It makes an attractive 911-only phone, at least.
October 25, 2011 7:02 AM Subscribe
I have an original iPhone. I have no SIM card. I updated the firmware to 3.1.3 and now it won't do anything without a SIM card. How do I get this thing to work?
The model number is A1203, which I gather is the original iPhone. When I plug it in it identifies itself as "iPhone 2G". I only want to use this thing as an iPod Touch, never as a phone, so I don't need a SIM card other than for activation.
Would a prepaid SIM card from AT&T work?
The model number is A1203, which I gather is the original iPhone. When I plug it in it identifies itself as "iPhone 2G". I only want to use this thing as an iPod Touch, never as a phone, so I don't need a SIM card other than for activation.
Would a prepaid SIM card from AT&T work?
I don't have a sim card in my old 3G and use it as an iPod touch with no problem.
I've only ever used it at home, where I have wifi - so maybe that's the problem?
posted by crankyrogalsky at 7:22 AM on October 25, 2011
I've only ever used it at home, where I have wifi - so maybe that's the problem?
posted by crankyrogalsky at 7:22 AM on October 25, 2011
Best answer: If you don't mind following a few steps to jailbreak and unlock the iPhone, you can "hacktivate" it using PwnageTool or redsn0w (both are free tools). Here are a couple tutorials that should help: using redsn0w or using PwnageTool.
posted by dreamyshade at 7:31 AM on October 25, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by dreamyshade at 7:31 AM on October 25, 2011 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: No, I was definitely able to use it on Wifi when I got it. It was only after I upgraded the firmware that it asked for activation.
I tried to borrow someone else's SIM card, and it asked for billing information, and then warned that it was going to cancel his discount plan if I kept going, so I cancelled. Blarg.
posted by mkb at 7:32 AM on October 25, 2011
I tried to borrow someone else's SIM card, and it asked for billing information, and then warned that it was going to cancel his discount plan if I kept going, so I cancelled. Blarg.
posted by mkb at 7:32 AM on October 25, 2011
Response by poster: redsn0w did the trick. All the apps that were previously installed have ceased to function, but that doesn't really bother me.
posted by mkb at 7:47 AM on October 25, 2011
posted by mkb at 7:47 AM on October 25, 2011
Hmm, not sure why apps stopped working - if you did want to fix that, and if it persisted after rebooting the device and reinstalling the apps you can reinstall, you could try doing the process again (starting with a fresh restore from iTunes), or MefiMail me for more advice! JailbreakQA is also good for random jailbreaking questions if you run into any more weirdness.
posted by dreamyshade at 9:20 AM on October 25, 2011
posted by dreamyshade at 9:20 AM on October 25, 2011
Response by poster: Well, the iPhone was given to me, and the apps were all installed with a different Apple ID. My guess is that had something to do with it. They were going to get erased when I put my music on there, so it's fine by me!
posted by mkb at 9:38 AM on October 25, 2011
posted by mkb at 9:38 AM on October 25, 2011
When I did that with an original iPhone for my son, I know the YouTube app stopped working. I'm sure there is a solution out there, but he just goes through Safari anyway.
posted by shinynewnick at 12:18 PM on October 25, 2011
posted by shinynewnick at 12:18 PM on October 25, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by donovan at 7:17 AM on October 25, 2011