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Loading ...Update #2: We have added a new guide for installing the iPhone 2.1 Firmware.
Introduction
This quick guide covers the process I took to install the iPhone 2.0.1 firmware on my 1st generation, JailBroken, T-Mobile iPhone. It’s outlined here for anyone else that wants to do the same, but has been holding off on doing so until the process was a bit more documented and easier to do (with nice GUI tools).
Before You Get Started
I did want to take a chance to point out that I know this guide looks really long and complicated, but what is being on in the guide is actually really straight forward, to summarize it goes something like this:
- Using the official iPhone 2.0.1 firmware, we create a new customized/cracked firmware using WinPwn.
- We then trick iTunes into thinking this custom firmware is legit
- We put our phone into recovery mode, which will cause iTunes to install a firmware to it to “Recovery” it… because we duped iTunes into thinking our custom firmware is legit, it installs that for us.
- Viola, iPhone 2.0.x firmware on our 1st generation iPhone on T-Mobile!
So don’t get too discouraged, I just wanted to make it as detailed as possible so no one would get hung up at any part or confused as to what they were doing (I found a lot of other guides out there assumed you knew what all the lingo meant and just throws around crazy terms with no introduction as to what you are doing… I tried to clarify that).
Installing the iPhone 2.0.x Firmware
So I’ve been playing it safe since the iPhone 2.0 firmware was released and holding off on trying to install it on my JailBroken T-Mobile iPhone because I didn’t want to be one of the handful of people to find out that the convoluted install steps bricks my phone. Today was the day and I finally bit, the install actually went really smoothly and I promised myself that I would write this all up for other folks once I was done with it, so here it is.
NOTE: I found this guide very helpful if anything written here is unclear, check that guide out for clarification.
- First, if you are on a Mac, just use Pwnage 2.0.2, it’s pretty much a point-and-click process with this nice-ass tool.
- For everyone else on Windows, you will be using WinPwn 2.0.0.4 (that’s what I used at the time of this writing). Go ahead and download and install that application.
- Download the 2.0.1 firmware for the 1st generation iPhone here.
- Now, plug in your iPhone and make sure iTunes 7.7 starts up as it normally does.
- Launch WinPwn now, you will see the main screen:
- The numbering you see in the screenshot above is more or less the order we will go through the interface now, more specifically:
- Click Browse .ipsw, and browse to the location where you downloaded the .ipsw file from Step #3, select it, and hit Open
- Click IPSW Builder. You can now configure the types of things you want in the iPhone firmware image that will be installed. We recommend enabling Cydia and Installer 2.0 under the Applications tab:
and under the Advanced tab we had to leave the Activate Phone option checked:
if you don’t do this, after the firmware install was done, iTunes just came up with some “This is an unknown SIM card. Please insert a supported SIM card in the phone and activate it”. The original guide mentions not using the Activate Phone checkbox, but I believe that is because they were on the AT&T network already, while we are all on T-Mobile.Now that we have our IPSW firmware all configured, click Build .ipsw down in the bottom left hand corner, select a directory to write the new firmware file out to and let WinPwn build the IPSW file for you.
NOTE: You can use the IPSW Builder to further customize your firmware image before writing it to the device with things like custom boot/shut down images as well as custom application software payloads… we didn’t do any of this though. Just left it all defaults.
- After the new IPSW file is built, click the iPwner button, select the new IPSW file and hit Open. You’ll notice that iTunes (from Step #3) will close in the background and WinPwn will display a small popup indicating that iTunes has been “pwned”:
- Now that you have built your new firmware image and pwned iTunes, we need to put the iPhone into DFU Mode in order to get iTunes to go into “recovery mode”, at which point we point it at the firmware we just made and force it to “restore” (install) that firmware onto our iPhone for us.
- To put your phone into DFU Mode, hold down the Power Button (top right corner, the thing you push to lock and turn it off) and the Home Button (front page, bottom center… the button you push all the time to get back to the home screen); hold both buttons together for 10 secs, you’ll see the “Power Off” screen come up, and just keep holding, and about 3 secs later the screen will go black.
- As soon as the screen goes black, release the Power Button (top right corner) but keep holding the Home Button for another 10 secs by itself and then release it.
- At some point before you release the Home Button, you’ll probably notice your computer start doing stuff, like installing USB drivers or see iTunes come up and say something like “iPhone is in Recovery Mode” or something like that.
- After the 10 secs, release the home button and you will see the iTunes Restore screen asking you to Restore the device.
- Hold down the Shift Key and Left Click the Restore button, you will be prompted with a File Open dialog, now go find and select the IPSW we made back in Step #6.2 (not the original one we downloaded in Step #3), select it and click Open. iTunes will begin the Restore of the iPhone (in reality it’s installing the new firmware we just made).
