Hi.

I apologise if this has already been discussed to death but i'd rather as a stupid question again before taking the plunge. If I loose my unlock i'd be screwed! So please bear with me.

Details of the iPhone as is today.

1. IPhone 3G 8GB
2. Dont know whether its an early or late model boot rom
3. OS: 3.1.2 Jailbroken & Unlocked
4. Dont know how it was unlocked / jailbroken. Blackra1n was installed so I guess it was using Blackrain.
5. SHSH File Not backed up but i recently clicked "Make my life easier" for the 4.0 OS in Cydia.
6. I do not have an original carrier sim so it would need hactivation also

Would like to upgrade to 4.0.1 running on a windows machine and need to preserve both my unlock & jailbreak. I cannot afford to loose my unlock at any cost as it would make my phone useless/

Can you please advise me on the steps & risks. Should I us the default itunes update?

Ok... This has got me all the more worried now...

http://www.hackint0sh.org/f235/150578.htm#post591271

Originally Posted by arshish1612

Hi.

I apologise if this has already been discussed to death but i'd rather as a stupid question again before taking the plunge. If I loose my unlock i'd be screwed! So please bear with me.

Details of the iPhone as is today.

1. IPhone 3G 8GB
2. Dont know whether its an early or late model boot rom
3. OS: 3.1.2 Jailbroken & Unlocked
4. Dont know how it was unlocked / jailbroken. Blackra1n was installed so I guess it was using Blackrain.
5. SHSH File Not backed up but i recently clicked "Make my life easier" for the 4.0 OS in Cydia.
6. I do not have an original carrier sim so it would need hactivation also

Would like to upgrade to 4.0.1 running on a windows machine and need to preserve both my unlock & jailbreak. I cannot afford to loose my unlock at any cost as it would make my phone useless/

Can you please advise me on the steps & risks. Should I us the default itunes update?

3G does not have updated bootrom.
3G only needs SHSH for 4.0 and higher - you have no restrictions on restoring to iOS 3.x
You did the right thing by asking cydia to make your life easier.

Safest option:
Use pwnagetool to jailbreak iClarified - iPhone - How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.0] if you run windows - you can take your chances on sn0wbreeze (but we do not recommend or support sn0wbreeze here)
Ultrasn0w will unlock your iPhone iClarified - iPhone - How to Unlock the iPhone 3G, 3GS Using UltraSn0w

Why is pwnagetool so safe? It keeps you on the pwnagetrain and gives you the option to avoid updating your baseband. That way if you experience problems with ultrasn0w (extremely rare) you can revert back to iOS 3.1.2 and your existing unlock.

Otherwise if it all seems to complicated - use redsn0w.
Redsn0w 0.9.5-b5 see redsn0w 0.9.5 BETA [iPhone Dev Team] and iClarified - iPhone - How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3G Using RedSn0w (Windows) [4.0, 4.0.1] will work for you for jailbreak and hacktivate.
Ultrasn0w will unlock your iPhone iClarified - iPhone - How to Unlock the iPhone 3G, 3GS Using UltraSn0w

Thanks for the reply!

Originally Posted by Olethros

3G does not have updated bootrom.
3G only needs SHSH for 4.0 and higher - you have no restrictions on restoring to iOS 3.x
You did the right thing by asking cydia to make your life easier.
Using UltraSn0w[/url]

I think I need to clarify that Cydia still says "TSS request pending for this device"

1. Now, I'm on windows so I will have to use redsnow 0.9.5. Will this update my baseband and restrict a future downgrade to 3.1.2?

2. I'm assuming that I would need to do a stock upgrade to 4.0.1 through Itunes Itself. Correct?

3. Lets say worst case senario Ultrasn0w fails, then what? Can I go back to 3.1.2 and still have my Unlock & JailBreak considering that I do not as yet have any SHSH (neither 3.x not 4.x on Cydia)

If I could summarize: The carrier unlock is most important for me so What's the worst case senario?

Originally Posted by arshish1612

I think I need to clarify that Cydia still says "TSS request pending for this device"

Cydia is very slow at getting this - use TinyUmbrella if you want to back this up asap.

Originally Posted by arshish1612

1. Now, I'm on windows so I will have to use redsnow 0.9.5. Will this update my baseband and restrict a future downgrade to 3.1.2?

