Refurbished 3GS from apple store issue

[CR125Honda]

Just went to the Apple store and paid the $200 to replace a water damaged 16gb 3GS.

I want to start the unlocking process but I don't know what OS the phone is on. I'm assuming it's on 3.1.2 or 3.1.3.

When I turn the phone on, I get the message
"No SIM card installed" "Insert a valid SIM card with no PIN lock to activate the iPhone"

Any help on this would be appreciated.

Ken

****************************Update**************** ********

Been researching this for a little while now.

Solutions I've found so far are to either go to a Radio Shack and buy a "Phonebook Sim" or find someone with an official ATT sim card and use it temporarily to activate.

Comments?

[thebug3000]

you can use either of the above, at the end of the day, you can have your own sim to activate, so i would keep that, again up to you

or you can use snowbreeze and create a custom ios and skip the activation altogether

[nebo1ss]

Just went to the Apple store and paid the $200 to replace a water damaged 16gb 3GS.

I want to start the unlocking process but I don't know what OS the phone is on. I'm assuming it's on 3.1.2 or 3.1.3.

When I turn the phone on, I get the message
"No SIM card installed" "Insert a valid SIM card with no PIN lock to activate the iPhone"

Any help on this would be appreciated.

Ken


****************************Update**************** ********

Been researching this for a little while now.

Solutions I've found so far are to either go to a Radio Shack and buy a "Phonebook Sim" or find someone with an official ATT sim card and use it temporarily to activate.

Comments?

What happened to the SIM card from the Phone you had replaced was it not ATT. You can borrow a SIM card to activate it or you can use an ATT pay and Go sim card to activate it. If you are going to get an ATT pay and go one, get the $10 one and if they ask you which phone you are going to use it with or for the IMEI. Tell them you have an unlocked phone at home, don't know the IMEI and you want them to activate the SIM card for you.
The Reference to buy a phonebook SIM card in Radio Shack applies to Egypt and maybe India not the US. If you want one you have to order on the internet.
If you phone is on 3.1.3 Use SPIRIT to JB and Untrasn0w to unlock.
Spirit is the easiest JB tool but phone needs to be activated. It is also the only tool available for new bootrom 3Gs. Download it plug in your iphone and hit the button and you are done. Does not presently work on 4 or 4.01 but coming soon.

you can use either of the above, at the end of the day, you can have your own sim to activate, so i would keep that, again up to you

or you can use snowbreeze and create a custom ios and skip the activation altogether

The process you just used to JB and UL your friends phone only works on old bootrom 3GS for the new bootrom 3GS it will not work and would have forced you to upgrade to stock IOS4.0.1. You got lucky, but should not recommend it without first checking that the op has old bootrom.

[CR125Honda]

Thanks for all the great info. Very much appreciated.

The old sim was from my local carrier, Cincinnati Bell. Old phone was JB and Unlocked.

Good news is my son found one of his friends that has ATT service. Going to meet and use his sim to activate the phone sometime today.

If all goes well, I should be able to activate it and start the process. Should be able to find out what the OS is and go from there. If the new phone is on 3.1.3, I'll do use the SPIRIT to JB and Ultrasn0w to unlock process described above.

Thanks again, Ken

Will update as I move along....

[RRDave]

Wow..went through the exact same thing last week. I am on cinbell and took an iPhone 3GS that had blown the comm circuit back to the apple store to warranty replace(one week left!).
The Genius(?) wouldn't even let me have it unless he could activate it with a AT&T sim. I had to leave and go borrow a friends sim. When he activated it, the Genius said it was "locking" the sim to this iPhone! It didn't really, but it scared me until I put the sim back in my friends phone.
Anyway, I now would like to JB-UL it and sell it. It is on 3.1.3 with BB 05.12.01. I assume it has the new BR( for0ecast says 6.4) . No SHSH saved. Should I JB with Spirit now or wait for the new JB from Comex-planetbeing that us supposed to be released anyday? It has a 90 day warranty and would like to sell it ASAP.

[nebo1ss]

You don't need to wait spirit then ultrasn0w. Only ones that need to wait are those who updated to 4 with new bootrom.

[CR125Honda]

Ok... I've got the phone activated. Used a friends ATT card.

Ready for the next step....

Am I safe to use SPIRIT to JB and Untrasn0w to unlock?

Here's the info I retrieved....

Using 3.1.3 (7E18)..... BB 5.12.01 ..... and Bootrom 359.3.2

I've read that 359.3.2 was causing some issues. Just want to make sure before going any further.

Ken

[nebo1ss]

Ok... I've got the phone activated. Used a friends ATT card.

Ready for the next step....

Am I safe to use SPIRIT to JB and Untrasn0w to unlock?

Here's the info I retrieved....

Using 3.1.3 (7E18)..... BB 5.12.01 ..... and Bootrom 359.3.2

I've read that 359.3.2 was causing some issues. Just want to make sure before going any further.

Ken

Yes you are good to go. Spirit works with both old and new bootrom so no bother there. There is just one precaution you want to take with SPIRIT check what version of Itunes you have you don't want to use anything higher than 9.1.1. Their has been problems reported with the latest version.

Ultrasn0w is found on cydia repo666

[CR125Honda]

Successful JB and UL using the procedure above.

One more question should complete this.

First page that comes up in iTunes wants me to register the phone..
Is this ok to do?
Pretty sure it's ok as I did this with my JB/UL 3G but want to make sure with the 3GS before moving on..

Thanks again, Ken

[RRDave]

Mine is done also. Spirit and ultrasn0w.
Easiest JB ever.

[nebo1ss]

Yes kudo's to Comex for Spirit. He is expected to release new version soon to JB IOS 4. Same ultrasn0w to UL.

[CR125Honda]

It was an easy JB/UL once I received all the great info/instructions.
I think the best advice I could give others would be to do your research, courteously ask the right questions, have some patience, double check the answers then trudge on.

Thanks to everyone for the help given me to work through this.

Regards, Ken