A Cook’s Tour of iPhone Jailbreak and Unlock
I recently figured out how to jailbreak and unlock an iPhone. The hardest part, I thought, was finding the right stuff to make that possible. So, rather than writing yet another step-by-step article, I think it would be helpful to provide a cook's tour of what I found, along with links to everything.
When you jailbreak an iPhone, you make it able to install applications from outside Apple App Store. A stock iPhone can only download and install applications that appear in the Apple App Store. Apple approves every one of those applications, and the process is notoriously slow and capricious. Being able to download from other sources opens the phone to interesting applications.
Before I dive in, you need to realize that this process isn't trivial.It took me about four hours spread over two evenings to get it done, and I'm pretty quick at this sort of thing. It took that long party because I didn't have the big picture in mind, partly because most of the "how to" pages I found didn't say much about exact hardware and software versions I was using, and partly because of my trouble with wifi. (If I had to do it again, I could do it in under an hour.)
You should also realize that you're on your own if you damage youriPhone. Apple and at&t don't take kindly to this activity, so if you brick your phone, you will be out of luck.
The last thing to realize is that in fact, Apple says iPhone jailbreaking is illegal. It is worthwhile to read that article to see why Apple's claim FUD.
If you're still with me, here we go. I hope this post will help you understand the big picture and find the stuff you'll need to download. This process worked with an iPhone 2G (the original model), iTunes 8.2.1.6 (latest version right now) running on Windows XP, and iPhone OS 3.0.1 (again, latest version).
iSmashPhone step-by-step instructions gives you the step-by-step instructions. They were clear and complete. They only left me with a few questions, and I try to answer those here. You should read through that entire procedure before you start, and use this article to fill in some of the gaps.
You use the redsn0w software to do the actual jailbreak and unlock.Getting redsn0w is more difficult than most downloads. If you don't already have a BitTorrent client, then I recommend you install µTorrent.I also recommend that you uninstall it as soon as you're done, so that you don't run into the kind of trouble that BitTorrent brings.
Once you have a BitTorrent client installed, you can get the redsn0wsoftware from this page. Just click "download this torrent" to get the zip file, unzip it and run the program. There's nothing to install.
You will need to download a "iphone restore" file. Note that these files are specific to the hardware and operating system. In my case, I downloaded iPhone1,1_3.0.1_7A400_Restore.ipsw, which is for the iPhone 2G and firmware 3.0.1. If you have a different model, or are running a different version of the OS, then you might be able to find the right ipsw file on the iSmashPhone rescue page.
The solitary option screen in redsn0w has three check boxes. You can choose Cydia or Icy (or both) to install applications outside of the Apple AppStore. If you aren't sure, you can install just Cydia and use it toinstall Icy later.
The other option is "Unlock". Unlocking makes an iPhone able to workwith carriers other than at&t. The only reason phones are locked to one carrier is so that the carrier can collect service fees for as long as you use it. Unlocking gives you flexibility. It will not get rid of your obligations if you signed a contract, but it does permit you to change carriers and keep your device.
If you decide to unlock, then you will have an extra step in the process. You will need to download these files: bl39.bin (3.9 Bootloader) and bl46.bin (4.6 Bootloader).
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