New member, new iPhone, already stuck in restore mode (jailbroken iPhone 3G) T-Mobile

[Granitel]

Hi Everyone on iPhone Forums!

I'm new to the iPhone, and, in fact, it's my kid's jailbroken iOS 4.2.1 iPhone 3G that I bought off of Craigslist in August which, after all this time working well on T-Mobile voice/text with WiFi for data suddenly locked up in 'restore mode'.

I always search before asking, and I summarize the search results, and I respond to all reasonable questions and queries; but I'm overwhelmed at the moment with the newness of this whole iPhone/Jailbreak/Cydia/etc. technical experience.

I'm looking for one technically astute forum to make my home ... one that offers advice ... or at least pointers in the right direction.


Here's hoping this particular forum is a winner!

My current challenge is to figure out how to:

1. Resolve the kid's iPhone 3G stuck in restore mode problem
2. Downgrade from the jailbroken iOS 4.2.1 to the better-supported iOS 3.1.3
3. Preserve the jailbreak/unlock so that the iPhone works on T-Mobile voice/sms (with WiFi data)

I've researched it and found that it matters greatly the platform (Windows XP), the firmware (8C148), the baseband version (unknown and impossible to find out until I fix the lockup), and the software version I wish to retain (in this case, I wish to downgrade from iOS 4.2.1 to iOS 3.1.3). If I do it wrongly, then it could be impossible to recover, which is why I would like astute advice which at least points me in the right direction

Any timely pointers in the right direction would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Col.bris]

Welcome on board to our forums. I understand you are new however one cannot list links to other forums as we are privately owned. We are here to assist so hang in there ok

 

[Granitel]

Thanks for the warning. I didn't realize (most forums allow links to outside sites) ... but that's OK (it's your forum, after all).

The unknowns are what are slowing me down because I don't want to move forward blindly!

My biggest worry is that I'll accidentally add a problematic baseband by accident, since I have no way of telling what the current baseband is (because the iPhone 3G is stuck in iTunes recovery mode).

Further research has revealed that iTunes will probably 'not' update the iPhone 3G to iOS 5.x because iOS 4.2.1 is the latest version for the iPhone 3G; so that is a relief.

I did try (and failed miserably) to run 'fixrecovery.exe' from "The Firmware Umbrealla" site (I won't link to it but I hope it's OK to mention it as it clarifies what I'm saying); but the program needs too many DLLs that aren't on my WinXP PC (apparently).

Now I'm exploring what "SHSH blobs" are, and I'm leaning toward Sn0wbreeze and Ultrasn0w; but at this point in my knowledge level, these are just funny words with little to no meaning.

I can research each item, one by one, but what I really needed (which doesn't seem to exist) is a tutorial that 'fits' my situation.

That is ...
a) I have an iPhone 3G with jailbroken iOS 4.2.1 ...
b) It is currently stuck in iTunes restore mode ...
c) I don't mind doing the work to 'fix' it ... I just don't want to put the wrong baseband & iOS on it!

Best case is if someone can point me to how to get the iPhone 3G back to a point where it is working, and, even better, if it's on iOS 3.1.3 (which works better with Cydia video applications that don't run on iOS 4.x and above, such as Cycorder).

Any pointers?

PS: I will open a separate thread because this has progressed past the basic introduction!

 

[VTR]

G'day & welcome to the forum!!!

 

[Granitel]

I'm out of iTunes restore mode!

After googling like crazy and reading all that I could understand (all of this is brand new to me); I belatedly realize that the iPhone 3G doesn't have to save SHSH blobs; and that I 'can' downgrade from the iOS 4.2.1 stuck in restore mode to iOS 3.1.3 so that's the approach I took. I also realize the baseband is what the baseband is (it's probably the iPad baseband based on the results below.)

I did first try to get out of restore mode using Tiny Umbrella, RecBoot, iReb, & FixRecovery; but none worked for me.

So, I performed the following to get the iPhone 3G out of restore mode by downgrading the iOS from iOS 4.2.1 to iOS 3.1.3:
NOTE: This was all done in 'restore mode' (nothing was done in DFU mode yet).

1. I first installed iTunes 10.5.0.142 on the WinXP PC
2. I then downloaded the iClarify iOS 3.1.3 for iPhone 3G (iPhone1,2_3.1.3_7E18_Restore.ipsw)
3. I downloaded Tiny umbrella v5.00.12 to the WinXP PC
4. I tethered the jailbroken iPhone 3G 4.1.2 stuck in recovery mode to the WinXP PC
5. I opened Itunes: I held the shift key & then pressed the Restore button
6. Itunes then asked for the ipsw file (I gave it the iPhone1,2_3.1.3_7E18_Restore.ipsw)
7. After a while, Itunes gave me a 1015 error (which, I think, means I have the iPad baseband)
8. I ran tiny umbrella and hit "exit recovery" & then unplugged the iPhone & tried to use it
9. I again ran thorough steps 5 thru 8 (and again got the 1015 error).
10. Tiny Umbrella tells me the following versions are installed:

• Device Model = MB702LL/A - iPhone3G
• Installed Firmware Version = 3.1.3
• Installed Baseband Version = 06.15.00-5.9_M3S2

I had expected the phone to have the desktop sea of icons; but it doesn't let me get there (is this because the SIM card is for T-Mobil?). All I can do is make an emergency call.

Was this supposed to be the expected results?
If so, would someone kindly summarize the next suggested steps?

I much appreciate any help you can provide and I realize you don't have to help me ...