Apple has begun to crack down on developers selling their unused IOS 5 beta slots.

[Col.bris]

All beta's are time delay it is standard practice

 

[woodynorman]

I purchased a Dev slot. I'm worried that my phone will get bricked by Apple. I'd like to downgrade my software just to avoid any potential problems. I've also been having serious problems today with Beta 5 ver 5, too.


Is it really possible to downgrade once a Beta is installed??. I did try it at one point but couldnt downgrade iTunes and therefore couldnt downgrade my iphone.

Thanks

 

[bristol16]

I purchased a Dev slot. I'm worried that my phone will get bricked by Apple. I'd like to downgrade my software just to avoid any potential problems. I've also been having serious problems today with Beta 5 ver 5, too.


Is it really possible to downgrade once a Beta is installed??. I did try it at one point but couldnt downgrade iTunes and therefore couldnt downgrade my iphone.

Thanks

I went from 5 to 4.2.6, so yes, it is possible.

 

[woodynorman]

I purchased a Dev slot. I'm worried that my phone will get bricked by Apple. I'd like to downgrade my software just to avoid any potential problems. I've also been having serious problems today with Beta 5 ver 5, too.


Is it really possible to downgrade once a Beta is installed??. I did try it at one point but couldnt downgrade iTunes and therefore couldnt downgrade my iphone.

Thanks

I went from 5 to 4.2.6, so yes, it is possible.

Care to elaborate? Did you have to downgrade iTunes? I tried once after installing Beta 2 but couldnt. Beta 5.5 is really bad for me. Every app force closes after about a minute. I'd be OK going back to "stock"

PM me if it would be better not to sidetrack this thread. I'd appreciate it. I've got to do something tomorrow

 

[bristol16]

I purchased a Dev slot. I'm worried that my phone will get bricked by Apple. I'd like to downgrade my software just to avoid any potential problems. I've also been having serious problems today with Beta 5 ver 5, too.


Is it really possible to downgrade once a Beta is installed??. I did try it at one point but couldnt downgrade iTunes and therefore couldnt downgrade my iphone.

Thanks

I went from 5 to 4.2.6, so yes, it is possible.

Care to elaborate? Did you have to downgrade iTunes? I tried once after installing Beta 2 but couldnt. Beta 5.5 is really bad for me. Every app force closes after about a minute. I'd be OK going back to "stock"

PM me if it would be better not to sidetrack this thread. I'd appreciate it. I've got to do something tomorrow

I can try to elaborate lol. It took me several hours of trial and error with other peoples different methods of downgrading before I got one to stick so to be honest I'm not sure what the key was.

I made the most progress with this:

Alright your gonna wanna modify your host file this is how itunes contacts the server so follow these steps first...

Step 1: If you are in Windows you need to go to folder “C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc”
(just click start and go into the computewr folder and copy and past the line above in the search tab)

If you are mac OS X users navigate to “/etc/” directory by going through “Go –> Go to Folder” from Finder.

If you are in Windows 7 and Vista please navigate to notepad>rightclick>and select Run as Administrator.
(Then navigate to the host file here as well)

Step 3: Under the hosts open it with Notepad in windows and mac users should look for TextEdit.

Step 4: Open this “hosts” file in Notepad (for Windows) or TextEdit (for Mac OS X) and add this following line at the bottom of the file1.
74.208.10.249 gs.apple.com


startup tiny umbrella

5. start the TSS server
(/etc/hosts file should now point to 127.0.0.1)

6. put phone in dfu mode

7. alt+restore and choose 4.2.8 firmware

The iphone will restore and stop at about 75% and go into recovery loop. (itunes and usb will appear)

8. start redsnow

9. select the 4.2.8 version of firmware (follow instructions and choose install cydia)

10. Itll jailbreak the phone and stop at-
(“Installing Activation Bundles”) hold down the power and home for 10 seconds

it will go back into recovery mode now youll need tinyumbrella to kick it out of recovery mode

11. so after reboot go into tiny umbrella and exit recovery.. you are now on 4.2.8 jailbreak!

However I used 4.2.6 because redsnow didn't want to recognize 4.2.8 (I had read somewhere that 4.2.6 was a significant update not just a couple patches so there was something different about it, not sure if that's true but it worked for me). I also didn't have my own SHSH or blobs pre-saved, just what TU had pulled after 5.0beta had already been loaded and I was trying to downgrade. I had tried loading 4.2.6 through redsnow and iTunes several times with no luck so it's possible one has to happen before the other or I was just not getting it into DFU mode correctly.

I did the downgrade with iTunes 10.5.0.28. If I remember correctly the pre 10.5 versions didn't want to have anything to do with my iPhone running iOS5. I have since tried to upgrade to 4.2.8 and 4.2.10 and have not been able to with iTunes 10.5 but I have not tried with previous versions.

I should mention that when I started having problems with my iPhone I went to Verizon and swapped my BB Storm back into service. I have NOT had a chance to go back to a Verizon store and get it re-activated. I have tried through their website but it won't let me activate it online. The phone seems to function fine minus cell service. It connects to my wireless network, pushes email and facebook, works as an iPod, etc. I have had to uninstall and reinstall my 3rd party apps but that may or may not be a side effect to downgrading/restoring not specifically an iOS5 downgrade issue. I plan to try and get it back on Verizon tomorrow so I've still got my fingers crossed until it's 100%.

