iPhone sand0s...

if you couldn't tell...

2010-04-08T17:11:00.000-06:00

... i gave this up long ago. full on blogging is too much. please visit a sponsor (now that's shameless) and follow me on twitter --> sand0s thanks!

geohot rules... releases blacksn0w... community happy again... idiots will still update to next OS when pushed in itunes (surprise)

2009-11-03T22:44:00.002-07:00

title says it all... blacksn0w is here both through blackra1n (both Mac and PC) or via cydia at the http://blackra1n.com repository. it will unlock the 05.11.07 baseband on your 3G and 3G[S], it's free, it's awesome and it's super easy. if you do like it an awful lot (like i did) you can make a donation. i kicked in my $20, and I encourage you to do the same here if that's the case.

cool things that blackra1n now does... hacktivation (although i would recommend official activation if at all possible) and the re-ability to enable tethering on 3.1.x without having to play around in the commcenter... just jailbreak with balckra1n and then install the AT&T 6.0 ipcc in iTunes, which you can get here.

How to use the AT&T Carrier Logo package again on 3.1.x...

2009-10-20T08:54:00.003-06:00

Go here... Follow the tutorial, but instead look for the folder /private/var/mobile/library/carrier bundle.bundle... use that carrier.plist... you need to convert to a plain text xml from binary to make your edits and then back to binary before overwriting your original file... you can do that here.

After you do this, install the AT&T Carrier Logo package from Cydia and respring...

How to enable tethering on 3.1.2 AND keep VVM working!!!

2009-10-19T22:48:00.003-06:00

If you would like to tether again on 3.1.2, finally there is a hack via a CommCenter patch. Early adopters were reporting issues with VVM... Well for AT&T users, I have found a workaround.

Here is what you do:

1. Apply the CommCenter patch (files from @MuscleNerd, tutorial from iClarified)
2. Install AT&T 6.0 ipcc by StealthBravo (file here, how to enable carrier testing in iTunes 8.2 or 9.x)
3. Reboot
4. Install the BenM Mobile Config for AT&T via Mobile Safari at help.BenM.at
5. Respring
6. Remove the BenM profile for AT&T
7. Respring

Uh oh... New (2nd gen) iPhone 3G[S] hits the street... Problems for jailbreakers!!!

2009-10-14T10:57:00.006-06:00

If you have a 3G[S] produced week 40 or later (the 4th and 5th number of your serial number) with 3.1.2 pre-installed ootb you likely have iBoot 359.3.2 and you CANNOT jailbreak with PT 3.1.4... I expect the Dev-Team to make an update about this at some point. Unfortunately, there is no jailbreak exploit for your phone for an un-teathered jailbreak. This is because the new bootrom is not vulnerable 24kpwn.

To double check what version of iBoot you have on a Mac:

1. Put your phone in DFU mode (plug it in, turn it off, wait for it to be completely off, hold home and power for 10 real seconds, release only power and continue to hold home for another 15 or so seconds).
2. Go to the Apple logo, about this Mac.
3. Click on "More Info."
4. Go to USB on the bottom of the hardware drop down on the left hand side.
5. Click on Apple Device in DFU mode on the middle of the screen and look for the word iBoot. The numbers following it are your bootrom. 359.3 is GOOD. 359.3.2 is BAD :-(

PwnageTool 3.1.4 (Pi) released... Still hitting 16xx errors on your Mac?

2009-10-13T18:49:00.005-06:00

For those of you with 16xx errors on a Mac... here are your "best practices" fixes by device:

iPhone (1st gen)
1. DFU mode restore to official 3.0 IPSW
2. Use redsn0w 0.8 to Pwn (just Pwn, no need to unlock here)
3. Option + restore to your Custom 3.1.2 FW made with PwnageTool (with unlock applied) in normal mode (no DFU, no recovery)

iPhone 3G:
1. Get a copy of iRecovery (learn how to use it... BenM has an excellent written and video tutorial on iRecovery complete with downloads)
2. DFU restore to stock 3.0
3. Run into 1015 error at the end - apply iRecovery commands to reboot to activation screen
4. Use redsn0w 0.8 to Pwn
5. Option + restore to your Custom 3.1.2 FW made with PwnageTool in normal mode (no DFU, no recovery)

iPhone 3G[S] - with ECID SHSH for 3.0 on file
1. DFU mode restore to official 3.0 IPSW
2. Use redsn0w 0.8 to Pwn
3. Option + restore to your Custom 3.1.2 FW made with PwnageTool in normal mode (no DFU, no recovery)

iPhone 3G[S] - without ECID SHSH for 3.0 on file
1. Delete the "recovery" file in ~/Library/iTunes/Device Support
2. Restart your system.
3. Rebuild your custom IPSW with PT and follow PT instructions from there...

