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iPod touch Apple's iOS Shenanigans - A Warning

T

tod

Cancelled
Original poster
Oct 3, 2009
162
100
I upgraded my 2nd gen. iPod Touch to iOS 4.0, then decided to downgrade back to 3.1.3. Not only did iTunes delete the old software image without my permission, but it no longer will allow me (or anyone else) to install OS 3. iTunes actually checks in with Apple's servers to see if you're allowed to install the OS.

I paid for OS 3 last year, and I expect to be able to use it. I consider this to be a serious breach of my contract with Apple.

Apple never used to be this way, locking users out of certain things for "our own good". I'm tired of it.

Anyway, I sent a letter to Apple Legal demanding a solution. So be warned if you upgrade iOS. Apple knows what's good for you and they decided not to let you downgrade.

http://tod.fm/apples-ios-shenanigans/
 
nothing really new, is it?
guess why there is the option to save your FW hashes on cydia so that you will be able to downgrade...
 
Good point. Now I know better. But I was shocked the moment I found out that Apple would not allow me to downgrade. I lost a lot of respect for them, and I've been on the platform for almost two decades.
 
This site might help you get that firmware back or at least download it: http://ios.e-lite.org/

Click on historical and download the appropriate firmware. You might have to trick it (option) into letting you install the firmware though.
 
Hey Tod,

Just FYI: Starting with the iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch 3G, yes, Apple does have to sign off on the software image you want to load onto the phone, and they revoke signatures for older versions that they no longer support. I agree that it is despicable. It screwed over a lot of people who upgraded to the dog that was 3.1.0/3.1.1 (two words: "coma bug") and who then had to wait nearly a month for 3.1.2 to be released, with no option to downgrade.

In the iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch 3G, this is enforced in hardware, and there is no workaround if you did not capture the signatures for your specific phone serial # and iOS version for "replay" later on (using TinyTSS or Saurik's TSS server).

Recently, starting with version 4.x, users of iPod Touch 2G and iPhone 3G discovered that Apple was requiring signatures for these devices as well. Prior to 4.x, these devices could upgrade and downgrade at-will, and consequently there is no actual hardware enforcement of this built into these devices as they were manufactured before Apple came up with this scheme. For these devices, it is "soft enforced" purely within iTunes itself. The actual device doesn't care (although I'd guess there is also a software check built into iOS 4.x as well that runs on the device).

What this means is that there ARE workarounds for going back to 3.x builds of iOS on iPod Touch 2G. You have two choices, really:

1) You can download a version of PwnageTool appropriate to the build of iOS you want to restore to your iPod. Pwned IPSWs do not require the Apple signature as the contents of the IPSW are decrypted by PwnageTool before being repackaged. As a side benefit, the Pwned IPSW image contains Cydia pre-installed for you, so you will be jailbroken out-of-the-box.

2) If you don't wish to jailbreak, the other option you have is to downgrade to a build of iTunes on your computer that was released before iOS 4.0 came out. It will not "phone home" to Apple for 3.x restores on iPod Touch 2G or iPhone 3G. (I don't remember what the last version was before iOS 4.0 came out; I think either 9.0 or 9.1. Google should help here, though.)

All that being said, I think was you are doing is laudable and I also think that you should stick to your guns on this. The no-downgrade enforcement is complete BS. It can (and HAS) hurt Apple's customers. Sadly, as much as I would love for them to reverse course, I don't see them humbling themselves on this point anytime soon.

-- Nathan
 
Thank you very much for the advice and links. This downgrading thing almost seems like a petty detail -- I often hear a refrain of "everyone wants the latest software, so who cares?" I just don't want someone else, no matter how benevolent, telling me what I can and can't do with my devices. If Apple insists on exerting this much control over iDevices, we might as well be leasing them from the company rather than buying.
 
tod said:
Thank you very much for the advice and links. This downgrading thing almost seems like a petty detail -- I often hear a refrain of "everyone wants the latest software, so who cares?" I just don't want someone else, no matter how benevolent, telling me what I can and can't do with my devices. If Apple insists on exerting this much control over iDevices, we might as well be leasing them from the company rather than buying.
Click to expand...

It's false to assume Apple cares or ever has cared for it's developer's and consumers. They make products that they like, and market them well and many people like them as well. But at no time in the Apple-consumer relationship, has Apple ever taken a backstep without being pushed either by competitors or the media.
 
Still Contacting Apple

I'm a little late to this.

Yesterday I received a white box replacement iPod Touch 2G...it's an MB533LL model with 2.2.1 on it.

I downloaded iTunes version 8.2.1.6 from Apple today.

I put my "new" 2G in DFU mode and went to restore it to 3.1.2 (Filename iPod2,1_3.1.2_7D11_Restore.ipsw).

It's still going out to the Apple Servers to check and comes back with the message that it's not updatable to that version.

Any thoughts?
 
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