What's new

ebay iphone 4

c0mputer

New Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2012
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Okay. I bought a used 8gb iphone 4 from ebay that said (AT&T) Factory Unlocked. I received it and the phone was already jailbroken. I wanted to reset it to factory. I tried doing it on the phone and it didn't work. So I hooked it up to iTunes and reset it to 6.0.1 and now it comes up with an activation screen and says activation error. I don't have a SIM card. I bought the phone for my girlfriend in europe and won't have a sim card for it until I get there.

What do I need to do? Is the thing really unlocked? Can I get past the activation screen without a sim card? Will it work when I put her sim card in it?

Thanks for all the assistance, happy holidays.
 
it sounds like the guy jailbroke and unlocked it in hopes you would not restore... what firmware was it on? do you know?
 
It was probably unlocked using UltraSn0w assuming he kept the old 01.59.00 baseband. Or, he went and got himself a backdoor unlock (illegal). Both of which are wiped when restored.
 
How do I find out baseband and/or firmware and get the phone to a usable state? Thanks for the replies!
 
Well. If you want to make it easier for you and possibly your girlfriend, get an IMEI unlock off of eBay or ApplenBerry. It'll run you either $5-10 or $20 from ApplenBerry IIRC. It'll unlock it permanently, which was what you were looking for when originally buying the iPhone. To find out more about your iPhone, boot up your iPhone to the activation screen, plug it into your PC, run RedSn0w as admin, then go to Extras > Identify (or was it Extras > Even More Identify; I'm not at my computer and I'm a bit dazed at the moment). Give it a sec to retrieve your information. Then in the chart, find what you're looking for. Modem firmware is equivalent to baseband. Device firmware means the iOS version.
 
Thanks. If the phone was already actually unlocked, I'm assuming it would not be telling me there's an activation error and it would boot right into iOS without a SIM?

If I did an IMEI unlock through applenberry, should I choose the AT&T unlock $30 option? On the ebay ad, it was (AT&T) Factory Unlock. Anyway to know for sure? I'd also like to verify at this point that the phone is a GSM phone, as it will be used in Europe.
 
Last edited:
Thanks. If the phone was already actually unlocked, I'm assuming it would not be telling me there's an activation error and it would boot right into iOS without a SIM?

If I did an IMEI unlock through applenberry, should I choose the AT&T unlock $30 option? On the ebay ad, it was (AT&T) Factory Unlock. Anyway to know for sure? I'd also like to verify at this point that the phone is a GSM phone, as it will be used in Europe.

Yes.

And yes. For the eBay ones, they're what they offered.
 
So just to be completely sure - the 'activation error' screen will go away whenever Applenberry gets aroudn to processing my IMEI unlock. The iphone will boot into iOS without a sim card being inserted.

I guess I just need to wait for the IMEI unlock to go through, however long that will take.
 
After the IMEI unlock goes through, you have to restore your iPhone for it to take effect. After the restore and the IMEI has gone through, you should receive a "Congratulations" at the end.
 
After the IMEI unlock goes through, you have to restore your iPhone for it to take effect. After the restore and the IMEI has gone through, you should receive a "Congratulations" at the end.

My order status on applenberry is 'completed' and i just restored through itunes after entering dfu mode. I get
[h=1]We're sorry, we are unable to continue with your activation at this time.[/h]
Please try again later, or contact customer care.
 
Try a regular restore. If that still doesn't work, and ApplenBerry did complete their end, then you have a bad IMEI/ESN possibly
 
Very sad what desperation and peer pressure can drive us to, OP you have my well wishes, I was where you are last year, I know it sucks but it will get better hang in there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Top