Have jailbroken 3GS w/ 3.0 firmware, need jailbroken/unlocked w/ 3.1.2 firmware

[NotJohnnyQuest]

Hi guys, I realize the answers to most of what I'm about to ask are probably available in different places, but the jailbreaking/unlocking process has just gotten so hairy lately that I hope some people here can get me going in the right direction with this stuff.

I bought an iPhone 3GS when they were first released and jailbroke it shortly after; I've been very pleased with it ever since but haven't had the time to update anything in the last few months (I still have the original 3.0 firmware).

I'll be visiting Europe for a few months soon, though, so I'd like to take the opportunity to update my firmware/jailbreak versions, as well as unlock my phone so I can use European SIM cards instead of paying through the nose to AT&T.

I was wondering what the best way was to go about all this? What programs and methods should I use, and in what order? I'm a bit concerned about doing something wrong and making it impossible to jailbreak/unlock in the future. As I mentioned earlier, I got my 3GS when they were first released so I understand an untethered jailbreak should be possible. I'm also a Windows user.

A few other questions in particular:

1. What's the best way to backup everything, including all my personal stuff (texts, notes, emails, bookmarks), app store and cydia apps and associated data, winterboard/theme settings, and everything else?
2. I've read that setting up the iPhone as a new phone instead of restoring from a backup yields better battery life for some users; has this been proven to be the case? Is it worth the hassle of having to restore things manually if I set up as a new phone?
3. Is there any decreased battery life after unlocking my phone, apart from what I'm already experiencing with a jailbroken phone?
4. Does unlocking my phone change my user experience in any way when I'm at home and using AT&T's network?

Thanks for all the help.

 

[thelatinist]

If I were you I would upgrade to a jailbroken, unhacktivated custom firmware. You can make your own using PwnageTool if you have a Mac, or you can download one somewhere if you do not. Once that is done, install ultrasn0w from Cydia.

I do not recommend restoring from backup. You can do so if you wish, but sometimes it leads to problems. Unfortunately that is the only way to preserve your text messages. You could always try it once that way and then restore again if you have problems.

Your Music, App Store apps, etc. will all be synchronized with your iPhone, if you've set it up right. They will be restored whether you restore your phone from a backup or set up as new.

I recommend Pkgbackup from Cydia for backing up your Cydia apps. It's not a true backup; it saves information about all the packages you have installed in your address book so that you can sychronize after you restore and have Pkgbackup restore all your packages. That way you don't have to manually install all your Cydia packages.

Having your phone unlocked does not affect anything about your user experience when you're on AT&T. It doesn't affect battery life in any noticeable way.

 

[NotJohnnyQuest]

Thanks for all the help; just a few more questions..

If I were you I would upgrade to a jailbroken, unhacktivated custom firmware. You can make your own using PwnageTool if you have a Mac, or you can download one somewhere if you do not.

Yeah, I'd been doing some reading since making that last post and decided this was what I should do. That or update through iTunes and use blackra1n, but my preference so far is for Dev Team-developed stuff (have people actually encountered any real differences between these two methods? Would using blackra1n be just as stable?).

I don't have a Mac myself, and I have issues with using some random modified firmware from someone I don't know, so I might see if I can find someone with a Mac I can use PwnageTool on.

I do not recommend restoring from backup. You can do so if you wish, but sometimes it leads to problems. Unfortunately that is the only way to preserve your text messages.

This guide from BigBoss says I can backup the /var/mobile/Library/SMS folder to backup my text messages; could I not simply restore this folder after updating to get my text messages back?

You could always try it once that way and then restore again if you have problems.

You mean I can set it up as a new phone and then restore from my backup later if I can't get things the way I want them?

Your Music, App Store apps, etc. will all be synchronized with your iPhone, if you've set it up right. They will be restored whether you restore your phone from a backup or set up as new.

What about data associated with app store apps (favorite radio stations added to AOL radio, saved progress in games, etc.), will this be restored as well?

