As you should know, iPhone Dev Team has released the updated version of PwnageTool to cater for iPhone 3.0 jailbreak. Now, it’s time to upgrade to iPhone OS 3.0 to enjoy all the new features. To simplify your jailbreak, I have also updated the jailbreak guide for iPhone 3.0 OS using PwnageTool.
Okay, let’s go straight to the jailbreak procedures.
But before you read on and take action to jailbreak your iPhone, please note that:
- This jailbreak guide is for PwnageTool, which is for Mac Only. For Windows user, please refer to this jailbreak guide.
- You can use this guide to jailbreak & unlock iPhone 2G (the 1st generation iPhone)
- You can use this guide to jailbreak iPhone 3G (Please note jailbreak only. You’ll need to use ultrasn0w to unlock it.)
- If you’re using lower version of firmware (e.g. 1.1, 2.0, 2.1 or 2.2), you can also follow the jailbreak procedures to upgrade the firmware to 3.0. But please note that you’ll have to re-install all the Cydia applications after upgrade. And, at the time I write this post, not all Cydia applications (e.g. Backgrounder, iRealSMS, MySMS, BossTool, Quickgold) are compatible with iPhone 3.0. So, if you have any cydia applications that you rely on, please ensure its compatibility before the upgrade.
- For iPhone 3GS user, please do not use PwnageTool to jailbreak your new iPhone. Presently, there is no way to jailbreak iPhone 3GS.
Ready? Let’s get started.
Preparation for the jailbreak
1. First, make sure you have upgraded to iTunes version 8.2 and backup your iPhone data by synchronizing it with iTunes.
Tip: If you’re upgrading the iPhone from older version of firmware, make sure you sync the iPhone with iTunes. This ensures all your SMS, contacts and applications can be restored after the firmware upgrade.
2. Download all the files including PwnageTool 3.0 (or download from here), bootloader and iPhone firmware 3.0 (2G / 3G)
Tip: Please use Firefox to download iPhone Firmware 3.0. Do not use Safari as by default it’ll unzip the IPSW file
3. Launch PwnageTool_3.0.dmg and copy PwnageTool to your desired folder. Also, extract bootloader files to the same folder.
Note: Make sure you copy the bootloader files to the same folder. Also, please note the image above shows the firmware file for iPhone 2G. If you’re jailbreaking iPhone 3G, the IPSW file should be iPhone1,2_3.0_7A341_Restore.ipsw.
4. Copy the iPhone firmware 3.0 file to “~/Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates”. If the folder does not exist, create it by yourself. However, in case the folder contains other firmware files, please delete them.
5. Finally, connect your iPhone to the dock/USB cable. Please keep connected for the whole process and close iTunes if it has been launched.
Running PwnageTool 3.0
6. Let’s start the core part. Go to the folder you save PwnageTool. Click “PwnageTool” to launch it.
7. Click “Expert” mode. For iPhone 2G, select “iPhone”. For iPhone 3G, please select “iPhone 3G”. Then click the arrow to continue.
8. Next, Pwnage tool searches for the iPhone 3.0 firmware file. It may take some time to locate the file. Once completed, select the firmware file and click the blue arrow to proceed. Please note the below screenshot is for iPhone 2G. For iPhone 3G, the firmware file is “iPhone1,2_3.0_7A341_Restore.ipsw”.
9. In PwnageTool main menu, select “General” and click the blue arrow.
In general settings, please set the root partition size to 580MB. This value works fine for me. But if you have any problem with your jailbreak, you can try to set the partition size to larger value (say, 600MB).Once you’ve configured the size, click the blue arrow to continue.
Note: If you are using a legitimate iPhone from official carrier (for instance, iPhone with AT&T), you need to uncheck the “Activate the iPhone” option.
10. Next, select “Bootneuter” and click the blue arrow. You will be go through several configuration screens. Keep all the default settings and proceed as shown.
** For iPhone 3G, the bootneuter settings screen is grayed out.
Tip: If you want to keep the original logos, uncheck both “Boot logo” and “Recovery logo” checkboxes.
11. After complete all the settings, you will go back to the main screen. Select “Build” and click the arrow to start building the custom firmware.
** In case PwnageTool prompts you to provide the bootloader file (v3.9 / v4.6), please browse to the location that you have saved these files (BL-39.bin / BL-46.bin). You should have saved these files in step 2.
12. Accept the default filename for the custom firmware. (Of course, you can choose a better name)
13. Next, Pwnage will start creating a custom firmware file that will be used later to recover the iPhone. During the process, you will be prompted to enter your logon password.
