mendax.org » instruction http://mendax.org WyldKard's mental brouhaha. est. 1996 Tue, 31 Aug 2010 13:40:46 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Upgrading iPhone 3.0.1. to jailbroken 3.1. http://mendax.org/feeder/?FeederAction=clicked&feed=Posts+%28RSS2%29&seed=http%3A%2F%2Fmendax.org%2F2009%2F10%2F05%2Fupgrading-iphone-3-0-1-to-jailbroken-3-1%2F&seed_title=Upgrading+iPhone+3.0.1.+to+jailbroken+3.1. http://mendax.org/2009/10/05/upgrading-iphone-3-0-1-to-jailbroken-3-1/#comments Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:00:32 +0000 WyldKard http://mendax.org/?p=1843

Since we picked up an 3GS a couple months back, our jailbroken/unlocked 2G has been sitting on a shelf collecting dust, as though a forgotten relic in the battle against Big . Now forced to use AT&T, which drops calls at an alarming rate compared to our experience with the 2G on T-Mobile, we’re still happy with our service overall, if only because the user experience, occasional dropped call or not, is still better than using any other cellular phone in the United States. Yes, that’s how great the 3GS is, and why ’s market dominance in this area continues to swell.

That said, the isn’t perfect, and one of the imperfect things about it is the fact that Big is doing its damndest to keep the user experience consistent, and in doing so, limiting the types of applications that developers can release in the AppStore. Now, admittedly, the need to jailbreak an in order to run third-party “” applications is no longer what it was when we first decided to hack our 2G two years ago. Quite simply, the AppStore has evolved into a pretty nice store, with a great selection of apps that do most everything we need to. And where it doesn’t offer a particular app that we’d like it to, in most every case, that kind of app isn’t available in Cydia either. That is, except for three that we consider must-haves, two of which we mentioned in our mendax.iphone article. Specifically, we’re talking about Backgrounder (which lets us run any application in the background), SBSettings (a quick way to toggle settings on/off), and the more recent GV Mobile (the infamous Google Voice client).

While our experience using GV Mobile hasn’t been flawless (the app crashes consistently when changing forwarding numbers), an update is on its way. With no word on whether will ultimately approve or deny the official Google Voice app, GV Mobile is our only hope for using Google Voice on our today. Having access to SBSettings again is a fresh walk down memory lane, and significantly reduces the need for us to jump into Settings to enter airplane mode, as we can now easily turn off select services when we need to save some battery life. Plus, we can now disable everything except wireless, which is nice if we want to use, say, Virgin America’s in-flight wireless (even though, realistically, we’ll almost always have our MacBook Pro with us for such trips). But Backgrounder, assuming it works as well as it did on our 2G , is the cornerstone of the must-have jailbreak scene. Finally, we can keep Pandora running while switching to Google Maps (or a GPS application), or keep active any other audio programs while fiddling with whatever other apps we need to.

But enough about why we decided to jailbreak again. Let’s get back to how. While the process for jailbreaking is amazingly easy these days for older iPhones, the 3GS has been a different story. Until very recently, jailbreaking tools developed by the Dev-Team didn’t work on the 3GS. Even now that they do, how to upgrade a non-jailbroken 3.0.x 3GS to 3.1 and put a jailbreak in place isn’t a solution readily advertised. Even the guides at iClarified aren’t entirely accurate. After spending too many hours this past weekend figuring it all out, it’s time to share our procedure.

  1. Obviously, back up your and sync it with iTunes before you begin.
  2. If you haven’t already, download the 3.1 update via iTunes, but don’t install it.
  3. If you no longer have it, download the 3.0.0 update. The iClarified guide says you can alternately use the 3.0.1 update, but it did not work for us.
  4. Jump into a terminal window, and type the following commands: 
    cd /etc/
sudo pico hosts

    You’ll have to input your admin password at this point, after which you’ll be in a simple text editor window. Use the arrow keys to get down to the bottom of the document, and add the following line at the end:

    74.208.105.171 gs..com

    Hit Ctrl+X to exit, press Y to save, and hit return to overwrite the old hosts file. What this step does is redirect iTunes to a jailbreak-friendly server for firmware updates, instead of relying on ’s servers to control which firmware updates you’re allowed to receive and use on the .

  5. Download redsn0w v0.8 and run it. You’ll be prompted for the 3.0 firmware file. Follow the prompts, and at the end of the redsn0w process, you’ll have a jailbroken 3.0.0 3GS.
  6. Now, download PwnageTool 3.1.3. Run it, and click on the expert mode icon. Select the 3GS icon, and proceed with the program. Make sure the program uses the 3.1 firmware update. Refer to Step Six of this second iClarified guide. If you are an AT&T subscriber, ensure that “Activate the phone.” remains unchecked. If you check this box, you will be unable to get new carrier settings from iTunes. Also, it’s not likely that you need to mess with the partition size, so don’t worry about it.
  7. You can follow the rest of the iClarified guide, but don’t worry about putting your in restore mode. Instead, once PwnageTool is done and has output a custom 3.1 firmware package, jump into iTunes, hold down the option key, and click on the Restore button from the screen. You will be prompted for a firmware update: choose the custom firmware file, and let iTunes do the rest. When your finally reboots, it will be jailbroken, and Cydia/Icy will be installed.
  8. You can now sync the phone from your last backup to restore all your old apps and such. You’ll also be prompted for the 5.5 AT&T carrier file, which you’ll need to install to enable MMS.

