Hello and Welcome to MacRumors, the site where you can find all your latest Mac news, rumors and even tricks on your Mac, iPod or iPhone! A user by the name "thecompkid", a member from another community, once said:
As a MacRumors member, I would like to thank you for coming to visit us. We, the MacRumors community, want you to feel welcome in this place! There are also a lot of friendly people on this forum willing and able to help in any way possible. Keep in mind though, that many threads duplicate each other, this is why the following thread was developed. So if you post something already well-known, or that was already answered on this thread, you don’t take it personal if a member tells you otherwise or if a moderator closes the thread or if you get an answer you don’t want, or even don’t like.
Also, as a regular user I want you to know that this is a free and open community. It will always be a free community. The site owner arn’s help and others have enabled it to be so. It has also allowed this community to grow at an exponential rate. We are people that help each other, giving in any way we can and not taking. Please keep that in mind as you post.
With that said, enjoy your stay here. If there’s anything you need clarified, remember I am just a PM away.
The following thread was developed to keep a control on the excessive duplicated threads. Most of those threads created were due in part of not using the search feature. Therefore, this thread will help those that need to be guided in the proper direction without creating more threads. If, you still need more help, or if a problem has come up that has not been discussed, please use the search feature. It is your friend. If you still can not find the solution, feel free to post and we’ll be glad to help.
Table of Contents
I. Post 1
>> General Information
>>> Terminology
>>> iPhone Status Ticker
II. Post 2
>> Information on Software Version & Unlocks
>>> What firmware you have?
>>> Pwnage
>>> redsn0w
>>> yellowsn0w
>>> UltraSn0w
>>> Jailbreakme.com
>>> Further explanations
>>>> Baseband | ARM | A4
>>>> Bootloaders
>>>> Bootrom | iBoot
III. Post 3
>> Feature Expansion Guides
>>> Jailbreak Flowchart by thelatinist
>>> Tether Guide
>>> Enable MMS on 2G iPhone (1st Gen)
>>> AT&T Promotion Codes for FAN# Account Holders
IV. Post 4
>> Warranty
>> App Store Piracy
>>> General Statement and thought
General Information
So we need to clarify a few things first. Some people are new and I want to include the proper terminology for all those who really eed it. So here it is:
The iPhone Dev Team
What can we say about the Dev Team? These are the people who brought you anySIM, first 3rd party "Hello World" app for the iPhone [yes it was not Apple Devs
], BootNeuter, Pwnage and much more goodies for our iPhones. They constantly watch out for us in terms of giving us easy solutions to unlock, jailbreak and activate when moving from one firmware to the next.
>>If you want to reach them clicking here.
>>You can also read their blog posts here.
Firmware versions (1.0.0 through 4.0.0)-
These are the software versions that run/ran your iPhone. The very first one was firmware 1.0.0. the latest one released is 4.0.1.
Recovery/Restore Mode -
If something bad happens, then this is your best friend. It wipes your iPhone clean of problems and then installs the newest firmware. It gives you a fresh start. This is categorized by the iTunes logo and the USB cable.
DFU Mode -
This is mode is only present from firmware 1.1.1 up. This mode is quite handy when it comes to downgrades. It is categorized by a black screen even and iTunes recognizing the phone as though it needs restore. To reach it you must have the phone connect to iTunes and press and hold the Home + Sleep/Wake button for 10 seconds. After those 10 seconds you let go of the Sleep/Wake and continue pressing the Home button. After let go and iTunes should prompt you to Restore. It takes a while to handle.
Jailbreaking -
Jailbreaking is the term we use to describe how we gain access to the root file system on the iPhone. Normally, we can only see a certain folder within this filesystem because of Apple's locking methods, called a chroot jail. This folder houses all the media stuff from iTunes, but not the juicy stuff, the iPhone's OS. Through several different methods which you needn't concern yourself with, we can "break" out of this little sandbox, allowing us to modify files and perform all these cool hacks.
