GeoHot Releases Purplesn0w to Unlock iPhone 3GS

by Simon Ng on July 15, 2009

Last time, GeoHot delivered the first Jailbreak solution for iPhone 3GS. Today he releases his own unlock solution for the latest generation of iPhone, as an alternative to ultrasn0w, which is the unlock tool developed by iPhone Dev team.

Known as purplesn0w, as GeoHot claimed, it is the best unlock solution for iPhone 3GS, that it improves issues with Wi-Fi problems, battery problems, and misc. unlock problems.

To use purplesn0w to unlock iPhone 3GS,

1. First, you need to have a jailbroken iPhone (either use redsn0w, PwnageTool or Purplera1n for jailbreak) with iPhone 3.0 installed and that has been activated via an official Apple carrier (e.g. AT&T).

2. If you are on T-mobile or any other carrier without 3G, disable 3G service in Setting before proceeding.

3. Launch Cydia and add “apt.geohot.com” source

Purplesn0w - Cydia Repository

4. Install com.geohot.purplesn0w and wait for the installation to complete

Install Purplesn0w

5. Reboot your iPhone, put in your desired SIM card and enjoy!

Note: Purplesn0w is still under testing. So, use it at your own risk.

I do not have chance to test out Purplesn0w on iPhone 3GS. Therefore, I’m not too sure if it works or not. But base on comments in GeoHot’s blog, it seems the solution does not work very smoothly and not all users can unlock the iPhone 3GS.

So, for now, if you’re looking for unlock solution for iPhone 3GS, I suggest you to check out ultrasn0w 0.8, which can also be downloaded freely from Cydia.

Update: GeoHot released Purplesn0w RC 2 with several improvements:
1. 3G (the network speed) issues fixed
2. Only patches one file, CommCenter
3. Leaves no traces on your baseband after it runs.
4. Much more clean and reliable.

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Tagged as: Purplesn0w, ultrasn0w, Unlock iPhone 3GS

{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Dallas Dave July 15, 2009 at 4:25 am

Could not find the source “apt.geohot.com” listed on Cydia.

2 Simon Ng July 15, 2009 at 10:05 am: @Dallas, you need to add the source first. It’s not in Cydia by default. To add the source, you can tap “Manage” -> “Sources” in cydia.

Reply

3 Andybhai July 16, 2009 at 6:27 pm

Hey Simon,

what do users do with a 3GS which is not activated on AT&T network?
The phone has not been activated at all and is there any way of by passing the same to get to be unlocked to be used outside the AT&T service?

Andybhai

4 hieusui October 11, 2009 at 10:32 pm

not work , i already add apt.geohot.com ,not sim work

5 Sony October 14, 2009 at 3:25 am

Hi Simon ..would like to know when will the unlock tool for firmware 3.1 be out ,as its been some time since 3.1 is out ..i am sure guys at Devs team are somewhere near a solution for windows users..since i am using an unlocked phone i guess Blackrain is not the answer..

6 Simon Ng October 14, 2009 at 11:38 pm: @Sony,

You can use PwnageTool to jailbreak iPhone 3.1.x. You can check out this post for details.

Reply

7 odan360 November 1, 2009 at 10:46 pm

will this unlock iphone 3g or its only for 3Gs ?

8 Simon Ng November 2, 2009 at 12:26 am: @odan360, what version of iPhone OS are you using?

Reply

9 levi November 7, 2009 at 12:29 pm

Thanks geohot… Been waiting for someone to unlock the 3.1.2 firmware.
This worked flawlessly on my 3G
bootloader 05.09
baseband 05.11.07
firmware 3.1.2

Only problem im having is with my signal strength with Tmobile.
On my nokia (tmobile) I am able to get atleast 2 bars
But on my iPhone, after unlocking with Purplesn0w RC 2, I get no signal at all.
Also, after my phone goes to sleep it takes a while to recognize my Wifi connection.

Im quite positive its not a problem with the Sim Card cause when I pop it back into my Nokia I get a decent signal.

Just wondering if anyone else is having the same issues?

10 Simon Ng November 8, 2009 at 9:17 pm

@levi, GeoHot already released blackra1n and blacksn0w to unlock 3.1.2. You can check out the guide here.

11 levi November 10, 2009 at 5:04 am: Simon, Thank You!!!
Just completed the jailbreak and unlock process with Blackra1n /sn0w
Also ran the YouTube fix…everything works great…Even my voicemail with Tmo works!!
Signal strength is back

Thanks for guiding me to the right place.

Keep up the good work George!!

Reply

12 Arm November 17, 2009 at 7:55 pm