iPhone 3GS jailbreak- confused...

[jeff123816]

Ok, I consider myself somewhat tech savvy. I have been considering jailbreaking for some time and was going to do so until I spoke with an employee of a cell phone store. This was one of those little stores that fixes cracked iphone screens and jailbreaks/unlocks iPhones for a small fee. I had no intention of having him unlock my phone (3GS, iOS 4.2.1) but he was fixing my cracked screen so I inquired as to whether he would have any difficulties jailbreaking my phone. He told me that he could do it but that it would be a risk. I asked him what that meant and he told me that after jailbreaking I could end up being tethered so that my phone would not boot up (if switched off) without being connected to a computer. He said that the serial number of my phone indicated that it was from week 24 of 2009 and that while, in theory, the jailbreak would work, that there was a chance it would be tethered. Furthermore, when I asked him whether it would be possible to restore the phone in the case that it was, indeed tethered, he said no. Now, it was my impression that a jailbreak could be rolled back and that the phone could be restored to factory settings at any time. But he's now raised some doubts in my mind.

What do you all think? Is there any chance of my 3GS being tethered if I jailbreak? What jailbreak software would be most recommended for my phone?

Thanks very much.

 

[Intell]

You have an old bootrom 3Gs. That means you have a permanent untethered jailbreak. As for restoring, you can always restore an iPhone, barring hardware failure or baseband incompatibility.

 

[Myzhi]

If you have a week 24 3GS, it should have old bootrom = untethered, but to be sure, google for instructions on how to tell. And, as previuos person said, just restore as new device with an official firmware and JB stuff will be gone.

 

[MaxBurn]

Read this whole thing to understand the risks and if you accept them you can even do it yourself for free.

http://blog.iphone-dev.org/

There are two (big) posts there, read the thanksgiving one and the newer one.

 

[jeff123816]

Thanks everyone for the helpful information. Given everything that I've read, I think I understand the upgrade process. However, one helpful post above said that the only risk to restoring the iPhone if it became necessary, would be a hardware failure or incompatible baseband. I'm afraid the whole concept of baseband has me a little lost. Since I've already upgraded to iOS 4.2.1, doesn't that mean I would have the latest baseband? Would that be baseband 06.15.00? If that's the case, my impression of the current situation is that I could possibly lose GPS functionality with the jailbreak. If that did happen, then would I still be able to restore my phone to an unjailbroken state and regain GPS? Or would the baseband prevent me from going back?

 

[Myzhi]

Thanks everyone for the helpful information. Given everything that I've read, I think I understand the upgrade process. However, one helpful post above said that the only risk to restoring the iPhone if it became necessary, would be a hardware failure or incompatible baseband. I'm afraid the whole concept of baseband has me a little lost. Since I've already upgraded to iOS 4.2.1, doesn't that mean I would have the latest baseband? Would that be baseband 06.15.00? If that's the case, my impression of the current situation is that I could possibly lose GPS functionality with the jailbreak. If that did happen, then would I still be able to restore my phone to an unjailbroken state and regain GPS? Or would the baseband prevent me from going back?

4.2.1 firmware comes with 5.1.5 baseband. Do you need to unlock the phone so you can use it on other carriers? If NO, you don't have to worry about what baseband the phone has. If YES, the only current option is to use the iPad 6.1.5 baseband method. Before doing that, you should be familiar with issues related to using iPad baseband, like GPS, can't restore to official firmware and so on.

 

[jeff123816]

Thanks- I would like to unlock and use another carrier but I can wait on that until the summer when my contract with AT&T expires. So just to get this straight- if I jailbreak now using Pwnage tool and do not unlock (thus avoiding the iPad baseband altogether), then I do not run any risk of bricking my phone. Does that sound correct? It is my understanding that a screwed up jailbreak can always be restored to the latest Apple firmware assuming that I do not mess with the baseband. This is slowly becoming clear for me. Thanks to everyone for your information.

 

[zerostar]

Sorry can't help you out any further.... but thank goodness you are reading and asking before just DOING Good luck with the jailbreak!