Jailbreaking 3GS - Can someone confirm these steps?

[Gmas]

Hi everyone - first time poster, but long time lurker.

I want to take the leap and jailbreak my iPhone 3GS but wanted to confirm I'm on the right track before doing so.

I've read a TON so far and feel like I have a somewhat good idea of what's what now, but again, figured I'd come to the experts to confirm before taking the plunge.

First off, I have one of the early 3GS's with the 4.26 baseband and 3.0 firmware.

Now to jailbreak it, the best options for me from what I've read are Redsn0w or PwnageTool. There are some games that need 3.1.2 to play that I'd like to get them so I want an option that allows me to upgrade to this firmware too. I would also prefer not to have to do a full restore and lose any existing data on the phone.

Is one of Redsn0w or PwnageTool better in my situation? Redsn0w seems more straightforward from what I've read, with PwnageTool offering more options and customization.

I'm not sure I need or would use an unlock (which I believe I'd use Ultrasn0w for that) so I'm thinking of just doing the jailbreak and no unlock.

So I guess Redsn0w or PwnageTool is my question...assuming I have those two right.

I just don't want to accidentally upgrade by baseband or something since from what I've read, the version I have is one of the more desirable versions.

Also one final note before I take the plunge - I place a huge value on stability and while I would love the additional options jailbreaking brings, I'm not sure I'd want it if it meant constant headaches and tweaking to get it to work right. In most cases, do jailbroken phones act as reliably as stock phones, except just with added functionality?

Thanks everyone!

 

[gixxerfool]

I'll probably be restating what you know, but admittedly only know what I do from my experience.

You will want to JB first then upgrade to a custom IPSW. From what I've read pwnage tool is the way to fly for this and is very stable. My phone was already on 3.1.2 so I just used redsn0w 0.9.2. I think pwnage tool will allow you to preserve you're baseband, but redsnow will not I may be way off base as I have no reason to unlock, so I have done zero research on the subject. Jus tidbits that I have picked up here and there. From what I have read if you don't need to unlock, then don't.

It's a shame you are so late to the game, with the SHSH's on file for that old of firmware, the value would be even more.

I hope this helps and is accurate. If anyone has better knowledge, please feel free to correct me.

 

[Applejuiced]

Jb with redsnow. Then if u want update to custom 3.1.3 ipsw created with pwnage.

 

[OceanView]

Hi everyone - first time poster, but long time lurker.

I want to take the leap and jailbreak my iPhone 3GS but wanted to confirm I'm on the right track before doing so.

I've read a TON so far and feel like I have a somewhat good idea of what's what now, but again, figured I'd come to the experts to confirm before taking the plunge.

First off, I have one of the early 3GS's with the 4.26 baseband and 3.0 firmware.

Now to jailbreak it, the best options for me from what I've read are Redsn0w or PwnageTool. There are some games that need 3.1.2 to play that I'd like to get them so I want an option that allows me to upgrade to this firmware too. I would also prefer not to have to do a full restore and lose any existing data on the phone.

Is one of Redsn0w or PwnageTool better in my situation? Redsn0w seems more straightforward from what I've read, with PwnageTool offering more options and customization.

I'm not sure I need or would use an unlock (which I believe I'd use Ultrasn0w for that) so I'm thinking of just doing the jailbreak and no unlock.

So I guess Redsn0w or PwnageTool is my question...assuming I have those two right.

I just don't want to accidentally upgrade by baseband or something since from what I've read, the version I have is one of the more desirable versions.

Also one final note before I take the plunge - I place a huge value on stability and while I would love the additional options jailbreaking brings, I'm not sure I'd want it if it meant constant headaches and tweaking to get it to work right. In most cases, do jailbroken phones act as reliably as stock phones, except just with added functionality?

Thanks everyone!

Hey Gmas,

I have the same phone situation as you but I recently got wired tethering to work on mine without JB. It is great for working on a laptop but I can't use MyWi as a router for an iPad. One of the reason that I haven't attempted it is that I couldn't find the exact method to JB my phone. Seemed like a real hastle if something went wrong in the process. I still would like to JB my phone and use MyWi. If you ever figure it out, please let me know. I would really appreciate it.

 

[Gmas]

Hey guys,

Thanks for confirming I was more or less on the right track, and providing your own personal feedback/experiences.

