Restoring older firmware was surprisingly easy...

[kre62]

It's funny, I've read a bunch of pages on restoring firmware that Apple is no longer signing. Some of them go on and on like theres no tomorrow, with steps and procedures. Some recommend downloading tinyumbrela and going through that whole process. All of them recommended putting your phone in DFU mode before proceeding.

I decided to put a fresh copy of 4.0.1 on my phone and re jailbreak because my phone had slowed down due to trying out tons of random stuff. So when I went to restore I thought I was in for some work.

After really reading some of these pages, I thought "why the hell would you have to go through all this trouble? As long as iTunes thinks it got its signature, it should work as normal".

Well I was right. All I did was add that one line to the hosts file, using notepad. I then opened iTunes, held shift, clicked restore, clicked the 4.0.1 firmware and...that was it. iTunes verified the software, installed it, re-synced, and boom done.

No DFU mode, no downloading my SHSH's, no kicking out of recovery mode. Just let iTunes do it's thing.

Sometimes I wonder why people insist on making things complicated.

 

[TMar]

DFU is mostly for downgrading and yeah you wouldn't think it would be that easy with all the threads on here..

 

[kre62]

Yes thats true, but it doesn't matter. As long as iTunes gets its signature, it doesn't know Apple doesn't want you using that firmware anymore. I have blobs for 4.0, I could just as easily downgrade to that using the same procedure. Using the restore method wipes your phone, installs new firmware, and then restores from backup. Clean as it gets.

 

[TMar]

Yes thats true, but it doesn't matter. As long as iTunes gets its signature, it doesn't know Apple doesn't want you using that firmware anymore. I have blobs for 4.0, I could just as easily downgrade to that using the same procedure. Using the restore method wipes your phone, installs new firmware, and then restores from backup. Clean as it gets.

Not entirely correct. You can't downgrade in recovery mode because iboot is active. iboot will keep you from downgrading and is why DFU is needed for that process.

 

[kre62]

I don't think thats the case. But if you want to think it is, no worries. iTunes "Prepares" the phone for upgrading prior to wiping, then reinstalling the firmware. It doesn't matter what is active.

 

[TMar]

I don't think thats the case. But if you want to think it is, no worries. iTunes "Prepares" the phone for upgrading prior to wiping, then reinstalling the firmware. It doesn't matter what is active.

Yeah I probably don't have a clue to what I'm talking about. I'm sure you know more being as how you sound like your on your first restore..

 

[kre62]

Yeah I probably don't have a clue to what I'm talking about. I'm sure you know more being as how you sound like your on your first restore..

Well you were talking about downgrading from recovery mode. I wasn't in recovery mode. My phone was in a regular state. Maybe thats where the confusion lies.

 

[TMar]

Well you were talking about downgrading from recovery mode. I wasn't in recovery mode. My phone was in a regular state. Maybe thats where the confusion lies.

It might be confusing for you because it sounds like your using the wrong terminology. I guess you can say the phone has three states. First being normal aka just plug your phone in while it's powered up. The other two actual modes are recovery and DFU. They are completely separate process in how the phone boots up and accepts firmwares. I only said downgrading in DFU, I never said recovery.

 

[kre62]

Not entirely correct. You can't downgrade in recovery mode because iboot is active. iboot will keep you from downgrading and is why DFU is needed for that process.

Heres your quote where you were trying to refute what I said by saying DFU is still needed because you cant downgrade in recovery mode. However, this does not refute my argument, as I was never advocating putting the phone in recovery mode first.


Just to test it out, I went and got the 4.0 firmware and tried my method. Guess what? It worked just as I described.

So it looks like you really don't know what you're talking about.

For everyone else, dont pay attention to guys like this who want to work harder, not smarter.

 

[elgrecomac]

Question...

What host file? and what is the change?
thx

 

[TMar]

3g?

 

[kre62]

First off, as usual you must have SHSH blobs saved for the firmware you are trying to go to. Open Cydia and check the top of the home screen for which firmwares you have on file.

Just navigate to windows/system32/drivers/etc and locate a file called "hosts". Open it with notepad and add this line to the very bottom:

74.208.10.249 gs.apple.com

Make sure you dont put a # in front of it

Save the file so it does not have an extension. Sometimes notepad will throw a txt extension on it, if so remove it. After you succesfuly have the modified hosts file in the folder, just plug your phone in, open itunes, hold shift, click restore, and pick the firmware you want.

 

[CoolKen86]

how do you do that on a mac?

 

[kre62]

how do you do that on a mac?

From redmondpie:

Mac OS X users can get to “/etc/” directory by going through “Go –> Go to Folder” from Finder.



Open this “hosts” file in Notepad (for Windows) or TextEdit (for Mac OS X) and add this
74.208.105.171 gs.apple.com
line as shown in the screenshot below:



Now simply save this file and you are good to go!

NOTE for Windows 7 and Vista: Start “Notepad” with Administrator privileges by right clicking on “Notepad” app, and click on “Run as Administrator“ option.

NOTE for Mac OS X: Make sure you have full read and write access on your account when you are saving the host file. If it still throws permission error, simply copy the host file to desktop, make the required changes, and then replace it with the original file in “/etc/” directory.

 

[dhlizard]

This is too funny !

Somebody who is new to jailbreaking telling us how to do jailbreaks.

 

[hackthatphone]

First off, as usual you must have SHSH blobs saved for the firmware you are trying to go to. Open Cydia and check the top of the home screen for which firmwares you have on file.

