3-iPhone 4 (not 4s) on 4.3.3. Jailbroken but want to upgrade OS. How?

[stevehookem]

I would like to take my 3 iPhone 4's (not 4s) phones up to the highest OS level I can for this phone and still keep my jailbreaks. Is there an easy way to do this?

I was able to JB these easily but I don't want to screw them up now! I don't remember how I did it!

[i.Annie]

You're going to lose the jailbreaks whenever you upgrade. Just re-do it. You can check the link in my sig on how to back your stuff up before upgrading to 5.1.1.

You could do an upgrade and jb simultaneously though as well. It just requires you to create a 5.1.1 custom firmware with Redsn0w (you can get the latest version @ blog.iphone-dev.org), set your device into pwned dfu mode with Redsn0w, and off you go with a shift (option on Mac) + restore in iTunes to the custom fw. It's not too difficult IMO, but if you need help we are here to walk you through it.

Edit: If you find a custom fw isn't working out for you, and you do not need to preserve your baseband, you simply hit "restore" in iTunes and do the jb after the phone updates. This can also be done with Redsn0w, or Absinthe from greenpois0n.com

Here is a guide to making a cFW with RS.
How to Create Custom Firmware IPSW with RedSn0w | iPhoneHeat

Pwned dfu, simply in RS click "Extras" and select DFU only after you make your cFW.
To do the restore to custom FW, hold shift (Option for Mac) and click Restore in iTunes. Select when prompted the cFW you made.

[stevehookem]

Questions:

will my apps go back to the same folders I have already created? One of the phones had nothing inside anymore. I'm waiting on the others.

Will my playlists be preserved? Is there a way to put the playlists created on the phone into itunes? My son is worried that all his music will be messed up and some songs not restored.

If I just update in iTunes, after that is complete do I immediately restore from the backup and then hit sync again? And then JB?

What is the order I need to use?

[EVO]

It is always one of those rules never to "Update" or upgrade in itunes on a jailbroken iphone due to a number of technical reasons that I wont go into.

What you want to do is do a "clean restore" of the highest iOS firmware.

But to answer your questions.

1. You will lose the apps and folders that you have created after you restore UNLESS you backed up in itunes, as long as they are AppStore apps and not Cydia apps/tweaks. However, the apps will be distributed across the homescreen and not saved in the folders so you need to put them back in folders.

2. Your playlist will not be preserved after the restore UNLESS you backed up in itunes.

3. If you update (which is not recommended) on jailbroken devices, you would restore and sync and then JB.

So as you can see, its very important to perform a backup first in itunes before you perform any further action.

As mentioned, its best to do a clean restore following Annie's guidelines, then restore from the backup, sync using itunes, then jailbreak using redsn0w