Sunday, November 28, 2010

iPhone 3GS/3G Unlock Guide for iOS 4.1 4.2.1

WARNING: unlocking your iphone 3GS / 3G will void your apple manufacture warranty


This step-by-step guide is to aid you through unlocking your iPhone 3GS/3G that are current on iOS 4.1 or iOS 4.2.1. If you are not on the firmware version. You may simply restore your iPhone to the specific OS version. If there is anything unclear in the process, feel free to comment and i will try my best to explain. The whole process may take about 30 minutes if you do it for the first time. It should take only 10-15 minutes if you are proficient.
  1. Download your iPhone firmware from here to desktop.

  2. Download redsn0w 0.9.6b6 Windows or Mac to desktop.

  3. Connect iPhone to computer via USB cable. Run redsn0w and choose the firmware you have just downloaded and Click next.

  4. If you are running 3GS, follow the instruction to identify whether your iphone 3gs is a newer model or older model by looking at the serial number

  5. Check install cydia and install iPad baseband (confirm yes).

  6. Click next and turn off your iPhone

  7. follow the on screen instruction to boot your iphone in DFU mode.

  8. Once it is indicating it's fetch iPad baseband files, you may release all buttons and let it ride on its own. Please do not unplug the cable during the process. it will take approximately 5-10 minutes or so to finish.

  9. Once redsn0w inidicates that it's done. close redsn0w but keep iPhone connected to the computer to make sure it does not run out of battery while it is running.

  10. Make sure you have a WIFI or 3G connection so you can connect to internet from now on. You can configure the wifi settings to connect to a nearby wifi hotspot.

  11. After the process is completed on the iPhone. Start the Cydia app on the iPhone.

  12. In Cydia, choose user/done.

  13. In Cydia, choose Upgrade Essential and then reboot device if a dialoge box pops up.

  14. In Cydia, click on Manage tab, choose sources->repo666.ultrasn0w.com->ultrasn0w and click install/confirm.

  15. Reboot the device, pop in your sim card and you are ready to go



Known issues:

  • iPhone 3G / 3GS baseband will be upgraded to a different version that what the official firmware has. You will run into an error when you try to restore to 4.1/4.2.1 official firmware in the future. Just simply run umbrella and choose kick out of restore mode after the restore.
  • Sometimes umbrella's kick out of restore mode does not work for iPhone 3G when you restore to firmware 4.2.1. Simply restore to firmware 4.1 and choose kick out of restore mode and it should work 100%.

  • iPhone 3GS post-41 week on iOS 4.2.1 will have untethered jailbreak. You will have to connect to computer to re-jailbreak it if the iPhone runs out of battery or powered off.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Factory Unlocked iPhone vs Software Unlocked iPhone

What is the difference between factory unlocked iPhone and software unlocked iPhone?

The primary difference is that software unlocked iPhone's firmware shall only be upgraded with caution. Once the firmware is upgraded/updated, the iPhone loses the unlock and can only be used with original carrier. You will need to reinstall the unlocking software in order to unlock the iPhone. However, if the unlocking software is still under development and is not available for the latest iOS firmware. You will have to wait until the software becomes available. Often times, the unlocking software lags behind the new iOS firmware release dates for a few days or weeks. But it does become publicly available for free.

In addition, factory unlocked iphone typically runs at a much higher price than software unlocked iphone. This is because Apple and AT&T does not sell them in United States. One will have to import them from selected other countries such as Canada or UK.

Other than that, the functionality of the phones are the same. The only way to tell whether it's a factory unlocked iPhone or a software unlocked iphone is to check the model number of the phone in the Setting -> About menu.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Compare iPhone 4 vs 3GS

The key feature differences are listed below






















iPhone 4iPhone 3GS
Display960 x 640 Retina480 x 320
Front CameraYesNo
Back Camera5MP3MP
Camera FlashYesNo
Video recordingHD(720P)VGA
Talk Time7 Hours5 Hours
Internet Use Time6 Hours(3G)5 Hours(3G)
Gyro SensorYesNo
Wifi802.11b/g802.11b/g/n
SimStandardMicro Sim

Monday, November 1, 2010

Disable Auto Backup in iTunes for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch

This is a trick to make iTunes sync much faster with your iPhone / iPad / iPod Touch by disabling the backup process of iTunes.

1. Find iTunesPrefs.xml in c:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes. If you cannot find it, make sure you show all the hidden files in the folder as well.

2. Make a copy of iTunesPrefs.xml for backup in case you will need to restore it later when you do want a back up.

3. Open iTunesPref.xml with Notepad or WordPad text editor. Find the "User Preference" section and add the following right after the first <dict> tag

<key>DeviceBackupsDisabled</key>
<data>
dHJ1ZQ==
</data>


4. Save the iTunesPref.xml and restart your iTunes program.