3GS Jailbreak

Attn: Owners of a 3GS with the old boot rom running iPhone OS 3.1.3 and jailbroken with Spirit trying wanting to upgrade to a jailbroken version of IOS 4.

The iPhone Dev-Team released an exploit that allows the 3GS to be jailbroken using IOS 4. I have a 3GS with the old boot rom (iBoot 359.3) which ran swimmingly on 3.1.2 jailbroken with Blackra1n. I was noodling with it (as I am wont to do) and I bricked it. After restoring it, I was forced to upgrade to iPhone OS 3.1.3 which required the new Spirit JB (Blackra1n is not 3.1.3 compatible). The Dev-Team's exploit is incompatible with Spirit. Long story short, I thought I was unable to upgrade my phone to a jailbroken version of IOS 4.

However!

My SHSHs are on file with Cydia. I was able to download the 3.1.2 .ipsw and downgrade my firmware, a process which Apple won't sign. However, I was able to fake the authentication and restore the firmware thanks to a fantastic how-to guide. Warning: Make sure your SHSHs are on file with Cydia. Otherwise, you might be screwed.

After restoring, I was home free. I rain Blackra1n to re-jailbreak the 3.1.2 firmware and then updated iTunes to 9.2 and used PwnageTool to create a custom .ipsw of IOS 4. Once that finished, I put my phone into restore mode and uploaded the hacked IOS 4 .ipsw. After one final sync and I should have a fully jailbroken 3GS running IOS 4.

I. Love. Technology.

Update 1: I was wrong. After updating, the phone network was non-existent; it needed to be hackivated. Luckiy, the Dev-Team's Ultrasn0w works on all current basebands (mine is 05.12.01). I ran Ultrasn0w which opened up a whole new series of issues. Though the unlock allowed me to access the AT&T network, my push certificates are not on file with Apple. I could not receive ANY push notifications and my phone was not authorized to access YouTube ("This video is not playable" error). After scouring the web, I found a fix called PushFix 2.0. This is a paid fix, but will get you the cert you need to receive push notifications. Works beautifully. Also, the bundle fixes the YouTube issue.

Careful which Cydia apps you update. Many are not IOS 4 ready and will cause MobileSubstrate to crash repeatedly. A current list of compatible apps is located here. For now, phone is stable. No immediate issues. Everything is functional.

This process took me the better part of a day to iron the kinks out of this system I highly recommend waiting for GeoHot's exploit. It will probably be much simpler than the Dev-Team's. I would postpone your jailbreak for a month or two to let the devs get their apps compatible with IOS 4. It will save you hours of troubleshooting.

Jailbreak on a previously jailbroken 3GS with old boot rom is currently possible, though at this point, I'm not sure the juice is worth the squeeze. Wait a couple weeks and the process should be streamlined.

Note: This is not a how-to guide. I wanted to chronicle the process whereby my phone was jailbroken so that others in a similar situation may be assured that it is possible. The Dev-Team has a complete how-to guide found here including all relevant downloads. Free your phones (or just buy an Android phone)!

I feel about Apple the way Mill feels about utilitarianism. I'm glad Apple designs it's software to be both bullet and idiot-proof. Most people need a stringent set of rules and should not step outside of them. Mill knew that utilitarianism debased us and kept us from our potential, but it kept the game going. He knew and wanted men to break the rules. He knew that the elite were exempt. A million thanks to all the hackers, developers, and iPhone noodlers out there who made this possible.