One final question/concern - if I use PwnageTool, then I have to do a retore in iTunes right? Ideally I don't want to lose everything that's on the phone now like info, texts, game scores. Is there a way to preserve this info and still use PwnageTool? I feel like this is a silly question and has a (VERY) basic/simple answer...I'm just not sure what it is.

I guess a backup of some sort?

 

[scirica]

Hey guys,

Thanks for confirming I was more or less on the right track, and providing your own personal feedback/experiences.

One final question/concern - if I use PwnageTool, then I have to do a retore in iTunes right? Ideally I don't want to lose everything that's on the phone now like info, texts, game scores. Is there a way to preserve this info and still use PwnageTool? I feel like this is a silly question and has a (VERY) basic/simple answer...I'm just not sure what it is.

I guess a backup of some sort?

Definitely agree with the Redsn0w to jailbreak and then follow up with a custom ipsw created via pwnage tool to get to a higher version. Sounds like you do good research, so just make sure you are using the correct version of each as you go through this. No reason you can't go all the way to OS 3.1.3 with pwnage. I am there right now and very stable (and I have quite a bit on my phone).

As far as backing up, most people would say that it's best to restore as new when you first jailbreak, but that of course will clear out much of the data you want to keep. You can always restore to a backup you have on itunes, and if for some reason you have performance issues you can re-use your custom ipsw and restore as new. If you search the forum you will find where the data you want to keep is stored and then retrieve it via SSH. It's all possible.

Don't be afraid. Jailbreaking is not for everyone, but you seem to be on top of things. And we're here to help too.

 

[Rizvi1]

I'm trying to get an iPhone 3gs myself to use w/ t-mobile. I had gotten a lot of information from the So You "Accidentally" Upgraded to 3.1.3. Now what? thread on what to look for. I didn't know that once you had jailbroken your iPhone at a firmware version lower than 3.1.3, you could upgrade to a custom 3.1.3 though, that's some new information (unless I'm not understanding something correctly)

 

[Gmas]

I'm trying to get an iPhone 3gs myself to use w/ t-mobile. I had gotten a lot of information from the So You "Accidentally" Upgraded to 3.1.3. Now what? thread on what to look for. I didn't know that once you had jailbroken your iPhone at a firmware version lower than 3.1.3, you could upgrade to a custom 3.1.3 though, that's some new information (unless I'm not understanding something correctly)

Yes from my understanding you can, and the best way to do it is with PwnageTool.

So one question for everybody:

I think I have the jailbreaking process figured out, however the best/most stable option seems to be to use PwnageTool which requires a restore.

Is there any way I can get all of my current game save info back on the phone after the restore. I know my music and everything will all sync back up, but I essentially don't want to lose anything in the JB process.

 

[iphonegeek786]

Hi everyone - first time poster, but long time lurker.

I want to take the leap and jailbreak my iPhone 3GS but wanted to confirm I'm on the right track before doing so.

I've read a TON so far and feel like I have a somewhat good idea of what's what now, but again, figured I'd come to the experts to confirm before taking the plunge.

First off, I have one of the early 3GS's with the 4.26 baseband and 3.0 firmware.

Now to jailbreak it, the best options for me from what I've read are Redsn0w or PwnageTool. There are some games that need 3.1.2 to play that I'd like to get them so I want an option that allows me to upgrade to this firmware too. I would also prefer not to have to do a full restore and lose any existing data on the phone.

Is one of Redsn0w or PwnageTool better in my situation? Redsn0w seems more straightforward from what I've read, with PwnageTool offering more options and customization.

I'm not sure I need or would use an unlock (which I believe I'd use Ultrasn0w for that) so I'm thinking of just doing the jailbreak and no unlock.

So I guess Redsn0w or PwnageTool is my question...assuming I have those two right.

I just don't want to accidentally upgrade by baseband or something since from what I've read, the version I have is one of the more desirable versions.

Also one final note before I take the plunge - I place a huge value on stability and while I would love the additional options jailbreaking brings, I'm not sure I'd want it if it meant constant headaches and tweaking to get it to work right. In most cases, do jailbroken phones act as reliably as stock phones, except just with added functionality?

Thanks everyone!

I loved how he explained himself, and was just asking for help. Asking for help but sounding smart at the same time.

 

[scirica]

I loved how he explained himself, and was just asking for help. Asking for help but sounding smart at the same time.

Yes, he did his research. Very nice to see! Bravo!