- After the restore is done, the iPhone will reboot and you can resync with iTunes, restoring all the data that was on your phone before you wiped it. The whole restore process took maybe 8-10mins but my data-resync process took much longer, I had a ton of media on there.
Conclusion
And that’s it… it looks like a long process, but it’s pretty straight forward as to what you are doing. I hope this helped someone else out there wanting to get their phone all udpated to 2.0.1 on T-Mobile and has been waiting for something easier like I have.
Update #1: User phani pointed out that if you run into a situation where after going through this guide exactly for T-Mobile, and you still end up wth “No Service”, you might need to use different bootloader files. Thanks phani!
August 12th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Dude, very nice write-up. I’m on ATT so I didn’t need to do this stuff — not sure if it’s necessary anymore with the downloadable content. Most programs in the iTunes store suffice for what I’m doing.
Not sure about the 3G but I hear there are some issues pwning it. Might wanna Google some other places first.
August 12th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
i followed exacly your step but i dont have any signal on my iphone? could u help me this?
August 12th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
DON- if your phone was on ATT then you should NOT have checked the “activate phone” under the Advance tab. You check that only if you are using an Tmobil sim.
August 12th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Don,
Steve is exactly right. Give us a bit more info about your setup.
* Are you on AT&T or T-Mobile?
* Are you using a 1st gen or 3G iPhone?
August 12th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
again, i followed exacly what u write above, and the process was the same but after it was done, i did not have signal. i am using T-moble and 1st gen.
August 12th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
my iphone is 8G
August 13th, 2008 at 7:56 am
Thanx for a Nice write-up. I am on AT&T and using the I-Phone 2G currently running the 2.0.1(original software). I did exactly as you said but I still get the Error(6). After I create the Custom IPSW and try to restore via itunes 7.7 I always get this error. Please help and let me know if u have resolution for me.
August 13th, 2008 at 10:29 am
What should I do to upgrade to the 2.0 software if I have a 1st gen iphone that’s jailbroken (originally because I was with Tmobile) but is now on the AT&T network?
August 13th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
@ Don, go through the steps of building the IPSW file again, but this time *only* check the Cydia installer on the first page and the “Activate” checkbox on the last page, don’t do any other customizations. Then write out the file, pwn itunes again and put the phone into restore and reinstall it.
@ Sim, you have to make sure you are using the firmware linked above for the 3G iPhone and not the 1st gen ones (here it is). Also, be sure you *don’t* use the activation flag on the last step of the Build ISPW screen, so only check the Cydia installer and that’s it, then restore via iTunes.
@mechan, follow the exact same steps, but when you go to build the IPSW file, only check the Cydia installer on the first wizard page and *uncheck* the Activate checkbox on the last page, cause your phone already has an AT&T SIM card in it, so you don’t need to do that part.
August 13th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Don can’t read…. I can see that there is no helping him
August 13th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
First of all thanx for the reply. But i have some concerns, they are as follows :-
I am not able to understand why I should be using the 3G firmware my Iphone is the non 3G. I ll try and explain my situation again.
All I have is a Non 3G Iphone running 2.0.1 Software. I am currently on AT&T. I downloaded the 2.0.1 IPSW and tried the tool, every thing goes well until I reach the last Step wherein I need to restore the Iphone using the iTunes. After following each and every step carefully while restoring I get this Unknown Error(6). Please advice / help.
Thankx for help inadvacne
August 14th, 2008 at 12:38 am
i checked erything on the advandge tab except no wipe and update bootloader and it works. i have a working phone now. Thanks for your help.
August 14th, 2008 at 3:24 am
@ Sim, sorry for the confusion. You mentioned above you were using a “2G” iPhone, I interpreted that to mean “2nd generation”, which meant the 3G iPhone, but it sounds like you are on the 1st generation iPhone (non-3G) that I have.
I’ve not seen the “Unknown Error(6)” issue before, are you sure you are using iTunes 7.7 and the correct firmware?
@ Don, that’s great news, glad you are back in action!
August 14th, 2008 at 7:26 am
Hi thanx for the reply again.
I got it to work this time, I think the problem was the recovery mode. I was not able to reach the DFU mode and I guess that’s what the problem was, Once i entered the DFU mode it worked and all looks good now.
Thanx a ton and keep up the good work.
Sim
August 14th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Sim,
Really glad to hear you are back in action now.
August 15th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
I need help guys.
I have a Ziphoned Ist Gen 1.1.3 which was 1.1.2 OTB.
Can I just winpawn straight to 2.0.1 or do i have to upgrade to 1.1.4 first? I do not have ATT contract so i will have to unlock/activate.
Thanks guys.
August 16th, 2008 at 9:42 am
Ozonaya,
If you are on T-Mobile, that is *exactly* the same setup I had (1.1.2 OTB, then ZiPhoned to 1.1.3 until the guide above and jumped to 2.0.1).
