Almost impossible ?

[Zanolele]

South Africa. Unlocked Iphone 3G 2.2, bought in Apple store with Vodacom prepaid sim, could use my own MTN-sim instead, no probs. Pwned it to use some Cydia apps.
Today, tried upgrading to OS 3.1.2 with latest Pwntool, resulted in 'no carrier'. Tried several times, with same results.
Then, made different ipsw with 'activate' box unchecked (some post read that if you have no carrier this is likely why..), resulted in: only emergency calls available. in DFU mode Itunes thinks Iphone is an Ipod , so I can't load old 2.2 custom anymore.
How can I revrse out of this situation. Possible??

[babyblue_pimp]

First off you cant upgrade straight to a pwned 3.1.2 ipsw... (because you must be on the 4.26.08 or 5.11.07 modem firmware)

You have to either restore to a clean 3.0 file, then upgrade to the pwned 3.1.2, OR just upgrade to 3.0 and use redsn0w...

Once you have access to cydia, you must download ultrasn0w for the unlock (repo666.ultrasn0w.com)

[Zanolele]

Thanks! That takes care of half of the problem: what went wrong.
Now the other half: how to get it right.

As I mentioned in DFU iTunes thinks me Iphone is Ipod.
Tried many many times to make Itunes think different but no luck.
At some stage when iTunes fetched info from the net, it reported that my iphone was damaged and I had to see a dealer

Would you, or anyone else, have any suggestions on how to tackle this one, so I cn restore with clean 3.0 ipsw?

Thanks!

Fixed the problem, got it working through restore mode.

Installed 3.0 restore ispw
Then tried 3.1.2 custom ispw didn't work (got stuck in 'preparing iPhone for restore')
Installed 3.1 restore ispw, worked
Tried 3.1.2 custom ispw, didn't work (same problem)
Thought I had to climb the ladder with custom ispw's, so tried first 3.0 restore ispw, didn't work
Restored to 3.1 restore ispw, worked

And that's where I left it for now..

First would like to find out if it is necessary to jailbreak for every step?

Can I restore to clean 3.1.2 and then still jailbreak?

It seems the long way around but my custom 3.1.2, made with pwntool didn't wanna do it.

Thanks for listening...

[Poseidon79]

Blackra1n will jailbreak a clean 3.1.2 firmware.

[babyblue_pimp]

Are you restoring to the custom ipsw's in DFU mode?

At any rate, just do a clean restore to 3.1.2, and run blackra1n... its 100% easier than dealing with custom ipsw's

[bozeefus]

Thanks babypimp, your posts are very informative

I do have a question though:

If you have the older bootrom and you run blackra1n, will that result in a tethered jailbreak?

What conditions must the Iphone 3gs have in order for it have the undesired tethered jb?

[babyblue_pimp]

If you have the older bootrom, you will be on a non-tethered jailbreak. Don't worry you don't have to put any information in, blackra1n figures everything out for you.

For the 3gs to be a tethered j/b it would need to have the new boot rom. Its not something you can control. An easy way to take a guess is, if the 3gs was produced on or after week 40, it most likely will have the new bootrom. (about 50% of the week 40 phones still have the old bootrom though) Week 39 and lower means your in the clear for sure. I don't know if you knew this already, but the 3rd 4th and 5th numbers on your serial number represent the year and week of production...

Mine is **923 which means it was made in 2009, week 23.

Hope that helped clear some of the confusion up.