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iPhone Downgrade iPhone 2G from 3.1.3 to 2.2.1 or earlier

macgeek01 said:
Correct, Apple has required signing off on firmware installs for a long time now so you can't just use the old versions. I was hoping there may be a way to do this after jailbreaking.
Click to expand...

except the original iphone does not have the hardware to verify iOS firmware installs like the way modern day idevices do
 
I have an original iPhone (AT&T, day one, still working like a charm). A long time ago, i've updated it to iOS 3.1.3. But now i wanted to downgrade it to a more usable firmware. So, fired up PwnageTool and created a custom 2.2.1 firmware (remember that?? 😛 ), loaded my WinXP VM with iTunes 8.0.2 (the one that shipped originally with 2.2.1) but i cannot restore my iPhone.

khoanguyen2512 said:
I think Apple has blocked the connection to the "update server" for itunes-old version
Click to expand...

I'm 99% sure that's the problem. Tried every version of iTunes from 7.6 to 8.2.1 but with no luck. I've tried in my VM (Win XP freshly installed) and also on a physical PC but iTunes just won't work, same message: "iPod software update server could not be contacted".

BUT...

Then i tried loading an iPhone OS 1.1.4 firmware, with iTunes 7.5 and it worked! Now I have 1.1.4 in my iPhone. But i cannot figure out wtf is still impossible to load iOS 2.x. Why in the world apple should have blocked connection for 2.x update servers, but not for 1.x?? 😕

EDIT - iOS 2.2.1 ON BOARD!

I managed to install iOS 2.2.1 on my iPhone. How? I simply connected my iPhone to iTunes (8.0.2) on a freshly Win XP VM, i shift-selected my custom 2.2.1 firm and i restored. No DFU, no recovery, No PWNDFU. Just connected the iPhone (the iPhone was on when connected), and iTunes restored it!! No errors, nada! I'm happy because it was unexpected 😀

 
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braddick said:
That is cool!

I think 1.1.4 would have been a fun firmware to stay on too.
Click to expand...

Yep, downgrading to the good 'ol 1.1.4 is the coolest nerdy achievement, but after 10 minutes i realised again how poor the user experience was in iPhone OS 1.x... 😀 Also i cannot edit my carrier APN settings in 1.1.4, it sucks because now my carrier dropped support for that old default APN included in 1.x and i cannot use cellular data.

I think that this badass iPhone is the best ever. I miss that good sensation while using it, the new iPhones are just...regular phones, like others. But this old guy, it's cool. 😀
 
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I made a post about this a while ago. Glad to know its possible. I have an original iPhone on iOS 1 and I love toying with it and remembering the good ole days 🙂
 
Totally said:
I made a post about this a while ago. I don't think it's easy to go down from iOS 2 to iOS 1. But please let me know how it works for you. I have an original iPhone on iOS 1 and I love toying with it and remembering the good ole days 🙂
Click to expand...

Just tested it on my iPhone, it was very easy for me to go down from 3.1.3 to 1.1.4, just DFU & Restore with iTunes 7.5 on freshly installed XP. It was done the first time, no errors (just the baseband error but that's normal, solved with iBrickr 0.91).

But i see that is not so simply to restore iOS 2.x, i don't know why. It's possible, because i have have now 2.2.1 on my phone, but it's a little trickier than 1.1.4.

To install 2.2.1, i downgraded to 1.1.4 and than shift-restored a custom firmware (created with PwnageTool 2.2.5) with iTunes 8.0.2. and the iPhone powered on, no DFU or Recovery. No errors, just fine.

I tried restoring 2.2.1 in DFU but iTunes gave me the "iPod software update server could not be contacted" error, while it worked with iPhone powered on normally. Apple logic. 🙄

For these tests, i suggest this method:

create a fresh, clean XP install in VMWare (or other VM platform). Then install just the drivers & VMWare tools. Reboot and than take a complete system snapshot BEFORE installing any other software on it.

So, if you have a problem with iTunes (and i'm sure you'll have 😀), just restore the snapshot in a few seconds and you're ready again.

With this trick, it's possible to test different iTunes versions without the hassle of removing it every time (iTunes for Windows is kind a crappy software, is difficult to remove completely)

PS. Sorry for my english, i'm from Italy & still learning 😛
 
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Nico! said:
Just tested it on my iPhone, it was very easy for me to go down from 3.1.3 to 1.1.4, just DFU & Restore with iTunes 7.5 on freshly installed XP. It was done the first time, no errors (just the baseband error but that's normal, solved with iBrickr 0.91).

