Click to expand...

I did exactly what you told me to do and it worked. Installed iPad BB then downgrade BB.

Now I'm just waiting for the eBay seller any minute now to confirm that my sons 3GS is unlock. Thanks for the help. I couldn't have done this without your knowledge.
 
swoosh0217

swoosh0217

macrumors 6502a
Nov 20, 2007
579
0
NW
Applejuiced said:
Sweet, Im glad it worked out.
As soon as you get the email from the imei unlock seller then your iphone will be free to work with any carriers sim:D
Congrats.
Click to expand...

I hit a snag... So the seller emailed me and said my sons phone is now unlock and plug thru iTunes. It went to its own restore then it booted fine. I'm still getting no signal...

So, I followed your steps again which is to use redsnow and flash the iPad bb using the 6.0 IPSW. Then use redsnow again to downgrade bb.

Then I went to itunes and hit restore, it went thru its process then I got an itunes error saying “This device isn’t eligible for the requested build error” while updating your iOS device!


I went to check on my host file by going to this path (C:Windows>System32>drivers>etc) and it seems to be ok.
 
Last edited:
swoosh0217

swoosh0217

macrumors 6502a
Nov 20, 2007
579
0
NW
Applejuiced said:
You let it restore to the latest 6.1 right?
Try a Restore using a other computer if yours is giving you probs.
make sure you have the latest iTunes installed.
Click to expand...

Went to use a different computer now and its doing its restore as I speak. ;)
 
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