iPhone iPhone 3G 4.2.1 stuck on emergency screen

[zynphull]

So yesterday I got an used iPhone 3 as a gift, but it was so full of useless crap I simply hit the reset everything options in Settings.

Big mistake.

After hours of tweaking, I was able to get it up and running, mobile signal and all, but at 3.1.3 version. Since a lot of the apps I wanted required a newer iOS, I just went ahead and used iTunes to flash it to 4.2.1.

Another big mistake.

Long story short, I'm now at 4.2.1 and stuck at the Emergency Call screen. How can I get out of this mess?

 

[dhlizard]

It needs to be activated.
If you don't have sim from selling carrier, run Redsn0w on it to hacktivate it.

Based on your level of experience, you should probably Google something like "hacktivate a 3G on 4.2.1"

 

[zynphull]

But which IPSW should I feed to it? It gives me "Unable to recognize specefied IPSW" when I input the 4.2.1 IPSW into it.

 

[dhlizard]

You never said you were having an issue restoring it in your initial question.

Hook it up to iTunes and hit restore, host must be pointed to Apple (type "gs.apple.com" in your browser)

iTunes will pick the newest IPSW (4.2.1) and restore it, then use Redsn0w to hacktivate it

 

[zynphull]

But it is restored... I think. There is no restore button on iTunes, only that "sim card not supported" message.

It seems I was using a slightly outdated version of redsn0w. (i lol'd when I saw your avatar on my iPhone screen). Seems to have worked, thanks! Now I just need to get my mobile data working...

 

[dhlizard]

Seems you are very confused.

Redsn0w jailbreaks, it does not unlock.

Refer to my answer in post #2, follow my advice to Hacktivate.

----------

If you want to unlock it, go here

http://blog.iphone-dev.org/post/26534086824/baseband-freedom

Tutorial on iClarified.com

 

[zynphull]

Hmmm.... Well, nonetheless, how can I tell if my phone is jailbroken? I have Cydia, and am now installing the ultrasn0w repo (so I can make calls and stuff again); does having Cydia indicate that it is jailbroken?

EDIT: Ok, but how on earth am I supposed to use this if every useful app either requires open gl 2.0 or, worse, iOS 4.3? Any help making apps like Facebook work?

 

[dhlizard]

Your baseband is likely 5.16.xx
Ultrasn0w will not unlock it.

A 3G is a very old/outdated phone.

The most popular apps will not run on older hardware/firmware.

 

[zynphull]

Turns out ultrasn0w did the trick just fine, I'm making calls and all.

Well, guess I'll have to make do with what I got... But even Facebook doesn't work, dammit @_@