problem with unlocking (or activating) iPhone

Hello,

I have following problem: I have iPhone, but I don't know anything about it. What firmware it has, what software, nothing. This iPhone was jailbroken and then my brother tried to upgrade it but it failed. iPhone got into Restore mode. iTunes 10 saw it as a phone for Restoring. So I restored it to factory settings with iTunes. Then, what I got was picture of USB cable and PC. I was only able to make emergency calls, but not all. I couldn't dial *3001#12345#* to get version of firmware. But I could call the police... . It showed message so I should put right Sim Card. iTunes says the same. So I bought ZCGH Turbo Sim and put it in with my Sim card. Without Turbo Sim, the phone did nothing, but with this Turbo Sim it was searching for phone network and then showed message about wrong Sim Card, and then was searching and it was like that over and over again. But without success. It didn't connect. This Turbo Sim works with iPhone software 2.2.1. So I downloaded such version but I cannot load it into iPhone. No matter what I do it shows: error 1600. But I tried older versions of iTunes and I got message: 'this iPhone can only work with iTunes 9.2 and newer'. So this is, I think, importand clue about this iPhone. The only clue at the moment. I tried different things but without success.

Now I am again in Restore mode. What should I do now?. Restore it to factory settings with iTunes?. Or, perhaps, there are other tools?.

How can I unlock such phone?. I don't even know this iPhone mobile operator (it was bought jailbroken).

Can anyone help me?

Thank You for answer.

Cheers.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mac1234mac

I have following problem: I have iPhone, but I don't know anything about it. What firmware it has, what software, nothing. This iPhone was jailbroken and then my brother tried to upgrade it but it failed. iPhone got into Restore mode. iTunes 10 saw it as a phone for Restoring. So I restored it to factory settings with iTunes. Then, what I got was picture of USB cable and PC. I was only able to make emergency calls, but not all. I couldn't dial *3001#12345#* to get version of firmware. But I could call the police... . It showed message so I should put right Sim Card. iTunes says the same. So I bought ZCGH Turbo Sim and put it in with my Sim card. Without Turbo Sim, the phone did nothing, but with this Turbo Sim it was searching for phone network and then showed message about wrong Sim Card, and then was searching and it was like that over and over again. But without success. It didn't connect. This Turbo Sim works with iPhone software 2.2.1. So I downloaded such version but I cannot load it into iPhone. No matter what I do it shows: error 1600. But I tried older versions of iTunes and I got message: 'this iPhone can only work with iTunes 9.2 and newer'. So this is, I think, importand clue about this iPhone. The only clue at the moment. I tried different things but without success.

Now I am again in Restore mode. What should I do now?. Restore it to factory settings with iTunes?. Or, perhaps, there are other tools?.

How can I unlock such phone?. I don't even know this iPhone mobile operator (it was bought jailbroken).

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TinyUmbrella will answer many of your questions. You (and your brother) may have upgraded to a version of iOS that cannot be jailbroken or unlocked (yet). The best you might be able to achieve is iPod functionalitu (everything except the phone functions)

TurboSIM (any *SIM adapters) are very out of date - they all stopped working after iOS 2.2.1 - that path is a dead end and your purchase of a TurboSIM is wasted money.

I managed (with Your help) to find out with TinyUmbrella what iOS was installed on this iPhone. It was the newest one 4.1. I downgraded to 4.0 and jailbroked it with redsn0w. And then unlocked it (at least I think I did it) with Ultrasn0w 1.1-1 (thanks guys from Dev Team). Now, my baseband is 05.14.02. Can it be unlocked with this version of Ultrasn0w?. I put in SIM card and all I get is 'Searching...'. Is it allright?. If, yes, how long I have to wait to activate this iPhone?. It shows me in Settings -> General -> About, with one card - Carrier 7.0. With the other (I live in Poland) it shows me the name of the network (it shows ERA 7.1). ERA is the name of our local mobile operator. But in both cases I waited for at least hour and there is no change. All the time this 'Searching..'.

How long does it take to activate iPhone?.

Thank You for answer.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mac1234mac

I managed (with Your help) to find out with TinyUmbrella what iOS was installed on this iPhone. It was the newest one 4.1. I downgraded to 4.0 and jailbroked it with redsn0w. And then unlocked it (at least I think I did it) with Ultrasn0w 1.1-1 (thanks guys from Dev Team). Now, my baseband is 05.14.02. Can it be unlocked with this version of Ultrasn0w?. I put in SIM card and all I get is 'Searching...'. Is it allright?. If, yes, how long I have to wait to activate this iPhone?. It shows me in Settings -> General -> About, with one card - Carrier 7.0. With the other (I live in Poland) it shows me the name of the network (it shows ERA 7.1). ERA is the name of our local mobile operator. But in both cases I waited for at least hour and there is no change. All the time this 'Searching..'.

