Guide for Jailbreaking & Unlocking iPhone 3GS with Firmware 3.1 on Windows.

[screamankit]

The following step-by-step tutorial/guide will help you in running fully unlocked and jailbroken iPhone 3GS with iPhone firmware 3.1 on a Windows PC without having to wait for Windows version of PwnageTool or redsn0w.Jailbreak iPhone 3GS 3.1 on Windows.

NOTE: This guide is for those of you who are on a jailbroken firmware 3.0 or 3.0.1. If you have updated to firmware 3.1 from iTunes but have saved your SHSH file to Cydia then you can still jailbreak but you’ll first have to downgrade your firmware back to 3.0 or 3.0.1. Complete guide on how to downgrade your iPhone 3GS to firmware 3.0 or 3.0.1 from 3.1 can be found here. In any other case, you are pretty much out of luck for now.

Step 1: Make sure you have downloaded the latest version of iTunes if you haven’t already.

Step 2: Now connect your iPhone with your PC. You must connect it to a single usb port on the backside of your computer. Do not use any usb hub or the ports in the front as this could result in an error during update process.

Step 3: Start iTunes. Sync your iPhone with your PC so that iTunes backs-up all your important data including settings, apps, music, contacts and photos.

Step 4: As a Windows user, you will have to now download a custom firmware for your iPhone 3GS which has been cooked on OS X using PwnageTool 3.1.3.Make sure that if you want to unlock your iphone you download a custom firmware 3.1 that does not require you to activate the iphone with the official sim card (ie the person who has made the custom firmware 3.1 on a mac should have checked the activate option on the pwnage tool 3.1.3 so that it does not ask you to do the same later which would be difficult if you dont have the official sim card like AT&T,Rogers,etc.People who are using the official sim card can download any 3.1 CFW as they dont need to unlock their iphone.Don’t ask me for the download links for these custom firmware files as you can download it from your torrent site that you usually use eg:- isohunt,mininova or just Google “iPhone 3GS Custom 3.1” or “iPhone2,1_3.1_7C144_Custom_Restore” and use one of the torrent links to download the custom created .ipsw file

Step 5: Once you have downloaded the required .ipsw file, Move it into the following location depending on the Windows version you are using:

“C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPhone Software Updates\” (Windows 7)

“C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPhone Software Updates\” (Windows Vista)

“C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPhone Software Update\” (Windows XP)

Step 6: Restart iTunes. You will now be prompted to install the new firmware 3.1 from iTunes. DO NOT UPDATE from this prompt. Just close this dialog by clicking on “x” from the top right-most corner of the window.

Step 7: Now you will have to restore your iPhone to this custom firmware 3.1 that you have downloaded for iPhone 3GS. Click on your phone from the sidebar in iTunes to get to this screen as shown in the screenshot below:

Step 8: Press and hold left “Shift” button on the keyboard and then click on “Restore” (Not “Update” or “Check for Update”) button in the iTunes and then release the “Shift” button.

This will make iTunes prompt you to select the location for your downloaded custom firmware 3.1. Select that custom .ipsw file and click on “Open”.

Step 9: Now sit back and enjoy as iTunes does the rest for you. This will involve a series of automated steps. Be patient at this stage and don’t do anything silly. Just wait while iTunes installs the new firmware 3.1 on your iPhone. Your iPhone screen at this point will be showing a progress bar indicating installation progress. After the installation is done, iPhone will restart automatically and you should now have a fully jailbroken iPhone 3GS running on firmware 3.1.

You can now follow the tutorial/guide posted below to unlock iPhone 3GS on firmware 3.1 using ultrasn0w.

Step 10: Once you are done with the unlocking and jailbreak process. You can now restore all your settings, apps, music, contacts and photos to the newly installed firmware version 3.1 by restoring the backup that you made in Step 2 from iTunes.


Disclaimer: This guide is for testing & educational purposes only. I’m not responsible for any loss of important data or malfunctioning of your iPhone.

