Device Not Eligible for Upgrade

"Stock" 3GS as delivered from the Apple store a month ago. Have successfully jb and unlocked the wife's 3G via RedSn0w/ UltraSn0w and had zero issues doing it. Didn't bother with the 3GS until I felt like trying Skype on 3G which needs the patch. Anyway...

Following the restore step as described and when iTunes (8.2.1.6) verifies with Apple, everything goes for shit and it stops right there. I tried just running RedSn0w without restoring the phone and RedSn0w (8.0) can't verify the IPSW file.

Am I just a loser who hasn't read enough about the quirks of the 3GS (3.0.1) and is missing the obvious, or is there something else afoot here?

Apple stopped signing 3GS on 3.0 there is no alternative ….use this as costly ipod or just official SIM

You mean, the "s" can't be jail-broken after 3.0 at this time? Can it be down-graded from 3.01 to 3.0?

as of now .. No... it can be upgraded...

It sounds to me like you are stuck on 3.0 as loaded from the factory and you cannot upgrade to 3.0.1 because apple has stopped signing 3.0.x firmware for 3GS users
If you want to jailbreak this you need to use redsn0w and the 3.0 ipsw, it should work (this works if you are running either 3.0 or 3.0.1)

Apple is trying to force all users onto 3.1 which also includes a new baseband that closes all known holes used to inject the ultrasn0w unlock.

This is why they have stopped signing 3.0 and 3.0.1

if you rely on ultrasn0w, wait until the devteam releases a new pwnagetool that can block the baseband update portion of 3.1

If you were smart and had backed up IBEC and IBSS signed for your phone before this week, a tool may be released to allow downgrades or reinstalls of 3.0.x independently of apple.

There is no public jailbreak for 3.1 currently, one exists for the 3GS but they are holding onto it until it can be confirmed that the same jailbreak works on a Ipod Touch 3G.

The phone was running 3.0.1, not 3.0.0
http://www.forgecycle.com/images/ipsw.png

Trying to use RedSn0w and 3.0.1_7A400 IPSW went nowhere. RedSn0w didn't like the file for some reason. Following your suggestion, I used the 3.0_7A341_Restore ipsw and that did the trick :) Cydia is loaded and ready to roll.

Many thanks :D