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What are my options for jailbreaking?

I

iluvifone

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 28, 2010
281
0
I recently had to restore my iPhone 4, which updated me to 4.2.1. I did a quick google search but became overwhelmed with how to jailbreak. I guess its not as easy as jailbreakme.com was for my 4.0.1?

What's this whole tethered and untethered talk about? What's the best way to go? Do i need to download software to jailbreak? (ps i'm only interested in jailbreaking, not "unlocking" for use with other carriers etc)

Thanks
 
iluvifone said:
I recently had to restore my iPhone 4, which updated me to 4.2.1. I did a quick google search but became overwhelmed with how to jailbreak. I guess its not as easy as jailbreakme.com was for my 4.0.1?

What's this whole tethered and untethered talk about? What's the best way to go? Do i need to download software to jailbreak? (ps i'm only interested in jailbreaking, not "unlocking" for use with other carriers etc)

Thanks
Click to expand...

From what I understand, there is an tethered Redsn0w jailbreak out. There is also a untethered jailbreak, but it's in beta right now. You could probably find people with more expertise than me in the iPhone Hacks forum section.
 
The tethered jailbreak is only a hassle during the initial portion of the jailbreak and setting up the phone since there are a few apps and tweaks that require reboots. I recently switched from a 4.1 3gs to a 4.2.1 iPhone 4 and the only time the tether has been an issue was when I forgot about it and turned the phone off while while I was flying in the cockpit so it would stop interfering with the radios, lol. Luckily, I had my laptop in the office and booted it tethered as soon as we landed.

If you're one of those people that has zero ability to plan ahead and always seems to have a low battery (my wife), then the tether will be a huge issue. Otherwise, you should be fine.
 
Thanks for the quick responses everyone!

I don't think the untethered option is for me, I'm constantly finding myself low on battery and would risk rebooting several times a week lol..


I did a quick google search on how to revert from 4.2.1 to what I had before, 4.0.1, or just simply anything 4.x.x before 4.2.1. I came across another forum, where someone was asking for the same thing, and someone replied to him with "there is no easy way to do it without your SHSH". Now, i know it would have been wise if I had set up my shsh, but unfortunately I didn't. So basically, I just need confirmation here... is it 100% impossible to go back to any previous version (4.0, 4.1, etc), or is there some way to do it (even though it may be impossibly "hard" (which i wouldn't mind))
 
iluvifone said:
I did a quick google search on how to revert from 4.2.1 to what I had before, 4.0.1, or just simply anything 4.x.x before 4.2.1. I came across another forum, where someone was asking for the same thing, and someone replied to him with "there is no easy way to do it without your SHSH". Now, i know it would have been wise if I had set up my shsh, but unfortunately I didn't. So basically, I just need confirmation here... is it 100% impossible to go back to any previous version (4.0, 4.1, etc), or is there some way to do it (even though it may be impossibly "hard" (which i wouldn't mind))
Click to expand...

To go back to a previous version you have to have saved your SHSHs from that version. If you didn't (and since you are asking the question you didn't) then no, you cannot revert.
 
Krandor said:
To go back to a previous version you have to have saved your SHSHs from that version. If you didn't (and since you are asking the question you didn't) then no, you cannot revert.
Click to expand...

thanks for the clarification, but ps (just for next time, make sure u read the entire post before replying.. i said in the post "i know it would have been wise if I had set up my shsh, but unfortunately I didn't.".. i really don't know how u missed that lol)..

the reason i asked was because, as indicated above, i read another thread where someone stated "there is no easy way to do it", which made me think that there was a way, but it wasn't easy.
 
Stability???

How stable are the latest untethered jailbreaks though? I have heard various things. I really only want to jailbreak for WiFi hotspot capability, but don't want to risk bricking my iPhone.
 
iluvifone said:
the reason i asked was because, as indicated above, i read another thread where someone stated "there is no easy way to do it", which made me think that there was a way, but it wasn't easy.
Click to expand...

Apple no longer signs the earlier versions of the code so to revert you would have to somebody get a signature for your phone for a previous version. Since Apple isn't going to sign it for you, you are basically talking brute force where you will probably be dead before it finishes.

