How to prep 3G for sale? Wipe Data, ect.

[iliketoitles]

I want to sell my 3G for some extra cash... But I want to know what steps I should take before I potentially sell my personal info.

What I've done so far:

1. restored to factory settings (3.0) in itunes.

2. jailbroke using redsn0w.

3. created 3 large playlists, sync'd one by one to overwrite data. Should I do more?

Is there anything else I need to do?

I had to put my SIM card in after the restore just to access the phone, but my phone number now shows up in itunes and in the phone even after removing the SIM. Can I restore, then jailbreak to access the SB even without a SIM?

I'm basically looking for a way to wipe data, restore, jailbreak, and unlock (when ultrasn0w is released) without any trace of me previously owning the phone. Any help? I've searched and searched but can't find a definitive way to do all of this.

 

[SilentPanda]

If you have a MobileMe account you could remote wipe it. That's what I did to mine.

 

[Mr. Giver '94]

Make sure all your info is backed up.

Remove any camera photos before erasing data.

If you want to save any text conversations, you can always take screenshots of them and then transfer them to the computer.

If you're listing it on eBay or Craigslist and want pics, clean the back with something more than the microfiber cloth because buyers like shiny things. ie Purell on a paper towel (sounds silly but it works!)

 

[iliketoitles]

thanks! i've already backed everything up and transferred everything over to my 3GS. Unfortunately I don't have a MobileMe account though :/

 

[mkrishnan]

thanks! i've already backed everything up and transferred everything over to my 3GS. Unfortunately I don't have a MobileMe account though :/

Out of curiosity, is this function available from the 60-day MobileMe free trial

It would be a good thing I guess to keep in mind in case I ever need to do it myself.

 

[nintendoguy]

You can also go into Settings>General>Reset and select Erase all contents and settings. This will do the same thing as remote wipe with mobile me. Then rejailbreak

 

[iliketoitles]

You can also go into Settings>General>Reset and select Erase all contents and settings. This will do the same thing as remote wipe with mobile me. Then rejailbreak

sweet. it's about halfway done. we'll find out if it'll let me access the SB without a SIM before i rejailbreak.

 

[nintendoguy]

sweet. it's about halfway done. we'll find out if it'll let me access the SB without a SIM before i rejailbreak.

It will not. You can put the sim from the new phone in and it will activate and go to the SB

 

[iliketoitles]

It will not. You can put the sim from the new phone in and it will activate and go to the SB

now by inserting the SIM, will it store the number from the SIM used on the phone and itunes? like when the new owner of the iphone plugs it into itunes and it shows the phone info? will it show my number?

 

[nintendoguy]

if you put a new sim in, i do not think it will. I do not know though.

 

[iliketoitles]

i'll test it on someone else's itunes to see what shows up. thanks for the help.

well, i just read filling the drive with music over and over only overwrites the media partition, not personal data. so anyone reading this, don't bother going that route.

 

[iliketoitles]

Update: removed sim, did a restore to 3.0, closed itunes (no activation or phone setup) then ran redsn0w. No sim card needed to activate, can access SB no problem.

I also ran iErase to zero out the free space on the drive before the restore. *cough*installous*cough* is there anything else i can run or do to do the same for the used space by the OS?