UPDATE: Keep in mind that these fixes are only applicable if you follow PwnageTool's instructions CORRECTLY and are still hitting 16xx errors... There is obviously no need to do any of this if you are able to restore OK with PwnageTool...

#ha1lday = #fa1lday; ledgend geohot releases #blackra1n!

2009-10-11T12:06:00.001-06:00

In a flurry of twitter activity, GeoHot and the folks at appuloha1l each threatened to release their latest jailbreaks if their respective topics (#blackra1n and #ha1lday) trended... Both did, and the results were pretty predictable.

appuloha1l released this

geohot released this

Group Claims they can unlock Modem FW 05.11.07

2009-10-09T10:43:00.001-06:00

A group called AppuloHa1l is claiming that they have perfected a no-IPSW Jailbreak for all iDevices on 3.1.x... They also claim they can re-enable the lovely tethering hack on 3.1.x and oh yeah, they can soft unlock the 05.11.07 baseband. Keep in mind this is a group no one has ever heard of (although, I do admit I stumbled across their website months ago, when nothing was on it, thinking it was the remains of failed efforts). This "too good to be true" scenario has me wondering if this is one big hoax OR if even it is Apple themselves attempting to get people to 05.11.07 (my conspiracy theory de jour)...

FYI there is a demo of their unlock to be streamed live at 8pm PDT today... Go to the website for more information.

PwnageTool 3.1.3 released by the Dev-Team

2009-10-02T23:42:00.003-06:00

After a two week wait since the release of the 3.1 IPSW for the 3G[S] the Dev-Team today has released PwnageTool 3.1.3. This version of PwnageTool offers support for the 3G[S], however ONLY if it has been previously Pwned/Jailbroken...

Well, there is some BIG NEWS...

2009-10-01T09:06:00.000-06:00

Check out CPICH's (Dev-Team member) twitter...

There is literally nothing to say...

2009-10-01T08:23:00.000-06:00

Yeah... I could spend time writing tutorials or something like that, but I'm really holding my load on that until PwnageTool supports the 3G[S]. Other than that, honestly, there isn't shit going on... If you need some 3G IPSWs or want to get past 16xx errors, check out some older posts. See you all when something happens...

An easy way to enable MMS if you're wisely still on 3.0/3.0.1...

2009-09-26T12:06:00.000-06:00

The easiest way BY FAR to activate MMS on your 3G or 3G[S] is to point your iPhone Safari browser to help.benm.at/help.php. From there go to the Mobileconfigs link just below Tethering & Internet Settings and follow the prompts to find your carrier (AT&T in particular). Download and install it (which will use an onboard carrier settings installer), restart your phone and you should be able to enable MMS... There is no need to mess with actual data settings, although you would be able to... Both MMS and Tethering should work OOTB.

Amazingly... AT&T doesn't shit the bed...

2009-09-26T11:58:00.000-06:00

Early reports of the rollout of AT&T's iPhone MMS service have shown that there have been minimal issues... Instead of spending yesterday updating readers on the rollout in a blow by blow commentary, I spent the afternoon on the golf course, sending a sporadic MMS instead. After reading up on the outcome, it is fair to say that they managed not to screw the pooch on this one surprisingly.

Carrier Update released...

2009-09-25T11:42:00.002-06:00

OK... Here we go... It has been reported that the carrier update for AT&T MMS has just recently been released. Let the mayhem begin!!!

MMS comes today for AT&T!!!

2009-09-25T08:53:00.001-06:00

For those of you that have been holding out for the official AT&T carrier update, today is the day! I will be covering the day's events as they unfold, starting with the availability of the actual .ipcc carrier update at sometime around 11am PDT / 2pm EDT... We'll finish with the real Y2K as AT&T's cell towers explode around the country from iPhone users shooting off their collective MMS load...

The iPhone blog has an excellent walkthrough for those of you who would need a walkthrough on how to use MMS. Although, since most of us have spent 2 years without it I guess we could all use some brush up.

Happy MMSing...

You'd never accidentally upgrade again if you had to do this...

2009-09-24T17:57:00.000-06:00

I just read a fascinating piece of iPhone history... On his site, speedy_AZ of hackthatphone.com has all sort of interesting little tidbits about iPhone hacking; one of particular interest to me was his step by step tutorial of the original hardware unlock for the 1st gen iPhone. Since reading GeoHot's original tutorial is like reading hieroglyphs, I thought this was a very interesting read. Although this method has long been outdated because of BootNeuter, I still find these things just amazing.

Go ahead and check it out and remember to be thankful for all of the soft tools we have now.

Gmail enables push for iPhone... But there's a catch!

