dropped 3GS - how to restore

[mgh]

Hello All,

My unlocked iphone 3GS fell out of my shirt pocket onto a wood deck. It was completely dead. I held the home button while connecting it to my PC. itunes gives me message :"itunes must check the iphone software update server to identify this device".

I do not know what to do next. I obviously do not want to update it and lose the unlock.

Can someone please advise me what to do next?

Thank you!

 

[Jmills87]

Dropping a phone shouldn't cause a software issue, most likely it's a hardware issue. Either way if it won't boot to the springboard you have no choice but to restore it, might as well restore it and make sure that it's a software issue and not a hardware problem.

 

[mgh]

Thank you.

What I have done so far is download a 4.2 "official" ipsw, and a custom restore ispw. Used Redsnow and point it to the restore ipsw. Instructions say to then open itunes, (I get the same message as in my original post), I click OK, itunes says it detects it in recovery mode. I shift-click restore, point it to the custom ipsw, and I get error 3194.

So far cannot get beyond that point.

 

[Jmills87]

Not sure why you are trying to use redsn0w, I suggested that you try restoring the firmware not jailbreak it. Also, the reason you are getting 3194 is because Apple is no longer signing 4.2 firmware, you have to restore to 4.3.5. You don't need to download anything just connect your phone to your computer and hit "restore" in iTunes.

 

[mgh]

Sorry, I misunderstood you.

I understood if I restored to factory settings I would be unable to unlock again.
This phone has the 6.15 ipad baseband (it was unlocked when I bought it).

I was trying to follow instructions that said to restore to the 4.2 with redsnow, then use itunes, shift-click on restore, so I could use the custom 4.2 that I had downloaded.

Is this unnecessary? What happens to my baseband, and my unlocking capabilities if I do a simple restore?

Many thanks for the reply.

 

[Jmills87]

Your baseband will never be updated now that you are on 06.15.00 Your ONLY option to restore is to restore with a custom firmware. You can only restore a custom 4.2 firmware if you have your 4.2 SHSH key.

 

[mgh]

I don't know where my SHSH key/blob is.

This is part of an article here: Caching Apple's Signature Server - Jay Freeman (saurik)

Bypassing the Overlord
To this end, I have constructed a server that duplicates the functionality exposed by Apple's signature server, except using "on file" results rather than live requests.
All we need, then, is to make iTunes use it. Luckily, most operating systems also have the ability to locally define bypasses on specific hostnames through a file called hosts. Using this, we can redirect requests to Apple's signature server to Cydia.
So, open the file C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts (Windows) or /etc/hosts (Mac OS X) and add the following entry to the bottom of the file.
74.208.10.249 gs.apple.com
Now, when iTunes thinks it is talking to Apple, it is talking to Cydia instead. Doing this will allow iTunes to access signatures already stored by Cydia's "on file" feature.
This server will also act as a cache for any SHSH blobs it hasn't seen, acting as an intermediary to Apple's server. This effectively registers your device with the "on file" mechanism, which means you can now enjoy the protections of being able to downgrade your firmware in the future even if you aren't jailbroken.

Unfortunately for me, changing my host file and adding -74.208.10.249 gs.apple.com - has not worked.

When I try to restore to the custom firmware, I get the dreaded 3194 error.

Am I still doing something wrong? Is there anyway to make this work?

Thank you very much for your help!

 

[Jmills87]

You need to use TinyUmbrella to see which SHSH you have saved http://thefirmwareumbrealla.blogspot.com and check out this post http://www.iphoneforums.net/forum/h...ave-your-shsh-blobs-using-tinyumbrella-18924/

 

[mgh]

My phone is not showing up in Tiny Umbrella. It does appear in itunes.

TU log:

08/31/2011 07:39:28.330 Loaded History... 08/31/2011 07:39:28.339 DFU Device connected 08/31/2011 07:39:32.923 Cannot Start TSS Service DO NOT TRY RESTORING YOUR DEVICE!!! Your hosts file is not writable! 08/31/2011 07:39:32.932 You are using the current version of TinyUmbrella. 08/31/2011 07:41:52.386 DFU Device disconnected

When my phone is not in DFU mode, it just cycles through the apple icon, and is not detected by either itunes or TU.

While in DFU mode, the "fix recovery" is available in TU. It is not available when phone is cycling through apple icon (presumably because it is not in DFU mode?)

Many thanks for any additional help.

 

[Jmills87]

You have to run TinyUmbrella as administrator in order for it to be able to edit your hosts file.

 

[mgh]

I have been running TU in administrator mode.

When the phone is in recovery mode, it will show up in TU on the left side, but with nothing in the "device model" or "firmware" fields.

With the phone in DFU mode, nothing shows up anywhere. The only thing available is the "fix recovery" button.

I still get the same log message as I posted earlier.

Anything else I should be doing that I am missing?

Thank you very much for helping me through this.

 

[Jmills87]

What you explained is correct. The device has to be on the springboard to detect model and firmware, and in DFU mode "fix recovery" is the only option, you cannot save SHSH in DFU mode.

 

[mgh]

I have also checked permissions for the host file, and they are all set on "full control".

Still get message on TU that the host file is unwritable.

 

[mgh]

What you explained is correct. The device has to be on the springboard to detect model and firmware, and in DFU mode "fix recovery" is the only option, you cannot save SHSH in DFU mode.

So what mode do I want to be in? I can get it into recovery mode, or dfu, but that is all I can do, and neither one show an SHSH in TU. It will not boot up.

Thanks

 

[mgh]

So is my problem that I am trying to restore to 4.2 when I should be restoring to 4.1?

iPhone 3Gs 4.3.5 after jailbreak try to install iPad baseband and stuck on recovery - GSM-Forum

Thanks for any help.