I recommend Pkgbackup from Cydia for backing up your Cydia apps. It's not a true backup; it saves information about all the packages you have installed in your address book so that you can sychronize after you restore and have Pkgbackup restore all your packages. That way you don't have to manually install all your Cydia packages.

Just downloaded AptBackup; looks like this works the same way?

Having your phone unlocked does not affect anything about your user experience when you're on AT&T. It doesn't affect battery life in any noticeable way.

So push notifications will still work fine on AT&T?

Thanks again.

 

[thelatinist]

(have people actually encountered any real differences between these two methods? Would using blackra1n be just as stable?).

Blackra1n should work fine, especially on a 3GS, but it will not preserve your baseband version. This would mean that you would only be able to unlock using blacksn0w, and that definitely is not just as stable as ultrasn0w. Many people have experienced very serious WiFi problems after installing blacksn0w (some people have estimated that 10-20% are affected, and there is no pattern to who will be affected).

I don't have a Mac myself, and I have issues with using some random modified firmware from someone I don't know, so I might see if I can find someone with a Mac I can use PwnageTool on.

I think that is a wise decision. I would be very wary of downloading a firmware online.

This guide from BigBoss says I can backup the /var/mobile/Library/SMS folder to backup my text messages; could I not simply restore this folder after updating to get my text messages back?

I do not have any experience with this, but if BigBoss says it will work, I'm sure he's right.

You mean I can set it up as a new phone and then restore from my backup later if I can't get things the way I want them?

Yes, I believe this is the case. I don't think it will delete your backup. You may have to restore your phone first, though.

What about data associated with app store apps (favorite radio stations added to AOL radio, saved progress in games, etc.), will this be restored as well?

That will only be restored if you restore from a backup.

Just downloaded AptBackup; looks like this works the same way?

It does not do the same thing at all. AptBackup only works if you restore from backup, not if you set up as a new phone. Also, I used AptBackup several times and it never worked right. It would appear to have backed things up, but when I went to restore the backup was nowhere to be found. PackageBackup costs a couple of bucks, but it is well worth it.

So push notifications will still work fine on AT&T?

This is true only if you activate using your AT&T SIM in iTunes. If you go with blackra1n, just make sure your phone is already activated before you run blackra1n. If you use PwnageTool, use Expert Mode and uncheck the Activate checkbox; otherwise your phone will be hacktivated and not set up for push messages. This is what I meant by using an unhacktivated custom ipsw.

 

[NotJohnnyQuest]

This is true only if you activate using your AT&T SIM in iTunes. If you go with blackra1n, just make sure your phone is already activated before you run blackra1n. If you use PwnageTool, use Expert Mode and uncheck the Activate checkbox; otherwise your phone will be hacktivated and not set up for push messages. This is what I meant by using an unhacktivated custom ipsw.

Right, so setting up the custom ipsw on PwnageTool without the activate option will keep me connecting to AT&T through iTunes activation and will keep push notifications. But push notifications will still work fine after using ultrasn0w to unlock, right (presumably on AT&T, if not on unofficial carriers)?

 

[Echnin]

Push notifications will work on other carriers as well, as long as you activate with the original SIM card inserted. Works for me, at least.

Just use PwnageTool with a customized 3.1.2 firmware. Since it's already jailbroken, you don't even need PwnageTool for the jailbreak part; you just need the customized ipsw that it creates, which you can then use to restore in iTunes on either Mac or Windows. You don't need to use advanced mode to keep it from Hacktivating either; PwnageTool asks you the question even in regular mode. If you are in possession of an original SIM-card which will activate the phone, there is no need to Hacktivate even if you're going to use another SIM-card with the phone.

I'm pretty sure app settings are saved and synced back to the phone if it's already synced to iTunes, actually.

Of course, if you find this all a bit complicated and you don't need 3.1.2, there's nothing stopping you from installing ultrasn0w on your phone as is. Downloading and installing ultrasn0w through Cydia only takes a few seconds, while updating to 3.1.2 with PwnageTool and then resyncing will cost you the better part of an hour.