2009-09-24T15:36:00.001-06:00

Gmail will now join the push community on the iPhone... but with a glaring problem. The service, provided through Google's already existent Google Sync, will emulate the push capabilities of Microsoft Exchange. The problem comes in with the fact that the iPhone only supports one exchange account at a time, leaving users like myself who use Microsoft Exchange already for business Emails at a separate and mandatory Email address shut out. If you are a user who doesn't have a Microsoft Exchange account set up already on your iPhone, then you are in luck.

Google has provided step by step instructions on how set things up, which can be found here.

saurik says his ECID SHSH is a "stop gap" measure...

2009-09-24T15:21:00.003-06:00

During his online chat today at TUAW saurik indicated that his ECID SHSH process through Cydia is only a stop gap measure to allow users to return to a previous version of an IPSW and doesn't do a whole lot for the future of jailbreaking. Saying that the method of pinging his server instead of Apple's is due to a flaw in the verification process which could be fixed in the future with something like a time stamp, saurik seemed unsure what lay ahead and where the next exploit would be found. He indicated that the release of 3.1 closed a previously used hole in other firmwares and made it more difficult to jailbreak the 3G[S] and 3rd Gen iPT at the present time.

All eyes, now to the Dev-Team... Where is the next block of cheese?

UPCOMING APP: SmartScreen

2009-09-24T11:52:00.000-06:00

Now here's something that should have been here from the beginning. SmartScreen developed by a couple members of the Dev-Team allows a jailbroken user to use widgets like weather and stocks from their lock screen. If you enjoy the Mac OS X dashboard view, this app may have some major appeal for you. Right now the release is targeted for November of this year.

Here is a demo of the App:

saurik (Jay Freeman) to discuss new Apple signature process at 4:15pm (eastern) today...

2009-09-24T11:30:00.004-06:00

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) has announced that they will hold a special live chat with saurik today at 4:15pm EDT to discuss the new Apple signature process for the iPhone and iPT. This could surely shed some insight into the challenges that may lay ahead for jailbreakers and unlcokers on Apple's new iDevices (beginning with the iPhone 3G[S] and 3rd gen iPT).

To join the chat go to the Cover it Live room at TUAW.

Apple gathering information to blame users for battery problems on 3.1...

2009-09-24T09:52:00.001-06:00

As has been reported on many interweb forums and blogs, the battery life on the new 3.1 iPhone and iPT OS sucks balls... It seems that jailbroken or not, the latest update is sucking down the juice at an alarming rate. Well, ComputerWorld among others reported yesterday that Apple has begun conducting user surveys about the problem, while of course not acknowledging that there is one.

If we learned anything from the exploding 3G[S] mess, Apple will surely come back with a report detailing why the users have caused the problem... And then reject another Google app :-/

APP REVIEW: QuickReply for SMS

2009-09-23T21:28:00.006-06:00

Tonight I'm reviewing an app just released yesterday in Cydia called QuickReply for SMS. Unlike full featured SMS alternatives (ie. biteSMS), QuickReply for SMS is an extension for the native iPhone Messages app adding only one very needed capability - being able to reply to an incoming message without dropping what you're doing at the time.

Now... in theory, if you have Backgrounder installed you can pull this off already to some extent. When a message comes in, simply hit close, background the application you're in at the time, go into the Messages app, find your last message, reply, close the Messages app and return to your backgrounded application (deep recovery breath :-0 ). But man, is that a lot of steps just to return to where you were... This is where QuickReply for SMS comes in handy.

With QuickReply for SMS installed, when you receive an incoming message you'll notice that your alert window has been changed slightly... Instead of the traditional 'Close and Reply', you'll now have 'Close, View and Reply' like so:

Keep in mind that 'QuickReply for SMS' is the actual message I sent myself for this review, it's not what's displayed every time a message comes in. But here is where the magic happens - press the reply button:

No matter where you are, no matter what you're doing on your iPhone, a transparent replica of your Messages app reply window will pop up, and from here you can enter your text, send it off and poof, you're right back to where you were. For this review I was on my springboard when the test message came in, but keep in mind, this works with any app, while the app you were in runs in the transparent background... Easy, peezy... The only bummer I have noticed so far is there is not an option to reply with an MMS. While the app will handle replying TO an MMS message, it doesn't let you reply with one. However with the official release of AT&T MMS only days away, perhaps this is an update in the making.

Cost: $2.99
OS: 3.0+
Determination: Keeper

iTunes 9.1 is A OK for your Pwned phone...

2009-09-23T15:35:00.000-06:00

As tweeted by the Dev-Team last night, the latest update to iTunes (9.1) is safe for jailbreakers and unlockers... If you're anything like me, you probably have a minor cardiac event every time you plug your device into iTunes or see big scary words like "update." But this one is just fine :-)

Here's a couple of Pwned 3.1 IPSWs for your 3G...

