How stable is 4.2.1 jailbreak?

[Tom8]

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I'm thinking of jailbreaking my iPhone 4, 4.2.1, I know it's tethered only at the minute, but how stable is it?

Also, what are the chances jailbreaking could 'Brick' my iPhone?

Finally, does jailbreaking and unjailbreaking several times damage your phone?
Just in case I want to undo, and then redo the jailbreak.

I know there noob questions, but I'd appreciate your help since i don't want to make my shiny iPhone an expensive paper weight.

Thanks

 

[grapes911]

Its very stable. So are most jailbreaks. Instability usually comes from the applications you install, not the jailbreak itself.

Its very difficult to brick your phone when only manipulating software. You can almost always do a hardware restore.

Restoring and rejailbreaking over and over does not damage your phone. All you are doing it changing software code. It does not affect the hardware in any way.

 

[zorinlynx]

It's been stable in my experience, but be aware that if you install any packages that patch critical parts of the OS (such as MyWi) your phone will NO LONGER BOOT if you don't have a computer nearby to boot tethered.

This is the reason I've not done anything too drastic with my jailbreak. My phone is critical and needs to be functional, so not being able to boot without a computer is a problem. I've only installed applications that don't patch the OS, like video game emulators and such.

 

[QuarterSwede]

I'm thinking of jailbreaking my iPhone 4, 4.2.1, I know it's tethered only at the minute, but how stable is it?

Very stable. I've been on it since it came out and I have yet to have to reboot while out and about or even at home for that matter.

Also, what are the chances jailbreaking could 'Brick' my iPhone?

Almost non existent. Don't worry, you won't .

Finally, does jailbreaking and unjailbreaking several times damage your phone?

It won't damage your phone at all. You can restore as many times as you like.

I know there noob questions, but I'd appreciate your help since i don't want to make my shiny iPhone an expensive paper weight.

Thanks

I'd go ahead and do it. However, just know that 4.3 is right around the corner (2 weeks 'ish) and the dev team is working on an untethered JB for 4.2.1 that uses 4.1 instead of 4.2b3 to do the trick.

 

[natebookpro]

Its very stable. So are most jailbreaks. Instability usually comes from the applications you install, not the jailbreak itself.

Its very difficult to brick your phone when only manipulating software. You can almost always do a hardware restore.

Restoring and rejailbreaking over and over does not damage your phone. All you are doing it changing software code. It does not affect the hardware in any way.

Everything Grapes said is spot on. I had my iPhone 4 on 4.2.1 jailbroken for a few weeks and had no issues. The only reason I took it off was I was worried about the whole tethered issue.

 

[Tom8]

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Thanks, I was just unsure if I'd be doing some deep, underlying damage to my system.

I'm just cautious since my parents pay my bill and bought my phone, and I don't know they'd react if I told them I broke it, trying to be a 'super cool 1337 hacker'

Thanks for putting my mind at ease.

Is there any timescale for the untethered release, I saw reports on the Internet of it being pretty close to release, anyone know anything extra?

 

[grapes911]

Is there any timescale for the untethered release, I saw reports on the Internet of it being pretty close to release, anyone know anything extra?

The jailbreaking community does not generally announce releases. Its out when its out. They routinely skip versions and such as well. An untethered hack may never be released for this version. Or it could be out next week. No one really knows. Speculation says after 4.3 is released.

 

[QuarterSwede]

Is there any timescale for the untethered release, I saw reports on the Internet of it being pretty close to release, anyone know anything extra?

That's all we know at the moment. Even if they did give a time frame the dev team members are fairly good at blowing it.

 

[labman]

tethered jailbreak is really no big deal unless you reboot your computer or turn it off. you can respring it all day long. in my case I had to launch redsn0w tether once in a month.

 

[silverblack]

The Monte jailbreak with redsn0w beta6 allows UNtethered jb. It makes use of the 4.2b3 ipsw. It is very stable, no more issue with Bluetooth and skype.

Do you care about (carrier) unlock? If you current has 01.59.00 modem firmware and need unlock, then you have to be careful how you update to 4.2.1. If not, you may lose your unlock.

I followed the guide in hackthatphone.com. It is the best guide out there in my opinion, although it requires a min $5 donation but well worth it considering you will also get guides for future iOS jb. It also achives older documentation, which was important to keep track of what you have done. You will find all the instructions within one site. No more finding conflicting information from different guides, which is most often the reason why people had problems with the jb.

 

[Love Juice]

...I followed the guide in hackthatphone.com. It is the best guide out there in my opinion, although it requires a min $5 donation but well worth it considering you will also get guides for future iOS jb. It also achives older documentation, which was important to keep track of what you have done. You will find all the instructions within one site. No more finding conflicting information from different guides, which is most often the reason why people had problems with the jb.

lol, paying for a guide?!?! are you f'n kidding me?!?! yeah...go right ahead buddy.

Just follow iclarified.com. They are one of the best known and trusted sites for jail breaking & unlocking, and doesn't charge for free info.

 

[Tom8]

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I'm don't care about carrier unlock as I'm the UK and have a great contract as it is.

I was planning on using redsn0w 0.9.7b6, is this the best and most up to date version?