So yes, you can follow the guide above to jump right to 2.0.1, just mind the following two tips:
* If you are on T-Mobile, be sure to check the “Activate” option on that last tab during the IPSW stage.
* If you are on AT&T, do not check the “Activate” option.
Then when you go into DFU mode and restore from the image, you will be all set!
August 16th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Thanks, I have an original AT&T Sim Card b/4 it was taken over by Cingular then by current AT&T. My sim is no longer supported by AT&T so I have always followed procedures used by T-Mobile users and it has always worked for me. I have a wonderful plan that current AT&T refused to match so I am sticking with original sim.
I will post my result when I am done sometime during the week
Thanks again and have a wonderful day.
August 17th, 2008 at 9:42 am
I just upgraded using my 1st Gen phone and it worked like a dream
Thanks to all involved and the great instructions
Robert
August 17th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Robert,
Glad to hear it man. Thanks for posting your results here incase others were curious how other’s upgrades were going.
August 17th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
great instructions! Thankx….. One thing when I click on the mail icon to check my gmail it starts to open and then closes and goes back to the home screen.
??
Any help appreciated:)
August 17th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
I have a first generation IPhone and I updated it to 2.0, but my t-mobile sim card does not work and my edge does not work…Please help me!!!!! I really miss my phone…
August 17th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Will adding tzones allow my Iphone to work?
I have the unlimited internedt plan with Tmobile (19.00)
August 17th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Please if anyone know how to fix this problem let me know. I am on the 2.0(1st generation phone) …I cannot find the Edge I looked at settings/network….and it is not there.
I put my t-mobile sim card and it says no service….I am really sad
Please Help!!!!!
August 17th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Ohh and I forgot………My Itunes will not download my music….
August 18th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
@cjceo,
Before we can help we need to know more information about your phone. Is it a 1st gen iPhone? A 3G iPhone? Also which carrier are you on?
@AA, my guess is that you forgot to check the “Activate Phone” checkbox at the end of the “Build IPSW” step, so your phone is not activated and thinks it’s on AT&T.
Try and rebuild the IPSW and make sure that Activate option is checked as shown in the screenshots and re-restore the iPhone.
August 18th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
I have a 1st generation Iphone, which was jailbroken and unlocked and I was using my T-mobile sim card with no problem. My internet, email and all my music was working wonderful. I went to download more music in my Iphone with my Itunes program( I have a Mac) and I click update and download, I did not know that if I did that I will lock my phone. My friend is the one that upgraded my phone to 2.0 and unlocked it.
But now my Iphone does not recognized my T-mobile sim card, I have no internet and I try to download music to m Iphone, but no luck. I pay for the $19.00 plan to T-mobile for the internet. I ask my friend if he check the box that said activate phone, but he could not remember……
Should I re-do the process again?
Thank you for your help!
August 18th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
AA,
Yea you have to redo that process either way, sounds like your friend accidentally locked your phone back down, so you need to rebuild the IPSW file with the “Activate” checkbox checked so your phone will use your T-Mobile Sim.
August 19th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Sorry..I’m used to my phone alerting me of a message…To answer your questions…I have a first gen iphone and I have T-mobile service.
Thanx again for any help….
August 20th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
hi, i have a 1st gen iphone that was unlocked and jailbroken and i just updated to 2.0.1… everything works well, but i cannot seem to find the apn settings on the phone… i went to settings, general, network, but the only thing that shows up is data roaming, vpn settings and the wifi option. i know that i have to put the apn url in, but how do i get get my web to work if it isn there? please help….
August 21st, 2008 at 10:22 am
Kenny,
You mean to get data through the T-Mobile Tzones instead of the data plan? I’m not sure why you need to enter the APN… I think you might need an app to keep using that trick with 2.0+
August 21st, 2008 at 4:50 pm
I have an 8gb, 1st gen iPhone, I have a tmobile sim in my phone and i ran it through just like you it said with the activate option checked and just the cydia and installer checked. I have NO SERVICE.
I did this process on my friends phoen who also has a tmobile sim and it worked for him.
Please help, I am phoneless and it sucks.
August 21st, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Yeah!!!!!! I did the process and the phone works great!!!! a question how do I retrieve my contacts from the sim card…..
Thanks!!!!Thank!!!!!
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:08 am
I finally got my phone to work. I have been looking and working on my phoen for hours and the solution was to use this guide: http://sleepers.net/news/2008/07/25/winpwn-20-guide/
At the top of this guide there are links to downloading bootloader files. The guide explains on how to use this and what to check and not check on the advanced menu.
After this my phone worked.
hope this helps others who are without the complete services of thei beloved iPhones.
August 22nd, 2008 at 9:58 am
Phani,
Sorry you got stuck, thank you for posting the workaround for your situation incase anyone else runs into that wall. I went ahead and updated the tutorial with your notes and full credits.
Also AA, there is a command somewhere on the iPhone I think under the Settings menu that says something like “Copy contacts to SIM” or something like that I think… give that a try.
