factory unlock vs network provider unlock vs hacking unlock

[Remember God]

hi guys,
is there a difference between the factory unlock (purchasing an iphone not locked to a network) network provider unlock (network like vodafone or 3 unlocks iphone for you) and a hack unlock (blacksnow ultrasnow) in regards to the effect it has in jailbreaking????

if i get my iphone unlocked by the network provider (i am with vodafone) will i still need to use blacksnow after i jailbreak the iphone??? will it have problems like re-locking when updating firmware or custom firmware?

i have not jailbroken this phone yet as it is a replacement iphone, but my last iphone that died (for another reason, becasue of a faulty solar battery case) i did jailbreak and it was locked by vodafone and i needed blacksnow to unlock it.

thanks for any assistance

[mavrik101]

Factory unlock: phone was never set to a specific carrier - will work with any sim card.

Network unlock: phone was set up to work with a specific carrier, and that carrier has given the code to unlock. So now that phone will work with any sim.

Hack unlock: phone was locked to specific carrier, and you used jailbreak and unlock tools to make the phone usable with any sim.

No, you would not have to run blacksnow if your carrier gives you the unlock code.

[Remember God]

thanks Mavrik

that saves a hell of alot of problems i hear going on with alot of guys and myself...with vodafone its only $25 to unlock in oz and 3 is free, which is pretty weird considering they are the same company now...the othe providers im not sure

i dont mind parting with $25 to save alot of hassle and frustration !!!!

and you never lose that unlock if its network provided right?

[reddawg]

Factory unlock: phone was never set to a specific carrier - will work with any sim card.

Network unlock: phone was set up to work with a specific carrier, and that carrier has given the code to unlock. So now that phone will work with any sim.

Hack unlock: phone was locked to specific carrier, and you used jailbreak and unlock tools to make the phone usable with any sim.

No, you would not have to run blacksnow if your carrier gives you the unlock code.

Not entirely correct, factory unlocked means your iPhone's IMEI number is registered as being unlocked in Apple's database. It's the IMEI number that determines whether your iPhone is unlocked through iTunes activation.

There is no such thing as a network unlock. Carriers do not have special codes to unlock your iPhone.

Some countries do not allow carriers to sell locked phones, like Japan. The carriers from these countries send Apple a list of all the iPhone IMEI numbers they sell. Apple enters these IMEI numbers into their database as unlocked iPhones. So the bottom line, when you activate your iPhone through iTunes, it is only Apple that can determine whether your iPhone is locked or unlocked.

You can only buy factory unlocked iPhone's from countries like Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, Europe, but be prepared to pay alot of $$$.

[Remember God]

so when the network like vodafone or 3 state they can unlock your phone, they actually just pass your iemi number to apple for them to do a factory unlock?

(i live in oz (australia) and buying outright is buying a factory unlocked phone, where as phones on a contract plan are locked but are possible to get unlocked through the network provider (or carrier, same thing), some providers here charge a fee some do not.

If i jailbreak my phone before i get this factory unlock will that compromise either of the two (jailbreak or f. unlock) when factory unlocked?
does this change the choice in pwnagetool of activate or not activate (im a bit confused on that part and how it affects the phone)

so should i jailbreak before i get the factory unlock or after?????

[mavrik101]

actually, there is a network unlock. If you call AT&T and tell them you are leaving the country and would like to use your phone with a different sim, they will email you the unlock code within 48 hours. Ive done this on several occasions for several different phones. Now it is a little different for the iPhone, since the unlock goes thru apple's servers, but for the other phones AT&T supports, they will send you the code.

T-Mobile will also do this for you. For both carriers, you must have had service with them for a certain amount of time. Not like you can walk in and activate, then call and ask for the code.

[Remember God]

network unlock and factory unlock are the same thing for iphone from what i can gather.....
new problem tho....i got the unlock approval from vodafone and apple, my phone can now be unlocked.......
BUT!!!!

in order to do this i have to restore my iphone...restoring it puts it to FW 3.1.3 and i lose my jailbreak capabilities.....

i thought to try and re-jailbreak the iphone thru pwnagetool which use a custom firmware (i thought maybe this way can trigger the unlock with itunes when custom restoring) but it keeps coming up error 1604 (when in recovery mode) or 1600 (in dfu mode)...this happend before when i tried useing pwnagetool......is there a way aroung this....i have 3gs so ireb wont do it.
i have tried putting partition at 695, 700 and 800 but still the same thing

any ideas how to complete a jailbreak without the errors thru pwnagetool 3.1.4 on a 3gs FW3.1.2 new bootrom?

[neodude237]

new bootrom? if you don't have your shsh backed up, then you're stuck.

[Remember God]

sorry....i have not updated to 3.1.3 yet.....the details i wrote above are the possibilties of outcomes...ill re write it

in order to network/factory unlock the iphone i now will have to restore my iphone...if i choose to restore, it will put it to FW 3.1.3 and if i do this i lose my jailbreak capabilities.....

i thought if i try and re-jailbreak the iphone 3.1.2 thru pwnagetool 3.1.4 which use the custom firmware (i thought maybe this way it can trigger the network/factory unlock with itunes when custom restoring) but before it completes the custom restore it keeps coming up error 1604 (when in recovery mode) or 1600 (in dfu mode)...this happend before when i tried using pwnagetool......is there a way aroung this?....i have a 3gs so i think iREB wont work ( i found a mac version, but when i load it, it asks if i have libUSB and no matter what answer i put there it then says

"sh: line 0: cd: /ih8sn0w.app: No such file or directory
The file /LibUSB.pkg does not exist."

it does this even after i tried installing "libusb-10.5sdk.pkg" {and now i am having problems trying to work out how to uninstall the libUSB in an easy manner as it was useless and didnt help iREB, and since i installed libUSB my mac seems to start up and shut down alot slower, how do i uninstall libUSB?}).

when creating the custom firmware in pwnagetool, i have tried putting partition at 695, 700 and 800 but still the same 1604 error

any ideas how to fix the 1604 or any 16xx problem and complete the jailbreak thru pwnagetool 3.1.4 on a new bootrom 3gs with FW3.1.2 BB 5.11.07?

(blackra1n does complete the jailbreak, but does not solve my problem that i need to access my network/factory unlock as blackra1n does not use itunes and does not restore the phone, i think pwnagetool will be my only choice to activate the factory/network unlock without having to update to FW 3.1.3 and keep the jailbreak... but only if i can get passed the 1604 error.)
id prefer not to use blacksnows hack unlock as last time i used it i lost blutooth and tethering and thats a whole other path of trial and error problems to try and fix.
any help on this one?

[mikerlx]

So u said u get the permanent unlock if you restore now thru iTunes? Yes u will lost jailbreak for 3.1.3 and I would be patient cuz the next fw is supposedly the one that will be jailbroken sorta waiting to see what come with or after the ipad launch.

[Remember God]

i can activate the permenant unlock anytime i like since i cleared it with vodafone, so its upto me when to do the restore
and i dont intend to update it the normal way if i dont have to, and am also waiting to see what happens with the next firmware coming....if the next FW is jailbreakable for 3gs new bootrom, ill just restore it then and JB it.

....but in the meantime i am trying to work out if i can fix or bypass the 1604 error so pwnagetool will complete a jailbreak on my phone and then hopefully it will trigger the factory/permenant unlock succesfully then i dont need to wait or worry about the next FW