Complete impossible? No. Practicially improssible? yes.
 
Krandor said:
Apple no longer signs the earlier versions of the code so to revert you would have to somebody get a signature for your phone for a previous version. Since Apple isn't going to sign it for you, you are basically talking brute force where you will probably be dead before it finishes.

Complete impossible? No. Practicially improssible? yes.
Click to expand...

Considering i'm in software engineering, anything computer related doesn't scare me. And ontop of that, my brother has an identical phone to me (iphone 4, 4.0.1 that we purchased together on launch).. What exactly would i need from his phone to make mine go back to 4.0.1?
 
iluvifone said:
Considering i'm in software engineering, anything computer related doesn't scare me. And ontop of that, my brother has an identical phone to me (iphone 4, 4.0.1 that we purchased together on launch).. What exactly would i need from his phone to make mine go back to 4.0.1?
Click to expand...

You can't use the SHSHs from another phone. They are uniquie for the phone so the ones from his phone won't help.
 
Krandor said:
You can't use the SHSHs from another phone. They are uniquie for the phone so the ones from his phone won't help.
Click to expand...

oh okay.. so what exactly where u referring to when u said:

"so to revert you would have to somebody get a signature for your phone for a previous version"
 
iluvifone said:
oh okay.. so what exactly where u referring to when u said:

"so to revert you would have to somebody get a signature for your phone for a previous version"
Click to expand...

You ave to have a copy of 4.0.1 signed for your phone. Apple is the only one that can sign them so it would have to come from Apple. Apple could still sign a copy of 4.0.1 if they wanted to, but getting them to do so would not be easy.
 
Arch3typ3 said:
How stable are the latest untethered jailbreaks though? I have heard various things. I really only want to jailbreak for WiFi hotspot capability, but don't want to risk bricking my iPhone.
Click to expand...
I found the latest jailbreak to be very stable. Of course then I lost the phone that was jailbroken. Since it wouldn't boot without being hooked up to a computer my chances of the phone being returned to me were significantly reduced.
 
iluvifone said:
Thanks for the quick responses everyone!

I don't think the untethered option is for me, I'm constantly finding myself low on battery and would risk rebooting several times a week lol..


I did a quick google search on how to revert from 4.2.1 to what I had before, 4.0.1, or just simply anything 4.x.x before 4.2.1. I came across another forum, where someone was asking for the same thing, and someone replied to him with "there is no easy way to do it without your SHSH". Now, i know it would have been wise if I had set up my shsh, but unfortunately I didn't. So basically, I just need confirmation here... is it 100% impossible to go back to any previous version (4.0, 4.1, etc), or is there some way to do it (even though it may be impossibly "hard" (which i wouldn't mind))
Click to expand...

I think you meant the tethered option is not for you :rolleyes:
You can't downgrade w/out your SHSH being saved, period. You have two options either jb 4.2.1 or leave it vanilla.
 
iluvifone said:
Thanks for the quick responses everyone!

I don't think the untethered option is for me, I'm constantly finding myself low on battery and would risk rebooting several times a week lol..


I did a quick google search on how to revert from 4.2.1 to what I had before, 4.0.1, or just simply anything 4.x.x before 4.2.1. I came across another forum, where someone was asking for the same thing, and someone replied to him with "there is no easy way to do it without your SHSH". Now, i know it would have been wise if I had set up my shsh, but unfortunately I didn't. So basically, I just need confirmation here... is it 100% impossible to go back to any previous version (4.0, 4.1, etc), or is there some way to do it (even though it may be impossibly "hard" (which i wouldn't mind))
Click to expand...
As was mentioned, you mean the tethered (aka leashed to the computer for a reboot) jailbreak would not be good for you.

From what I understand, the phone can reboot IF you don't have anything that plugs into the springboard (so no SBSettings, etc) but until you run it through redsnow again none of your JB apps will work.

You might want to try this :

http://thefirmwareumbrella.blogspot.com/

Download Tiny Umbrella, hook up your phone, and have it save your SHSH right now. It can also check to see if you have your SHSH from earlier versions stored on Saruik's (Cydia's) server. If you do, you could be able to downgrade to a version with an untethered JB.
 
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