But i see that is not so simply to restore iOS 2.x, i don't know why. It's possible, because i have have now 2.2.1 on my phone, but it's a little trickier than 1.1.4.

To install 2.2.1, i downgraded to 1.1.4 and than shift-restored a custom firmware (created with PwnageTool 2.2.5) with iTunes 8.0.2. and the iPhone powered on, no DFU or Recovery. No errors, just fine.

I tried restoring 2.2.1 in DFU but iTunes gave me the "iPod software update server could not be contacted" error, while it worked with iPhone powered on normally. Apple logic. 🙄

For these tests, i suggest this method:

create a fresh, clean XP install in VMWare (or other VM platform). Than install just the drivers & VMWare tools. Reboot and than take a complete system snapshot BEFORE installing any other software on it.

So, if you have a problem with iTunes (and i'm sure you'll have 😀), just restore the snapshot in a few seconds and you're ready again.

With this trick, it's possible to test different iTunes versions without the hassle of removing it every time (iTunes for Windows is kind a crappy software, is difficult to remove completely)

PS. Sorry for my english, i'm from Italy & still learning 😛
Click to expand...

Interesting - thank you for the explanation - I'm gonna save it incase I need to try some time 🙂. I corrected my above post when I reread yours.
 
Sorry for the nearly one-month bump... I just made an account on here to ask this.

I have purchased an iPhone 2G on 3.1.3 in great shape. I actually after some time have grown to like it and use it as my regular phone over my 3GS. The speed is fine, but then again I have very few apps on it.

Now, for fun I, like others would lile to downgrade it to 1.1.4. Through an XP virtual machine with iTunes 7.5 I was able to downgrade to 1.1.4...
...but I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to activate it. I was on the activation screen but naturally iTunes couldn't activate it because it was too old.

My main computer is a 64-bit Windows 7 machine with an XP VM. I have tried Ziphone 3.0 on my main computer to activate it with no luck (doesn't detect my phone) and on the VM the program just returns a Windows error.


Any help here? 🙁
 
Jr. Pac said:
Thanks. I see multiple downloads here, which do I need?
http://code.google.com/p/idemocracy/downloads/list
Click to expand...

Sorry, i checked and it was not iDemocracy but iLiberty, i used iLiberty version 1.2.0.65 for Windows (in a clean XP SP3 VM, on VMWare Fusion). It worked like a charm. Don't use Ziphone if you can because it could be a little instable and could brick your phone. Good luck! 🙂

PS. I suggest that if you plan to use your 2G as everyday phone, you should put on iOS 2.2.1 instead of 1.14, thats because the overall speed is the same but iOS 2.2.1 have a lot more features, like the ability to edit carrier APN's.

If you plan to use 2.2.1, you can activate it using Pnage Tool 2.2.5 to create a custom firmware pre activated 😎
 
Nico! said:
Sorry, i checked and it was not iDemocracy but iLiberty, i used iLiberty version 1.2.0.65 for Windows (in a clean XP SP3 VM, on VMWare Fusion). It worked like a charm. Don't use Ziphone if you can because it could be a little instable and could brick your phone. Good luck! 🙂

PS. I suggest that if you plan to use your 2G as everyday phone, you should put on iOS 2.2.1 instead of 1.14, thats because the overall speed is the same but iOS 2.2.1 have a lot more features, like the ability to edit carrier APN's.

If you plan to use 2.2.1, you can activate it using Pnage Tool 2.2.5 to create a custom firmware pre activated 😎
Click to expand...

Thanks. I couldn't find any downloads for Pwnagetool for Windows (only for Mac), but I did find QuickPwn (but only in torrent form). If you could post your installation program of Pwnagetool or Quickpwn not in a torrent file and for Windows I would be ever grateful!
 
Follow-up.. VM said with Activate option on with iLiberty that it could not create a payload folder.... Now I'm stuck on 1.1.4 for the time being.
 
Couldn't get it working... I managed to use Ziphone through CMD. Worked like a charm. Now on iPhone 2g with 1.1.4, couldn't be happier. 🙂
 
not

I have iTunes 7.5 phone turns on and it says cannot be used with this iTunes because its on 3.1.3 but when i put it into dfu or recovery mode iTunes doesn't say anything the phone doesn't show up. anyone know why im trying to restore to 1.1.4
 
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