14. When complete, PwnageTool will ask you whether your iPhone has been pwned before. Okay, take note here. If you haven’t pwned your iPhone before, please Answer “No” and go directly to step 15 to put your iPhone into DFU mode.
But if you have pwned it using Pwnage tool before (say, you’re upgrading from firmware 2.2 and have jailbroken the iPhone before using PwnageTool), please Answer “Yes” here. You’ll then be prompted to close Pwnage Tool. Close it and continue and put your iPhone in recovery mode. Then you can go to step 18 to continue with the jailbreak.
Tip: To put your iPhone into recovery mode, first disconnect your iPhone from USB cable and power off your iPhone. Then hold the “Home” button and connect USB cable again. Keep holding the “Home” button until you see a dock cable pointing to the iTunes icon (or yellow triangle for older version of iPhone). Now you are in recovery mode.
Put your iPhone in DFU mode
15. Now, the game starts. Pwnage shows you some instructions to follow. You should follow exactly the instructions to put your iPhone in DFU mode. Remember timing is important!
16. By following exactly the instruction, your iPhone can enter DFU mode. In case you fail, don’t panic! It won’t brick your iPhone. I did the procedures twice when I first jailbreak my iPhone. To retry, you can just disconnect your iPhone from USB, turn on your iPhone and connect it again.
17. Ok, your iPhone should appear as if it’s turned off. Don’t touch it. Quit Pwnage and go to the final procedures.
Install the Custom Firmware
What you have completed with Pwnage is you have created a custom firmware 3.0 for your iPhone. The remaining procedures are to use iTunes and install that custom firmware onto the iPhone.
18. Start iTunes and it automatically detects your iPhone is in recovery mode.
19. Confirm “OK”. Hold down “Option” button and click “Restore”. You will be prompted to select the firmware file. Remember to select the custom firmware file.
20. Now, iTunes will start loading the firmware onto iPhone. Don’t touch anything, keep your iPhone connected. It may take several minutes to complete the process. Once complete, iTune will prompt you that it has recovered your iPhone to the default factory settings.
21. The iPhone will then start up automatically. For first time bootup, BootNeuter will be launched to flash the baseband and unlock your iPhone. The process will take around 3-4 minutes to complete. Again, don’t touch your iPhone. Let it complete the process alone.
22. Okay, I believe everything is smooth. You should see your iPhone come back with firmware 3.0 and notice a new Voice Memo application.
23. Finally, you can sync back all your data using iTunes.
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Related Post you'll like:- Complete Guide: Jailbreak iPhone 2.2 (2G/3G) using PwnageTool [Updated for firmware 2.2.1]
- Complete Guide: Jailbreak & Unlock iPhone for firmware 2.1 using Pwnage Tool
- Upgrade iPhone to 2.0 using Pwnage Tool
- Step By Step Guide for iPhone 3.1 Jailbreak using PwnageTool
- Complete Guide: Jailbreak & Unlock iPhone 2.2 (2G) using QuickPwn (For Windows) [Updated for firmware 2.2.1]
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Whollla…Simon is back!
Simon – Thanks for posting this guide. I have a question. I have jail-broke and unlocked my iPhone using your guides on windows before. Currently I have 2.2.1 on my phone.
Now I also have a MacBook with me 10.5.7. Can I go ahead an use this guide to jailbreak and unlock my iPhone 2G?
Thanks,
AJ
Please HELP !!!
I did everything step by step, and everything went smoothly.. but after restoring I put my Tmobile sim card… (prepaid, I guess there is no difference) and NO NETWORK…:( everythig is ok with ATT, but not workig with Tmobile….:((
What I did wrong???
The same here. I;m in greece the device here is unlocked by the carrier (Vodafone) but after the successful jailbreak no carrier. Please HELP!
Hi
simon,
Splendid post; but what of us windows users? Any solution yet? what of QuickPawn?
Great guide dude!
very comprehensive guide as usual, great work Simon. i’m holding back the upgrading to 3.0 for a while, as some jailbroken apps are not yet compatible with 3.0. just for info.
for example, “backgrounder” and “itypefaster”.
is it able to use with Window? or only MAC?
@ching, PwnageTool is for Mac only. I’ll soon publish the jailbreak guide for Windows. Stay tuned.
@ching, you can check out the jailbreak guide for Windows here.
I have the new iPhone 3G S. i really love it. if you are interested check out my blog i recently started on.
if possible look it over and comment on something with some tips you may have to offer me, thanks in advance!
Excellent blog, many Thanks!
The PwnageTool started out working just great but crashes every time I try to build the custom .ispw file. i tried downloading the PwnageTool from another mirror site but I had the same problem. Is anyone else experiencing a similar problem?
