iPhone became paperweight the first day - advice?

[stanleyBE]

After holding off for more than 2 years on this purchase, I decided to get an iPhone a few days ago. Here in Belgium there are massive waiting lists for obtaining one, reaching as far as Christmas at the current pace of delivery.
So I bought a US iPhone 3GS 32GB on eBay from someone who imported it to Belgium.

It had 3.0.1 and was jailbroken and unlocked. No problem.
It had a few settings changed by the seller to show me everything worked (on his WiFi network, my mobile carrier, etc). So first thing I did when I got home was "reset all content and settings". Big, big, big mistake.

The phone is now stuck in a boot loop: it only shows the apple and a circle on top of it (the circle doesn't spin, and is at first almost invisible and then becomes brighter and brighter). I read the deletion process can take a really long time, but since the phone reboots each time after 10-15 minutes I assume this cycle is not part of that process anymore...

I can only restore to 3.1 via iTunes. Which is a huge problem since I need the jailbreak and, most of all, the unlock. Jailbreaking again doesn't solve the issue, the process gets stuck at "Activation". (Apparently this is 'common' behaviour when deleting settings and content on a jailbroken iPhone.)

I have the 3.1 shsh file, but of course not the 3.0 or 3.0.1 files. Meaning I can't use Cydia or a local server to force a downgrade.

I'm pretty much on the edge of losing my mind for not being able to use the shiny new toy I waited and saved so long for...

As I see it, there's only two things I can do:
- Upgrade to 3.1 and wait (hope?) it gets jailbroken and the new baseband gets unlocked. Doing this, I can use the phone in the meantime, for surfing, iPod etc.
- Wait and leave it a paperweight, but hope there will be, if it turns out there's no JB/unlock solution for 3.1, a means of downgrading to 3.0.


Any advice on this one?

 

[mavis]

Any advice on this one?

Whatever you do, do NOT update to 3.1 if you hope to ever find a solution.

Other than that, I don't know what to tell you. You need those files, although perhaps the seller registered the device through Cydia before sending it to you - that way you could restore to 3.0 ... Have you contacted him/her?

 

[stanleyBE]

I have contacted the seller a moment ago, but I'm pretty positive he doesn't have the files, because:

- the window saurik gave for saving the files doesn't coincide with the time of the first jailbreak
- I changed the hosts file so iTunes checked the Cydia server for the certificates, but that didn't work

 

[koollectablz]

I'd restore to 3.1 and then resell it back to America ASAP. Take the hit and buy another.

 

[TheHeadFL]

There is already a JB solution for 3.1... It just isn't released yet.

Have patience!

When that JB tool is released, it will allow you to upgrade to 3.1 WITHOUT upgrading your baseband. Thus preserving your unlock!

Just wait.

 

[thelatinist]

Just wait for the Dev-Team to finish their work. They will soon release Pwnage Tool for the 3GS, which will allow you to restore to a custom 3.1 firmware without updating your baseband. You will then be able to unlock using ultrasnow. I know it sucks to have to wait when you just bought your shiny new phone, but it will be well worth the wait.

Whatever you do, don't update to 3.1 stock unless you want an iPod Touch with a camera.

 

[stanleyBE]

That's great news!
But wouldn't I still have to restore my phone first via iTunes (thus updating the baseband), since it won't even boot now?

Do you have a source for that info by the way?

 

[mavis]

That's great news!
But wouldn't I still have to restore my phone first via iTunes (thus updating the baseband), since it won't even boot now?

Do you have a source for that info by the way?

If it's an PwnageTool-type app, it will modify a copy of the official 3.1 firmware files on your machine, which you can then manually select in iTunes when you click "Restore" (Option+click on a Mac, Alt(?)+click in Windows) ... The modification removes the baseband portion of the update, preserving your current (unlockable) baseband version.

 

[TheHeadFL]

That's great news!
But wouldn't I still have to restore my phone first via iTunes (thus updating the baseband), since it won't even boot now?

Do you have a source for that info by the way?

From http://blog.iphone-dev.org/:

NOTE #1: the carrier sim unlock is a different story. Jailbreaking and unlocking have two different security mechanisms, and if you update your 3GS (or 3G) to 3.1, you will lose your carrier unlock, possibly forever. Even if you downgrade from 3.1 to 3.0, you will have lost your carrier unlock. So if you think you’ll ever want to carrier unlock your 3G or 3GS (or maybe give it away or resell it later as an unlockable iPhone), then please stay clear of all official Apple IPSWs. You’ll soon be able to create custom 3.1 IPSWs using PwnageTool that let you pre-hack your 3.1 update in a way that preserves the carrier unlock.

NOTE #2: The custom IPSW flow using PwnageTool also ensures that even if Apple fixes all the iBoot holes, you’ll still be able to retain your jailbreak through later updates. That’s because a jailbroken iPhone will happily accept a custom (pre-jailbroken) firmware update even though it’s not blessed with Apples signatures. This is the “once jailbroken, always jailbroken” approach. It’s very powerful, but it requires you to only update to pre-hacked IPSWs.

NOTE #3: None of this applies if you have an iPhone 2G, iPod touch 1G, or iPod touch 2G. The iPhone 3G is also unaffected by Apple’s signing process for the jailbreak, but it is susceptible to permanent loss of the carrier unlock as mentioned in note #1.

Note that even though your phone is totally jacked and won't boot the OS, it still has a hacked iBoot (bootloader) and therefore will accept a custom IPSW because it was previously jailbroken. You should be able to use PwnageTool when it is released.

 

[thelatinist]

But wouldn't I still have to restore my phone first via iTunes (thus updating the baseband), since it won't even boot now?

Do you have a source for that info by the way?

