Friend's failed attempt at hacking

**jtadeo** · 10-29-2009, 10:15 AM

Good morning all,
My friend let his other friend jailbreak is iphone, or at least attempt too. He brought it to me because the other guy failed. I believe the other guy just gave up and loaded the latest apple firmware. I don't have much exp with jailbreaking iphones but I have done it with ipod touch.

So right now I have it sitting at "the sim car inserted is not supported"...

there is a t-mobile sim inserted

What can I do about this? Is there any way to jailbreak it and unlock it in its current state?

It's the Iphone 16GB version A1303

http://www.iphone-hacks.com/forums/view … hp?id=1644
would this tutorial be the right thing to follow in its present state?

**nachobel** · 10-29-2009, 10:17 AM

Go to settings -> general -> about. scroll all the way down. what does it say next to "Modem Firmware"?

**jtadeo** · 10-29-2009, 10:29 AM

I'm sorry, I forgot to mention that right now it's sitting in emergency call mode only, can't get passed that. When I try to activate in itunes it says no valid sim card inserted

**Simtech** · 10-29-2009, 10:32 AM

If he updated to the latest Apple Firmware, your hosed as far as being able to unlock...

**jtadeo** · 10-29-2009, 10:35 AM

Oh man, I think he did... Hosed permanently? Is there a way to roll back to a hackable/unlockable firmware?

**blkcadi** · 10-29-2009, 11:09 AM

Yes indeed, if he has updated to the latest firmware on this 3Gs he may be hosed for good.

**jtadeo** · 10-29-2009, 11:13 AM

Is there a way to roll back?

**REAPERDAGREAT13** · 10-29-2009, 11:28 AM

Yeah u can roll back but only jailbreak
if the latest software was loaded then there's no way as of now to unlock it anymore

**jtadeo** · 10-29-2009, 11:35 AM

isn't it all tied to the firmware that was loaded? Shouldn't rolling back to a hackable firmware fix everything? I'm sorry for asking dumb questions, but I just wanna explain to him how the other guy messed things up.

**Simtech** · 10-29-2009, 12:20 PM

Rolling back the firmware does not change the baseband, which you need the earlier baseband to unlock.

**nachobel** · 10-29-2009, 12:37 PM

Originally Posted by jtadeo

isn't it all tied to the firmware that was loaded? Shouldn't rolling back to a hackable firmware fix everything? I'm sorry for asking dumb questions, but I just wanna explain to him how the other guy messed things up.

There are (at least) two different types of firmware on the iPhone that come into play.

1) The Firmware, or Software Firmware, or Version, is the operating system that runs on the phone - recent ones have been 3.0.1, 3.1 and most recently, 3.1.2. These are fully downgradable (for the most part) and come with different features and bug fixes and the like.

2) The second type is the Modem Firmware, or Baseband. This gets automatically updated to the newest version when you install a vanilla Firmware from Apple. The newest update to 3.1/3.1.2 introduced a new baseband update - 05.11.07. This Baseband is in no way downgradable or rewritable - once it has been updated it is permanantly locked at that updated version***

In order to Jailbreak your phone, you need to crack or exploit the (1) Firmware, or Operating System. Jailbreaking allows you to install custom aps, change system level stuff, run Cydia, etc.

In order to Unlock you phone, i.e., use it with another carrier than the one the phone was designed for (in the US that would be T-Mobile instead of AT&T), you need to crack or exploit the Modem Firmware, or Baseband.

Currently, the only known Baseband exploits are for baseband version 04.26.08 and below, which corresponds to Firmware versions 3.0.1 and older. If you updated the phone to 3.1/3.1.2 without doing so with a custom IPSW created by PwnageTool, then you also updated your baseband and you are completely out of the unlocking game. You cannot unlock your phone.

There is currently no solution to this problem and will likely not be a solution for some time. There are a few members of the community who are working on an unlock, most notably @geohot and @musclenerd, however progress is slow and it remains to be seen if there is a usable exploit for the current baseband, 05.11.07.

I hope this helps, should you have any pointed questions please reply here or PM me and I'll do my best to explain.

***a ridiculously small number of iPhone 3G phones (less than 5% by most estimates) contain an exploited bootloader - version 5.08 - that has been cracked and are able to have their baseband downgraded. Install Cydia then Fuzzyband to see if your phone applies here. Chances are, it will not. NO SUCH EXPLOIT exists for the iPhone 3Gs. Period. The original iPhone (referred erroneously as the iPhone 2G) is for all intents and purposes permanently unlockable as development has ceased on it and it's baseband is exploitable. Precautions should still obviously be heeded.

**jtadeo** · 10-29-2009, 12:50 PM

you have answered my questions, thanks a lot for your in depth explanation.

The phone that I have now should still work on AT&T right?

And is there somewhere that I can go to to track the development of any unlocker for the baseband?

**nachobel** · 10-29-2009, 01:51 PM

It will still work on AT&T yes. The best way to do this would just be to restore to an official 3.1.2 IPSW and then let it activate normally, etc.

This forum is the best place to check for release information. If you want to track development progress, you can follow @geohot or @musclenerd on twitter. I warn you it's an arcane ritual, discerning progress from their tweets.

**jtadeo** · 10-29-2009, 08:05 PM

Thanks for the quick responses.

So at the moment I can't get past the no supported sim inserted (emergency call mode). I don't have an AT&T sim available.. is there some kind of firmware that I can load on this that doesn't require the SIM? I want to at least use it and an ipod touch. Right now it's just a brick.

**i.Annie** · 10-29-2009, 11:30 PM

An AT&T sim is the only way to use the phone now. You can bypass the activation screen with jailbreak but you cannot use any other sim with it. I'd be super pissed by now if I were him... Never ever let someone else mess with your iPhone!! This is a lesson to be learned -.-

Oh yeah you can use the wifi but that's about it, no phone text or data (without wifi)

**nachobel** · 10-30-2009, 01:09 AM

If you have a mac you can use PwnageTool 3.1.4 to create a custom (jailbroken) IPSW. Be sure to tick the "activate" box so the phone will be activated.

If you don't have a mac you can use one of your friends or download something off bittorrent or some other file sharing website.

Or, if any of your friends has AT&T just ask to borrow their sim for 15 seconds, plug into iTunes, boom.

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