Jailbreaking, Activating and Unlocking my first-generation iPhone from firmware 2.2 to 3.0

21 Jun 2009

Jailbreaking, Activating and Unlocking my first-generation iPhone from firmware 2.2 to 3.0

Author: willem In: apple, coding, productivity, tips & tricks, tools, web development

On Saturday, the 20th of June 2009 the iPhone Dev-Team released the 3.0 version of their PwnageTool application (Mac OS X only, download PwnageTool and other multi-platform iPhone Dev-Team software here); this post will detail my experience installing the iPhone 3.0 Firmware on my first-generation iPhone 2G.

To install the iPhone 3.0 firmware on your device, you’ll need to download PwnageTool 3.0 using one of the links from this post as well as the iPhone 3.0 Firmware Bundle from one of the links in this post.

A note on the iPhone / iPod Touch firmware bundle naming scheme:

Different iPhone and iPod Touch Firmware Bundles are released for each version of each device, and bundle names will always start with one of these identifiers:

iPod Touch (Original): “iPod1,1”

iPod Touch (Second-Generation): “iPod2,1”

iPhone 2G: “iPhone1,1”

iPhone 3G: “iPhone1,2”

iPhone 3GS: “iPhone2,1”

Make sure that you download the correct bundle for your device!

To Jailbreak, Activate and Unlock the 3.0 Firmware, you need to be running iTunes 8.2 (freely available from www.apple.com/itunes or through Software Update on your Mac).

After downloading the software mentioned above, launch PwnageTool, choose “iPhone“, and click on the “Next” button.

PwnageTool will scan your Mac for IPSW (Firmware Bundle) files; choose the proper one and click on the “Next” button again.

When prompted if you’d like to continue creating a Custom IPSW Bundle, choose “Yes“.

PwnageTool will ask whether you “…have an iPhone contract that would activate normally through iTunes“; if you need to network-unlock your device, choose “No“.

When prompted whether you’ve used PwnageTool on your device before, answer appropriately.

PwnageTool will start building your Custom Firmware Bundle (this may take a few minutes) and will prompt you for your Administrative Password at some point during the process. Once the process has finished you will see a success message:

If you haven’t used PwnageTool on your iPhone before, click on the “DFU” menu item and follow the steps to put your iPhone into DFU Mode (if iTunes is unable to install your Custom Firmware Bundle during the steps below, you may need to re-enable DFU Mode detection in OS X). Alternatively, if you’ve used PwnageTool on your iPhone in the past follow the steps below to put your iPhone in Recovery Mode.

Update 2009/07/11: If PwnageTool prompts you for the BL-39.bin or BL-46.bin bootloader files, you can download them here.

Quit PwnageTool and launch iTunes, then connect your iPhone to your Mac (if it hasn’t been connected yet).

If you need to put your iPhone in Recovery Mode, wait until iTunes finishes synchronizing it then switch the device off by holding down the Sleep / Wake button until a “slide to power off” message appears, then slide the slider. Hold down both the Sleep / Wake and Home buttons to turn the iPhone back on and let go of the Sleep / Wake button but keep holding down the Home button once you see a logo appear on-screen. Wait until iTunes detects the device in Recovery Mode, then release the Home button.

In iTunes, go to the iPhone screen, hold down the “⎇” (Alt) key and click on the Restore button to choose a firmware bundle instead of letting iTunes download it automatically. After you select your Custom Firmware Bundle iTunes will extract and install the software.

After the firmware installation has finished you will have the option of restoring your iPhone from a backup. If you’d like to keep all your Mail, Calendar, and other application settings this is the way to go. I noticed that the restore from backup functionality also retained my ability to use Emoji characters on a non-Japanese iPhone.

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Tags: 2g, 3g, activate, dev-team, firmware bundle, iphone, ipod touch, itunes, jailbreak, pwnagetool, restore, unlock

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34 Responses to “Jailbreaking, Activating and Unlocking my first-generation iPhone from firmware 2.2 to 3.0”

Aslam Khan
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:52

Super. Thanks a lot!

