I really don't need my iPod touch to be jailbroken as I barely ever use it. Just out of curiosity I updated to 6.1 over the air and tried to jailbreak it and to my shock it worked!
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General eVasi0n works with OTA updates
- Thread starter guitarmandp
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An OTA update is no different from an update from iTunes, except these are delta updates.
They are drastically different. In some cases they have completely different chunks of code. Over the air updates work by Apple pulling the changes from the files with the UNIX patch command and recombining them on the iDevice with the patch command again. Not every file that get updated is touched through an over the air update. Not only are some things completely missing, there is sometimes a bug put into a patched file that only presents itself once jailbroken. Furthermore, over the air updates have a different set of SHSH blobs and a different kernel layout because of how the patch command updates the kernel.
I used OTA to update to 6.1 on my iPhone5 when 6.1 first came out. I jb without issue and have had no issues since.
Like everyone else has already pretty much pointed out, if you are a fan of jailbreaking and feel that you "can't live without a jailbreak", then you really need to restore your device via iTunes and then rejailbreak. Why? Because we all learned an important lesson with the iOS5 jailbreak....the OTA updates use a different SHSH blob. This is critically important because if you ever want the chance to restore your iOS6 device to a jailbreakable firmware after Apple releases 6.1.1 to close the exploits, then the best chance you have at that privilege is to restore to 6.1 via iTunes. Unless a major exploit is discovered, odds are that when/if the hackers figure out a way to re-restore your 6.1 device after Apple stops signing that firmware, there is a really good chance that only people who updated their phones via iTunes will have this option. If it is similar to the iOS5 restore process, then people who updated to 6.1 OTA will be unable to re-restore to 6.1.
So after my longwinded post and to put it bluntly, if you ever want the chance to restore your iOS6 device to a jailbreakable firmware after Apple stops signing 6.1 (which looks to be sooner than later since they released the 6.1.1 beta), you need to restore your device to 6.1 via iTunes ASAP so you don't get screwed down the road. All of this is with the assumption that you want to keep your jailbreak long term until the next jailbreak tool comes out, that the hackers will figure out a way for re-restores after the signing window closes, and that this method will have the same constraints as the iOS5 re-restore process had as well (meaning people who updated via OTA were not eligible for this hack). Sorry I know I repeated myself many times but it's important to know.
Oh yea, and save those blobs if you haven't already!
So after my longwinded post and to put it bluntly, if you ever want the chance to restore your iOS6 device to a jailbreakable firmware after Apple stops signing 6.1 (which looks to be sooner than later since they released the 6.1.1 beta), you need to restore your device to 6.1 via iTunes ASAP so you don't get screwed down the road. All of this is with the assumption that you want to keep your jailbreak long term until the next jailbreak tool comes out, that the hackers will figure out a way for re-restores after the signing window closes, and that this method will have the same constraints as the iOS5 re-restore process had as well (meaning people who updated via OTA were not eligible for this hack). Sorry I know I repeated myself many times but it's important to know.
Oh yea, and save those blobs if you haven't already!
Well said, Bumpy. For those of you new to jailbreaking, heed this advice. Amazing how many folks try to update their phone AFTER jailbreaking it, which is a no-no.
Just plain stay away from OTA updates if you prefer to live in jailbreak land. Rather, always update to the latest version of the iOS supported by the jailbreak (in this instance, 6.1) via a clean restore on iTunes (after you've backed up your phone), and then save your blobs for that device!
Those that do try the over the air update after jailbreaking, don't have anything to fear. Apple's built in checks detect jailbreaks and stop the update. The device restarts as normal and states that the update failed and to restore or update it via iTunes.