At this point, you’ll have a fully-jailbroken 3GS running at the latest firmware revision. Jump into Cydia and install jailbroken apps to your hearts content!Similar Posts:

]]> http://mendax.org/2009/10/05/upgrading-iphone-3-0-1-to-jailbroken-3-1/feed/ 0 Upgrading a jailbroken iPhone from 2.0 to 2.0.1. http://mendax.org/feeder/?FeederAction=clicked&feed=Posts+%28RSS2%29&seed=http%3A%2F%2Fmendax.org%2F2008%2F08%2F10%2Fupgrading-a-jailbroken-iphone-from-20-to-201%2F&seed_title=Upgrading+a+jailbroken+iPhone+from+2.0+to+2.0.1. http://mendax.org/2008/08/10/upgrading-a-jailbroken-iphone-from-20-to-201/#comments Sun, 10 Aug 2008 18:25:07 +0000 WyldKard http://mendax.org/2008/08/10/upgrading-a-jailbroken-iphone-from-20-to-201/

It was only a couple weeks ago that we detailed our process for upgrading a 2G to firmware 2.0. This process, thanks to PwnageTool, allowed us to make use of the latest features (like signed third-party applications) on our jailbroken/unlocked . Since then, released the 2.0.1 firmware update, which fixes some of the sluggishness that 2.0 users have noticed. Fortunately, shortly after the release, PwnageTool was updated to allow those of us running jailbroken/unlocked iPhones to upgrade to the similarly snappy firmware, and naturally, still keep our iPhones unlocked and ready to run unsigned third-party applications.

The process for this upgrade isn’t as complicated as the last one, and our respective write-up remains the best guide to follow if one is still running a pre-2.0 firmware revision. If one is already running 2.0, however, and previously followed our guide, then only a couple steps are necessary for the 2.0.1 upgrade.

  1. Run iTunes, and connect your to the computer. Download the 2.0.1 firmware for the , but don’t install it.
  2. Put your in DFU mode. Instructions for doing this, if you don’t recall how, can be found in step three of the 2.0 upgrade article.
  3. Run PwnageTool and let it check for updates. The latest version is 2.0.2, so make sure that’s the final version you’re running.
  4. When we went through this process, PwnageTool only found the 2.0 IPSW file, which we didn’t want. This required us to run PwnageTool in “expert” mode, and manually select the firmware we downloaded in iTunes in step one. By default, you’ll find updates in ~Library/iTunes/ Updates/ in your system’s user folder. You don’t need to make any other changes in expert mode, so just go ahead and build the new IPSW file. Once it’s done, shut down PwnageTool.
  5. In iTunes, hold down the alt/option key, and click on the restore button. Select the IPSW file that PwnageTool just generated. Once the has been upgraded, it will run through an automated process, and once that’s done, go ahead and re-sync from your last backup.

This version of PwnageTool not only re-installs Cydia, but brings back Installer.app in beta form. At the moment, Installer.app has very little functionality, however, so don’t expect to see the number of applications/ in it that could be found in it when running a pre-2.0 firmware revision. Overall, the upgrade process is quicker and easier than the upgrade to 2.0 was, if only because we didn’t need to put our in DFU mode more than once, download the bootloaders, et al. Note that after upgrading, we did have to restore from our backup twice before iTunes finally allowed us to sync as usual. It was a minor hiccup in the process, but nothing serious.

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]]> http://mendax.org/2008/08/10/upgrading-a-jailbroken-iphone-from-20-to-201/feed/ 0 How to jailbreak and unlock a 2G iPhone (2.0). http://mendax.org/feeder/?FeederAction=clicked&feed=Posts+%28RSS2%29&seed=http%3A%2F%2Fmendax.org%2F2008%2F07%2F19%2Fhow-to-jailbreak-and-unlock-a-2g-iphone-20%2F&seed_title=How+to+jailbreak+and+unlock+a+2G+iPhone+%282.0%29. http://mendax.org/2008/07/19/how-to-jailbreak-and-unlock-a-2g-iphone-20/#comments Sun, 20 Jul 2008 07:00:54 +0000 WyldKard http://mendax.org/2008/07/19/how-to-jailbreak-and-unlock-a-2g-iphone-20/

The Dev Team, a group of hackers who have made it their mission to jailbreak and unlock iPhones, announced that version 2.0 of their -freeing application PwnageTool, would be released on Sunday. Fortunately for us on the west coast of the United States, this meant Saturday night. As soon we discovered the tool’s availability, we grabbed PwnageTool 2.0 and began our journey to running firmware 2.0 on our 2G still running on T-Mobile, the cheaper alternative to AT&T.

While TUAW claims that the new PwnageTool is for “dedicated hackers only”, this statement is misleading. Since ’s AppStore already offers the brunt of what most users needed jailbreaking for in the past, the primary purpose of PwnageTool is to enable unlocked 2G users to upgrade to the 2.0 firmware and stay unlocked. For that purpose, PwnageTool works wonderfully, with no real skills necessary other than being able to put one’s phone into DFU mode. When more unsigned, third-party applications are available outside the AppStore, then we can talk about how “difficult” dealing with a jailbroken has become, but we currently see no annoyance with the new system. In fact, compared to the original unlock we did on the , this one was quick and easy. Not quite as easy as the upgrade to 1.1.4, but let’s not complain needlessly.

PwnageTool.In the discussion thread for the PwnageTool 2.0 release announcement, one can easily find the directions to get one’s working with 2.0, but not all the instructions posted were clear. Let’s go through the steps accordingly.

