How to restore a jailbroken phone without the old sim

[trandall]

This may be a problem covered in a few places already, but I feel like I'm going crazy trying to find up to date answers to my questions, since it feels like the software is constantly changing. So ...

I jailbroke a 3G 3.0 iphone that belonged to a friend. I had some battery problems so decided to update it to 3.1.2. So I downloaded the ipsw for this and the pwnage tool. I went through the steps and went into DFU mode, was prompted to go to itunes and restore with my costume ipsw. I did this, but can't use the 'shift-restore' trick to select the update. Now I'm stuck in recovery/DFU mode (not sure which) and can't even restore to 3.1.3 because I unlocked the phone and don't have the original sim. All I want is to get my phone back up and running on a 3.1.x OS.

Any suggestions? Thanks so much for your help.

 

[Applejuiced]

Why doesn't the shift and restore not letting you? You sure you got the correct Ipsw for your device?
And what's the sim have anything to do?

 

[thelatinist]

What happens when you try to shift-restore? Do you get an error message?

 

[trandall]

Right now when I plug the iphone in, it tells me that itunes has detected an iphone in recovery mode (is there any way to get out of this?) and only the restore button is available on the iphone page. When I hit shift and the restore button it simply gives me the 'are you sure you want to erase and restore' standard message with the "Restore and Update" button but no option to browse for my custom ispw.

I'm using iPhone1,2_3.1.3_7E18_Custom_Restore.ipsw, which I got by downloading iPhone1,2_3.1.2_7D11_Restore.ipsw from Quickpwn and running Pwnage Tool, which found the one I downloaded and 'built' the second one. However, I haven't 'used' either one, since right now all I have is a phone in recovery mode and the option to update back to the newest itunes 3.1.3 version.

As far as the sim, I found some directions online on how to go 'back' from 3.1.3 to 3.1.2 (though without the ability to browse for custom ispw I don't know if it would work) but itunes wont even restore me to the regular 3.1.3, saying I need the original sim to do so.

Thanks.

 

[thelatinist]

When I hit shift and the restore button it simply gives me the 'are you sure you want to erase and restore' standard message with the "Restore and Update" button but no option to browse for my custom ispw.

It sounds like you have a Mac. On a Mac you need to use option + restore.

 

[trandall]

Yes, you're right. Thank you. I actually just found this out on a fluke, trying different keys on my own. Sadly, it then went through the normal process but then gave me a message at the end saying that I needed a supported SIM to activate that phone. Is there some kind of jailbreak/unlock/restore combo that gets around this?

 

[thelatinist]

Yes, you're right. Thank you. I actually just found this out on a fluke, trying different keys on my own. Sadly, it then went through the normal process but then gave me a message at the end saying that I needed a supported SIM to activate that phone. Is there some kind of jailbreak/unlock/restore combo that gets around this?

You just need to run redsn0w. It will hacktivate your phone after it jailbreaks it (be sure to chose the option to 'activate'). You then will need to unlock with blacksn0w. iClarified.com has tutorials.

 

[trandall]

I must have very bad iphone karma. I hacktivated using redsn0w 0.9.2, selected the 3.1.2 firmware I downloaded and after it all installed I ended up with 3.1.3 and a 5.12.01 baseband and the 5.09 bootloader, which I didn't have before. Now, as far as I can tell I'm up the proverbial creek without a paddle. I don't know how it made those updates based on the ipsw I downloaded for 3.1.2. I don't suppose there is anything else I can do?

 

[Applejuiced]

Nope, nothing at the moment.
You can JB but not unlock.

 

[thelatinist]

I must have very bad iphone karma. I hacktivated using redsn0w 0.9.2, selected the 3.1.2 firmware I downloaded and after it all installed I ended up with 3.1.3 and a 5.12.01 baseband and the 5.09 bootloader, which I didn't have before. Now, as far as I can tell I'm up the proverbial creek without a paddle. I don't know how it made those updates based on the ipsw I downloaded for 3.1.2. I don't suppose there is anything else I can do?

Nothing you did with redsn0w can possibly have upgraded your OS or baseband. You must accidentally have clicked on the 3.1.3 ipsw when doing your option-restore earlier. There is simply no code in redsn0w that can install an ipsw or flash your baseband; all it does with the ipsw is extract a couple of files to patch and upload to your phone as part of the jailbreak process (so that they don't have to distribute copyrighted Apple code as part of Redsn0w).

As you have discovered, redsn0w will still jailbreak and hacktivate your phone on 3.1.3, but there is sadly no way you can unlock now. Perhaps in a couple of months.

 

[dhlizard]

Nothing you did with redsn0w can possibly have upgraded your OS or baseband. You must accidentally have clicked on the 3.1.3 ipsw when doing your option-restore earlier. There is simply no code in redsn0w that can install an ipsw or flash your baseband; all it does with the ipsw is extract a couple of files to patch and upload to your phone as part of the jailbreak process (so that they don't have to distribute copyrighted Apple code as part of Redsn0w).

As you have discovered, redsn0w will still jailbreak and hacktivate your phone on 3.1.3, but there is sadly no way you can unlock now. Perhaps in a couple of months.

Agreed, that is why we use option + restore to give US the choice which firmware to choose. And as you have learned, when modifying your phone, details are everything. Sorry you locked yourself up !

 

[trandall]

I knew not to update to 3.1.3, but honestly don't know what else could have happened. It might have been when I opened itunes after the download and it wanted to restore my last iphone backup. Who knows. Thanks for all the help. I hope someone decides to find an unlock for those unfortunates like me, or that 4.0 comes quickly followed by a jailbreak/unlock I can use.