Thanks,
Chris
To you all, the steps as described by Simon are correct. I have jail broken & unlocked two 2G Iphone’s and one 3G Iphone, without any issues.
Agnes, T-Mobile USA users should disable 3G before using ultrasn0w.
Yeah i know the steps are correct, my site shows what is possible without jailbreaking
My device is in idle mode its automatically restart i can’t able to resolve this issues in the same time it is not detected. Just restart and show the itunes + USB connection symbol (This process is going again and again). What can i do now please advice.
Most likely you have an issue with the IPSW file or the Iphone is still in recovery mode, which does not allow it to go into DFU mode.
Download the correct IPSW for your Iphone from here : http://www.iphoneheat.com/2009/03/download-iphone-firmware-files-all-at-one-place/ and start building your custom IPSW as decribed in Simon’s blog.
You are correct but my device is not detected. Now it having a violet color screen and every two minutes it is restarted.
Hi Simon
You did a great job and I JB my iPhone into 3.0 and ultrasn0w my baseband successfully.
However, I have a question that I cannot use 3G network on GPS location or even internet surfing. Though the indicator of “3G” is on, only workable if Wifi is connected. Do you know how to tackle with this?
I am using PCCW service in HK and followed the simple instruction to update APN value. But its not work.
Hope you can help.
Thanks.
Hi Simon!
Thanks for your great job… the most comprehensive and simple one to follow.
But… it did not work for me
It stayed in step 20 for quite some time (with “USB->iTunes”) and iTunes says
“The iPhone “iPhone” could not be retored. An unknown error occurred (1604)”
Oooops… now have no more iPhone… what have I done wrong ? (repeated the whole stuff 3 times already)
What can I do know ?
Thanks for your heeeeeeelp.
Yours!
João (in Luxembourg)
I have the same problem with an iPhone 3G. Any solution to this??
@Joao & mmww…
Hi, I got the problem as well, did any of u managed to fixed it? how?
Or anybody else how might give us a hand on this would be much appreciated… i have no phone..
Thanks.
Ok, I hope I didnt completely mess this thing up! I have a 2G iPhone. I just sold it on eBay. I went into settings on the phone and put erase all media and contacts, because I obviously didnt want my info on the phone. Well it was done with the loading bar, the one with the apple logo and the progress bar, like when you are loading your phone after an unlock. Once it finished, the pineapple came up. It was on for about 15 mins. I thought it was good to go and it was just an issue cuz it was unlocked phone going back to its original state of locked. So I proceeded to try to unlock it and I couldn’t put it into DFU mode, and the computer isnt reading the phone. Right now I have it on the charger with the pineapple on the screen. Every once in a while the little loading circle comes up but thats it. It just stays like this. What can I do!!! This is urgent, the phone needs to be shipped, unlocked. Please dont tell me I completely messed this up. Please help me Simon. You seem to have all the answers!
I sent this a minute ago but forgot this info. Im using pwnagetool, the iphone was a 2.2.1 2G unlocked. I have a mac. thanks
Crazy iPhone, so addicting, hows my website so far, anyone?
Ok, I hope I didnt completely mess this thing up! I have a 2G iPhone. I just sold it on eBay. I went into settings on the phone and put erase all media and contacts, because I obviously didnt want my info on the phone. Well it was done with the loading bar, the one with the apple logo and the progress bar, like when you are loading your phone after an unlock. Once it finished, the pineapple came up. It was on for about 15 mins. I thought it was good to go and it was just an issue cuz it was unlocked phone going back to its original state of locked. So I proceeded to try to unlock it and I couldn’t put it into DFU mode, and the computer isnt reading the phone. Right now I have it on the charger with the pineapple on the screen. Every once in a while the little loading circle comes up but thats it. It just stays like this. What can I do!!! This is urgent, the phone needs to be shipped, unlocked. Please dont tell me I completely messed this up. Please help me Simon. You seem to have all the answers!
I sent this a minute ago but forgot this info. Im using pwnagetool, the iphone was a 2.2.1 2G unlocked. I have a mac. thanks
I sent this last night, lol, but i think i can fix it, i just wanna make sure this makes sense. what if i put it into DFU mode then restore it to the 2.2 version, not custom just regular, then unlock from there. Earlier today I was trying to fix it and I did put it into DFU so I tried to load 3.0 custom restore on it and I got the 1600 error.
Can you please help!!!
Simon,
Is there any resolution to the PwnageTool crashing when building the custom restore ipsw. I did a search. Apparently there are many that are having the same problem. Hope you can help.
Thanks,
Chris
Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!!
FYI:
PwnageTool may not work for me, but redsn0w did the trick!
