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iPhone Cydia won't open on (possibly) Jailbroken iPhone 4, 5.1.1

M

montygraphics

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 14, 2009
14
0
Been trying to jailbreak my iPhone 4 (5.1.1) and after the first attempt with Absinthe led to error message after error message, I restored back to the pre-jailbreak backup and saw I had Cydia on the phone. When I touched the icon it sort of flashed like it was about to open and then nothing, like "just kidding." Figured it was a failed jailbreak, so followed online advice to use RedSn0w 9.12b2 for mac instead. I thought it worked - pineapple screen appeared for a bit, then booted normally - but now Cydia still won't open.

I'm thinking my iPhone 4 is stuck somewhere between jailbroken and not, but can't be sure. Do I try using RedSn0w again, maybe choose "deactivate" or "package" rather than "Cydia" as I did first time at the prompt? Do I need to put in DFU mode which I attempted to do the first time (not sure if it worked) even though this version of RS says you don't have to?

I did search all over for answers, but my apologies if I missed another thread about this. Thanks in advance for any help you guys can offer a frustrated newb.
 
TriJetHero said:
Did you try 'Just Boot' in extras in redsn0w?

Otherwise restore to clean 5.1.1 and rejailbreak
Click to expand...

"Just Boot" has me boot in DFU mode, which I have tried and failed a number of times. By 'restore to clean 5.1.1' I assume you mean without restoring my backed up contacts/calendar/etc, but I don't really know how to do that. I have a number of saved backups in iTunes, but when I tried restoring to one BEFORE I attempted to jailbreak, I still ended up with the non-working Cydia icon. It doesn't show up in iTunes, but it's right there on my phone.

btw, I've tried restoring using iTunes, as well as just "activating" using the phone itself because the first Absinthe error I received said something about my phone not being activated...which I found strange since I had just followed the instructions to wipe it clean before starting.
 
Last edited:
Can I safely restore contacts/calendar with iTunes now?

ok, so my 14 yr old nephew helped me clean restore and I finally have a successful jailbreak now. My brilliant mind didn't consider, of course, that since I was using the iPhone in question to speak to said nephew, we would be disconnected, and I am now without his phone number as all my contacts were wiped clean and he advised not to back up this time. I still have all my contacts in many other backups, but I'm wondering if I restore using itunes, won't I lose the jailbreak?
 
Just install your last backup from itunes, you will get all your contacts back.

Starting reading up on jailbreaking etc.
Backingup and restoring to itunes only saves and restores your personal data; contacts, texts, pics, music, etc. That does not effect your jailbreak.

Restoring or updating a firmware is something completely different, it installs or restore your 'operating system' on the phone, doing that will break your jailbreak.
 
Ah, a simple answer to my ever complicated questions :p

TriJetHero said:
Just install your last backup from itunes, you will get all your contacts back.

Starting reading up on jailbreaking etc.
Backingup and restoring to itunes only saves and restores your personal data; contacts, texts, pics, music, etc. That does not effect your jailbreak.

Restoring or updating a firmware is something completely different, it installs or restore your 'operating system' on the phone, doing that will break your jailbreak.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much, TriJet. I'm sure I come off more than a little annoyingly because it likely looks like I didn't bother doing my homework before just adding to the myriad of newbie duplicate issue posts. I really appreciate your answer, which after much reading on JB I still didn't understand the difference between the two types of restore.

Having pieced together my current (obviously lacking) understanding from several different google search results, I'd gratefully welcome any suggested/preferred reading on the subject.

Thanks again everyone!
 
Last edited:
I went ahead and followed TriJet's instructions, restoring to previous backup using iTunes, despite reading on another MacRumors thread that restoring through iTunes will, in fact, take away the jailbreak (see link below for post #2 by GilGrissom).

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/673983/

I'm assuming GilGrissom was referring to a different kind of restore, wherein restoring from a previous backup one would go under "Version" in the Summary section and click the Restore button. Is this right?

Phone came back looking as it had before, but when I opened Cydia I got this error message:

"GPG error: http://cydia.zodttd.com stable release: The following signatures were invalid: BADSIG AA011AC1718BABDF ZodTTD
<zodttd@zodttd.com>"

No idea what that means but otherwise the phone seems to be jailbroken and fine. I've read the following question several times on numerous sites/bb's, but have yet to see a response that works.

Is there a way to tell for sure whether or not a phone is jailbroken? Some say that if you see an installer - such as Cydia - on the screen then the jailbreak took, but I had that icon 3-5 Absinthe/RedSn0w attempts BEFORE my final and (seemingly) successful jailbreak.
 
Like i already posted backing up your personal data and restoring that data is something completly different than restoring your phone to a different firmware, actually reading what is posted is the key....

The signature is a temp hick up of some file or repo being unavail.
When cydia is installed it is jailbroken.
 
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