I Need A Genius To Solve This

[Equisse]

First, I am not an expert, nor do I understand 1/1,000,000th of most of the posts here. What I do know is that this forum has been one of the most informative technical tools I have ever seen, and I hope one of the experts here can help me to solve my situation.

I need to upgrade and jailbreak my 3GS from 3.1.3 to 4.2.1.

My iPhone: 3GS, 32GB, firmware-3.1.3, baseband-05.12.01-6.4_M3S2, successfully jailbroken for over a year, but don't remember what jailbreak method I used. According to TinyUmbrella, I have shsh's for everything up to 4.3b2. (I don't understand how, as I have never installed anything higher than 3.1.3)

I have been following this forum for quite a while and waited to upgrade my firmware until a good untethered jailbreak was developed and recommended. I would like to upgrade to 4.2.1, have tried various methods and nothing works.

At first I tried just upgrading through itunes and not worrying about jailbreaking. The upgrade hung and I got a 1603 error. It ended going into recovery mode and for almost 12 hours I tried everything to exit recovery. Finally I found TinyUmbrella and it worked perfectly.

I tried to upgrade and jailbreak using Pwnage tool 4.2, followed the instructions to the letter, and the same problem happened. Again, I was able to use TinyUmbrella to exit recovery.

If anyone has a solution, I would be very grateful. I have a number of apps which will not work unless I upgrade. Thank You in advance.

[Simon]

I am guessing you need to unlock right? You need to use pwnage tool to enter pwned DFU before you can restore to a custom 4.2.1 or you will keep getting errors.

[Equisse]

I am guessing you need to unlock right? You need to use pwnage tool to enter pwned DFU before you can restore to a custom 4.2.1 or you will keep getting errors.

OOPS, sorry. I don't need to unlock, I have att. Thank you for responding so quickly x98car.

[Simon]

Aah, well in that case it is much easier. Just update to a regular 4.2.1 and use greenpoison to jailbreak after: GreenPois0n

[i.Annie]

You said you got an error when upgrading to 4.2.1? You might try setting it into DFU mode before upgrading. If that doesn't help, make sure your host files are set back to normal and disabled in TinyUmbrella.

A standard upgrade shouldn't give you trouble; maybe use another comp if all else fails. Also make sure your iTunes is updated.

[Equisse]

Aah, well in that case it is much easier. Just update to a regular 4.2.1 and use greenpoison to jailbreak after: GreenPois0n

I tried that several times, it hangs for about 5-10 minutes, I end up with a 1603 error and it's stuck in recovery mode. Then I have to use TinyUmbrella to exit out of recovery. (Thank God for TinyUmbrella!). Once in a while I receive a 1604 error. Again, thank you for your quick response. I appreciate it more than you can imagine.

[Simon]

Do as Annie said and try another computer. Also make sure you have latest iTunes.

[Equisse]

You said you got an error when upgrading to 4.2.1? You might try setting it into DFU mode before upgrading. If that doesn't help, make sure your host files are set back to normal and disabled in TinyUmbrella.

A standard upgrade shouldn't give you trouble; maybe use another comp if all else fails. Also make sure your iTunes is updated.

I have tried the DFU mode... no luck. I have the latest iTunes update installed. How do I set my host files backto normal and disabled in TinyUmbrella? Thank you also for your quick response i.Annie.

I think I have a BIG problem. I did try my another MAC with no luck, and I also tried setting up another user acct (which is suggested on apples site)... also no luck.

Okay... I cleared out my iPhone software update folder, and fired up iTunes. It told me I had an update to 4.2. iTunes downloaded the update, and tried to update. It hung on updating for about 7 minutes and then I got a 1603 error.

Same problem as before. Any suggestions?

[Simon]

You arent still trying to restore to the custom 4.2.1 are you?

[Equisse]

I followed the instructions (as per Apple) and tried to restore/recover after the first update attempt failed. It went into recovery mode and after 5-10 minutes got a new error message... "The iPhone cannot be restored (1603)".

This is very perplexing, any other ideas?

Thank You for all of your help to date. I'm sure you need another non-geek like a hole in the head. I do appreciate your time and effort.

[Simon]

Did you shift restore to 4.2.1 or did you let itunes download the 4.2.1 firmware for you?

[Equisse]

Did you shift restore to 4.2.1 or did you let itunes download the 4.2.1 firmware for you?

I moved the 2 ipsw files in my library/itunes sub-folder to a safe location and let itunes download a new 4.2.1 firmware to use for the update. After 5-10 minutes it gave me a 1603 error, so I disconnected the iPhone from the cable, turned it off, held down the home button, plugged it in and iTunes asked me if I wanted to recover. It went through another 5-10 minutes of recovery mode, and then it gave me the error message that the iPhone could not be restored (1603).

I read this about 1603 errors on another site: Error 1603 - False kernelcache patch. Known on damaged bundles from unofficial PwnageTool distributions or bundles. See also Apple KB article

Does that mean anything?

[Simon]

1603 is a tricky one. Something to do with itunes I think.

[Equisse]

1603 is a tricky one. Something to do with itunes I think.

I am going to try removing and reinstalling iTunes right now. I will let you know what happens.

[Simon]

ok, good luck

[James360Petty]

There's an awful lot of random literature about error 1603..... some people say removing the sim card before the restore will resolve the issue.... some say it's because of the USB port that's being used! Some have resolved the issue with a simple redraft of the PC..... nothing to loose in my eyes!!! Try the above!!! But yes very odd one!!!

[Simon]

Ya, it is an odd one. Removing the sim card won't have any bearing on the restore though.

[James360Petty]

Ya, it is an odd one. Removing the sim card won't have any bearing on the restore though.

Yeh I can't see it either but it's out there on the world wide web.... and when clutching at straws may as well grab the short ones too!!!

[Simon]

lol, I guess