iPhone 3GS Jailbreaking/unlocking

[Ruthl3ss]

Hey guys, I recently got an iPhone off a friend that needed to have the firmware re-installed and hence jailbroken again.
Since I'm a complete iPhone noob, I upgraded the iOS to 4.2.1 and then tried to jailbreak it using redsn0w. After saying that the jailbreak was successful,my phone got stuck at the Apple logo - I left it for a while to no avail.

Now, every-time I start the iPhone, it just goes either to the logo, or sometimes to the image with the cable pointing towards the iTunes logo.

Anyone got any idea on how I can use the iPhone with any carrier and get some apps for it, too?

Thanks in advance!

[Cowboy]

Its tethered buddy you will have to have to connect to redsn0w every time the phone turns off and back on

[Ruthl3ss]

Its tethered buddy you will have to have to connect to redsn0w every time the phone turns off and back on

Hahaha, I've got no idea what that means - but is there a way I can fix this? I'm not really wanting to go back and forth to Redsn0w to use my phone, but if so, then that's fine. What do I do to make it turn on? Like, what would I do once I've connected the iPhone and opened up redsn0w?

Does it help if I say that I've got a custom firmware 4.2.1 ?

[Cowboy]

Go into like you would first jailbreaking when you get to the screen with the check boxes,un check the top box cant remember what it says then there should be another boxed that says boot tethered make sure its selected and hit next let it do its thing.

As of now there is only a tethered jailbreak.
An untethered jailbreak is in beta testing which when released will make it so you dont have to plug it in each time.

[Ruthl3ss]

Go into like you would first jailbreaking when you get to the screen with the check boxes,un check the top box cant remember what it says then there should be another boxed that says boot tethered make sure its selected and hit next let it do its thing.

As of now there is only a tethered jailbreak.
An untethered jailbreak is in beta testing which when released will make it so you dont have to plug it in each time.

Okay, so once I've jailbroken it, I need to open up redsn0w and click tether boot or something? And then it'll work?

[Cowboy]

Yup it should

[Ruthl3ss]

Yup it should

So I did a tethered boot, and all that happens is, a pineapple comes up on the screen...

Can you tell me what to do from the very beginning! ):

Also, I just tried running redsn0w and it crashes at the exact same point every time..
okay guys, I just restored it to a custom 4.2.1 and it went through fine. Then, when I went to redsn0w and clicked install Cydia + iPad Baseband, it started to go through, then it crashed as it was downloading the jailbreak data!!!
I don't know what to do guys - is my iPhone messed up?

[timmy2]

Run Redsnow as an administrator, also run it in XP service pack 3 compatability mode. If you are using a multiprocessor machine you'll need to go into the Task manager settings and run just one processor., This is all explained in a sticky somewhere. Your machine is too fast for the software and that's why it's crashing. I can't get anything to work right on my i7 core machine, I have to use my old P4 laptop to jailbreak.LOL

[Ruthl3ss]

Run Redsnow as an administrator, also run it in XP service pack 3 compatability mode. If you are using a multiprocessor machine you'll need to go into the Task manager settings and run just one processor., This is all explained in a sticky somewhere. Your machine is too fast for the software and that's why it's crashing. I can't get anything to work right on my i7 core machine, I have to use my old P4 laptop to jailbreak.LOL

haha, thanks mate! I just switched to another computer, and bam, it did the trick!
Unfortunately though, the person who sold me this iPhone didn't tell me the IMEI was blacklisted! And they've gone away for a while, so it looks like there's nothing I can do!
You guys don't know if there is anything I can do, do you?