Ah, but that's the beauty of it: Pwnage tool allows you to create a custom ipsw file with the 3.1 firmware but without the new (locked) baseband. You then use this custom firmware file (be careful not to use the official one!) to restore your iPhone and presto you have a jailbroken phone with 3.1 firmware and the ability to unlock by installing ultrasn0w from Cydia.

You can get all this info from the Dev-Team Blog.

 

[thelatinist]

Note that even though your phone is totally jacked and won't boot the OS, it still has a hacked iBoot (bootloader) and therefore will accept a custom IPSW because it was previously jailbroken. You should be able to use PwnageTool when it is released.

I don't think Dev-Team has said you will need a previously-jailbroken iPhone 3GS to jailbreak with PwnageTool. In fact, they imply in the posts you cite that there are still holes in iBoot that Apple has not yet patched (this is confirmed by Chronic-Dev); so at least for 3.1 it will be possible to jailbreak a stock iPhone. What they are saying in NOTE #2 is that even if, in the future, Apple fixes all the holes in iBoot, they've left a backdoor open in jailbroken iPhones to allow future jailbreaks.

 

[TheHeadFL]

I don't think Dev-Team has said you will need a previously-jailbroken iPhone 3GS to jailbreak with PwnageTool. In fact, they imply in the posts you cite that there are still holes in iBoot that Apple has not yet patched (this is confirmed by Chronic-Dev); so at least for 3.1 it will be possible to jailbreak a stock iPhone. What they are saying in NOTE #2 is that even if, in the future, Apple fixes all the holes in iBoot, they've left a backdoor open in jailbroken iPhones to allow future jailbreaks.

Correct, you don't, for now, because 3.1 iBoot is vulnerable. That may not always be the case in the future though as you point out.

I was just trying to reassure him that no matter what, he should be able to use the PwnageTool.

 

[stanleyBE]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

It will be a long wait for this tool, even if it's possibly just a few days away...

 

[dhlizard]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

It will be a long wait for this tool, even if it's possibly just a few days away...

I don't want to throw fuel on the fire, but I hope you learned a lesson here.

Research what you want to do before changing things on your iPhone or all your future posts will begin with the word "Help".

 

[stanleyBE]

Well, I spent quite some time researching but I apparently couldn't have guessed erasing the content and settings from a phone would make it become unstable or in this case even unbootable.

Maybe this is something the Dev Team should know, as I'm not the only one who had this issue. Or is it in fact already well-documented and I just plainly missed out on the knowledge?

 

[gigapocket1]

In all honesty.. if the seller did not upload those files to sauriks server.. then i would have to say sale it for how much u paid for it.. or atleast close to it.. You will not be able to jailbreak the 3gs until the jailbreak comes out.. and who knows when that will come out.. and let alone.. theirs going to take even more time to figure out the unlock or even how to downgrade the baseband.. Its going to easily take another 2 to 3 months before they figure out how to unlock it.. jailbreak hopefully will be out soon.. they may just be waiting before they release the jailbreak for 3gs until 3.2 comes out so that the 3gs exploit will not be disabled in that update...

 

[dhlizard]

Well, I spent quite some time researching but I apparently couldn't have guessed erasing the content and settings from a phone would make it become unstable or in this case even unbootable.

Maybe this is something the Dev Team should know, as I'm not the only one who had this issue. Or is it in fact already well-documented and I just plainly missed out on the knowledge?

I for one have read numerous posts where posters threw that switch and turned their phone into a paperweight.

Just think you are "erasing the content" from the phone's drive !

To me that sounds similar to formatting a drive. Poof, there goes the ability of your device to boot.

 

[bytethese]

Well, I spent quite some time researching but I apparently couldn't have guessed erasing the content and settings from a phone would make it become unstable or in this case even unbootable.

Maybe this is something the Dev Team should know, as I'm not the only one who had this issue. Or is it in fact already well-documented and I just plainly missed out on the knowledge?

What about "Erase All Content and Settings" made you think it wouldn't erase all your content and settings? It's like blanking out your phone, you need to load your OS, config your settings, etc.

I believe it's pretty well documented by now however.

 

[stanleyBE]

I'd take it would erase all MY content (as in pictures, music,...) and MY settings (for mail, wifi,...), so that the OS is in a pristine shape.

I can't believe I'm the only one thinking so when pulling that switch, especially considering it's a switch in the OS itself. OS'es don't usually kill themselves in such a user-friendly manner

The system probably does not behave like this on a non-jailbroken phone. I don't think ending up in a boot loop is Apple's idea of erasing content and settings.

Oh well, no use in arguing about it, I have clearly been proven wrong...

 

[bytethese]

I'd take it would erase all MY content (as in pictures, music,...) and MY settings (for mail, wifi,...), so that the OS is in a pristine shape.

I can't believe I'm the only one thinking so when pulling that switch, especially considering it's a switch in the OS itself. OS'es don't usually kill themselves in such a user-friendly manner

The system probably does not behave like this on a non-jailbroken phone. I don't think ending up in a boot loop is Apple's idea of erasing content and settings.

Oh well, no use in argueing about it, I have clearly been proven wrong...

I guess that's why Apple gave 2 options, Reset All Settings and Erase All Content and Settings. I suppose they could add a third option, Erase Your Content to better clarify.

 

[stanleyBE]

Its going to easily take another 2 to 3 months before they figure out how to unlock it.. jailbreak hopefully will be out soon..

From what I gather here, the 3.1 jailbreak (with a disabled baseband update) alone will be enough to preserve my unlock.
I'm gonna hold on to my 3GS - albeit for now only to stare at it.

they may just be waiting before they release the jailbreak for 3gs until 3.2 comes out so that the 3gs exploit will not be disabled in that update...

I hope not. Although I can't see any other reason for not releasing it if it's already done. Maybe there's still some bugs to solve and tweaks to make.