August 22nd, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Hey whats up quick question im on a mac and i keep DL the firmware files but pwnage tool wont find them on its own and try to browse them on my own using advanced mode but i cant open the files do i have to create a folder or something plz help im new at this.
August 22nd, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Jay,
I have never used Pwnage before, but isn’t that used to *crack* valid Firmware? Please double-check the website, but if it is, you might be able to iTunes-update your phone legitimately (which will lock it down) but then run Pwnage on it which will break it free again.
NOTE: I’ve never done this and am not 100% sure about that, but thought I heard a friend say so that is on a Mac/T-Mobile… please double-check me on this.
August 24th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
I found out the right way to fix the issue where-in you don’t get any signals on t-mobile (or any other GSM carrier) once you upgrade to firmware 2.0 and then downgrade back to 1.1.4…the detailed instructions are at : http://iphone-tmobile-nosignal.blogspot.com/
August 25th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
I have a question, am on at&t and i just bought a iphone 3g an activated with at&t but my whole family is moving to t-mobile so what do i have to do to get it to work with t-mobile i mean email, internet, messengers, youtube everything?? please help
August 25th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
@iPhone 3G: If you re-read the original post, you’ll notice we included links for the 3G-compatible Firmware, so all you do differently is grab *that* firmware instead of the iPhone 1-st generation one, and run through the same steps.
Also be sure to tick off “Activate phone” when you have the T-Mobile SIM in the phone so it activates it on the T-Mo network.
NOTE: I have no idea if you can move your AT&T SIM to T-Mo or not… I’ve never tried, I’ve always had a T-Mo sim that I’ve put in my iPhone… so I can’t provide much help there, maybe one of the other readers can help?
Guys? Suggestions?
August 26th, 2008 at 4:32 am
Mac Users, heads-up, the new PwnageTool 2.0.3 has been released, which updates the support for the newest iPhone firmware (for both 1st gen and 3G phones).
NOTE: This is just for Mac users, PwnageTool only works on Mac.
August 26th, 2008 at 9:13 am
What’s the word on 2.0.2?
August 26th, 2008 at 9:15 am
Let me clarify the firmware 2.0.2….
August 26th, 2008 at 11:00 am
cjceo, haven’t seen any news on 2.0.2 yet, might be possible to download it off the Apple site and use the IPSW Builder to build a flashable one using the directions above, I just haven’t tried yet.
August 26th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
go to sleepers.net they have a lot of info on a lot of different software’s to unlock iphones
August 26th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
what would happen if i buy the iphone 3g make a contract activate the phone, then switch the sim card to another phone?
August 27th, 2008 at 12:08 am
What would be the reason for WinPwn not to save the .ipsw after its been built.
I tried this about 10 times on 4 different PC’s and operating systems XP, Vista, and MAC OSX
And removed it and installed it and still can’t get it to work.
Unless I’m really missing something
August 27th, 2008 at 2:34 am
Let me double check:
If you have a 3g phone, just download the firmware linked above for 3g. Then run it in the new winpwn and turn ON the “activate phone” box? Or do we turn it OFF? And this will basically allow service through Tmobile on a 3g phone?
August 27th, 2008 at 3:19 am
I attempted this and still do not get signal. I chose “activate phone” checked from the menu in winpwn and did the whole process with the tmobile sim installed in the phone. It just shows _ _ _ for the service provider like it did before. What am I missing?
August 27th, 2008 at 4:47 am
@ Bryce,
Not sure honestly. When you click “Build .ipsw”, you should be prompted to select an output dir and name for the new IPSW file, is that not happening or are you forgetting to build the IPSW file?
@ Jason,
Yes for 3G grab the respective firmware above, run the new WinPwn and yes on T-Mobile you will need to use “Activate Phone” normally, but since that didn’t work, try it again without the Activate. It’s a bit of hit or miss. Also 1 user forgot to put their phone into DFU mode before doing the Restore which was flaking things out and we had one guy contact us privately that said he did it the same way “5x” and on the 5th time it worked… I’m not sure I buy that, but just keep trying different combinations.
August 27th, 2008 at 11:24 am
If you guys have seen it work, then I’ll take your word for it and try again. I though the only way to get to restore mode was by DFU mode? Is it possible to be in another mode and still restore? I did 10 seconds on both buttons, released the power, and continued holding home for another 10. It made the typical “usb” beep on the computer after it all but iTunes did not automatically come up. It did however say “this phone needs to be recovered before use” and allowed me to click the “restore button”. Is there a different message than that for proper DFU mode? Again, thanks a lot for the help.
August 27th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Thanks man!!! This really worked for me. Couldn’t have explained the process any better.
August 27th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
My compliments on wonderful writing there! reading it all has got me motivated to upgrade my iphone’s(1stgen,non-3g) firmware too. I’m from India & a friend bought me this already jailbroken iPhone(v1.0.2) from US last month but since many apps now need newer firmware I was desperate on upgrading it.