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05.14.02 baseband cannot be unlocked by ultrasn0w. There is no information about when (if ever) that version can be unlocked by ultrasn0w.

Your only option is to try and contact the carrier that the iPhone is originally locked to and ask if they will officially unlock the iPhone for you.

But this iPhone was jailbroken before and phone worked well. So there is a way to make it work. Cannot the baseline be downgraded?. Perhaps if I downgraded software to some older version than 4.0 than, perhaps, I would downgrade baseband as well?.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mac1234mac

iPhone was jailbroken before and phone worked well. So there is a way to make it work. Cannot the baseline be downgraded?. Perhaps if I downgraded software to some older version than 4.0 than, perhaps, I would downgrade baseband as well?.

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If it is a 3GS, there is no way to downgrade baseband.

If if is a 3G - and it was made before July 2008 - you might be able to downgrade baseband. Any 3G iPhone made after week 28 of 2008 cannot be downgraded.

The baseband runs on a different chip to iOS, being jailbroken does NOT mean that you have full control of the baseband CPU or that you can bypass the baseband bootloaders security checks to be able to downgrade baseband.

All this has been explained before it is not new

Sorry, for asking obvious questions, but 2 days ago I didn't know almost anything about iPhones.

So You say that I should ask operator of this phone for unlocking it?.

Well, do You perhaps know some site (but the latest, not from 2007 or 2008) telling me what is the operator of this iPhone, on basis of model?. My model is MB489KS. Or, perhaps, it could be deduced on basis of Serial Number?. From what I found on the net it seems that it is some Scandinavian phone. Denmark, Sweeden, Norway. But can I make sure, knowing data that is, now, available on the phone?. I don't want to call all Scandinavian operators in search of the phone. BTW, is it, at all possible to get such permit?.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mac1234mac

Sorry, for asking obvious questions, but 2 days ago I didn't know almost anything about iPhones.

So You say that I should ask operator of this phone for unlocking it?.

Well, do You perhaps know some site (but the latest, not from 2007 or 2008) telling me what is the operator of this iPhone, on basis of model?. My model is MB489KS. Or, perhaps, it could be deduced on basis of Serial Number?. From what I found on the net it seems that it is some Scandinavian phone. Denmark, Sweeden, Norway. But can I make sure, knowing data that is, now, available on the phone?. I don't want to call all Scandinavian operators in search of the phone. BTW, is it, at all possible to get such permit?.

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Definitely possible from the scandanavian operators. Only AT&T in the US refuses to allow unlocks.

That model number is shared across many countries where companies owned by TeliaSonera sell iPhones.

TeliaSonera is a based in sweden/finland, so I would start with ringing them.

It is your IMEI or maybe serial number that they would use to find out which of their sub companies this iPhone is locked to.

The biggest risk is that the phone was purchased on a 1 or 2 year contract, then taken to another country (where you got it) and the contract was never finished in the original country. This would mean that to get an unlock, you would need to pay off the remainder of the contract (which could be a lot)

Also, as you are not the original owner - they may refuse to allow the unlock without the permission of the original owner. Can you contact the original owner?

Well, this phone is second hand, I only know that the guy who sold it to my brother is of Polish nationality. But brother has his number or e-mail. So we could give it a try.

I thought about this baseband downgrading. Wouldn't it be possible to use OpenSSH to switch this newer baseband to some older one (via Wi-Fi)?.
I would have access to all files on the phone, so, perhaps, in this way I could downgrade the baseband?.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mac1234mac

Well, this phone is second hand, I only know that the guy who sold it to my brother is of Polish nationality. But brother has his number or e-mail. So we could give it a try.

I thought about this baseband downgrading. Wouldn't it be possible to use OpenSSH to switch this newer baseband to some older one (via Wi-Fi)?.
I would have access to all files on the phone, so, perhaps, in this way I could downgrade the baseband?.

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I gave you the 100% story on baseband downgrade - read again what I wrote. It generally is not possible, even if you are jailbroken.

You have a 3G, check the serial number it must be xx827 or lower to be have a chance at downgrade. The first two digits don't matter but the 3rd, 4tha nd 5th must be the same or lower (eg 825) to be able to use fuzzyband.