How to unlock the iPhone (3Gs)

On a recent India trip, wanted to use my iPhone 3Gs handset with my local india number. Tried ‘googling’ the usual unlocking methods but somehow could not get the steps right(Later realised that i needed to download the ipsw file). Eventually, I found a kind and helpful soul on Craiglist/Bangalore who sent me a simple step-by-step process to get the job done.

Apparently, there are a lot of hacks out there who charge money to unlock your iPhone. Sumeet Gandhi is not one of them. Infact, his motive is pretty simple. He wants to create an iPhone users community in Bangalore and by helping more people unlock their phones, the reasoning is that the community will increase. Pretty neat.

Outlined below is the process you need to follow if you need to unlock the iPhone 3Gs (basedband 15.04.02). All credits due to Sumeet and the respective sites from where some of the screenshots are taken.

And ofcourse to the Dev Team. They are the original rockstars

Note: Whatever you may do, DONT ever pay any of the sites which come up first on google search for the unlocking software. They will charge you a bunch of money and send you software which has been developed by the Dev Team and is freely available on the net. If you do feel a need to spend money, send it to some charity along with a postcard to the Dev Team as they don’t accept donations.

Hack along.

1. iPhone2,1_4.2.1_8C148a_Restore.ipsw (Download Here). This is ipsw for ios 4.2.1. Size – 410951 KB

2. Itunes version 10.0 or greater.

3. Redsnow redsn0w_win_0.9.6b5 (Download Here). There might be a wait time of few seconds once done then the download link will appear. Size around 10.5 MB

4. Once all is downloaded turn off your iphone. (Push power button for few seconds and then slide the red slider).

5. Set the compatibility mode of Redsnow to windows xo sp3 by right click and properties.

6. Now connect your switched off iphone to your machine. Keep it switched off don’t turn it on.

7. Then click start program within the compatibility mode window.

8. The redsnow window will appear browse to ipsw file.

9.

10. After Redsn0w identifies the IPSW, click ” Next “.

11.

12. Now choose the ” Install Cydia ” and ” Install iPad baseband ” options and click ” Next “.

13.

14. Accept the warning by clicking ” Yes “.

15. Now go into recovery mode by pressing the power and buttons for 10 seconds and then release the power button, but keep holding the home button until the iOS 4.2.1 jailbreak process begins.

16.

17. Wait till Redsn0w finish the iOS 4.2.1 jailbreak process.

18. Once done follow the below process for unlocking

19. Launch Cydia.

20. Choose the ” Manage ” tab at the bottom.

21. Choose the ” Sources ” option.

22. Tap the ” Edit ” button and then on the ” Add ” button.

23. Then add the source ” http://repo666.ultrasn0w.com “.

24.

25. After the source is added, search for ” ultrasn0w 1.2 ” in Cydia.

26.

27. Install the Ultrasn0w 1.2 app to unlock iOS 4.2.1 firmware.

28. Restart your iPhone.

29. That’s it! Now you have an unlocked your iPhone 3G / 3GS running iOS 4.2.1.

The iPhone experience

Spent 3 hours in a line outside the apple store from 7 in the morning to get the new iPhone

I know there are like 21 million of them out there so thought that these things would be easier to get… Apple apparently doesn’t think so.

It almost felt like they were doing me a favour by allowing me to buy it… The way the lines were organized by the almost condescending apple staff (orange concierges) to the herding in store almost made me feel like my first day at school the fact that I paid over $300 for it almost seems incidental

But they have built a fantastic product and I guess are very much aware…

And it really is cool and not really a phone…again like the price, thefunctionality for making calls is almost incidental

Trying to blog from the wordpress app on the iPhone…seems pretty simple at the moment. Hopefully the writing will be more regular