Just received a friends old 3g...

[kingsplag]

He's upgraded to a 3gs and gave me his old 3g. I'm on the T-moble network and I wanted to jailbreak the phone so I could use it. The problem is that I'm running 3.1.3.

Here is my f0recast:


Baseband : 05.12.01

Boot loader : 6.4

Firmware 3.1.3

Model : MB715

Is it possible to jailbreak? Otherwise it's worthless to me at the moment since I can't even use it as a media player without a valid sim. I've tried many downgrading/jail breaking techniques on both mac and PC and all have failed.

[dhamien]

You can jailbreak it with redsn0w 0.9.3 but you won't be able to unlock it for use with an unofficial carrier. If you're in the US, you won't be able to use t-mobile.

[L00i3]

As dhamien said, you can jailbreak it with redsn0w 0.9.3, and that will allow you access to the iPod/Apps/WiFi/Cydia functions of it. With the added bonus of it being ready to apply the unlock when/if it comes out.

[kingsplag]

Thanks for the response. I'm glad that it seems possible to jailbreak.

My only problem is that with both redsn0w 0.9.4 and 0.9.3 I get stuck on "Waiting for Reboot". What can I do?

[L00i3]

I don't know if it will work here, but I seem to remember people saying in that situation to unplug and replug the cable from your phone real fast, and it should kick start the process. That was from jailbreaking 3.0/3.0.1 with redsn0w 0.8, so not sure if it applies here or not.

If it just refuses to work, downgrade it to 3.1.2, then jailbreak it with redsn0w 0.9.3

[kingsplag]

I've tried the unplugging technique many times and the screen remained black.

What is the best downgrade technique? I tried following a few guides and youtube videos with no luck. I've put my device into DFU mode and changed the hosts file to point to a different server. I still get the itunes error: The iphone could not be restored because the firmware file is not compatible." I've made sure that I have the 3.1.2 file for the iphone 3g. The strange thing is that it won't even let me use the 3.1.3 file.

I feel like I've tried everything. I've been working on this bastard for almost 10 hours now with no luck.

[L00i3]

iPod and iPhone Firmware Download

Go there. Download the CORRECT firmware this time. If iTunes is saying "The iphone could not be restored because the firmware file is not compatible" that means you have the wrong firmware file. For a 3G 3.1.2, it would be iPhone1,2_3.1.2_7D11_Restore.ipsw

2G = 1,1
3G = 1,2
3G[S] = 2,1

[dhamien]

I've tried the unplugging technique many times and the screen remained black.

What is the best downgrade technique? I tried following a few guides and youtube videos with no luck. I've put my device into DFU mode and changed the hosts file to point to a different server. I still get the itunes error: The iphone could not be restored because the firmware file is not compatible." I've made sure that I have the 3.1.2 file for the iphone 3g. The strange thing is that it won't even let me use the 3.1.3 file.

I feel like I've tried everything. I've been working on this bastard for almost 10 hours now with no luck.

That error means you're using the wrong firmware. For a 3.1.2 for 3G, the file should look like this:

iPhone1,2_3.1.2_7D11_Restore.ipsw

You shouldn't need to downgrade though, but a fresh restore would probably be best whether you downgrade or stay at 3.1.3

The thing you said about the hosts file is not something you need to worry about. That's for the 3GS as that phone requires the firmware be signed by Apple. That's not the case for the 3G phone.

[kingsplag]

That is the exact firmware I have tried to use. I'm running iPhone1,2_3.1.3_7E18_Restore.ipsw and I tried downgrading using iPhone1,2_3.1.2_7d11_Restore.ipsw. I've tried this on both PC and Mac using itunes 9.0.3.

I don't know what the issue is here. Jailbreak won't work and downgrade won't work. I can't imagine that I'm doing anything wrong... I've checked everything I can think of. Sounds like I'm screwed and I'll just have to wait until another option comes, huh? I appreciate you guys trying to help.

[dhamien]

That's very odd because those should be the correct files. Where are you downloading the files from? Are you sure it's a 3G and not a 3GS? If it's a 3GS, it'll have a compass app and it'll be able to shoot video.

Try downloading firmware for 3GS, see if that will install. Maybe try 2G firmware as well, although I don't think that's it because of your baseband version. As far as I know, 2G phones have a different baseband system.

[soulthoughts]

I just had this exact problem jailbreaking a coworkers 3g. I had all kinds of issues with snowbreeze so I used redsnow and it worked flawlessly.

Download the 3.12 firmware. Use redsnow 0.9.4 and it should work.

You didn't mention any errors. Did you get any when using redsnow? Are you sure you're in DFU mode and not recovery mode?

[kingsplag]

Well after hours of frustration I've found my problem. I noticed the serial check on the firmware site you posted and it tells me I have a 3GS. Apparently my friend wasn't aware of this either.

So from what I can tell on 3GS jailbreaking with the newest baseband I will have to wait for a new method to come out which some people are saying might never come. Nice. Maybe I should just switch from T-Moble to AT&T so I can at least use the dumb phone.

Thanks for the help guys. This saved me from more hours of frustration.

I let my friend know about my discoveries. He didn't care too much and he let me use his sim card to activate my iphone so it's at least usable. I guess I'll just have to be patient now for the jailbreak and unlock.