All in all it's been a hassle but hey that's why it's a beta, part of the fun is being the guinea pig lol.

 

[iXpert]

I also had loaaaads of problems after installing IOS 5 Beta 4.

Had a hard time activating it as I didnt have a dev account, and after I finally got it activated it wasn't worth much for me, so decided to go back to my 4.2.1 and I spend like 12 hours because of the recovery loop...

 

[Col.bris]

I have said many time before you are at risk Asa forum we don't recommend playing with beta software unless you understand t.he rules and do it through an authorized developer. It is obvious from the many posts that so many have gotminto trouble. Beta is beta not released software and it is totally controlled by Apple whommhave cut off dates etc so user beware.

 

[woodynorman]

Thanks for the info.....

Had I known it was against apple policy to buy/sell Beta slots I wouldnt have done it. Why else would they give 100 slots to a DEV?? And if they can make a few bucks off of it I have no problem with that, but I guess Apple does.

I'm finding out that I should just leave well enough alone with my iphone and enjoy it for what it is....which is a great phone right out of the box. I've owned a couple Droids and BB's and the iphone is the best.

I've been jailbroken before and didnt like all the crashing and instability.

Beta 5.5 sucks for me. I currently trying to reinstall it, plugged into itunes, not OTA.

I would still like to get back to stock, without Jailbreaking, if anyone can offer any suggestions

 

[iGaz]

Just uninstall iTunes from your computer then download the latest (non beta) version form the iTunes website. iTunes will tell you your phones software is too new to use with that version then you can restore your phone...

 

[Alex_P]

I know a lot of people on various iPhone forums that downloaded IOS 5 that are highly concerned, although if I was the one giving out the code I would be even more concerned.

 

[woodynorman]

Just uninstall iTunes from your computer then download the latest (non beta) version form the iTunes website. iTunes will tell you your phones software is too new to use with that version then you can restore your phone...

Thanks for the info, although I've tried that once and the older iTunes wouldnt install due to a newer version had been previously used. I followed what I believe to be the proper delete procedure that I found online, but still couldnt downgrade iTunes. Maybe I need to try again.

I just sucessfully downgraded to Beta 4 in the last hour and am trying to restore my contacts, etc..

 

[Darkstar2007]

Thanx a lot for this great info, darkstar how can you tel that so many peoples will not affect by these prob. Is there any solution for the affected peoples????

Your welcome wad!The only solution I know of is to delete the beta iTunes and download the public version and do a restore. I can't tell if many people will, or won't be affected. I just hope they're not. Although I can see it affecting a lot of people, due to all the websites dedicated to buying a iOS 5 beta slot. Who knows though? Lol. like I said I hope they're not affected!

 

[bristol16]

Thanx a lot for this great info, darkstar how can you tel that so many peoples will not affect by these prob. Is there any solution for the affected peoples????

Your welcome wad!The only solution I know of is to delete the beta iTunes and download the public version and do a restore. I can't tell if many people will, or won't be affected. I just hope they're not. Although I can see it affecting a lot of people, due to all the websites dedicated to buying a iOS 5 beta slot. Who knows though? Lol. like I said I hope they're not affected!

Good luck, I can't get my iTunes to update or restore. The only way I got iOS 4 back on was to use redsn0w to load 4.2.6 jailbroken. iTunes won't update, restore, or do anything now. Keeps giving me a 3194 error saying I need to update to the latest version of iTunes, which I'm using (10.4.0.80 is what I just downloaded to double check). Is there any way to force feed my phone a complete reinstal of iOS outside of iTunes? Can Verizon do it at their store?

 

[iXpert]

If you run into Error 3194 within iTunes when you are trying to restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, you can fix it by temporarily blocking Apple’s firmware signing services. Error 3194 seems to be triggered when unsigned firmware is used, often during an iOS downgrade or even during some restores. Here’s how to resolve the error:
Fix Error 3194

The fix is the same regardless of what operating system you are using:

• Quit iTunes
• Locate your hosts file, in Mac OS X this is /etc/hosts and in Windows this is c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
• Open the hosts file with Administrator privileges
• Add the following lines to the very bottom of the hosts file:
• 74.208.105.171 gs.apple.com
• Connect your iPhone to the computer
• Launch iTunes
• Put the iPhone/iPad/iPod into DFU mode by turning the phone off and then holding down the sleep and power button for 10 seconds, then release the power button but hold onto the home button until iTunes tells you that the device is now in recover mode
• Use the iTunes Restore feature as usual with the iOS device

Once your iOS update is finished, remove the “74.208.105.171 gs.apple.com” line from your hosts file again so that iTunes can properly update as usual. If you need them, you can get iPhone firmware, iPad firmware, and iPod touch firmware directly from Apple.
If you are wondering what the IP address is that you are reassociating gs.apple.com with, it’s saurik’s (of Cydia fame) signing server.

 

[bristol16]

Wow, sweet! I'll try that when I get home tonight. Thanks!