I need help with an iPhone 3GS

[rudeguy]

I'm trying to unlock a 3GS I just bought off CL. The problem is that I have no clue what firmware it has and since I can't get past the emergency call screen, I can't figure it out.

I tried running Greenpoison 6.1 but it didn't work.

I suck at iPhones. Any help is appreciated.

 

[effowe]

http://thefirmwareumbrella.blogspot.com/

Try this, it saves SHSH blobs of the firmware on your phone.

Edit: Don't know if that will tell your firmware version, here's another link

http://www.techsliver.com/stuck-in-...-3gs-3g-or-ios-4-0-2-using-redsn0w-0-9-5b5-5/

 

[kkk60091]

assuming it is at&t version, insert an at&t sim card and connect to itunes on your pc, the phone will be activiated shortly. you will then be able pass through that emergency call screen.

 

[rudeguy]

ok...I got ios 4.3 on it.

Now I think I can handle it from here.

(I don't have an ATT sim...which is what is making this so difficult)

 

[jalaram]

I've always had to borrow a friend's ATT sim for activation since I'm on T-Mobile. Once it's activated, I can jb/unlock as needed.

 

[blackdogdeek]

afaik, the only way to unlock for you, assuming your baseband is at 05.14 or higher, is to update to the ipad baseband 06.15 but be forewarned this process comes with the following warnings (from dev-team blog):

WARNING — YOU DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK! PLEASE UNDERSTAND THE CONSEQUENCES OF UPDATING TO 06.15.

1.There is no way to come back down from 06.15, and there’s no hiding the baseband version from Apple. You’ll be voiding your warranty in a very obvious way.
2.If some future baseband comes out with a critical fix, you won’t be able to update to it if it remains down in the 05.xx sequence (then again, you wouldn’t update to it if you wanted to keep your unlock anyway).
3.Starting with FW 4.2.1 if you have 06.15 on your iPhone you won’t ever be able to restore to stock firmware (it will fail). You’ll need to only restore to custom IPSWs (then again, if you’re unlocker you should already be doing that).

also, people report losing gps with 06.15

 

[rudeguy]

all I know is that it has the new baseband??

I thought jailbreaking was easy...even for an idiot like me.

So what if I downgrade to 4.2.whatever? Or is the baseband what matters?

 

[Aikouka]

all I know is that it has the new baseband??

I thought jailbreaking was easy...even for an idiot like me.

So what if I downgrade to 4.2.whatever? Or is the baseband what matters?

I'm pretty certain that jail breaking and unlocking the phone are two totally different things. Unlocking allows you to use the iPhone on T-Mobile, where jail breaking allows for more control (installing unofficial apps, etc).

 

[kkk60091]

jailbreak let you run stuff apple doesn't like.
unlock let you actually make phone call without being on at&t network.

you can downgrade to jailbreak assuming you have already saved shsh either with cydia or tinyumbrella.
unlock depends on baseband, which can not be downgraded by downgrading os. it can only go up, not go down. if your baseband is not unlockable, then your only choice is to update to ipad baseband with bunch of issues or keep it on your desk until someone unlock it for the baseband you currently have on your phone.

 

[rudeguy]

I'm pretty certain that jail breaking and unlocking the phone are two totally different things. Unlocking allows you to use the iPhone on T-Mobile, where jail breaking allows for more control (installing unofficial apps, etc).

I'm aware of the difference. All the guides I found had you jailbreak, so you could run cydia, so you could unlock.

I thought I finally had it but I failed. I got it jailbroke but when I went to run cydia it force closed.