Thanks

 

[labman]

1+ what Love Juice said there are good free guideslike Iclarified or a google search. if somebody wants to spend $5 send to one of the jailbreakers that takes donations Comex, Geohot or Nutcom that does tiny Umbrella or a good Jailbreak Dev like chpwn or many other Dev out there.

 

[silverblack]

Yes, there are lots for free guides and information out there. Feel free to read through them to determine what you need. For me, I'd rather have someone digested all the information and tell me exactly what to do, and nothing more. I've used the site for jailbreaking since my original iPhone, later iPhone 3G and 4. The amount of time I have saved was worth a lot more than $5.

By the way, the $5 donation is not to buy a guide, but to get a membership/password to access all existing and future guides. I agree that this may not make sense to some, but it doesn't hurt to let others know it exists. There are others out there whose time is worth a lot, and would much rather pay to get things done.

I was planning on using redsn0w 0.9.7b6, is this the best and most up to date version?

Yes, it is.

 

[Tom8]

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Ok, so I can go ahead and jailbreak, safe in the mind that I'll have all Cydia goodness, and no issues with my phone?

 

[silverblack]

Ok, so I can go ahead and jailbreak, safe in the mind that I'll have all Cydia goodness, and no issues with my phone?

All I can tell you is, using the guide that I followed, the process went through without problem, and I have yet to find any problem after the jb (I didn't need the unlock either, even though the guide covered it).

 

[Solange82200]

tethered jailbreak is really no big deal unless you reboot your computer or turn it off. you can respring it all day long. in my case I had to launch redsn0w tether once in a month.

I personally hated having a tethered jailbreak back when Geohot had that tethered one back in 2010 (limerain? I forgot what it was called, something "rain"). A couple of times I went out of town, my battery ran out during the day of course, and since i didnt bring my laptop, I had no phone the rest of the trip. I personally try to reboot my phone at least every other day or so, to refresh the memory. I think the tethered thing was so much of a hassle, I am still on 4.1 so that I can avoid the tethered jailbreak.

 

[localboy28]

I personally hated having a tethered jailbreak back when Geohot had that tethered one back in 2010 (limerain? I forgot what it was called, something "rain"). A couple of times I went out of town, my battery ran out during the day of course, and since i didnt bring my laptop, I had no phone the rest of the trip. I personally try to reboot my phone at least every other day or so, to refresh the memory. I think the tethered thing was so much of a hassle, I am still on 4.1 so that I can avoid the tethered jailbreak.

Bring a charger if your going out of town
theres no need to reboot to refresh memory, a simple respring will do

im on tethered now a month or so, apart from setting things up in cydia ive never had to reboot. works perfect for me

 

[Wowzera]

Bring a charger if your going out of town
theres no need to reboot to refresh memory, a simple respring will do

im on tethered now a month or so, apart from setting things up in cydia ive never had to reboot. works perfect for me

How do you respring without jb? Still that method of holding an icon in springboard (like for deleting apps) and then quickly press the home button?

 

[Tom8]

How do you respring without jb? Still that method of holding an icon in springboard (like for deleting apps) and then quickly press the home button?

I'm pretty sure i read that you can do it using SBsettings. Might be wrong though.

 

[Solange82200]

Bring a charger if your going out of town
theres no need to reboot to refresh memory, a simple respring will do

im on tethered now a month or so, apart from setting things up in cydia ive never had to reboot. works perfect for me

I do. One time it was a field trip with my son to St. Augustine, and we were on the bus. I was playing on my phone the whole time and my battery died, I had no way to charge it on the bus.

The other time was in San Francisco and it ran out before I made it to the hotel, while we were walking around.

 

[silverblack]

I'm pretty sure i read that you can do it using SBsettings. Might be wrong though.

He wants to know it WITHOUT jailbreak (i.e., no SBsettings).

It's easy - google "Respring iPhone without Jailbreaking". The first hit, a youtube video, answers the question.... although I can't seem to reproduce the results...

 

[Tom8]

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I'm pretty sure i read that you can do it using SBsettings. Might be wrong though.

He wants to know it WITHOUT jailbreak (i.e., no SBsettings).

It's easy - google "Respring iPhone without Jailbreaking". The first hit, a youtube video, answers the question.... although I can't seem to reproduce the results...

Oh, my bad. Sorry about that.

 

[Wowzera]

He wants to know it WITHOUT jailbreak (i.e., no SBsettings).

It's easy - google "Respring iPhone without Jailbreaking". The first hit, a youtube video, answers the question.... although I can't seem to reproduce the results...

That was the method I descrited. Either do I. Can't reproduce.

 

[NoStopN]

Tom, current jailbreaks are very stable. As someone else mentioned earlier, the apps are what can make a jailbreak "bad". Zorinlynx mentioned MyWi 4.0 as one app that can lead to a bad experience. It occasionally requires a reboot of the entire phone, not just a respring. Since I purchased MyWi after an untethered JB, I got to find this information out before getting frustrated. I use an iPad that IS tethered & it is as stable as the JB for the iPhone. But I haven't downloaded any apps that required a reboot of the Pad.