Just navigate to windows/system32/drivers/etc and locate a file called "hosts". Open it with notepad and add this line to the very bottom:

74.208.10.249 gs.apple.com

Make sure you dont put a # in front of it

Save the file so it does not have an extension. Sometimes notepad will throw a txt extension on it, if so remove it. After you succesfuly have the modified hosts file in the folder, just plug your phone in, open itunes, hold shift, click restore, and pick the firmware you want.

I'd prefer to bypass the whole cydia/editing hosts thing and just use tinyumbrella. Now I don't have to edit hosts, I don't have to be jailbroken to retrieve an shsh, and I can get the file immediately and not wait weeks for Cydia to get around to it. Oh and I can restore anytime I want to and not have to worry about cydia being down (it's happened before).

 

[Carlanga]

OP are you actually restoring TO an older firmware? I think you just restored the same firmware you had (which is older)... The title makes it seems like you downgraded to an older firmware, but I think you just restored the same old firmware... what is your original jb?

 

[kre62]

This is too funny !

Somebody who is new to jailbreaking telling us how to do jailbreaks.

Its a good thing I'm here to make these things more simple for you. You can keep working harder, not smarter, if you'd like. I know you like to feel like you're doing something no one else can. In the mean time, I'll do in one step what you do in 12 and get the same result.

OP are you actually restoring TO an older firmware? I think you just restored the same firmware you had (which is older)... The title makes it seems like you downgraded to an older firmware, but I think you just restored the same old firmware... what is your original jb?

As mentioned earlier, this works on downgrading. It doesn't matter what firmware you have on your iphone. The first step iTunes takes is format the iphone.

I'd prefer to bypass the whole cydia/editing hosts thing and just use tinyumbrella. Now I don't have to edit hosts, I don't have to be jailbroken to retrieve an shsh, and I can get the file immediately and not wait weeks for Cydia to get around to it. Oh and I can restore anytime I want to and not have to worry about cydia being down (it's happened before).

Editing the hosts file takes less than 2 seconds. Why mess with 3rd party software when its this easy?

 

[hackthatphone]

Its a good thing I'm here to make these things more simple for you. You can keep working harder, not smarter, if you'd like. I know you like to feel like you're doing something no one else can. In the mean time, I'll do in one step what you do in 12 and get the same result.



As mentioned earlier, this works on downgrading. It doesn't matter what firmware you have on your iphone. The first step iTunes takes is format the iphone.



Editing the hosts file takes less than 2 seconds. Why mess with 3rd party software when its this easy?

Reread my post until it sinks in. You are clearly missing something here or not describing what you are doing correctly or do not understand what you are doing.

 

[kre62]

Reread my post until it sinks in. You are clearly missing something here or not describing what you are doing correctly or do not understand what you are doing.

I fully understand what I'm doing and talking about. I get that you are insisting on making things more complicated by using a separate software program. That is your choice. My point is, it's completely unnecessary. Unless you truly are worried about Cydia's servers being down. I'm sure thats a rare occurrence. Thats a risk I'm willing to take. You apparently don't want to take that risk. Maybe you restore on a daily basis? Who knows. For everyone else, they can use my method and restore OR DOWNGRADE with one easy step.

 

[jamexman]

What's your iPhone model?

 

[kre62]

3gs

 

[terraphantm]

3gs

iPhone 4 needs to be kicked out of recovery... that's because it does a baseband "update" at every restore. Using saurik's server or tinyumbrella doesn't allow the baseband to get it's SHSH, so the restore "fails" and the phone goes into recovery.

 

[dhlizard]

Its a good thing I'm here to make these things more simple for you. You can keep working harder, not smarter, if you'd like. I know you like to feel like you're doing something no one else can. In the mean time, I'll do in one step what you do in 12 and get the same result.

As you can plainly see, I didn't allow you to draw me into to your "huff and puff, I can do it better" boast session.

Amazing that you think you are better at jailbreaking than I am since I wrote nothing here on which you could make such a judgement (no explanations, no details). Your assumption that I need 12 steps to do something you can do in one step is just a manifestation of that ego of yours. This whole forum is about jailbreaking, how could I ever think I am doing something no one else can. Now that's a just plain wacky response.

Enjoy you ego, karma will get you back.
I shall watch for your next "help me" thread.
I rather imagine you likely won't get much help then.

But good luck anyway !

 

[kre62]

As you can plainly see, I didn't allow you to draw me into to your "huff and puff, I can do it better" boast session.

Amazing that you think you are better at jailbreaking than I am since I wrote nothing here on which you could make such a judgement (no explanations, no details). Your assumption that I need 12 steps to do something you can do in one step is just a manifestation of that ego of yours. This whole forum is about jailbreaking, how could I ever think I am doing something no one else can. Now that's a just plain wacky response.

Enjoy you ego, karma will get you back.
I shall watch for your next "help me" thread.
I rather imagine you likely won't get much help then.

But good luck anyway !

Well the fact of the matter is I AM performing this in less steps than you. Now this other poster is trying to claim the ip4 is different, maybe it is. I wont personally believe it until I try it on my own. Because it shouldn't matter. iTunes does its thing as long as it thinks there is a valid SHSH. So all the extra steps are unnecessary.

But in the meantime, I'll just say that for anyone with a 3GS or 3G, you can downgrade with one step. Don't listen to these guys who insist it must be hard. It isn't

I might have to make a video to prove this.