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UNLOCKING

Step 1: Once you are done with the jailbreak, you can now unlock your iPhone running jailbroken firmware 3.1 by using ultrasn0w 0.9. To do this:

*Start “Cydia” on your iPhone.
*Touch on “Manage” tab on the bottom.
*Now touch on “Sources” as seen in the screenshot below:
*Touch on “Edit” and then on “Add”. You will be prompted to enter a url source as seen in the screenshot below. Type “http://repo666.ultrasn0w.com” and touch on “Add Source”.
*Cydia will now automatically update your sources by following a series of automated steps.
*After installation is completed. Search for “ultrasn0w” in Cydia and install this application (T-Mobile users should disable 3G before installing ultrasn0w). This app will automatically unlock your iPhone so that you can use it with any carrier.


Step 2: Now simply restart your iPhone. Voila! You are now running a fully unlocked and jailbroken iPhone firmware 3.1 on your iPhone 3GS.


UPDATE 1 (From Dev-Team): Unlocked users on the 3G will probably notice that the name and/or logo of their carrier is missing, but they still have full bars and a signal. So far this seems to be purely a cosmetic issue and it doesn’t impact your signal or coverage. We hope to have this issue “fixed” when we release the 3GS compatible version of PwnageTool.

UPDATE 2: Those of you who have upgraded to the original firmware 3.1 from iTunes should first downgrade your baseband from 05.11.07 to 04.26.08 before trying the unlocking guide posted above.


Hope This Guide Helps...ENJOY.


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@CPTC12 & Others

Quote- "hi all, may i know how do i do this step?
UPDATE 2: Those of you who have upgraded to the original firmware 3.1 from iTunes should first downgrade your baseband from 05.11.07 to 04.26.08 before trying the unlocking guide posted above."

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ____________

NOTE: Downgrading the baseband method explained below will only work on iphones that have the 05.08 (5.8) Bootloader installed from the factory as FUZZYBAND does not support 5.9 and higher as of now. (5.9) and above please dont try this as you will only be able to jailbreak but wont be able to unlock if required.

SCREAMANKIT-

I have received complaints in comments here regarding problems when unlocking iPhone 3G running firmware 3.1 with ultrasn0w. iPhone 3G users who have upgraded to 3.1 stock from iTunes will get this problem because of the 05.11.07 baseband, which makes it impossible to unlock it with ultrasn0w. The current version of ultrasn0w can only unlock iPhone 3G on firmware 3.1 with older baseband version i.e. 04.26.08. Fortunately, there is a way to downgrade your baseband to 04.26.08 on your iPhone 3G so that you can unlock it with ultrasn0w on firmware 3.1. Here’s how you do it:


Step 1: To downgrade your baseband from 05.11.07 to 04.26.08, you must first jailbreak your iPhone 3G running firmware 3.1 by following the step-by-step guide posted above.

Step 2: After you have jailbroken your iPhone, Go to “Cydia” on your iPhone and Search for “Fuzzyband” and then install this application.

Step 3: Start “Fuzzyband” app and touch on “Downgrade” button to downgrade your Baseband from 05.11.07 to 04.26.08.

Step 4: You should now be able to perfectly unlock your iPhone 3G using the latest version of ultrasn0w by following the step-by-step guide posted here.

NOTE: Downgrading of baseband will only work on phones that have the 05.08 (5.8) Bootloader from the factory. If you do not know your bootloader then you can run Fuzzyband and it will report the version number for you.

Feel free to ask me any questions here should you run into any problems when downgrading baseband on your iPhone.


Regards,
SCREAMANKIT.

[twitchthecat]

I am about to try this on my jailbroken 3GS 3.0.1. I'll post my results.

At which stage in this process would I use tools such as AppBackup, Chronus and pkgBackup to restore my App Store and Cydia apps and settings?

I'm a functional nube so the more detailed and hyperlinked any response is would be a great help.

Thanks

[ulfthomas]

Hmm.... Followed the guide - step by step - and everything worked perfectly. Except for the fact that it's not connecting to the Phone network ... Which is kinda, well, sad, since it is a phone.

Any input?

//Ulf Thomas

[madog65]

Did you try ultrasn0w?

[ulfthomas]

Did you try ultrasn0w?

Will ultra make a difference?