Thanks,
Chris
i updated my website please take a quick glance!
I’ve done this several times with my 2G phone and I’ve not been successful. All I get in the end is automatically connecting to iTunes store telling me either the SIM I have is not supported or the original SIM wanting to activate via AT&T. iPhone screen stays on the USB cable to connect to iTunes. Looks as thought he game is up for some of us? Mad because we all pay our mobile bills.
Simon,
I did unlocked and jailbreak both the iPhones, 2G and 3G, using this guide!
No issues ‘et all!
Thanks for another usefull post
AJ
Finally got it all back and upgraded to 3 by doing a clean install back to factory settings and then re-running Pwnage Tool as directions here – much relieved so Big Thanks
dumb question, what do you open redsnow exe file with? im a pc user and new to mac…its trying to open with dictionary! i dont know which app to use. please help
Successful upgrade THANKS SIMON! It all went great Iphone 2g upgrade from 2.2 to 3.0
Worked like a charm on the Rogers wireless network in Canada – upgraded the original iPhone 2G ver 1.1.14 to ver 3.0 flawlessly, but on the second try – first time I forgot to insert the sim card. THANKS!
Thank you simon, good job this works great. Now to unlocking….
Hi to all. I am trying to unlock my iPhone 3g 16GB. I followed the process as indicated above. When I got to the restore section. iTunes would not allow me to restore using my custom ipsw file. Anybody have any suggestions?
Hi to all. I am trying to unlock my iPhone 3g 16GB. I followed the process as indicated above. When I got to the restore section. iTunes would not allow me to restore using my custom ipsw file. Anybody have any suggestions?
@Andre, what’s the error in iTunes?
It says its the wrong firmware. The firmware I am directing the program to is the custom firmware built by the program. iTunes then says, “The iPhone could not be restored because the firmware is not compatible.”
I get to the part using the PwnageTool where it says building IPSW and then it crashes, any suggestions?
i have a iphone 2g that was jailbroke/unlocked but i recently locked when upgrading to 3.0 firmware. tried redsnow and pwnage (which kept crashing) – simon couldn’t solve. now i am moving from the states to europe (i have a tmobile sim and no at&t). nonetheless, i believe i need to unlock prior to getting to europe in order to use a generic sim card over there. any suggestions on how i should move forward. again, taking all comers! thanks!!!
kj – try a clean install back to factory settings via iTunes, and then re-run Pwnage Tool as Simon’s instructions above. Sorted my problem out OK.
Great tutorial Simon!!!! It is a child’s play to jailbreak and upgrade to OS`3.Just I did it on my 2G-4GB. I tried on Windows XP and at the final stage of booting I got a msg “A device attached to the computer has malfunctioned”.
One friend on this blog has suggested such problems should be resolved by using another computer.
This time I did on Windows Vista and the entire process took less than 15 minutes.
Anybody in India and in Chhattisgarh can seek my free service.But he should thank Simon!!!!!
Ok so i did everything and i got the voice memo app but the cydia app store did not come up! help?!
what about the new 3.01 iphone update for the security hack? is there a 3.01 firmware coming out soon?
@dhruv, iPhone 3.0.1 is already out. Check out the details here.
Simon,
what i wanted to say was .. is there a 3.01 version to unlock the 3G phone i.e IPSW file
Hi – I’m in the same boat as dhruv – I’ve been successfully using PwnageTool on my 2G iPhone for quite some time now.
What is the easiest way to upgrade my 2G iPhone to 3.0.1?
Will PwnageTool work correctly on 3.0.1?
Is it necessary to using PwnageTool or can I just upgrade to 3.0.1 using iTunes 8.2.1?
@ddb, you can simply upgrade to iPhone 3.0.1 via iTunes and then use Redsn0w to jailbreak the iPhone. Please refer to this jailbreak guide for Redsn0w. The guide is designed for Windows user but the procedures also works for Mac. And, you can download the Mac version of Redsn0w here.
There is a trick when using Redsn0w to jailbreak iPhone 3.0.1. You can further refer to this post.
Worked great on my 2G iphone, upgrading from 1.0.2 to 3.0. Thanks a lot!
Does this unlock process work on an iphone w/o a sim card (not activated)? Trying to enable the phone to be used as an itouch (but with a camera and mic). Firmware is the latest: 3.0.1.
Forgot to mention the iphone is a first gen.
@Griff, yes. It also work for iPhone w/o sim card. But for iPhone 3.0.1 jailbreak, please also check out this post first.
i had the same problem as Andre. “The iPhone could not be restored because the firmware is not compatible.” Pleeaasee helpp
@Matt, there are two IPSW files (one for iPhone 2G, the other for 3G) listed in the procedures. Make you download the correct one.
