Help me jailbreak my iPhone (special idiot edition)
January 1, 2008 8:13 PM Subscribe
Can someone please explain to me in complete detail, every single step necessary for jailbreaking my iPhone? Everything I've found online has left me completely baffled.
Both my iPhone and iTunes are updated to the most recent versions available. I feel like all of the tutorials I've found online are assuming I am some genius hacker when that couldn't be further from the truth.
Please spell it out for me like I am 5 years old. Please include links to the files I need to download, and tell me where they need to go (don't assume I know where a particular system folder is!). Thank you. (I'm using a Powerbook, in case that matters).
Both my iPhone and iTunes are updated to the most recent versions available. I feel like all of the tutorials I've found online are assuming I am some genius hacker when that couldn't be further from the truth.
Please spell it out for me like I am 5 years old. Please include links to the files I need to download, and tell me where they need to go (don't assume I know where a particular system folder is!). Thank you. (I'm using a Powerbook, in case that matters).
Did you phone come with 1.1.2? If it did, you won't be able to jailbreak your phone.
Here are extremely simple steps: touchdev.net
If you can't follow those, I wouldn't even bother trying. Look on craigslist, there are people that will do it for you for around $20.
posted by mphuie at 9:32 PM on January 1, 2008
Here are extremely simple steps: touchdev.net
If you can't follow those, I wouldn't even bother trying. Look on craigslist, there are people that will do it for you for around $20.
posted by mphuie at 9:32 PM on January 1, 2008
TWJ, do you want to be able to install applications on it, or do you want to use it with a different carrier?
posted by alms at 9:35 PM on January 1, 2008
posted by alms at 9:35 PM on January 1, 2008
And yes, if you do jailbreak or intend to jailbreak your phone, do not update to 1.1.3, if and when it comes out. Its better to wait for a hacked update to come out then trying to break 1.1.3.
posted by mphuie at 9:37 PM on January 1, 2008
posted by mphuie at 9:37 PM on January 1, 2008
So here's my Devil's Advocate post. If you need step-by-step instructions, dumbed down as much as possible, knowing if you do it wrong you brick your phone, are you really the guy you want to be mucking around in the guts of your phone?
I ask because I'm like you. I am not good at tech things unless they're spelled out like I'm 5, and I find when I mess with them I'm just getting myself into more trouble than it's worth. So, if you really want to have an unlocked iphone, maybe pay someone you trust to do it for you?
I have no problem with unlocking phones and whatnot, I'd just hate to see you lose a perfectly good iphone when you don't have to.
posted by pdb at 9:42 PM on January 1, 2008 [1 favorite]
I ask because I'm like you. I am not good at tech things unless they're spelled out like I'm 5, and I find when I mess with them I'm just getting myself into more trouble than it's worth. So, if you really want to have an unlocked iphone, maybe pay someone you trust to do it for you?
I have no problem with unlocking phones and whatnot, I'd just hate to see you lose a perfectly good iphone when you don't have to.
posted by pdb at 9:42 PM on January 1, 2008 [1 favorite]
pdb speaks the truth.
I'm a total geek, and jailbroke my iPhone way back when the only way to do it was by doing via the command line. I'm totally unafraid of getting my hands dirty in hackery. But i gotta tell ya, when I tried upgrading my jailbroken 1.1.1 iPhone to 1.1.2, using the supposedly "easy" GUI jailbreaking tools now available, it was a complete and total nightmare that left me with a non-functioning phone for about 6 hours, before I figured out where the jailbreak went wrong.
This happened even after following every "step by step" jailbreaking direction to the tee. And when I tried to downgrade to an older version of the firmware to start over again, the "step by step" directions again failed me. It wasn't until I searched all the iPhone hacking forums that I found out an arcane workaround for making everything work again.
So unless you're willing to deal with a possible jailbreak failure, I would strongly recommend that you wait until February when the official SDK comes out, and v1.1.3 has been out long enough that people have figured out how to to hack that version (assuming Apple's official conduit for getting 3rd party apps on the phone turns out to be annoyingly restrictive, which is highly likely).
But FWIW, you didn't mention what OS you're using, so it's hard to suggest a specific solution that will answer your question...but it you're on OS X, Independence is the app I used to jailbreak my 1.1.2 iphone.
But I must reiterate pdb's warning...there is no "idiot proof" jailbreak method.
posted by melorama at 11:52 PM on January 1, 2008
I'm a total geek, and jailbroke my iPhone way back when the only way to do it was by doing via the command line. I'm totally unafraid of getting my hands dirty in hackery. But i gotta tell ya, when I tried upgrading my jailbroken 1.1.1 iPhone to 1.1.2, using the supposedly "easy" GUI jailbreaking tools now available, it was a complete and total nightmare that left me with a non-functioning phone for about 6 hours, before I figured out where the jailbreak went wrong.
This happened even after following every "step by step" jailbreaking direction to the tee. And when I tried to downgrade to an older version of the firmware to start over again, the "step by step" directions again failed me. It wasn't until I searched all the iPhone hacking forums that I found out an arcane workaround for making everything work again.
So unless you're willing to deal with a possible jailbreak failure, I would strongly recommend that you wait until February when the official SDK comes out, and v1.1.3 has been out long enough that people have figured out how to to hack that version (assuming Apple's official conduit for getting 3rd party apps on the phone turns out to be annoyingly restrictive, which is highly likely).
But FWIW, you didn't mention what OS you're using, so it's hard to suggest a specific solution that will answer your question...but it you're on OS X, Independence is the app I used to jailbreak my 1.1.2 iphone.
But I must reiterate pdb's warning...there is no "idiot proof" jailbreak method.
posted by melorama at 11:52 PM on January 1, 2008
Best answer: Have you seen this: How to Install Third-Party Apps on Your New iPhone or iPod Touch? (via lifehacker) It's a detailed, step by step how-to guide that doesn't (I don't think) require a great deal of tech savvy. It also has links to all the files you need, info on how to fix, and the comments are a great guide as to what went wrong/right and another way to evaluate whether or not *you* should jailbreak at this time.
posted by librarylis at 4:42 AM on January 2, 2008
posted by librarylis at 4:42 AM on January 2, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
I'm not telling you not to jailbreak your phone, but you should at least wait until after you install 1.1.3. And since the method you'll need to jailbreak then will be different than the method you would need to jailbreak now, you ought to just take a chill pill and hold off.
After 1.1.3 comes out, good places to look for jailbreak instructions (or links to those instructions) include TechCrunch, Gizmodo, and Gadgetopia.
posted by bingo at 8:20 PM on January 1, 2008