2009-09-23T12:38:00.007-06:00

If you've been hunting for some trustworthy Pwned 3.1 IPSWs for your 3G... look no further, I've found a couple of megaupload links for you that I have had confirmation are reliable and clean. Of course, as always, understand what you're doing before you use these.

The simple skinny is - one is hacktivated (for you users on non-official carriers) and one is not (for users on official carriers, ie. AT&Pee). Both use a 666MB partition for the Pwn, both only have Cydia installed, and of course neither one update your baseband, allowing you to maintain your unlock. Again remember, THESE ARE ONLY FOR THE iPHONE 3G...

Hacktivated

Not Hacktivated

Cheers...

16xx Errors... Defeat them and get up and running on Pwned 3.1!!!

2009-09-23T11:40:00.007-06:00

Ok... I know, I know... Who starts things off with technical non-sense? Me I guess :-) But I think if you've been stuck on the dreaded 16xx error while trying to restore your iPhone or iPod Touch to your new Pwned IPSW you will appreciate this.

There are two methods which have shown success dependent on your set-up (Mac or PC, OS, iPhone or iPT version, etc...). The first method is a quicker fix... if it works you'll be up and running fairly quickly, with minimal hassle, if it doesn't you'll have to proceed to method two, which of course will take more time. Either way, the goal here is to get you with a working, jailbroken device!! Yeah :-D

Method 1:
This method involves deleting a "recovery" file in your iTunes Device Support folder. The trick here is of course to find the damn thing. In most cases the file will be called x12220000_4_Recovery OR x12220000_5_Recovery and should reside in the following locations, depending on your OS:

Mac OS X: Library\iTunes\Device Support
Windows 7 and Vista: C:\*UserName*\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes\Device Support
Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\*UserName*\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\Device Support

Once you've found this file... Delete it. Bye, bye... And reboot your system. If you're on a Mac, now recreate your custom IPSW with PwnageTool 3.1 and return your device to DFU mode (a video how to can be found here) and option+click restore in iTunes. If you're on a PC simply return your device to DFU, open iTune and shift+click on restore in iTunes and point to your Pwned IPSW. If you have success, then you're done... Enjoy! If not, proceed to method 2.

Method 2:

This method involves re-breaking the "chain of trust" as it were and requires you to get back to your last working jailbroken state. For most of us this was Pwned 3.0 or 3.0.1... It's a pretty simple fix, but certainly more time consuming than method 1 because it requires 2 complete restores with a redsn0w jailbreak in the middle. But if you have to use method 2, you really have no choice - so here we go:

First you'll need a few things...

a copy of the official 3.0 IPSW for your device (which can be safely obtained here).
a copy of redsn0w 0.8 for your Mac or PC (which should only be obtained from the Dev-Team official torrents here).
your Pwned (or custom) 3.1 IPSW... If you're doing this you should already have one. If for some reason you don't, you can make one with a Mac by obtaining PwnageTool 3.1 from the Dev-Team torrent link above or google one if you're on a PC.

Now... slip you phone into DFU mode and option or shift + click restore to point to the official 3.0 IPSW for your device. You will now be restoring the official stock 3.0 (which of course still has the unlockable baseband for you 3G users, so don't fret --- of course if you've already updated to official 3.1 for some reason, there is nothing you can do about your baseband update)
Once the restore is complete open redsn0w, point it back to that same official 3.0 IPSW and let it do its thing... At this point you should now have a jailbroken iDevice on 3.0.
Finally, it's time to get you up and running on 3.1... So here's what you do. WITHOUT going into DFU mode (important!!!) open iTunes. Now option or shift + click restore and point it to your Pwned 3.1 IPSW and begin. Your restore should complete without error.

What we did here, like I said, is re-broke the chain of trust and didn't mess with anything in the file system after that... That is why we're able to not have to put the device in DFU mode to proceed with the Pwned IPSW restore and should have success here. :-p

Happy Pwning...

Ok... Let's kick this off :-D

2009-09-23T10:58:00.000-06:00

So here we go... Believe it or not (and I'm sure you'll believe it) this is my first blog of any sort, ever. I've frequented others' blogs and forums for years and finally decided it was my turn... Where this goes? Who knows - I'm not going to fret about it. Just a side hobby; somewhere where I control the content... Seems pretty fun to me. I hope you enjoy.

Oh... sandos is an acronym that I've used for about 8 years. The first person to correctly identify what the acronym is will win something fun (which is to be determined, but it will be nice; for sure iPhone related - maybe a Slider case or something). Although I doubt anyone will get it. Muhahahahaha!!!