So far reading this thread, I presume I need to check “Activate phone” too here. The phone was from AT&T originally but now works on any Indian carrier like vodafone,Airtel etc. Pls advice so I can proceed. Any other tips are also welcome. PS: its a 1st gen iphone..
August 27th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
GENERAL: A few folks asked about 2.0.2 status, just wanted to let you know that doesn’t look like any big updates there *and* they have discovered a security hole, so don’t worry about it for now, they are probably gonna do a 2.0.3 soon anyway.
@Jason, that is exactly the right mode, you did DFU you right. Give it a few more tries, if you can’t get it working then I would suggest using ZiPhone to re-crack a 1.1 phone I guess if you cannot get 2.0 on there.. I’m really sorry to hear it’s not going smoothly.
@Mto, thank you for the kind words, we are glad you liked it!
@Gags, thank you for saying so. As far as cracking, yes it sounds like you’ll need to do Activate Phone as well since you are not on AT&T and I’m guessing have a different SIM in the phone.
August 27th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
has anyone successfully gotten a 3g to work yet with tmobile? I assumed this tutorial is showing that it can be done without having to “unlock” with another program. Ill give it another go. I haven’t tried doing it with “activate” turned OFF. I have some SIM unlocks coming in but this would be great now so that I can stop having to use an old sidekick for service
August 27th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
Hi guys - Sorry in advance but I’m a newbie to this stuff…I have a 1st generation iphone that was given to me by a friend who got the 3g. They had an At&T contract with it, and he last upgraded it to 2.0.2. I haven’t done anything with it yet, but I have T-mobile and $5.99 T-zones. Do I start right at the same point you started at with downloading WinPwn 2.0.1 firmware for the 1st gen phones? Or do I have to unlock it first since it was under AT&T before? If doing the first step takes care of the “unlocking” as well, I apologize. I just thought I should ask before messing with it! If that first step is assuming the phone is already unlocked, anyone know a good unlocking guide for dummies with windows and a 1st gen phone that has 2.0.2 version on it already? Will the 5.99 plan enable youtube and gmail to work? I hear from some that they won’t work unless you’re in a wifi hotspot. Thank you!!!
August 27th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
chicagoKeri,
Good question, I’m not *positive* if the phone has to be unlocked already, but I don’t think so… I think that’s the whole point of what WinPwn+”Activate” does, it unlocks the firmware and artificially activates the phone on the T-Mobile network.
Now as far as using the T-Zones plan as the data plan instead of the real $20/mo data plan, I’m not sure on 2.0 how to do that, I know you used to be able to do it on the 1.1 firmware, but don’t know much with regard to getting it to work on 2.0
I would make the point that YouTube over EDGE is abysmal anyway so you aren’t likely going to do it, but basic data (email, browsing, etc.) is very handy to have.
I think you can just fall back to a jailbroken/hacked 1.1.4 install using ZiPhone if this doesn’t work out.
If you haven’t done *anything* with the phone yet and it’s straight from your friend, that’s probably the safest state to mess with it in (since you have no data to loose or anything to backup).
August 28th, 2008 at 1:19 am
Hi Editor,
I have couple of questions:
1) I had Cydia on my phone but somehow in the process of updating it , I lost it. Honestly , cant remember how. I have the phone that works perfectly and I would like to add cydia now. If I go through the ipsw builder and just add Cydia, will my phone just add cydia on it? Will I lose all my info on it (mail setting up again, i tunes , downloaded games…)?
2) With tmobile, do I need all internet plan 19.99 or can I have t zones for 5.99 to do the full browse of the internet?
Thank you
August 28th, 2008 at 1:22 am
one more question, sorry
Since I am on tmobile sim card, I am always cautious of updating software either through cydia or i tunes. Does it hurt when I upgrade it? For example I tunes is telling me that new softward is available for iphone 2.0.2. What are disadvantages from updating it?
Sorry for such a simple questions, but I am new to this
Thank you again
August 28th, 2008 at 5:28 am
Tried this method yesterday w/ held breath and crossed fingers. I too, have a ZiPhone’d unit w/ 1.1.4 unlocked to T-Mobile. I read and re-read this post to make sure that I did everything right and voila it worked. Everything written above is all you need in order to keep your jail-broken and unlocked iPhone the same just w/ 2.0.1 when it reboots. It will take a while so don’t stop anything or unplug it from iTunes. I have been playing w/ AppStore for the past day and must admit it has more value than I first expected, but the real reason I took the plunge was for the Cisco IPSEC VPN that 2.0 promised. It’s a little hit and miss but between our webmail interface and the Exchange sync’ing it’s a lot better than carrying around an iPhone that can’t help me w/ my work.
