Jailbreak Music Problem - Only Experts

[TaintedWisdom]

Hi,
Thank you for taking the time to read my post and lend a helping hand. I will try and make it as short as possible while writing the necessary information. I've jailbroken my iphones and others for years and encountered all types of errors but this is a first.

Device:Iphone 4
Firmware:4.21
Carrier: AT&T
Jailbreak Software: redsn0w 0.9.6b6

How it started:
I was playing a game on my jailbroken iPhone 4 when I seen the battery was low. I plugged in the charger and kept playing however, the battery died a few minutes later. I tried turning the phone back on and just got stuck on the apple logo.

Problem and What I did:
I connected the phone to the computer sent it to restore mode and restored the iPhone from a backup. I jailbroke the iPhone again, put all my apps and music and then PROBLEM. All the applications would work but no audio would play. Any song I clicked on the iPod application would send me back to the playlist. So I tried Pandora, the same error.

I restored the phone again from another backup. Did not put any music or apps but downloaded a song from iTunes to test it out and it played. I then jailbroke the phone and tried playing the song again, and it does not play.

The problem is being caused by the jailbreak or tethered boot however, I don't know how to go about fixing it.

Edit:
More troubleshooting:
After the above troubleshooting I turned the phone off then back on to boot without using redsn0w. It booted and everything works however, the music still wont play. This would point is a jailbreak error and eliminated the actual tethered booting. I've used the same jailbreak software and version before which rules out any installation errors.

EDIT 2:
This sums up the posts below.
I FIGURED OUT WHAT IS CAUSING IT but still no solution. After I jailbreak the phone and open Cydia for the first time which initializes the system everything is still working. I then open Cydia again and it asks Which type of User? and I click User which then asks me What type of upgrade? and I click Complete Upgrade. This then forces a reboot after installation. THEN THE PROBLEM STARTS. This means, it is the Complete Upgrade in Cydia that is causing the problem.

Any solutions?
I contacted the creator of Cydia to see if he has a possible solution.

Thank you.

[Orby]

Huh, I wonder if the MediaServer or the MusicPlayer frameworks are corrupt...

Each time you restored the phone's OS, you restored from a backup of the device's settings, right?

Try restoring to a stock OS without restoring to a backup, but rather, set it up as a new phone and re-sync*.

*UNLESS YOU RELY ON A SIM UNLOCK AND ONLY HAVE 4.2.1 SHSH BLOBS, OR HAVE CRITICAL DATA SUCH AS SMS OR PICTURES THAT CANNOT BE REPLICATED IF YOU DON'T USE A BACKUP. In which case, well, we'll think of something.

EDIT: I'm assuming you're using redsn0w 0.9.6b4 or later, and your iPhone is on iOS 4.2.1 from what you're telling me. Would you also mind telling me what Cydia applications/tweaks you have installed? And is your phone currently jailbroken?

[TaintedWisdom]

Huh, I wonder if the MediaServer or the MusicPlayer frameworks are corrupt...

Each time you restored the phone's OS, you restored from a backup of the device's settings, right?

Try restoring to a stock OS without restoring to a backup, but rather, set it up as a new phone and re-sync*.

*UNLESS YOU RELY ON A SIM UNLOCK AND ONLY HAVE 4.2.1 SHSH BLOBS, OR HAVE CRITICAL DATA SUCH AS SMS OR PICTURES THAT CANNOT BE REPLICATED IF YOU DON'T USE A BACKUP. In which case, well, we'll think of something.

EDIT: I'm assuming you're using redsn0w 0.9.6b4 or later, and your iPhone is on iOS 4.2.1 from what you're telling me. Would you also mind telling me what Cydia applications/tweaks you have installed? And is your phone currently jailbroken?

Thanks for the quick reply. I thought about restoring and setting as new phone however, as I said before I restored the phone again from another backup. Did not put any music or apps but downloaded a song from iTunes to test it out and it played. I then jailbroke the phone and tried playing the song again, and it does not play. If the frameworks were corrupt wouldn't it not work when it was restored and not jailbroken? It only stops playing any music when is jailbroken.

I might just try restoring then setting as new phone then jailbraking if no one else can come up with something but is very unlikely that is the problem. I would then have to go through root and browse my iPhone to put all my SMS again right?

Edit:

Huh, I wonder if the MediaServer or the MusicPlayer frameworks are corrupt...

Each time you restored the phone's OS, you restored from a backup of the device's settings, right?

Try restoring to a stock OS without restoring to a backup, but rather, set it up as a new phone and re-sync*.

*UNLESS YOU RELY ON A SIM UNLOCK AND ONLY HAVE 4.2.1 SHSH BLOBS, OR HAVE CRITICAL DATA SUCH AS SMS OR PICTURES THAT CANNOT BE REPLICATED IF YOU DON'T USE A BACKUP. In which case, well, we'll think of something.

EDIT: I'm assuming you're using redsn0w 0.9.6b4 or later, and your iPhone is on iOS 4.2.1 from what you're telling me. Would you also mind telling me what Cydia applications/tweaks you have installed? And is your phone currently jailbroken?

I'm using redsn0w 0.9.6b6. I'm using very few Cydia apps however, that's not the error because the problem happens before I install any Cydia apps. I restore, music plays, I jailbreak without adding anything else and music stops playing.

[Orby]

Thanks for the quick reply. I thought about restoring and setting as new phone however, as I said before I restored the phone again from another backup. Did not put any music or apps but downloaded a song from iTunes to test it out and it played. I then jailbroke the phone and tried playing the song again, and it does not play. If the frameworks were corrupt wouldn't it not work when it was restored and not jailbroken? It only stops playing any music when is jailbroken.