  1. Install the latest version of iTunes if it hasn’t been updated earlier. We want to be at version 7.7.
  2. Connect the , and when asked if an upgrade is desired, select the option to download the upgrade only, without performing an installation.
  3. Put the into DFU mode. Note that this is not the basic restore mode, and is only complicated in the sense that one needs a bit of timing instead of simply pressing the ’s home and power buttons for 25-30 seconds. Instructions for putting an into DFU mode are available, but the basic jist is this: when the is on, hold down the home and power buttons for approximately seven second (enough time to see the ’s screen go black). Once the black screen can be seen, continue holding the buttons for approximately two more seconds, then let go of the power button. Continue holding the home button for another ten seconds, and the should stay on a black screen. We did this with the already connected to our computer, albeit “ejected” in iTunes. As we had iTunes running the whole time, as soon as our entered DFU mode, prompted to restore it.
  4. Now, one needs to acquire the 3.9 and 4.6 bootloaders. There are numerous links to these files in the aforementioned discussion thread, but we grabbed ours from iPhone Hacks. Once acquired, uncompress the package and take note of where the respective files are stored.
  5. We’re now ready to run PwnageTool 2.0, which we happily grabbed from the official mirror location. While the tool can jailbreak every /Touch model available, we were concerned with the 2G , so we did not try any other hardware variant. Note that the tool does not currently unlock 3G iPhones, but it can jailbreak them. Select the model device one is looking to jailbreak and/or unlock, and follow the wizard. We did this in PwnageTool’s “simple” mode.
  6. PwnageTool 2.0 should automatically find the restore file since it was downloaded in iTunes’ default download location. The tool will then ask for the locations of the bootloaders downloaded in step four. After this, one will be prompted to allow the creation of a custom IPWS file. When asked if one is using a “legit” , answer “yes” if one is contracted with AT&T, else “no” for the unlock. Obviously, for most of us, we want to use our ’s unlocked, so we’re going to happily admit that our devices are not legitimate, even though this could have been phrased better.
  7. After the custom IPWS file is generated, the tool will look for a connected in DFU mode. Once found, the tool will spend a couple seconds doing it’s thing, and then ask that the device be put back into DFU mode. It seems that some users received mixed responses at this point, but in short, our solution was to hold down the home and power buttons on our to restart it, whereupon PwnageTool greeted us with a visual indicator mirroring the DFU process we outlined in step three above. Follow along with the visual cues, and the will be back in DFU mode in short order.
  8. Once back in DFU mode, PwnageTool informs the user that it should be shut down, and one can upgrade the to 2.0 via iTunes. So, exit the application and jump over to iTunes. Before pressing the restore button on the information page, hold down the alt/option key. This will make iTunes prompt for the IPWS file to use for the restore procedure. Rather than using the one iTunes downloaded, select the one that PwnageTool put on the Desktop. Proceed with glee.
  9. The , and iTunes, take care of the rest at this point. Visual indicators will show up on the to explain where in the process it is. After a few minutes time, the will reboot in a jailbroken and unlocked state.

Note that PwnageTool doesn’t install Installer.app, as other jailbreakers/unlockers have in the past. Rather, PwnageTool installs Cydia, which is very much like Installer.app, and shares many of its resources. Running Cydia allows one to view an information page about 2.0 compatibility; in short, a lot of older third-party applications don’t work in firmware 2.0, though common Unix applications like OpenSSH work fine. For now, we decided to hold off on messing too much with Cydia, as most of the third-party applications we were running are available in some form or another via the AppStore.

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]]> http://mendax.org/2008/07/19/how-to-jailbreak-and-unlock-a-2g-iphone-20/feed/ 6 On upgrading a 3.51 M33 PSP. http://mendax.org/feeder/?FeederAction=clicked&feed=Posts+%28RSS2%29&seed=http%3A%2F%2Fmendax.org%2F2008%2F06%2F19%2Fon-upgrading-a-351-m33-psp%2F&seed_title=On+upgrading+a+3.51+M33+PSP. http://mendax.org/2008/06/19/on-upgrading-a-351-m33-psp/#comments Fri, 20 Jun 2008 02:02:22 +0000 WyldKard http://mendax.org/2008/06/19/on-upgrading-a-351-m33-psp/

After almost a year of getting no love from us, we picked up our aging white PSP and decided to upgrade its firmware so it was useable with the latest games. An upcoming trip convinced us that this might be a good idea, else we might die of boredom on Southwest’s display-free seating environment. Unfortunately, the procedure to upgrade our particular PSP’s firmware version wasn’t as straightforward as we’d have liked, so we had to go through a bit of trial and error to discover what was missing from the documentation that came with the latest firmware upgrades.

Understand that last we dealt with our PSP’s firmware, we decided to stop emulating newer firmware versions on our 1.50 PSP, and instead move to a custom firmware version that would both play the latest games, and yet still allow us to run . Not wanting to forego this latter option, we decided to stay away from an official firmware upgrade, and stick with a custom firmware solution.

Fortunately for us, PSP Hacks is a great little site that has all the files we needed to move ahead, and we live-twittered the rather quick procedure after we finally figured out what to do. For those in a similar situation as we were in, the general instructions follow.