Actually, after getting all of this done I put my T-Mobile SIM back in my BlackBerry Curve and have relegated the iPhone to e-mail and web duty. The reasons are thesej: my Curve can hold IM conversations in the background while making/taking phone calls, the iPhone VPN cannot connect over EDGE/3G therefore making it useless for corporate e-mail unless on WiFi, and the Curve is superior in keeping a good signal for phone calls. My iPhone drops calls in the same places where the BlackBerry is showing half to full signal strength.
If you are wondering whether you need to upgrade to 2.0 I wouldn’t bother unless you need the VPN. There are a lot of small improvements but all of the good jailbroken apps that were in Installer on 1.1.4 are gone and have not been ported to 2.0.
August 28th, 2008 at 6:53 am
hey guys I hate burst your bubble but I’ve been hacking iphone since the gate (when first released) before all these easy noob tools came out ziphone etc. you cannot unlock the new 3g yet with software. So if u have one don’t use these steps thell work only to jailbreak not unlock it don’t matter what u try the only way to get 3g to work with tmobile is to use a sim hack hardware and alter your sim .
August 28th, 2008 at 6:59 am
Dali,
1. If you redo the IPSW, you are going to wipe out the phone and reflash it’s firmware, so you don’t want to do that to *just* add Cydia… I’m sure there is another way to do it, try and check out the Cydia website, I’m not sure off the top of my head how to though.
2. I don’t know how to do data over T-Zones, I have the full data plan.
3. Oh yea, don’t do the upgrade through iTunes, it will lock your phone back down. Just turn off that “check for updates” button to avoid accidentally doing it.
August 28th, 2008 at 7:01 am
Sam,
Great update. You actually saved me a lot of hair from falling out because my BB Pearl used to get excellent call quality and dropped 2 calls in the 1.5 years I had it, my iPhone drops calls like crazy, especially if I’m in the car, and I never knew why… to have someone else confirm this takes a huge load off my shoulders.
Also agree, there really isn’t much in 2.0 that is interesting… if I had to do it all over again, I’d probably just stay on 1.1.4. As a normal-joe-user on a hacked iPhone (can’t use apps yet) there is really nothing here that entices me.
August 28th, 2008 at 7:02 am
Anthony, just to clarify are you talking about getting 3G in the iPhone 3G working on T-Mobile’s 3G network, or are you talking about getting the phone working at all?
It is out understanding that the 3G iPhone won’t work on T-Mobile’s 3G network anyway, but you can crack the 3G iPhone to atleast get it working using EDGE on T-Mobile, could you clarify?
August 28th, 2008 at 7:20 am
ya I’m talking about the three g you can unlock it via stealth sim or other sim hack no software mods
and ya the edge will work on tmobile just no 3g
August 28th, 2008 at 7:33 am
Anthony,
That’s badass, I didn’t know you *could* even get the 3G portion of the iPhone 3G working on the T-Mobile 3G network, thanks for the heads up!
August 28th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Does my T-mobile sim card have to be in the iphone when I start at step 1? Thanks!! This site is great
August 28th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
chicago - i believe your sim DOES need to be in the phone.
I tried a few more times and this does NOT unlock a 3g phone onto tmobile. I have a few sim chips in now to add to my tmobile sim and I will relay the results as to whether I get 3g or not here in the southeast (US). I believe unlocking should work fine for at least EDGE with these. The above method only jailbreaks the phone as it does NOT update the baseband.
August 28th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Jason, sorry none of the attempts have worked, thanks for keeping us posted on what you find (incase anyone else is struggling with the same thing)
August 28th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Reporting back:
100% unlocked on Tmobile USA with full EDGE support, WIFI, and IN/OUT calls and text through the use of a sim adapter (one of those universal type sims). No 3g here yet in the southeast though until October (fingers crossed).
Not sure if I am allowed to state which brand sim chip adapter I used, but this version has unlocked everything properly and will hopefully last. I used a SIM PKEY reader to update the adapter chip to the latest version and it has been working all day so far. Average of 4-5 bars wherever I go. Data transfer in and out has been flawless. Transfer between Wifi and Edge is flawless. If I am allowed to release the name publicly I can but I would like to respect the site’s wishes.
Hope this helps those wondering if they can jump to a 3g tmobile phone for the time being until an official unlock software releases (if it ever does).
August 28th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Jason,
That’s awesome news, thanks for reporting back on that for others. As for the name of the SIM adapter, really appreciate you asking about that, go ahead and share it incase anyone else wants/needs to go down the same path you did to get things working.
Thanks again.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:06 am
OK i tried to do this using step by step but when i tried to use the build ipsw itunes came up with error i would really like to get 2.02 running on my jailbroken iphone for tmobile…the question i ask is it really worth upgrading the phone?? if u upgrade the phone will u be able to downgrade it back to 1.1.4??? please help!!!
August 29th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Whats the best way to go about jailbreaking the iPhone 1st gen? The phone will be running on T-Mobile. Then once the phone is hacked then I can install 2.0, correct?