–Aslam
Geoff
June 23rd, 2009 at 17:00

Awesome stuff, why can’t other people include the important stuff like how to choose your firmware?
willem
June 23rd, 2009 at 19:41

Haha, thanks Geoff! I’ve been frustrated far too many times with having to comb the web for all the downloads too.
Brandon Gooch
June 24th, 2009 at 01:20

Will this work for the first generation iPhone?
willem
June 24th, 2009 at 10:38

Hi Brandon

Yes, I Jailbroke and Activated my first-generation iPhone to write the instructions in this post.

Just make sure that you select “iPhone” and not “iPhone 3G” on the first screen in PwnageTool.
Jrhyle
July 9th, 2009 at 06:12

awesome!thanks a lot mate!!!
william
July 11th, 2009 at 19:43

Hi

I did what I was supposed to but It ask for the v39 bootloader…

what I supposed to do ?

thanks

william
willem
July 11th, 2009 at 20:53

Hey William

I’ve now uploaded the bootloaders for you to download here: http://www.geekology.co.za/download/iphone-39-46-bootloaders.zip .
Chazza
July 15th, 2009 at 15:50

Hey there! Thanks for the guide. I am having problems identifying the correct IPSW bundle for my first gen iphone. I’ve used pwnage tool before to upgrade it the first time (to 2.1 I think) then I used Quickpwn to upgrade it again (to 2.2). I now want to upgrade to the 3.0 software. The bundle on my mac is iPhone1,1_2.2.1_5H11_Restore and the one I dl is iPhone1,1_1.1.4_4A102_Restore - when using pwnage now it says both bundles are the wrong ones?! I’ve tried reading around but can’t find anything which matches my particular case. Any help much appreciated and thanks again for your time.
willem
July 15th, 2009 at 16:00

Hey Chazza

The bundle you need to use to upgrade the first-generation iPhone from any version number to the 3.0 firmware is “iPhone1,1_3.0_7A341_Restore.ipsw”.
Chazza
July 15th, 2009 at 16:21

Thank you thank you thank you
Chazza
July 15th, 2009 at 16:32

Hey again - I’m not sure what to answer when asked if I’ve used pwnage tool before - I did but then I used quickpwn for the upgrade to 2.2. Does this “invalidate” the previous use of pwnage for this software or should I still say yes? Sry if this seems like a stupid question just don’t want to brick my phone! And all I want is the unlock…sigh!
Chazza
July 15th, 2009 at 16:40

Sry again - forget my last I think I figured it - phone all good and running 3.0! Cheers you are a superstar all the best.
willem
July 16th, 2009 at 00:23

My pleasure! Let me know if you have any questions again in the future!
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Max
July 27th, 2009 at 17:57

Hey Willem. I’ve jailbroken my iPhone 2G using the pwnage tool up to the latest 3.0 firmware. Do you have any idea how I can get past the “The SIM Card inserted into this iPhone does not appear to be supported” error I get in iTunes. I have upgraded to a 64k sim card and tried with all the networks but no luck. I feel like I’m almost there but just cant crack it yet.
willem
July 28th, 2009 at 10:05

Hey Max

What country are you in, and who are your network providers?
Max
July 28th, 2009 at 11:55

Hi Willem

I’m in South Africa. My service provider is Vodacom, but I have access to a Cell C and an MTN sim. I mainly use the Vodacom one
willem
July 29th, 2009 at 16:50

Hi Max

Was the iPhone originally unlocked with other software, or also with PwnageTool? It sounds like there’s something wrong with the baseband firmware.

When you used PwnageTool on the device, did it ask you for the “BL-39.bin” and “BL-46.bin” files? If not, you might want to download those (http://geekology.co.za/download/iphone-39-46-bootloaders.zip), run PwnageTool again, and choose “No” when asked if you have a device that would activate normally through iTunes.
Matt
July 30th, 2009 at 15:41

Hi Willem,

I am in South Africa and using Vodacom network. I have succesffuly jailbroken my iPhone 3G 8GB OS 3.0 and ran ultrasn0w to try and unlock the SIM. In the general info I can see that the phone recognizes Vodacom as my carrier, but when the SIM is in it shows network for a few seconds and then drops signal and says No Service. Do you have a solution for this problem?
Brandon Gooch
August 6th, 2009 at 10:30

What about 3.0.1 iPhone software
JOn
August 10th, 2009 at 20:52

Does the iphone need to be activated first before unlocking or jailbreak??
Willem
August 10th, 2009 at 23:07

Matt: That sounds like a problem with the SIM card, were you able to sort it out?