  1. Download the custom 3.52 M33 firmware package. Extract the contents.
  2. Download the official 3.52 firmware. Extract the contents, and rename the file 352.PBP.
  3. Download the official 1.50 firmware. Extract the contents, and rename the file 150.PBP.
  4. Follow the instructions included in the 3.52 M33 firmware package, and in addition to moving the 352.PBP file into the directory the instructions tell you do, also move the 150.PBP file into that directory.
  5. Run the upgrade package from the PSP. Once done, you should be sitting pretty with a PSP running firmware 3.52 M33. You can now delete all the files you used to upgrade.
  6. Download the 3.52 M33-4 firmware package. Extract the contents.
  7. Follow the instructions included in the 3.52 M33-4 firmware package. This entails moving the extracted files to the PSP, and running the respective program from the PSP. Once done, you’ll have a PSP running firmware 3.52 M33-4. Delete the files used in the upgrade procedure.
  8. Download the 3.71 M33 firmware package. Extract the contents.
  9. Download the official 3.71 firmware. Extract the contents, and rename the file 371.PBP.
  10. Follow the instructions included in the 3.71 M33 firmware package, and move the 371.PBP file to the proper location. Execute the respective program on the PSP to upgrade, and when done, you’ll be one version away from the latest custom firmware. Delete the files used in the upgrade procedure
  11. Download the 3.95 GEN-2 firmware package. Extract the contents.
  12. Download the official 3.95 package. Extract the contents, and rename the file to 395.PBP.
  13. Follow the instructions in the 3.95 GEN-2 firmware package, and place the 395.PBP file in the root PSP folder. Execute the respective program to do the upgrade, and when done, you’ll finally be running 3.95 GEN-2. Delete the files used in the upgrade process.

Admittedly, the chain of upgrades is annoying, but there’s no way to directly upgrade from 3.51 M33. Note that discussion about downgrading to 1.50 before upgrading is unnecessary. The key to the upgrade is having the 150.PBP file handy, and upgrading to 3.52 M33 before 3.52 M33-4. (Alternately, one can upgrade to 3.52 M33-3, which also allows one to move onto 3.71 M33.)

The upgrade to each new firmware revision takes about five minutes. A more time-consuming task was downloading each of the official firmware versions, which run around 20MB apiece. When done, however, the ability to throw every game you’d want to play onto an 8GB Pro Duo card is totally worth it.

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]]> http://mendax.org/2008/06/19/on-upgrading-a-351-m33-psp/feed/ 2 Fixing SummerBoard themes on 1.1.3/1.1.4. http://mendax.org/feeder/?FeederAction=clicked&feed=Posts+%28RSS2%29&seed=http%3A%2F%2Fmendax.org%2F2008%2F06%2F14%2Ffixing-summerboard-themes-on-113114%2F&seed_title=Fixing+SummerBoard+themes+on+1.1.3%2F1.1.4. http://mendax.org/2008/06/14/fixing-summerboard-themes-on-113114/#comments Sun, 15 Jun 2008 07:03:39 +0000 WyldKard http://mendax.org/2008/06/14/fixing-summerboard-themes-on-113114/

When we recently upgraded our unlocked to firmware version 1.1.4, we found that the third-party application SummerBoard refused to display any of the themes we downloaded. We had this same problem when we upgraded to 1.1.3 months back, but the third-party patch “SMB Themes Fix” did exactly what it was named.

Unfortunately, even after installing the Installer.app sources that we believed held SMB Themes Fix, the patch was nowhere to be found, nor was any similar patch that various sites claimed were available. Nonetheless, we found a quick fix over at the MacRumors fora, which involves running a simple command as root:

mv /private/var/root/Library/SummerBoard/Themes/* /private/var/mobile/Library/SummerBoard/Themes

One should be able to run this command by SSHing into one’s , but we simply installed mobileterminal [sic] and “SUID Lib Fix” to enable a root login locally. Thus, no need for a nearby computer.

After running the command, the requisite files are moved to the proper place for SummerBoard to find them, and they can then be selected accordingly.

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]]> http://mendax.org/2008/06/14/fixing-summerboard-themes-on-113114/feed/ 1 Carbonating water at home. http://mendax.org/feeder/?FeederAction=clicked&feed=Posts+%28RSS2%29&seed=http%3A%2F%2Fmendax.org%2F2008%2F05%2F02%2Fcarbonating-water-at-home%2F&seed_title=Carbonating+water+at+home. http://mendax.org/2008/05/02/carbonating-water-at-home/#comments Fri, 02 May 2008 23:24:27 +0000 WyldKard http://mendax.org/2008/05/02/carbonating-water-at-home/

carbonator.JPGWe’ve had an article from MAKE Magazine starred in Google Reader forever, and only recently got around to seriously looking into building a home carbonation system ourselves. The Cool Tools article linked to by MAKE describes a simple system for carbonating beverages at home, and is pretty dead on in regards to its description of savings potential. In summary, the system described can make over 1133 liters of carbonated water per refill of CO2. We’ll simplify this number some more, and downgrade the estimate to 1000 liters of water per 20-pound CO2 canister.

In the city of , where bubbly water is sold cheaply at around $1.30 per liter, that thousand bottles of unflat water we’d like to drink would run us $1300, while the system we decided to put together, which is practically identical to the one featured at Cool Tools, ran us a measly $208. (We did opt for a smaller CO2 tank, though, at five pounds, rather than the 20-pounder at Cool Tools.)

At Cool Tools, the price was cheaper yet, because they were able to find many of the parts used online, while we were less patient and instead grabbed the requisite materials from San Francisco Brewcraft. The lesson here is that the parts for a home carbonation system don’t need to be scrounged up, but can instead be found at a one-stop brick and mortar retailer, in the form of one’s local brewing shop. Naturally, there are also a number of online brewing stores one can purchase the parts at also, but we found that Brewcraft was reasonably competitive with online vendors.