Thanks.
August 29th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
The easiest way is to use Ziphone, http://download.ziphone.org/. Unlock and jailbreak on 1.1.4 then use the above method to upgrade to 2.0.1.
August 29th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Thanks! Another question, whats the best plan to get on T-Mobile for the internet and email to work? How much?
Thanks.
August 29th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
I have the $19.99 Unlimited BlackBerry plan b/c I need access to instant message clients and BB Messenger. I have heard that the $5.99 T-Zones will work w/ the iPhone hack downloaded from Cydia but haven’t tried it yet. I believe you will be able to access e-mail w/the T-Zones plan though if that’s all you need.
August 29th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
whats the difference between Cydia and Ziphone?
August 29th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
@Bmore,
Note that the guide above is all for 2.0.1, not for 2.0.2. So if you downloaded your own 2.0.2 image, that might be why it’s failing.
As far as “is it worth the upgrade to 2.0?”, my impressions so far are “no”… unless you are using any of the 2.0 features, if you were already really happy with the phone and couldn’t think of any awesome new additions, then you will probably keep using it the same way and not notice a difference at all.
@Chew,
Cydia is the new installer for 2.0-based phones, it replaces the older “Installer” app that people used to install 3rd party/community apps for hacked phones. ZiPhone is a point-and-click UI used to hack your 1st Gen iPhone and JailBreak it… they are two separate things.
August 29th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Alright. Sam had said that the 5.99 plan throught T-Mobile works for internet and email. Will I need to put this on my plan prior to jailbreaking?
August 29th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Hey, quick question. Im running a Mac and I downloaded the Pwnage 2.0.2. I am not able to locate the IPSW in the .zip file. The file extension before I download says .ipsw.zip. After i unzip the file I can not find the .ipsw file. Could you please let me know where to look for this.
Thanks in advance.
August 31st, 2008 at 8:16 pm
does anybody know if you can drop the iphone 3g data plan since you don’t need it when u have wifi?
September 1st, 2008 at 12:01 pm
iPhoneG, if you don’t need the data plan and are always in a wifi-area, sure you can drop it from either your AT&T plan or T-Mobile plan, that’s fine.
Just a heads up though, WiFi drains the battery a lot faster.
September 2nd, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Has anyone been able to figure out where I can locate the .ipsw file. I can not find it i the zip file.
Thanks.
September 3rd, 2008 at 3:26 am
I just came back to see what was going on and saw that I have made a difference, thanks for the credit, glad to help someone out.
One thing I’ve noticed on my iPhone (first gen, 8gb on t-mobile) is that I pick up EDGE much better with this firmware for some reason when I had 1.1.4 I could only use EDGE in very open areas and it would be really slow but I can actually pick up EDGE connection while driving and a lot more places with the 2.0.1 firmware. Does anyone know why this might be or is it just random?
September 3rd, 2008 at 4:27 am
i went to tmobile yesterday and they told me that the data plan as to be with the iphone 3g when u activate the phone so i dont know you u can drop it after
September 3rd, 2008 at 4:55 pm
ok att have pissed me off going to get a t mobile sim card tomorrow . when i get it do i have to rejailbreak my iphone 2g on 2.0.1 . and then check the activate and if thats true what about the you tube fix do i check that to or not. and also is the edge slower then normal and what dont work on t mobile network. can somebody help me out that know what they talking about thanks da man
September 3rd, 2008 at 4:59 pm
p.s i know about the t zone to and im getting it to with my plan . and the jailbreak t zone hack to
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:32 pm
The T-Mobile EDGE is the same as the ATT bandwidth. If/when you jailbreak you do need to check the “YouTube” box and it does work. Mine did not work on 1.1.4 but does on 2.0.1.
September 4th, 2008 at 9:31 am
I have a 1st gen 8gb iPhone unlocked and jailbroken with 2.0.2 firmware on with T-Mobile service. I am not able to get my edge service working. Everything else is working great including wifi. I have the edge “E” in the top corner on the screen and have provisioned the total tmobile internet on my account. Can you PLEASE help me with this??
September 5th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
I forgot to jump back in here and finish up my review of the 3G unlock. Heres the latest:
Its been over a week now. The sim adapter card I used is called “Universal-Sim”. I updated it to the software version V540 from their website with a USB Pkey Sim reader (cheap) and put it in. The phone works flawlessly. I have kept the card in the phone for the last week without a single issue. This is 100% on Tmobile USA. They don’t have 3G in this area, however, so I have been unable to check for 3G support. I believe if Tmobile’s 3G frequencies are supported by iPhone then this WILL work without any changes.
-I put the sim and U-sim adapter in the phone first
-Then I used winpwn 2.0.0.4 to jailbreak
-Then once that was finished I went into settings and added appropriate Tmobile Data under the Cingular Data menu to get EDGE to work.