Brandon: The latest version of PwnageTool will work on the 3.0.1 firmware.

JOn: No, PwnageTool will Jailbreak, Activate and Unlock the device for you.
Max
August 11th, 2009 at 09:49

Hi Willem

Actually i was able to sort it out eventually. I was doing something silly on my side and I figured it all out. Thanks for your help and keep up the good work
Eman
August 11th, 2009 at 09:56

Hi Willem

Great posts.
Is there any way to get MMS on the iphone 3G with Cell C?

Thanks.
Matt
August 11th, 2009 at 23:32

Willem, I have just updated to os 3.0.1. I jailbroke with redsn0w and unlocked with ultrasn0w and everything seemed fine. When I put my SIM in no service. It’s strange because in the info in settings my carrier shows up. Is there anything else I can try?
Mr. Monty
September 5th, 2009 at 23:49

Willem,

you seem to be extremely knowledgeable about iphone’s and such. I have absolutely no clue what i’m doing but would like to jailbreak my first generation iphone. If you could help me out that would be great. I only have a PC thats running Vista and have just DL and installed the iphone 3.0.1 software and also have an AT&T plan. Step one would be?????
Kathiresan
September 23rd, 2009 at 15:48

Hi willem, I have an iPhone 3GS 16GB locked to UK’s O2 network. The OS is 3.0. I am presently in South Africa. Can I upgrade the OS from 3.0 to 3.0.1 before Jailbreak, Activate and Unlock? Thanks.
willem
September 26th, 2009 at 12:36

Hi Monty

If you have access to a Mac (maybe through a friend?) you could use PwnageTool as detailed in this post to Jailbreak and Unlock the device.

If you don’t, you’ll have to wait until an updated version of the Windows tool, redsn0w, is released. For more info you can check the Dev-Team Blog (they develop both applications): http://blog.iphone-dev.org/

Good luck!
willem
September 26th, 2009 at 12:58

Hi Kathiresan

The latest version of PwnageTool does not yet support the iPhone 3GS, so unfortunately you won’t be able to unlock it before the iPhone Dev-Team releases an update to their tools.

As for your main question, no, if you have a Jailbroken / Unlocked (or if you plan to Jailbreak / Unlock) your iPhone, you should never install software updates unless you do it with PwnageTool.

Installing an iPhone software update from iTunes may well lock out the Jailbreaking / Unlocking tools permanently.
Kathiresan
September 28th, 2009 at 14:13

Hi Willem, thanks for your comment. My iPhone 3GS from UK O2 network has Modem Firmware 04.26.08 Version 3.0.1(7A400). I am staying in South Africa Johannesburg. I have successfully Jailbroken using Pwnage tool “redsn0w-win_0.8″ using “iPhone2,1_3.0_7A341_Restore.ipsw”. I could not unlock using “UltraSn0w”. You already told me that Pwnage tool won’t be able to unlock iPhone 3GS!!! Is there any other alternative method at all for me to unlock my iPhone 3GS 3.0.1 (7A400)?. Also after jailbreaking my iPhone I inserted many network (i.e Vodacom, MTN, CellC etc) SIM card but it displays “No Service”!!! why? Please help me again. Many thanks Willem.
Grace
November 29th, 2009 at 07:58

so my tmobile phone is no use and my cousin gave me his iphone, i made the stupid mistake of updating it and now it’s unlocked again!! is it alright to use itunes 9 for the bundle? thanks!!
geoff
December 7th, 2009 at 03:47

every time I go thru the “building ISPW” process the Pwnage Tool quits. not sure why. have tried on simple and expert. I have the correct IPSW file.

I am using a never unlocked or jailbroken 2G.

any tips on why this is happening?