Admittedly, the 250 bottles of water we can carbonate is a rather irrelevant number compared to more practical comparisons. At a fair estimate of consuming six liters of store-bought carbonated water per week, we’re leaving $7.80 at the grocery store each weekend, which comes out to $31.20 per month, or $405.60 per year. In other words, our home carbonation system pays itself off in about half a year, which is substantially better than buying bottled seltzer, and also better than buying proprietary carbonation systems, as the latter have more overhead in terms of CO2 refills or in parts replacement.

Beyond that six-month timeframe, we’re talking pure savings, since the system is already paid for, and the water we carbonate is then effectively free. At least, it’s free until we’ve gone through 250 liters, at which point we’re looking at a CO2 refill which will set us back another $20 or so. For completeness-sake, 250 one-liter bottles of seltzer means that our five-pound CO2 canister will last for about 42 weeks, or about 10 months.

Some may decree that bottled seltzer is cleaner, but to this claim, we merely counter that we can easily filter water with our Brita pitcher before carbonating, and though Brita filters will cost some additional overhead, the cost is negligible compared to the amount of money we’ll save on home carbonation after six months.

As for procedure, the steps over at Cool Tools are a good start. The regulator we purchased has a nice fail-safe should our hose connections suffer terminal failure. The professionals at Brewcraft affixed the hoses to the regulator, however, so we have no doubts as to the hose’s security. Basically, we fill a water bottle with water, afix the carbonator cap, and then squeeze out whatever air is left inside. We then attach the hose running off the regulator to the cap, turn the valve on our CO2 canister, and then pop the valve that runs to the regulator. There’s a small surface dial on the regulator that lets us control the PSI entering the water bottle. (Numerous sources claim that most plastic water bottles can hold 40-50 PSI, not the 200 claimed by Cool Tools.) We ran our PSI just past 30, shook the water bottle vigorously, then switched the system off. Voila – cheap, home-made seltzer, which tastes just like the stuff we were buying for $1.30+ per liter at the grocery store. (Instructables has a keen video of the process.)

While we’re quite happy with the system we’re using, the downside is that we’re still forced to keep plastic bottles around. In reality, what we want to do is get rid of any sources of BPA, and this we can do by simply carbonating our water in a three-gallon cornelius keg, which is made out of stainless steel. This setup would allow us to carbonate 11.3 liters of water in a single go, and with a spigot attachment, we can pour our carbonated water directly into our drinking container of choice, or into any BPA-free storage bottle for portability. We’re aiming for a three-gallon keg because it can be stored away more easily and in more places, including the mini-fridge we use for beverages. The three-gallon cornelius keg runs for more than a five-gallon keg, but the trade-off is worth it. This three-gallon accessory runs for $120 through Brewcraft, with comparable prices online.

The total cost of our completed system will be around $350, which is still cheaper than a year’s worth of bottled carbonated water. Plus, compared to the latter, our system will have much less of an environmental footprint, since we’re significantly reducing the amount of plastic bottles that need to be produced, destroyed, and transported. In effect, carbonating water at home makes you green, and fancier than your flat-water drinking friends.

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]]> http://mendax.org/2008/05/02/carbonating-water-at-home/feed/ 12 On upgrading my unlocked iPhone to 1.1.3. http://mendax.org/feeder/?FeederAction=clicked&feed=Posts+%28RSS2%29&seed=http%3A%2F%2Fmendax.org%2F2008%2F02%2F13%2Fon-upgrading-my-unlocked-iphone-to-113%2F&seed_title=On+upgrading+my+unlocked+iPhone+to+1.1.3. http://mendax.org/2008/02/13/on-upgrading-my-unlocked-iphone-to-113/#comments Thu, 14 Feb 2008 03:34:25 +0000 WyldKard http://mendax.org/2008/02/13/on-upgrading-my-unlocked-iphone-to-113/

When version 1.1.2 of the ’s firmware was announced, there was nothing worthwhile in the patch, and when 1.1.3 came along, none of the great new features were that appealing given that they were already duplicated on my 1.1.1 via third-party applications. Nonetheless, after a curious inability to stay asleep at 04:00 AM this morning, I decided that I’d tackle the question of upgrading once and for all.

The hacking community still hasn’t fully embraced upgrading previously unlocked iPhones to 1.1.3, though there’s been promising news in regards to unlocking out-of-box iPhones running 1.1.3, thanks in great part to a little application called ZiPhone. The immediate downside of ZiPhone, however, was that it was limited to working on iPhones with the 4.6 bootloader. For those that don’t know what this means, just understand that older iPhones, many of which were unlocked when running older firmware revisions, used bootloader 3.9. When I woke up this morning and decided to tackle upgrading my , ZiPhone 2.0 wasn’t out yet, so I had to find an alternate route.

What I initially attempted to do was upgrade my by way of the soft upgrade available through Installer.app, but this was a poor decision, since I didn’t first move to version 1.1.2, resulting in an that simply wouldn’t boot, and simply flashed annoyingly. Not convinced that I had bricked my , and held down the power and home buttons and put the phone into restore mode. While a number of online posts claimed that upgrading to 1.1.3 via iTunes would destroy any chance of unlocking the phone, I had little choice at this point. Fortunately for me, the 1.2 version of ZiPhone I used activated and jailbroke my , even though it was unsuccessful at unlocking it. This is where iClarified and their Installer.app source came in, as I was able to bring up the latest “unofficial” version of AnySim (1.3).