-Very easy and 100% working now for over a week.
I have one of these for sale since I purchased 4 in the case that one of them may not work. All were tested and 3 have been used now in different phones for the last week with perfect success. If you are interested let me know. I had somewhat of a hassle ordering them and paid too much in my opinion so I will offer it much cheaper. Hope this helps.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
hahaha wow he probably selling it cause they dont work for him hahaha
September 8th, 2008 at 9:27 am
hi, i currently have an unlocked and jailbreaked 1.1.4 2ng gen iphone on vodafone, i live in the uk and i was just reading the process. can i use your process to upgrade my 1.1.4(ziphone apptapp jailbreak) iphone???
im using vodafone sim card in the uk.]
thanks
September 10th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Can I do this with itunes 8.0? If not, how do I get back to itunes 7.7?
September 10th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
This should help: http://www.oldapps.com/itunes.htm
September 10th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Of course googling iTunes 7.7 helps too: http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/itunes77.html
September 10th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
@Jason, the 3G iPhone will not be able to utilize Tmobile’s 3G
/bummed
September 15th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
I tried following this word for word and got the infamous 1604 error. Did no one here get that message as well?
September 15th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Not I. Are you using a 1st gen iPhone?
September 16th, 2008 at 6:04 am
Are you guys providing instructions and links to upgrade to 2.1?
September 18th, 2008 at 7:06 am
Hi Guys,
I am in India and I had iPhone with firmware version 1.1.4…Recently I used winpawn to upgrade firmware version 2.0.1. It was success and it’s working fine with my Vodafone connection except EDGE.I bought this iphone april-2008 at USA.
After upgrading to firmware 2.0.1 ,I am not able to find EDGE option to enter APN details to access internet.
Could someone help me to get the Edge option in new firmware 2.0.1?
September 19th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
i have the 1st gen iphone, i had it working with t-mobile but i made the mistake of restoring/trying to update. i know i have a backup in my itunes 8, but i cant see where to restore that backup for my updated iphone.. if i can use that backup to restore my contacts, great.. if not please let me know of the easiest way to start from scratch and fix my phone.. thanks
September 22nd, 2008 at 5:37 am
Hi All,
This past weekend I upgraded to firmware 2.1 which fixed a lot of the latency in 2.0.1. I used Quickpwn to jailbreak and keep my iPhone unlocked to T-Mobile. You will need iTunes 8 in order to restore (not upgrade) your phone then use Quickpwn for the rest. The whole evolution takes about 30 minutes or so including the backup, break, and restore.
September 22nd, 2008 at 5:57 am
http://www.appleiphoneschool.com/2008/09/19/quickpwn-for-21-firmware/
September 24th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
hi all
i have 1gen iphone. can i update to 2.1 and how can i do so
September 25th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Here’s what worked for me: http://sleepers.net/news/2008/08/19/quick-pwn-gui-guide/
September 27th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Guys just a heads up, we’ve added a new detailed guide on how to install the iPhone 2.1 Firmware on hacked non-AT&T phones for you to take a look at.
If you got stuck installing 2.0.1 as covered in this guide or want to jump to 2.1, give it a look.
Also something new we covered in that guide is how to setup the phone “as new”, which is basically like a completely fresh format of the phone that makes it snappier and doesn’t resync all the junk from all the previous upgrades or syncs you have gone through. Some folks mentioned being interested in that so we covered that this time with 2.1 and so far the interface is pretty snappy… nice to see.
October 1st, 2008 at 1:15 pm
i have a 8gb iphone with 1.1.2 on it. i jailbroke and unlocked when i bought it and use tmobile. i have itunes on the mac. do i understand correctly then that i can use Pwnage and the above steps a go directly to 2.0 firmware? which would be great so i can take advantage of games and such from itunes store as well as the many 3rd party apps. maybe i want to go right to 2.1? any advice?
October 1st, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Joe, yes you are correct. Although I’d point out that 2.1 is already out and we have a guide for that too if you need help, but it is for QuickPwn on Windows and not Pwnage on Mac.
Although I think Pwnage is still the easiest way to go.
As far as advice, just make sure you sync your phone completely with your computer before you get started, so that way even if you destroy it, you can still hook it back up and resync it after a restore.
October 6th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Hey Guys,
I need your Help…I had iphone with 1.1.4 firmware version. I upgraded that to 2.0.1 using winpwn 2.0.04. Everything was working fine.One day I connected my iphone with itunes and accidently i presses just RESTORE which I noticed after completion stating that My Iphone has been restored to factory settings.
Earlier when I bought iphone , i used ziphone to unlock it… Now that is not working( Iphone hangs in recovery mode while unlocking thru ziphone).
I tried same winpwn method which I used to upgrade my firmware version earlier and that too failed.
Now my mobile is in locked state and not sure what firmware version it has.
Please help me to come out of this issue.