Yes update baseband. I think new baseband only works with 3.1.3 or higher. So yes to both questions.

Originally Posted by arshish1612

2. I'm assuming that I would need to do a stock upgrade to 4.0.1 through Itunes Itself. Correct?

Yes if you want to go down this path.

Originally Posted by arshish1612

3. Lets say worst case senario Ultrasn0w fails, then what? Can I go back to 3.1.2 and still have my Unlock & JailBreak considering that I do not as yet have any SHSH (neither 3.x not 4.x on Cydia)

If I could summarize: The carrier unlock is most important for me so What's the worst case senario?

There are no 3.x SHSH for you. You can ALWAYS restore 3.x (but not downgrade baseband)
You are too late for a 4.0 SHSH, you can get 4.0.1 SHSH (and I recommend you do this asap via TinyUmbrella)

If you want a safe path back to 3.1.2 you need to use pwnagetool/custom IPSW. Pwnagetool 4.0.1 has the option to prevent baseband update.

As you are on windows and pwnagetool is mac only - your options are:

borrow a mac - make the custom IPSW for 4.0 with pwnagetool 4.0.1
use sn0wbreeze (which we don't recommend or support here) - that is an unofficial windows clone of pwnagetool.
Find a pre-made custom 4.0 IPSW on the net (we can't link to them - they are warez) and hope it is what it claims to be.

Originally Posted by Olethros

There are no 3.x SHSH for you. You can ALWAYS restore 3.x (but not downgrade baseband)

Last question before I take the plunge.

Some months ago, there was an issue with updating to 3.1.3 since the BB got updated and there was no untethered JB & Unlock for the new BB. Is this still the case? Or has a solution been found for this?

Or to re-phrase the question, can I get an untethered JB & UNLOCK on 3.x with the BB updated if I have to downgrade in the future?

Originally Posted by arshish1612

Last question before I take the plunge.

Some months ago, there was an issue with updating to 3.1.3 since the BB got updated and there was no untethered JB & Unlock for the new BB. Is this still the case? Or has a solution been found for this?

Or to re-phrase the question, can I get an untethered JB & UNLOCK on 3.x with the BB updated if I have to downgrade in the future?

Are you sure you have a 3G and not a 3GS? Or have you just been confused by the options available?

3G has a pwned for life exploit - there has never been a tethered jailbreak for 3G

3GS - new bootrom, there was a long period where there was no untethered jailbreak, this has been (partly) solved with Spirit and now Star (jailbreakme.com) userland jailbreaks. These are untethered but not as low level (ie powerful) as the kind of jailbreak possible on old bootrom 3GS.

The unlock requires a jailbreak. However there is no such thing as a tethered unlock. It is the jailbreak that is tethered or untethered.

I am sure I have a 3G. I guess I'm just confused with all the options and alternatives and versions .

Plus its my moms phone! If it messes up i'm dead! :-)

So based on your last post even if the BB gets updated on a 3G - there is no way I could loose my ability to unlock & JB.

So I'm actually safe regardless of the BB & the OS? Correct

Originally Posted by arshish1612

I am sure I have a 3G. I guess I'm just confused with all the options and alternatives and versions .

Plus its my moms phone! If it messes up i'm dead! :-)

So based on your last post even if the BB gets updated on a 3G - there is no way I could loose my ability to unlock & JB.

So I'm actually safe regardless of the BB & the OS? Correct

Let me be 100% clear.

A 3G iPhone can always be jailbroken (by downgrading the iOS version to one that can be jailbroken)

For a 3g iPhone, Ultrasn0w can unlock all baseband versions from the baseband that shipped with 3.0 to the baseband that shipped with 4.0.1. It cannot unlock the baseband that ships with iOS 4.1 beta

Updating the baseband on a 3G, 3GS iPhone cannot be reversed (ie you can't downgrade).

Updating the baseband is one of the few times where if something goes wrong during the reflash - you can permanently damage the baseband (preventing use as a phone)

A handful of people have reported that ultrasn0w does notw ork for them on the 4.0.x baseband. There could be non-ultrasn0w reasonns for this but it is better to be safe and avoid updating baseband if possible.

Thanks that clears it all up.