I’m also having the “The iPhone could not be restored because the firmware is not compatible.” problem. I am working with a 2G iPhone. I have tried restoring the phone to factory defaults and then restoring it with iPhone1,1_3.0.1_7A400_Restore.ipsw. Is that the correct firmware? Thanks.
im having some trouble, with my phone. i had done all the steps correctly until # 19 i did not press “option” it gave me an error 4 in itunes. i unpluged my phone and turned it off completely and once i turned it back on there was connect to itunes signal. once i did i uploaded the costume file, It stayed in step 20 for quite some time (with “USB->iTunes”) and iTunes says
“The iPhone “iPhone” could not be retored. An unknown error occurred (1604)”.
What have i done? How can i fix it?
Please help!!
Thanks guys, but I finally got it working. I started to restore it normally (3.0) and surprisingly it worked and instead of showing the connect to iTunes screen it showed an :apple: logo.
Hi and thanx for good advice!
I`ve followed your steps and everything works fine untill the end. The phone freeze when the bootneuter is “determining current settings..”
Have you heard about this problem?
Maybe some solutions?
Thanx for fantastic service!
Lovely!!! Works like a charm!
Successful upgrade THANKS SIMON! It all went great Iphone 2g upgrade from 2.2 to 3.0
Maybe add a note that this version of PWNAGE only works with Intel based Macs ….
I am trying to upgrade…but can’t get my iPhone 3G to enter DFU mode…Any suggestions???????
hi just wanna ask will this work on itunes 9.0 on upgraded version of iPhone 3.1 OS? tanx btw great job for this tanx..
@Jim,
Presently, redsn0w does not support the jailbreak of iPhone 3.1 OS. iPhone Dev team is working on a new version to handle the jailbreak. I’ll keep you update on that.
Hi Simon, sorry to bother u late at night (we r in the same timezone), but i think i messed up big time my iphone.. and i might need ur help..
1st I tried to upgrade my iphone 2g to firmware 3.0.1 using redsn0w, for some weird reason it couldn’t work, the iphone went into recovery mode and never went out of it, after hours.. then i plugged it out and thought 2 use pwnage tool (3.0) this time. Tried to customize the 3.0.1 firmware but didn’t work either, so now i made a custom firmware of 3.0 hoping to make it work this time but when it’s time to restore and install the custom 3.0 itunes gives me the 1604 error message, and the phone still in recovery mode…
I’m start to think that the problem could be because i used safari to download the firmwares instead of firefox.. (but when i did it the firmwares still showed the “.ipsw” suffix)
Now, as last shot i letting itunes (btw, i’ve been using itunes 8.2.1 all this time) to restore and update the iphone to 3.1, but it shows the same message that would show using redsn0w (The SIM card on the phone is not supported), so wondering if i could use redsn0w now to jailbreak (would use firefox this time) the 3.1 and then downgrade the jailbreak to 3.0 or 3.0.1 after with Ptool (wanna use those fw mainly because there’s not many apps that support 3.1 at the moment).
What do u think, or recommend?
Thanks in advance.
Hi again.. i just realized i can’t use redsn0w to jailbreak the 3.1 firmware yet.. so i guess i’m stuck big time…. with the iphone still in recovery mode (showing the USB connecting to itunes).
mmm…. help?!
@DAC, as you’re using iPhone 2G, I think you can download the PwnageTool 3.1 to jailbreak iPhone 3.1. Check out the updated jailbreak guide and hope it can resolve your issue.
Thanks a lot, worked just fine.
Very clear guide, I’m impressed!!!
Will this work with iTunes 9, for upgrading from 2.2 to 3.0, on iphone 2G ?
Thanks much Simon.
@otong,
Yes, it works for iPhone 2G.
Hi I followed every step but i need help with step 19 i dont know where the “option” button is and i cant load my custom firmware. i just click ok then restore and it just restores my iphone back to normal then i restore it again using the backup. but still no cydia installer. i need it so i can install video camera on my iphone. really need your help. Thanx in advance.
If you don’t want to install FireFox just to download it, go Safari>Preferences… Then uncheck auto-open “safe” files.
i followed everything but a warning appears in the end The iPhone “iPhone” could not be restored. An unknown error occurred (1600).
What should I do?
@Genesis, try to put your iPhone into DFU mode and perform the restore again. Also, if DFU mode doesn’t work for you, try to put your iPhone in recovery mode and restore again.
Wow…worked like a charm. upgraded from 1.1.4 to 3. thanks a lot for ’supremely’ detailed instructions.
hmm… I have a question. If i already have 3.0 do i still use this method?