Installer.app -
This is the first app you're going to want to installed once your iPhone is jailbroken. Currenty it is in a beta mode as it had to be rewritten for update 2.0.0. After 2.0.0, Installer became a mere shadow of its former self. It acts as a portal to a world of 3rd party goodness and fantasy, allowing you install everything from the blatantly functional PDFReader to an appropriately named app called iBrate. Installer will die or cease to function on 1/7/09 (July 1, 2009), so its best if you happen to use Installer, start getting to know better either Cydia or Icy.
Cydia.app-
An application much like Installer. The only difference is that Cydia is an open source application that was the only one available for iPhone update 2.0.0. To date, Cydia hosts the largest 3rd party applications outside the Apple App Store. Cydia currently has entered the paid application market and has same deal as Apple with developers. The payment system is thru PayPal.
Activation -
The iPhone is unique in the sense that it is completely reliant on this activation process to enable normal usage. If you hacktivate your iPhone, it becomes an iPod Touch with camera and bluetooth, only unlocking it will turn it back into an iPhone.
Unlocking -
Yeah, you can do that. The process of unlocking allows your iPhone to use any GSM SIM card. Note the term "GSM", AKA, not Verizon or Sprint which use CDMA. Since these carriers use CDMA, the current iPhones will not work at all with them, so don't bother making threads about it. Unlocking modifies the baseband (see below) to accept any SIM you put in your iPhone, and can be a tricky proposition when it comes to FW updates.
Revirginizing -
If you attempt to upgrade an unlocked 1.0.2 to 1.1.1, your phone gets damaged and the baseband becomes bricked. To upgrade, you need to restore the baseband to factory settings first, and we call this revirginizing.
Downgrading -
Apple is keeping up the cat-and-mouse game just like they promised, so occasionally we need to take a step back in time to exploit Apple's previous mistakes. To do this, we can downgrade the iPhone to a firmware older than the one it has, but we need to initiate the restore process differently (DFU mode), and you will get an error, that's normal.
SDK (Software Development Kit) -
Apple finally got our hint and they came out with their own method of allowing 3rd party apps. Just one problem...it sucks. To make a long story short, they're the supreme overlords of the App Store, so good luck getting anything more complex than a tic-tac-toe game approved. Come June of 2008, firmware 2.0.0 will be released and we'll all have fun paying out the ass for every single little game. You really don't need to be greiving over the death of installer.app, though, 3.0.0 is already jailbroken. No, I am not kidding.
Dual Booting -
Dual booting is like running windows on a mac, you have two OS's that you can switch between. For example, you can run 1.1.4 and 1.1.1 on one iPhone. But to tell you the truth you don't really need it, because 1.1.4 has everything 1.1.1 has and more. Dual booting was made for hackers to jailbreak new firmware or debug programs. So if your not going to hack firmwares just forget about it. This method of jailbreaking got patched by Apple, so its no longer working.
...and just a few quick things you may or may not run into...
iTouch - Just another name for the iPod Touch
Repository - Server that hosts packages for installer.app
BSD Subsystem - A collection of tools that fill in the missing parts of the iPhone's core OS, so we can do things like copy and move files.
SSH - Essentially a remote command line for unix, can be installed with installer.app
SCP/SFTP - Methods that are used to transfer files to and from the iPhone, integrated with SSH
WinSCP - A great SCP client for Windows
Springboard.app - Main launcher for the iPhone, it's what you see after you "slide to unlock", can be modified and replaced.
plist - A file that stores information for a program or iPhone preferences, short for property list
iPhone Status Ticker
Here we have the status of all iPhone with respect to jailbreak, unlocking and activations. Statuses are alotted with respect to released software patches, jailbreaks.