Alas, my timing was unbelievably poor, as iClarified went down due to bandwidth issues, and though I was able to find a copy of AnySim 1.3 online and manually copy it over to my , the version I found didn’t work. Many hours later, after having a chance to take another stab at obtaining AnySim 1.3 via iClarified, I was able to overwrite the bad version I manually installed. This raised a new problem, however: AnySim refused to acknowledge that my ’s auto-lock was already set to “Never”.

The solution to this problem was ultimately found on HowardForums and posted by user wick3d-G:

1. Set “Auto-Lock” to “Never”
2. Rename /var/root/Library/Preferences/com..springboard.plist to /var/root/Library/Preferences/com..springboard.plist.old
3. Copy /var/mobile/Library/Preferences/com..springboard.plist to /var/root/Library/Preferences/com..springboard.plist
4. Set “Airplane mode” to ON.
5. run anySIM 1.3 (now it should run smoothly)
6. rename /var/root/Library/Preferences/com..springboard.plist.old to /var/root/Library/Preferences/com..springboard.plist
7. turn “Airplane mode” OFF

The actual copying/renaming was something I completed using SFTP, as I had re-installed OpenSSH on my via Installer.app earlier. After running AnySim 1.3, my was unlocked again, and restoring from my backup in iTunes, my songs, text messages, et al were put back where they belonged.

Ironically, had I simply waited to upgrade tonight, the latest version of ZiPhone would have handled everything for me without the headache, though of interesting note is that I was able to use iTunes for the actual upgrade, rather than utilize a soft upgrade via Installer.app.

It’ll take me a few minutes to put all my third-party applications back on the , but it’s nice to be up-to-date on ’s native features, even if they’re not much better than what I could accomplish before. At this point, it seems that the hacking community is in a solid position to unlock any out there, regardless of bootloader or modem firmware version. That is, until firmware 1.1.4 comes out.

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]]> http://mendax.org/2008/02/13/on-upgrading-my-unlocked-iphone-to-113/feed/ 0 On upgrading my iPhone to 1.1.1. http://mendax.org/feeder/?FeederAction=clicked&feed=Posts+%28RSS2%29&seed=http%3A%2F%2Fmendax.org%2F2007%2F11%2F07%2Fon-upgrading-my-iphone-to-111%2F&seed_title=On+upgrading+my+iPhone+to+1.1.1. http://mendax.org/2007/11/07/on-upgrading-my-iphone-to-111/#comments Thu, 08 Nov 2007 02:29:14 +0000 WyldKard http://mendax.org/?p=603

I’ve held off on upgrading my ’s firmware for two reasons:

  1. It’s a hassle.
  2. It’s a hassle.

To be more accurate, I knew the procedure would be time-consuming, to the tune of at least an hour, and more importantly, I didn’t want to have to reinstall all my third-party apps and reconfigure them. For example, I’ve been using the Money application to keep track of my checking account, and I didn’t want to lose my financial history. In the end, I sucked it up, didn’t bother to look for the requisite storage files, and just went on my merry way.

The aforelinked guide is pretty straightforward, and only assumes you’ve been running an unlocked 1.0.2 , which would be pretty standard for most unlockers out there. The advantage, compared to the previous system, of using jailbreakme.com is significant, and lends itself just as well to those who want third-party applications running on locked iPhones as well.

So after a little over an hour, I’m running a fresh 1.1.1 install as of last night, and my third-party apps are more or less as they were before. Sadly, there’s not much change that the 1.1.1 upgrade’s granted me, though double-hitting the space button to insert a period is very welcome. I’m also suspecting that the is more stable when it receives quantities of e-mail, which tended to bog down my under 1.0.2 fairly frequently, occasionally causing me to hit the “home” button to get out of it. Thus far, these mail problems are gone under 1.1.1.

I have, however, noticed some some anomalies when using the Installer application, though these issues are not necessarily linked to 1.1.1 as they would occasionally crop up under 1.0.2. Strangely, the occasional download fails, and then refuses to let me get the file at all even after a reboot. Such is the case with the Apollo application, which I’ve given up on for now.

I tried installing MobileChat in lieu of Apollo, but though it downloads, exits right after I try connecting to the server. This means that the program is getting further than it did under 1.0.2, where it would drop me back to the SpringBoard immediately after hitting the connect button. This is the same phenomena I witnessed with Apollo under 1.0.2. No biggie for now – using instant messaging on the is a novelty for me, and not something I need. Still, it would be nice to have, all things being equal. I did have it on my Sidekick III, after all.

I was quite surprised that the remembered certain things from its last synchronization with the mothership my MacBook Pro, such as my call log and saved notes. If only it would have remembered my third-party applications, I’d be super-pleased. Nonetheless, the fact that I didn’t lose the notes I didn’t remember to save elsewhere is a nice bonus.Similar Posts:

]]> http://mendax.org/2007/11/07/on-upgrading-my-iphone-to-111/feed/ 0 On unlocking my iPhone. http://mendax.org/feeder/?FeederAction=clicked&feed=Posts+%28RSS2%29&seed=http%3A%2F%2Fmendax.org%2F2007%2F09%2F12%2Fon-unlocking-my-iphone%2F&seed_title=On+unlocking+my+iPhone. http://mendax.org/2007/09/12/on-unlocking-my-iphone/#comments Thu, 13 Sep 2007 05:47:59 +0000 WyldKard http://mendax.org/?p=581

Those following my Twitter status know that I finally broke down and purchased an , with the obvious intent to unlock it for use on T-Mobile. After arguing with Maxator about the ’s merits versus the upcoming Touch, I sat down with what turned out to be a three-hour hack session that is now (hopefully) winding down. That is to say, it takes roughly 20 minutes to flash the ’s firmware when one gets to the point where this is even possible, so in another few minutes, I’ll know for sure if my unlocking was succesfsful or not.

