Is unlocking my iPhone to "Blacksn0w" safe?

[helloimD4NNY]

I've hacked my G1 before but haven't with an iPhone or iPod touch. I bought a white iPhone 3G-S from Best Buy a little over a month ago(maybe 40 days) and I don't want to ruin my phone. So I will admit that I am a newbie to this iPhone unlocking business.

I have a few questions:
1.) What are the benefits of unlocking my phone? (I already know about the tethering option)
2.) What is the possibility of "bricking" my phone from doing this "Blacksn0w" unlock?
3.) If I brick my phone, how do I fix it?
4.) How long does this unlock take?
5.) Are these directions safe to follow? (http://www.iphoneos3.com/2009/11/03...-blacksn0w-for-iphone-3g-or-iphone-3gs-3-1-2/)

6.) How EXACTLY did you do this unlock? Again, i'm a newbie so I would appreciate a step by step tutorial.


thanks, Danny.

 

[Moi un Mouton]

You won't ruin your phone. But do you want to do it? It's up to you.

1. Benefits of unlocking? Only that you can use another carrier's SIMcard in the phone. But benefits of jailbreaking are many - themes to make the UI different, custom sounds, unauthorised apps (like VOIP and Tethering were both implemented first by jailbreak)

2. It can't brick your phone

3. It can't, but if something else does, you put your phone into DFU mode and restore it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofpinyGlQ8I

4. Almost no time at all, it took me maybe 5 minutes total

5. They look OK, but actually it's simpler than they make it seem..... try iClarified instead:
http://www.iclarified.com/entries/index.php?caid=2&scid=11&seid=1

6.
- You go here: http://blackra1n.com/
- you click either the Windows or Mac symbol to download Blackra1n
- you plug your iPhone in and you run Blackra1n
- you click "make it ra1n"
- when the phone reboots, you open it and start the Blackra1n app, install cydia, rock and sn0w (sn0w is the unlock)
- restart the phone
- Most important last step: go to blackra1n.com and make a donation to GeoHot

 

[OhioLefty]

I've hacked my G1 before but haven't with an iPhone or iPod touch. I bought a white iPhone 3G-S from Best Buy a little over a month ago(maybe 40 days) and I don't want to ruin my phone. So I will admit that I am a newbie to this iPhone unlocking business.

I have a few questions:
1.) What are the benefits of unlocking my phone? (I already know about the tethering option)
2.) What is the possibility of "bricking" my phone from doing this "Blacksn0w" unlock?
3.) If I brick my phone, how do I fix it?
4.) How long does this unlock take?
5.) Are these directions safe to follow? (http://www.iphoneos3.com/2009/11/03...-blacksn0w-for-iphone-3g-or-iphone-3gs-3-1-2/)

6.) How EXACTLY did you do this unlock? Again, i'm a newbie so I would appreciate a step by step tutorial.


thanks, Danny.

I just did this (jailbreak, unlock and tethering) so I'll do my best to answer your questions.

1. Unlocking increases your chances of resell because more people other than just AT&T subscribers could use your phone. Should you ever wish to change carriers (carriers that use SIM cards) yourself, you can still use your phone.

2. Very low possibility of "bricking" your phone with blacksn0w. You have a better chance of "bricking" the operating system but it is unlikely with blackra1n. It really is easy if you upgrade to the latest release of iTunes and update the operating system on the iPhone to the latest release (3.1.2) if you haven't already. Both the jailbreak and unlock will take maybe 10 minutes start to finish total once you click "make it rain". The jailbreak takes about 20 seconds and then with all the reboots and install of Cydia, Rock and Sn0w and then executing Sn0w itself (another 15 seconds) it may actually be less than 10 minutes.

3. You put the phone in DFU mode (you can Google it) and connect it to iTunes and do a restore as new phone then restore from a backup. You should always do a backup first before starting any of this.

4. See #2

5. Those directions aren't bad but I think you could find some better ones on iClarified.com. Just do a search.

6. See below.

1. Update iTunes to the latest release. Reboot your computer. If you already have the latest, skip this step.

2. Download blackra1n.exe from www.blackra1n.com to your desktop.

3. Connect your iPhone to iTunes and BACKUP YOUR IPHONE!

4. Update your iPhone to the latest OS (v3.1.2) If you already have the latest, skip this step.

5. Close iTunes, disconnect your iPhone and reboot your computer.

6. Connect your iPhone to your computer (close iTunes if it opens) and start blackra1n from you desktop.

7. Click on "make it rain". Follow the directions exactly from the dialog boxes.

8. iTunes may pop up and give you a message, just ignore it and close it out.

9. You only need to do this step if your OS update wipes your apps. After your iPhone reboots, reconnect to iTunes and "restore" from your BACKUP, not the Restore you used to install the new OS (3.1.2) if you did that part. Right click on your iPhone in iTunes and select Restore from Backup.

10. Reboot your iPhone.

11. Find the blackra1n app installed on your iPhone and run it.

12. Install Cydia, Rock (if you want) and Sn0w.

13. After these packages install, run Sn0w and follow the instructions.

14. Enjoy your new Jailbroken and Unlocked iPhone.

15. Seriously consider a donation on GeoHot's site for all his hard work and efforts.

Not the prettiest step by step but I think you could do it from this. If you want one with pictures and better directions, just do a search, they are out there.

I think that's just about it, I may have missed something but I'm sure others will correct me if I did.

Good luck to ya...

EDIT: That's funny! Moi un Mouton must type faster than me! I didn't realize someone was replying at the same time.

 

[WFORUM]

You won't ruin your phone. But do you want to do it? It's up to you.

1. Benefits of unlocking? Only that you can use another carrier's SIMcard in the phone. But benefits of jailbreaking are many - themes to make the UI different, custom sounds, unauthorised apps (like VOIP and Tethering were both implemented first by jailbreak)

2. It can't brick your phone

3. It can't, but if something else does, you put your phone into DFU mode and restore it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofpinyGlQ8I

4. Almost no time at all, it took me maybe 5 minutes total

5. They look OK, but actually it's simpler than they make it seem..... try iClarified instead:
http://www.iclarified.com/entries/index.php?caid=2&scid=11&seid=1

6.
- You go here: http://blackra1n.com/
- you click either the Windows or Mac symbol to download Blackra1n
- you plug your iPhone in and you run Blackra1n
- you click "make it ra1n"
- when the phone reboots, you open it and start the Blackra1n app, install cydia, rock and sn0w (sn0w is the unlock)
- restart the phone
- Most important last step: go to blackra1n.com and make a donation to GeoHot

Hey,

I have been able to install blacksn0w on my iphone but got stock where it ask me to choose an application package because my iphone can't connect to internet. What do I need to do to have my iphone WIFI connect to the internet. I have tried network reset and and all reset and still can't connect. Any ideas.