Important Notices: Use Pwnage Tool or RedSn0w in order to jailbreak your iPhone on OS 4.
iPhone
Notes - The 1st Gen iPhone is modifiable at any point thanks to Pwnage tool. No matter what software version Apple throws, they are all vulnerable to Pwnage. That includes Baseband updates also. The True unlock was acheived via iPhoneSIMFree. Although it was a paid solution, the baseband kept unlocked even though the user updated firmware & OS. However, due to newer features and code to the core OS, this unlock cause problems for any OS version greater than 1.1.4. GeoHot developed a similar approach as a free alternative in the last days of May 2008. This iPhone is the most hackable iPhone ever, every aspect of it has ben compromised and is vulnerable at any point.
iPhone 3G
Baseband Modifiable - No
Baseband Downgradable - Yes - Only on certain Bootloader versions.
Baseband Unlock - Yes
Baseband True unlock - No
Jailbreak - Yes
Bootloader Modifiable - No
Notes - iPhone 3G has been successfully unlocked by the Dev Team, using yellowsn0w and UltraSn0w. Both unlocks are exploit dependent (like anySIM days).
iPhone 3G S⃣
Baseband Modifiable - No
Baseband Downgradable - No
Baseband Unlock - Yes
Baseband True unlock - No
Jailbreak - Yes
Bootloader Modifiable - No
Notes - This device has the same exploit as the 2G iPod Touch. The exploit, 24kpwn Exploit, allows easy jailbreak of the iPhone 3G S⃣ . This device is unlockable at 3.0.0 or 3.0.1's baseband by the use of UltraSn0w. Unlock also achieved thru BlackSn0w in baseband 3.1.0 and 3.1.2. Spirit uses a new jailbreak to acheive the untethered solution. It works with OS 3.1.3. Watch out for OS 4.
iPhone 4
Baseband Modifiable - No
Baseband Downgradable - No
Baseband Unlock - No
Baseband True unlock - No
Jailbreak - Yes
Bootloader Modifiable - No
Notes - Has been successfully jailbroken by Geohot and the Dev Team. The unlock for this iPhone will be accomplished thru Ultrasn0w as well. However it is currently under going final testing.
As a MacRumors member, I would like to thank you for coming to visit us. We, the MacRumors community, want you to feel welcome in this place! There are also a lot of friendly people on this forum willing and able to help in any way possible. Keep in mind though, that many threads duplicate each other, this is why the following thread was developed. So if you post something already well-known, or that was already answered on this thread, you don’t take it personal if a member tells you otherwise or if a moderator closes the thread or if you get an answer you don’t want, or even don’t like.
Also, as a regular user I want you to know that this is a free and open community. It will always be a free community. The site owner arn’s help and others have enabled it to be so. It has also allowed this community to grow at an exponential rate. We are people that help each other, giving in any way we can and not taking. Please keep that in mind as you post.
With that said, enjoy your stay here. If there’s anything you need clarified, remember I am just a PM away.
The following thread was developed to keep a control on the excessive duplicated threads. Most of those threads created were due in part of not using the search feature. Therefore, this thread will help those that need to be guided in the proper direction without creating more threads. If, you still need more help, or if a problem has come up that has not been discussed, please use the search feature. It is your friend. If you still can not find the solution, feel free to post and we’ll be glad to help.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Table of Contents
I. Post 1
>> General Information
>>> Terminology
>>> iPhone Status Ticker
II. Post 2
>> Information on Software Version & Unlocks
>>> What firmware you have?