For those unaware as to the state of unlocking, a few days ago, iPhoneSimFree made a unlock available to resellers, who sold the one-time unlocking service for about $100. Then, a day later, a free, downloadable utility made its rounds, and this is what I used tonight after reading about the general procedure.

The actual guide I used to get as far as I did was the third guide I entertained, and the second that got me anywhere. The problem with my first true attempt was an inability to write to the ’s drive, despite following instructions to jailbreak the unit and install the necessary FTP server. The aforelinked guide, meanwhile, caused me some heartache because AppTapp wouldn’t finish installing, and I had to restore my firmware a couple times. Ultimately, after AppTapp froze on my last attempt, I turned the off (three times, actually), then put it back into the dock while off, whereupon it jumped back on and allowed AppTapp to finish. From there, the rest was smooth sailing.

At the moment, the T-Mobile web site is down, so I’ll have to hold off on getting a data subscription, but my hopes are currently high for success. here’s hoping that doesn’t nail unlocked iPhones back into the ground with a firmware update in the next day or two. If they do, I still have a Bladox Turbo Sim card on order that should hit my mailbox early next week, which may end up facilitating a more permanent unlock.

Update from the wee hours of 09/13/2007: Phone calling works. I dropped the HotSpot and Sidekick Unlimited plans from my T-Mobile account, and added the Total Internet plan (which includes EDGE and hotspot access), as well as the 400 domestic text messages option. These two options cost me $25/month, compared to $40/month for my previous data plans with unlimited text messaging. If I really needed unlimited SMS messages, I could spend another $10/month, which would still be cheaper than my previous setup. Overall, I’m looking at saving $15/month, not to mention the money I’m saving by not switching to AT&T and being stuck with their inflated rates. As a sidenote, my first text message intending to update Twitter did not go through, possibly because I didn’t switch off my Sidekick plan until before I sent the second message.

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]]> http://mendax.org/2007/09/12/on-unlocking-my-iphone/feed/ 2 The Druid mini-guide. http://mendax.org/feeder/?FeederAction=clicked&feed=Posts+%28RSS2%29&seed=http%3A%2F%2Fmendax.org%2F2007%2F05%2F17%2Fthe-druid-mini-guide%2F&seed_title=The+Druid+mini-guide. http://mendax.org/2007/05/17/the-druid-mini-guide/#comments Thu, 17 May 2007 18:34:32 +0000 WyldKard http://mendax.org/?p=527

v 2.0

The Druid, since his inception, has been referred to as a “Jack of all trades, master of none.” The truth in this lies in the fact that the Druid is the “king of hybrids”, for though other classes exert flexibility in the manner in which they are played, the Druid alone maximizes each area in his arsenal like no other class can.

The Druid has six basic forms he can take. Three of these forms are for travel purposes, while the other three are forms that reflect the abilities of the Warrior, Rogue, and Mage/Priest. The Druid is unique in that he has rage, energy, and mana for each of his respective forms, and is fairly flexible in the roll he can play in a group setting as a result.

Offerings

The Druid, unlike other classes, can alter the manner in which he is played, more considerably than even other “hybrid” classes. The Druid can, in humanoid form, cast offensive spells, and heal himself and others. He can enter bear form which roughly increases his armor to that of plate, or turn into a cat to issue fast and hard-hitting attacks like a Rogue. Finally, the Druid can turn into a sea lion to increase his travel speed in water, turn into a cheetah to run across land at a faster pace than most unmounted characters, and turn into a bird to fly around in Outland.

In bear form, the druid is one of only three classes capable of tanking, and in caster form is the second-best dedicated healer in the game. This flexibility allows groups to be formed when a warrior or a priest is missing, giving smaller guilds or pickup-groups more options. By way of spending talent points, the Druid can maximize the one area he chooses to excel in (tanking, DPS, healing), though will still be able to fill in for another area temporarily should it be required. At end-game, a Druid’s talent spec will determine which roll is is capable of playing in serious instances and raids, but regardless of spec, a Druid will always be able to off-tank and off-heal.

Survivability & Crowd Control

The Druid has, since the game’s release, been one of the best survivors of all the classes. Like a Rogue, the Druid can stealth past mobs and quickly run from enemies, and in bear form has the armor to match a Warrior or Paladin. The Druid can, while in bear form, issue a stun to break up casting, and can even heal himself by spending rage points. Given his miraculous healing abilities in caster form, the Druid can draw out a fight like only a Paladin can.

The Druid has the ability to reduce the aggro radius around a targeted enemy, allowing the Druid’s allies a better chance to sneak by mobs. Additionally, the Druid has the ability to put beasts to sleep using his Hibernate spell, which also works on other Druids who are in their forms, and Shamans who have assumed the form of a Ghost Wolf. In PvP, Hibernate is great for putting one enemy out of play until his allies can be dealt with.

Outdoors, the Druid’s survivability is increased by his ability to ensnare opponents, and can run away from enemies by instantly turning into a cheetah or sea lion. Thus, even if one manages to bring a Druid to very low health, the Druid can frustrate attackers by escaping at the last minute, healing, and returning if he so chooses.

