3GS. Am I Screwed?

[zactommo]

Friend my mine gave me his 3GS to fix that he purchased in the US (via ebay) Was running 4.0.2 when I got it (wasn't jailbroken) Was detecting simcard, but you couldn't make phone calls.

I've spend hours and hours reading over articles, and trying stuff (i've jailbroken/unlocked crap loads of 2g iphone, of which I have one) but this 3gs has me stumped.

I think its running the new baseband firmware, and i've tried downgrading it to 3.1.3, which I can do using original firmware, but if I try to load jailbroken stuff I don't have any luck. Have tried most of the mac/windows tools for jailbreaking or unlocking, but haven't had any luck. Currently its sitting on 3.1.3, but locked about becuase I can't activate it or unlock it.

Am i screwed, or is there a way of getting it working that I haven't found yet?

[reddawg]

Friend my mine gave me his 3GS to fix that he purchased in the US (via ebay) Was running 4.0.2 when I got it (wasn't jailbroken) Was detecting simcard, but you couldn't make phone calls.

Obviously your 3GS is activated. However you must be using an unofficial carrier, otherwise you would be able to make and receive calls. With non-official carriers like T-Mobile USA, you need to be jailbroken and unlock your carrier using Ultrasn0w to make and receive calls.

I think its running the new baseband firmware, and i've tried downgrading it to 3.1.3, which I can do using original firmware, but if I try to load jailbroken stuff I don't have any luck. Have tried most of the mac/windows tools for jailbreaking or unlocking, but haven't had any luck. Currently its sitting on 3.1.3, but locked about becuase I can't activate it or unlock it.

I doubt that you successfully downgraded your 3GS from 4.0.2 to 3.1.3. You can't downgraded your firmware on your 3GS unless you saved your SHSH blobs for that particular firmware version on Cydia. My guess is that your 3GS is stuck in Recovery mode, but still has 4.0.2 installed on it.

Am i screwed, or is there a way of getting it working that I haven't found yet?

Most likely. A 3GS cannot be jailbroken or unlocked on firmware 4.0.2. However if your 3GS was previously jailbroken by your eBay seller and they saved the SHSH blobs in Cydia, then you would be able to downgrade your firmware. From there you would be able to jailbreak using "JailbreakMe" method and unlock using Ultrasn0w.

You can try downloading TinyUmbrella from here and see if it can download any SHSH blobs for your 3GS that may have been saved in Cydia.

1. Run TinyUmbrella
2. Click Advanced options box
3. Change "Device/Version" to iPhone3GS 4.0.1
4. Click Save My SHSH

If TinyUmbrella successfully grabbed the SHSH blob from Cydia, then click "Start TTS Server" and restore that firmware version in iTunes. After restoring the firmware, you may get an 1015 error and stuck in recovery. If this happens, use TinyUmbrella and click "Kick Device Out of Recovery". Then jailbreak using "JailbreakMe" method, run Cydia from your 3GS and install Ultrasn0w.

If TinyUmbrella was not successful in getting the SHSH blob for 4.0.1, repeat steps 1-4 and change "Device/Version" to iPhone3GS 4.0.