>>> Pwnage
>>> redsn0w
>>> yellowsn0w
>>> UltraSn0w
>>> Jailbreakme.com
>>> Further explanations
>>>> Baseband | ARM | A4
>>>> Bootloaders
>>>> Bootrom | iBoot
III. Post 3
>> Feature Expansion Guides
>>> Jailbreak Flowchart by thelatinist
>>> Tether Guide
>>> Enable MMS on 2G iPhone (1st Gen)
>>> AT&T Promotion Codes for FAN# Account Holders
IV. Post 4
>> Warranty
>> App Store Piracy
>>> General Statement and thought
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
General Information
So we need to clarify a few things first. Some people are new and I want to include the proper terminology for all those who really eed it. So here it is:
The iPhone Dev Team
What can we say about the Dev Team? These are the people who brought you anySIM, first 3rd party "Hello World" app for the iPhone [yes it was not Apple Devs
], BootNeuter, Pwnage and much more goodies for our iPhones. They constantly watch out for us in terms of giving us easy solutions to unlock, jailbreak and activate when moving from one firmware to the next.>>If you want to reach them clicking here.
>>You can also read their blog posts here.
Firmware versions (1.0.0 through 4.0.0)-
These are the software versions that run/ran your iPhone. The very first one was firmware 1.0.0. the latest one released is 4.0.1.
Recovery/Restore Mode -
If something bad happens, then this is your best friend. It wipes your iPhone clean of problems and then installs the newest firmware. It gives you a fresh start. This is categorized by the iTunes logo and the USB cable.
DFU Mode -
This is mode is only present from firmware 1.1.1 up. This mode is quite handy when it comes to downgrades. It is categorized by a black screen even and iTunes recognizing the phone as though it needs restore. To reach it you must have the phone connect to iTunes and press and hold the Home + Sleep/Wake button for 10 seconds. After those 10 seconds you let go of the Sleep/Wake and continue pressing the Home button. After let go and iTunes should prompt you to Restore. It takes a while to handle.
Jailbreaking -
Jailbreaking is the term we use to describe how we gain access to the root file system on the iPhone. Normally, we can only see a certain folder within this filesystem because of Apple's locking methods, called a chroot jail. This folder houses all the media stuff from iTunes, but not the juicy stuff, the iPhone's OS. Through several different methods which you needn't concern yourself with, we can "break" out of this little sandbox, allowing us to modify files and perform all these cool hacks.
Installer.app -
This is the first app you're going to want to installed once your iPhone is jailbroken. Currenty it is in a beta mode as it had to be rewritten for update 2.0.0. After 2.0.0, Installer became a mere shadow of its former self. It acts as a portal to a world of 3rd party goodness and fantasy, allowing you install everything from the blatantly functional PDFReader to an appropriately named app called iBrate. Installer will die or cease to function on 1/7/09 (July 1, 2009), so its best if you happen to use Installer, start getting to know better either Cydia or Icy.
Cydia.app-
An application much like Installer. The only difference is that Cydia is an open source application that was the only one available for iPhone update 2.0.0. To date, Cydia hosts the largest 3rd party applications outside the Apple App Store. Cydia currently has entered the paid application market and has same deal as Apple with developers. The payment system is thru PayPal.
Activation -
The iPhone is unique in the sense that it is completely reliant on this activation process to enable normal usage. If you hacktivate your iPhone, it becomes an iPod Touch with camera and bluetooth, only unlocking it will turn it back into an iPhone
.Unlocking -
Yeah, you can do that. The process of unlocking allows your iPhone to use any GSM SIM card. Note the term "GSM", AKA, not Verizon or Sprint which use CDMA. Since these carriers use CDMA, the current iPhones will not work at all with them, so don't bother making threads about it. Unlocking modifies the baseband (see below) to accept any SIM you put in your iPhone, and can be a tricky proposition when it comes to FW updates.
Revirginizing -
If you attempt to upgrade an unlocked 1.0.2 to 1.1.1, your phone gets damaged and the baseband becomes bricked. To upgrade, you need to restore the baseband to factory settings first, and we call this revirginizing.
Downgrading -
Apple is keeping up the cat-and-mouse game just like they promised, so occasionally we need to take a step back in time to exploit Apple's previous mistakes. To do this, we can downgrade the iPhone to a firmware older than the one it has, but we need to initiate the restore process differently (DFU mode), and you will get an error, that's normal.