Specializations

There are three talent builds that are workable, with some room for tweaking. The feral build maximizes a Druid’s melee combat, giving the Druid better overall DPS. Unless the Druid intends to neglect the Balance and Restoration trees, however, a Druid needs to determine if he intends to maximize his cat form, or his bear form. Specific talents in the feral tree allow the Druid to increase threat from attacks made in bear form, to generate more rage, and even to increase his armor. On the other hand, the Druid may make his cat form attacks more potent, which is ideal if the Druid expects to have a Warrior on hand for group play.

The Restoration tree is what most Druids end-game have focused on, if only because the Druid’s role in a group towards the end-game, as of the game’s release, was to be a healer akin to a Priest. As such, the Restoration tree allows the Druid to be a very capable healer, outmatched only by holy Priests. Unlike other healing classes, the Druid is considered a “maintenance healer”, as his healing abilities consist of heal-over-time (HoT) spells, which may or may not include a “surge” of health before the HoT portion kicks in. If the Druid specs to the bottom of the Restoration tree, they gain the Tree of Life form, which Druids can shift into to increase their survivability, at the expense of their movement speed and restriction to casting healing spells.

The Balance tree is generally seen as a poor choice for Druids to focus too many talent points on. Focusing on this tree makes the Druid a more capable ranged damage dealer, akin to a Mage. At the base of this tree is the ability for a Druid to shape-shift into Moonkin form, which increases the chance for the Druid to gain a critical strike from a spell. Moonkin form also gives the Druid an increase in his armor, equivalent to that of the Druid’s bear form. While a Moonkin Druid can do a lot of damage with his spells, he must leave Moonkin form to cast healing spells. As such, while the concept of a “battle Mage” is appealing, in practice it cripples the Druid’s healing factor, which is vital unless the Druid expects to travel with a surplus of healing classes.

Professions

Skinning/leatherworking is a good combination for Druids to craft their own gear. Given the range of leather armor that can be crafted, the Druid can put together item sets to supplement his ability to use spells, or his ability to deal damage.

Since a Druid cannot use non-equipped items in his forms, alchemy and engineering are poor choices. Furthermore, since weapons are only worth equipping for their attribute bonuses (their DPS is not factored into a druid’s DPS in forms), there is little need to take blacksmithing either.

Races

There are only two choices, and if you’re set on playing for a particular side (Horde or Alliance), the choice has already been made for you. If you don’t care which side you’ll be on, the Tauren’s increase to health, as well as their Warstomp ability, makes them a more practical choice than Night Elves, whose increased stealth and dodge chance is poor in comparison.

LF1M

A Druid is a solid character to have along. Properly specced, they can serve as a group’s main tank for most all instances, and similarly, can act as a group’s main healer. A feral Druid’s DPS can also reach heights close to that of a Rogue or Mage, and all feral Druids will conserve mana while in their feral forms, such that they can immediately take on the roll of a healer should the group’s main healer be out of mana. In essence, Druids are safety nets, providing a backup to the group should more tanking, more healing, or more DPS be needed at any given time. The pitfall many Druids encounter is that they refuse to shift forms when appropriate, in which case the character becomes little more than a weak version of a Warrior, Rogue, Mage, or Priest.

When tanking, the Druid should use Growl as much as possible, and Swipe whenever there are more than two enemies being fought. When in cat form, the Druid should use Cower when appropriate, to lose aggro, and always strike from behind using Shred. As a healer, spells need to be timed better than a Priest’s healing spells might, since the casting time is longer, and Regrowth has a HoT effect.

Druids are also a necessary class for making “stealth runs” in end-game instances. A Druid that heals, and a Druid that tanks, can accompany three Rogues to quickly pass by most enemies in an instance, allowing the group to go straight for the bosses and farm the loot the bosses drop.

One final note is the Druid’s buffs; Mark of the Wild (MotW) is considered one of, if not the best buff in the game, increasing a target’s armor, attributes, and resistances. A Druid should always ensure that MotW is on every character in his group. It is also a good idea to keep Thorns up on any Warriors and Paladins, since it will increase their ability to hold aggro.

Raid!

Playing in Battlegrounds is usually a different beast for feral Druids than playing PvE. Throwing on healing/casting-oriented gear may be preferred, since healing the Warriors in the party is often more beneficial than attempting to deal damage from cat form, which has a much lower survivability. When not healing, using Faerie Fire on Rogues, or using Moonfire, will keep the Druid alive longer than jumping right into the fray, and everyone will appreciate getting heals.

The Druid also serves as a great support class for Rogues making stealth runs past enemy lines. With a healer to support a group of Rogues, such “special ops” groups can take out defensive points with ease, surprising the enemy who did not expect to have you bypass their front line.

Conclusion

A well-played Druid is an invaluable asset in a group setting, providing better survivability to the party. In solo play, the Druid is a great survivor on his own, though does not have the range of abilities the classes his forms are modeled after possess. As such, if a player prefers one form over all others and does not make full use of all Druid forms, they are better off playing the respective class that form is modeled after.

A final note is that while most classes start coming into their own around level 20, a Druid doesn’t start becoming an effective multi-form beast until level 30; a Druid is unable to shift forms until level 10 (when they get bear form), and doesn’t gain cat form until level 20, whereupon they can finally begin to grind more effectively. Given the slow rate of gaining abilities for each form, a Druid doesn’t really come into their own until around level 40.Similar Posts:

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