I might just try restoring then setting as new phone then jailbraking if no one else can come up with something but is very unlikely that is the problem. I would then have to go through root and browse my iPhone to put all my SMS again right?

Edit:


I'm using redsn0w 0.9.6b6. I'm using very few Cydia apps however, that's not the error because the problem happens before I install any Cydia apps. I restore, music plays, I jailbreak without adding anything else and music stops playing.

Yeah, you'd have to replace the sms.db (/var/mobile/Library/SMS/sms.db) file to get that all back. Photos are in /var/mobile/DCIM.

It's only not playing music when jailbroken, and no tweaks or other modifications are installed? On the backup, were some installed?

Since this I have never heard of this issue, and since I'm assuming you're using a current redsn0w release, I'm thinking this is a corruption or other unique situation (could be the iTunes database on the phone as well).

All I've got at the moment is the generic "restore and proceed from scratch" idea, unless you had a really weird tweak installed that corrupted something due to incompatibility that's only showing up once root code is allowed to be run... Considering the restore method's ubiquity and general effectiveness, I wouldn't discount it immediately.

[TaintedWisdom]

Yeah, you'd have to replace the sms.db (/var/mobile/Library/SMS/sms.db) file to get that all back. Photos are in /var/mobile/DCIM.

It's only not playing music when jailbroken, and no tweaks or other modifications are installed? On the backup, were some installed?

Since this I have never heard of this issue, and since I'm assuming you're using a current redsn0w release, I'm thinking this is a corruption or other unique situation (could be the iTunes database on the phone as well).

All I've got at the moment is the generic "restore and proceed from scratch" idea, unless you had a really weird tweak installed that corrupted something due to incompatibility that's only showing up once root code is allowed to be run... Considering the restore method's ubiquity and general effectiveness, I wouldn't discount it immediately.

I guess I will have to restore and set as new phone. Could you tell me whats the best method or browser for Windows so I can go into root? I know I have to download terminal from Cydia and get ip but for the browsing whats the best software?

Thanks.

[Orby]

I guess I will have to restore and set as new phone. Could you tell me whats the best method or browser for Windows so I can go into root? I know I have to download terminal from Cydia and get ip but for the browsing whats the best software?

Thanks.

Windows? I've heard good things about WinSCP and FireFTP. Since I'm not a Windows user for personal use, I don't know much.

PS: You can get your local IP (over Wi-Fi) by going to Settings->Wi-Fi->(tap blue arrow next to connected Wi-Fi network name), no need for Terminal from Cydia for that. OpenSSH, however, is a must.

[TaintedWisdom]

Windows? I've heard good things about WinSCP and FireFTP. Since I'm not a Windows user for personal use, I don't know much.

PS: You can get your local IP (over Wi-Fi) by going to Settings->Wi-Fi->(tap blue arrow next to connected Wi-Fi network name), no need for Terminal from Cydia for that. OpenSSH, however, is a must.

Thanks. Should I restore from backup and install all apps then openssh to browse the files and save the SMS and other app data? Is there another way to do it like by opening the backup file itself?

[Orby]

I wouldn't restore from backup at all, considering that's where the issue is most likely to be stemming from in my opinion.

On your current install, copy the sms.db and photos from DCIM via SFTP or SCP over SSH to your local computer, restore, and then re-jailbreak and copy the files back over. Or at least that's how I'd do it.

[TaintedWisdom]

I wouldn't restore from backup at all, considering that's where the issue is most likely to be stemming from in my opinion.

On your current install, copy the sms.db and photos from DCIM via SFTP or SCP over SSH to your local computer, restore, and then re-jailbreak and copy the files back over. Or at least that's how I'd do it.

The problem just got more weird. I restored and set as new phone. Then before jailbreaking I tried to play a song I downloaded in the iPhone itunes and it did not play. I tried playing a youtube video and it said the video could not be played. The problem sounds like is not the jailbreak or backup but itunes. I'm going to take it to the store tomorrow and let them restore it because this is weird.

[Orby]

The problem just got more weird. I restored and set as new phone. Then before jailbreaking I tried to play a song I downloaded in the iPhone itunes and it did not play. I tried playing a youtube video and it said the video could not be played. The problem sounds like is not the jailbreak or backup but itunes. I'm going to take it to the store tomorrow and let them restore it because this is weird.

There you go.

If the restore ain't cutting it, I doubt them restoring it will do anything.

Expect a replacement (unless you dropped it in water and the detection discs are red or the screen is cracked or something).

[TaintedWisdom]

There you go.

If the restore ain't cutting it, I doubt them restoring it will do anything.

Expect a replacement (unless you dropped it in water and the detection discs are red or the screen is cracked or something).

I FIGURED OUT WHAT IS CAUSING IT but still no solution. After I jailbreak the phone and open Cydia for the first time which initializes the system everything is still working. I then open Cydia again and it asks Which type of User? and I click User which then asks me What type of upgrade? and I click Complete Upgrade. This then forces a reboot after installation. THEN THE PROBLEM STARTS. This means, it is the Complete Upgrade in Cydia that is causing the problem.

Any solutions?

Thanks.

[scottsimon1979]

Also had the same issue after jailbreaking. I have a 4S with iTunes match enabled. Jailbroke using Absynthe for Mac the first day it came out. Since then, anything I tried to play (via music app or 3rd party app like Planetary or Shazam) would act like it was going to play but no sound and slider wouldnt move. For me, I disabled iTunes match and deleted all songs that were stored locally on my phone. Then I reenabled iTunes match again and redownloaded my songs - now they all play without issue. I'm not sure if re-syncing to itunes would cause this to happen again - I dont use itunes at all - I cut the cord and use icloud/itunes match only now. I suspect the issue has something to do with the permissions breaking after jailbreaking - specifically with Cydia installing MobileSubstrate as suggested by TaintedWisdom.