[funkyspider]

Previously jailbroken/unlocked 3G running v3.01.
Has anyone else had anything other than a straightforward experience, and if so how did they get it back on track.

A couple of 'interesting' moments, and not as straightforward as some have reported it to be. Mainly due to iTunes freaking out when it was trying to do a normal firmware update. I've never liked iTunes.


Used iTunes to take a backup of the phone (can never have too many backups !)

Used iTunes to to a normal firmware update to v3.1.2. At this point my iTunes 9.02 threw up an error message and proceeded to do a restore of the phone - remember this is before I'd been anywhere near BlackRa1n or BlackSn0w - this was iTunes failing. After iTunes had done it's restore I was left with a factory default phone on v3.1.2 and the correct baseband, but nothing else. Panic, me... nooooo !

My iPhone was now locked on v3.1.2 with a vodafone SIM. iTunes wouldn't recognise the phone as having a valid SIM. The iPhone itself reported an invalid SIM.

I replaced the vodafone SIM I have with an O2 PAYG iPhone SIM which I happen to have spare. Whether you need to have a valid SIM at this point, or run with no SIM in at all I really don't know. But you do need a WIFI connection...

I set up the iphone WIFI to connect to my home network - you need an internet connection to download Cydia and BlackSn0w after the jailbreak.

I shut down iTunes, plugged the iPhone into USB and ran blackra1n from my PC. This ran as described on iClarified tutorial (iClarified - iPhone - How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G, 3GS Using BlackSn0w [Windows]).

I then continued as described in the tutorial, choosing both Cydia and BlackSn0w from the list. It downloaded and unpacked Cydia first, then downloaded and unpacked BlackSn0w - unfortunately at this point it failed and just sat there with the unpacking popup displayed. Panic, me... nooooo !

I touched the screen, the unpacking message disapeared (Cydia had been installed, but BlackSn0w had failed to run). I just ran BlackRa1n again. Second time everything worked fine.

Replaced my Voda SIM and everything fine - just had to set up the APN settings. remember my iTunes forced a factory reset to 3.1.2 so any settings I lost etc may not happen if the original firmware upgrade doesn't throw a wobbly.

I then connected back to iTunes and synced which restored all my apps, contacts - everything apart from my previous jailbroken apps. Relieved, me... god yes !

I do have a copy of PckBackup which allows you to backup and restore all your previously downloaded Cydia packages. In fact it's made for exactly this point in time, when you've done a fresh install. I had made a backup of the packages excellent... But the developer has ****ed up and released a version which at the moment wont let you restore - I was not amused. Not only that he's now displaying a splash screen saying you have to buy it ! I emailed him and told him he was an arse. He replied - I should be more patient apparently.

I then went on to install my fave packages SBSettings, FiveIconDock, 20SecondLockscreen and LockInfo from Cydia. I didn't bother with WinterBoard as I don't use it and to be honest I'm glad I didn't - the phone responds so much better without it. So in the end I was glad PckBackup didn't restore for me or I'd have ended up with WinterBoard again...

So it wasn't the slickest experience with my 3.1.2 unlock, but it all worked in the end and I'll be donating a few quid to the developer of BlackSn0w as I feel he deserves it for all the hard work

[mickyd67]

Originally Posted by funkyspider

So it wasn't the slickest experience with my 3.1.2 unlock, but it all worked in the end and I'll be donating a few quid to the developer of BlackSn0w as I feel he deserves it for all the hard work

I agree with this - a company would charge you quite a few quid for software like this if it wasn't freely available. Therefore I'll also be donating a sum to the guy who does this. Seems only fair IMO.