iPhone iPhone 3gs Logo/Wheel Looped. Help!

[bbking67]

I have an old boot ROM 3GS which I looped. The phone had previously been jailbroken and I tried to upgrade it to factory 6.0.1 and then later 6.1.2 and 6.1.3. I also tried various exploits with similar results every time.

I have tried everything I could find to unloop the device and I have been unsuccessful. Here are the symptoms:

Reboots with the Apple logo and after a few minutes goes the spinning wheel before rebooting and starting over. I can get it into DFU mode.

Most recently i focused on the baseband. When I picked it up again, the baseband was at 5.16.08. I successfully upgraded to 6.15.00 (iPad) and then downgraded to 5.13.04.

Then, using Sn0wbreeze, I installed 6.1.3 but preserving the baseband. Everything seemed to go well, but the device did not come up, and in iTunes I got an activation error (I have a sim card in the device, but it is not activated).

I then tried installing a jailbroken 6.1.3 with Sn0wbreeze, and this time, iTunes sees the device as a new device. I can sync files, etc, but the phone is still on the Apple logo and looped.

I do have shsh blobs for a few different firmware revisions.

Is there any way for me to access the file system and look for traces of Cydia and previous hacks?

Anything else anyone can suggest? It would be nice to have a working phone again...

 

[darricksailo]

You don't need blobs to restore a 3GS to 6.1.3

DFU restore to 6.1.3 with a custom ipsw

Did you check the hacktivation box when making your custom ipsw with sn0wbreeze?

Maybe ifunbox for accessing the file system? (If jailbroken)

 

[bbking67]

The ifunbox to access the file system sounds like a worthwhile effort.. but what do I look for?

Yes I did the hacktivation... I think that's why i didn't get the error in iTunes.

 

[darricksailo]

i'm not sure, you just said you wanted access to the file system

are you unable to DFU restore the device to a useable state?

 

[bbking67]

No nothing I have tried has gotten beyond the apple logo/wheel reboot cycle. I have done factory restores with DFU and probably about 100 tries using various other methods (Redsnow, snowbreeze, etc.)

I'm no iOS expert though... there must be something that can be done.

/bbking67

 

[Carlanga]

Have you tried to officially unlock it? It's an old phone so they should unlock it in most countries including the us. Then it's just a matter if dfu and install official vanilla fw.

 

[bbking67]

Have you tried to officially unlock it? It's an old phone so they should unlock it in most countries including the us. Then it's just a matter if dfu and install official vanilla fw.

How do I officially unlock it? Don't I need to access the O/S from the touchscreen? Or can I unlock via iTunes on my PC?

 

[Carlanga]

How do I officially unlock it? Don't I need to access the O/S from the touchscreen? Or can I unlock via iTunes on my PC?

Call the carrier that the phone was locked to and ask to get it unlocked (they might charge a fee, AT&T would be free). You might need the IMEI number (if you bought it second hand, etc)

You can just restore to normal vanilla fw and try the process w the ipad bb again.

 

[bbking67]

i'm not sure, you just said you wanted access to the file system

are you unable to DFU restore the device to a useable state?

That`s right, I can flash and all seems to go well, but then the device is not usable. I`m going to try and remove some files (cydia mainly) with ifunbox. I suppose it would help if I actually knew what I was doing!