The phone is installed, restored and jb'ed. The phone is locked, but with the proper sim card inserted making unlocking un-needed.

My gut feeling is wispering that I might have gotten a ipsw which is not the way it should be...

//Ulf Thomas

[madog65]

It seems that you haven't done the unlocking part yet. ultrasn0w will unlock it.

[e119188]

is ultrasnow unlock 3.1 fw yet? I haven't come up with that info anywhere, is there anybody tried unlocking 3.1 fw?

[steelersmb]

Has anyone tried this yet and does it work?

[cptc12]

hi all, may i know how do i do this step?
UPDATE 2: Those of you who have upgraded to the original firmware 3.1 from iTunes should first downgrade your baseband from 05.11.07 to 04.26.08 before trying the unlocking guide posted above.

[ulfthomas]

Has anyone tried this yet and does it work?

I followed the guide point by point, except for the Ultrasnow part yesterday and ended up with a phone that did not connect to the phone network.

I then redid the whole guide - including Ultrasnow - and now everything works perfectly.

Cudos to all involved.

For the record I had a pre-jb'ed 3GS on 3.0 and the phone was locked.

The only thing I continue to ask myself is why I had to run Ultrasnow - since I have never had to unlock anything before?

//Ulf Thomas

[madog65]

Don't ask.... just enjoy the experience

[ulfthomas]

Don't ask.... just enjoy the experience

LOL!

Believe me - I really do.

[screamankit]

congrats ulfthomas on jailbreakin and unlockin to 3.1 with the windows guide... if you want you can help others by posting the source link for the custom firmware 3.1 file that you downloaded over here. I wanted to post the link but there are no seeds for that file anymore and I accidentally deleted mine after jailbreakin.

[laureana]

hi guys i have a question that doesnt have anything to do with jailbreak but i know i can get an answer here...i lost my iphone this weekend, is there a way i can avoid whoever found it to use it even if they change the gsm card? i didt have mobile me so i cant trace it..damn!! any other info i can get to avoid the use of my lost iphone from somebody else would be wonderful..thanks youuuu

[ulfthomas]

congrats ulfthomas on jailbreakin and unlockin to 3.1 with the windows guide... if you want you can help others by posting the source link for the custom firmware 3.1 file that you downloaded over here. I wanted to post the link but there are no seeds for that file anymore and I accidentally deleted mine after jailbreakin.

Thanks.

I would gladly post the links but doesn't the forum rules forbid linking of these files?

hi guys i have a question that doesnt have anything to do with jailbreak but i know i can get an answer here...i lost my iphone this weekend, is there a way i can avoid whoever found it to use it even if they change the gsm card? i didt have mobile me so i cant trace it..damn!! any other info i can get to avoid the use of my lost iphone from somebody else would be wonderful..thanks youuuu

Sorry to hear you lost your phone.

Unfortunately I think you are out of luck...

[steelersmb]

I just did this but didn't have to do the unlocking part. It seems to be working fine.

[captainjman2]

If you jailbreak at 3.1 tethering is disabled right?

[ulfthomas]

I just did this but didn't have to do the unlocking part. It seems to be working fine.

Hmm... wierd. I've jb'ed since early 3G and all the way through 3GS and I have never had to unlock - before this time.

I would really like some feedback on why I have to run the unlock? (My phone is locked, but I am using the proper sim-card which should make unlocking un-needed)

I just did this but didn't have to do the unlocking part. It seems to be working fine.

Another question (and do flame me if I'm just not getting it )

I have just called my provider asking them to unlock my phone. Because I am already paying for a subscription from them I can do this. I was to sync with Itunes in about 15 minutes and it should be unlocked.

Now, how can I go about patching also to the latest baseband version? (The one on my phone now is 04.26.08, and I believe that to be an older one?)

[Guirre]

I just want to jailbreak 3.1 firmware using windows is they anyway i can do that i have a 3g iphone upgrade thru itunes don't care about unlocking.

[gpsu.ers]

Worked for me first go. Thanks!

However, I noticed I no longer have the network name (e.g. ATT, Fido, Rogers) showing in the top left corner.

Anybody else experience this or is this a common "feature" (which, if it is, I can live with)?