SDK (Software Development Kit) -
Apple finally got our hint and they came out with their own method of allowing 3rd party apps. Just one problem...it sucks. To make a long story short, they're the supreme overlords of the App Store, so good luck getting anything more complex than a tic-tac-toe game approved. Come June of 2008, firmware 2.0.0 will be released and we'll all have fun paying out the ass for every single little game. You really don't need to be greiving over the death of installer.app, though, 3.0.0 is already jailbroken. No, I am not kidding.
Dual Booting -
Dual booting is like running windows on a mac, you have two OS's that you can switch between. For example, you can run 1.1.4 and 1.1.1 on one iPhone. But to tell you the truth you don't really need it, because 1.1.4 has everything 1.1.1 has and more. Dual booting was made for hackers to jailbreak new firmware or debug programs. So if your not going to hack firmwares just forget about it. This method of jailbreaking got patched by Apple, so its no longer working.
...and just a few quick things you may or may not run into...
iTouch - Just another name for the iPod Touch
Repository - Server that hosts packages for installer.app
BSD Subsystem - A collection of tools that fill in the missing parts of the iPhone's core OS, so we can do things like copy and move files.
SSH - Essentially a remote command line for unix, can be installed with installer.app
SCP/SFTP - Methods that are used to transfer files to and from the iPhone, integrated with SSH
WinSCP - A great SCP client for Windows
Springboard.app - Main launcher for the iPhone, it's what you see after you "slide to unlock", can be modified and replaced.
plist - A file that stores information for a program or iPhone preferences, short for property list
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
iPhone Status Ticker
Here we have the status of all iPhone with respect to jailbreak, unlocking and activations. Statuses are alotted with respect to released software patches, jailbreaks.
Important Notices: Use Pwnage Tool or RedSn0w in order to jailbreak your iPhone on OS 4.
iPhone
Notes - The 1st Gen iPhone is modifiable at any point thanks to Pwnage tool. No matter what software version Apple throws, they are all vulnerable to Pwnage. That includes Baseband updates also. The True unlock was acheived via iPhoneSIMFree. Although it was a paid solution, the baseband kept unlocked even though the user updated firmware & OS. However, due to newer features and code to the core OS, this unlock cause problems for any OS version greater than 1.1.4. GeoHot developed a similar approach as a free alternative in the last days of May 2008. This iPhone is the most hackable iPhone ever, every aspect of it has ben compromised and is vulnerable at any point.
iPhone 3G
Baseband Modifiable - No
Baseband Downgradable - Yes - Only on certain Bootloader versions.
Baseband Unlock - Yes
Baseband True unlock - No
Jailbreak - Yes
Bootloader Modifiable - No
Notes - iPhone 3G has been successfully unlocked by the Dev Team, using yellowsn0w and UltraSn0w. Both unlocks are exploit dependent (like anySIM days).
iPhone 3G S⃣
Baseband Modifiable - No
Baseband Downgradable - No
Baseband Unlock - Yes
Baseband True unlock - No
Jailbreak - Yes
Bootloader Modifiable - No
Notes - This device has the same exploit as the 2G iPod Touch. The exploit, 24kpwn Exploit, allows easy jailbreak of the iPhone 3G S⃣ . This device is unlockable at 3.0.0 or 3.0.1's baseband by the use of UltraSn0w. Unlock also achieved thru BlackSn0w in baseband 3.1.0 and 3.1.2. Spirit uses a new jailbreak to acheive the untethered solution. It works with OS 3.1.3. Watch out for OS 4.
iPhone 4
Baseband Modifiable - No
Baseband Downgradable - No
Baseband Unlock - No
Baseband True unlock - No
Jailbreak - Yes
Bootloader Modifiable - No
Notes - Has been successfully jailbroken by Geohot and the Dev Team. The unlock for this iPhone will be accomplished thru Ultrasn0w as well. However it is currently under going final testing.
