Iphone Unlocking Woes

[EternalGamer]

My screen on my phone died. A friend gave me his old Iphone 2G a few months ago to use as an ipod. I decided to try to unlock it and just move my sims card over, but it isn't as easy as I thought.

So far I have tried Redsnow, Pwonage, and Spirt. The problem seems to have something to do with loading the .ipsw file from Itunes. I have tried restoring the phone several times. I have tried downloading a new ipsw from the web.

Is there anything obvious that I'm not trying or doing wrong that someone could inform me of?

I really don't know anything about how this process is suppose to work.

If it helps, I am using a 2G iPhone ver. 1.3.3 software.

[Bone]

I don't have any experience jailbreaking the 2G- my 3GS is really simple and never causes any problems. Do you know which version of iOS you are running? I used http://www.jailbreakme.com/ and it's been a painless experience.

[Cactaur]

Is the phone jail broken? The maximum version for the iPhone 2g is 3.1.3.

Apple stops signing the firmware of earlier versions shortly after a new one is released. In this case there's little to no chance of reflashing to a 1.x firmware unless the signing key has been saved either via cydia or tiny umbrella.

If the key is saved you can use tiny umbrella to spoof the authorization server and flash to an earlier firmware.

Apple *should* still be signing 3.1.3 for the 2g since it's the last version for it.

The second part is whether the baseband has been upgraded to prevent carrier unlocks. I don't know whether it's been aggressively patched in version 3, but there are some convoluted ways to use base bands from an earlier version.

Tl;dr jailbreak first, then see about the baseband hack.

[muddi900]

Jailbreakin =/= Unlocking. Just remember that.

That being said, iphone 2g is really easy to unlock, I don't think the baseband was ever upgraded past unlocking. These are good links I use. You have to follow each step to the letter.

Mac:
http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=7430

Windows:
http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=7436

You'll also need the old version of the application.

[EternalGamer]

Thanks for all the advice, guys. I really don't know what I'm doing.

Muddi, I tried using the instructions on that page and ended up with the same problem I had before. I can get tot he part where I am ready to put the .ipsw in Redsnow but then it just constantly tells me ".ipsw not recognized." I have tried re-downloading the .ipsw and restoring the iphone multiple times.

Perhaps I should try downloading an older version of the .ipsw?

I'm using the following:

-Current version of Itunes (10.4.1)
-Iphone 2G with 3.1.3_7E18 firmware

[muddi900]

I actually remember now. I tried doing it to my own phone and I bricked it. Since your phone is already activated on the latest firmware, maybe you should try jailbreaking it first, just go to jailbreakme.com from safari. It will install cydia(if it works), then you should install Ultrasn0w. Instructions to do that would be in the last steps of the tutorials.

[EternalGamer]

I actually remember now. I tried doing it to my own phone and I bricked it. Since your phone is already activated on the latest firmware, maybe you should try jailbreaking it first, just go to jailbreakme.com from safari. It will install cydia(if it works), then you should install Ultrasn0w. Instructions to do that would be in the last steps of the tutorials.

Yeah, I kept screwing around with it this afternoon and I bricked it somehow.

But I fixed that now, so it is back restored.

I'll try the jailbreaking. I've wasted almost an entire day trying to get this working by this point. Urgh.

[muddi900]

Day? I have wasted weeks, back when I did have that time. And I went to school for this shit. Don't be fooled by the simplistic front-ends, it's a complicated process.