Apple released iOS 5.1 yesterday, which includes some minor improves and bug fixes.

iPhone Dev team has just released a new version of Redsn0w – Redsn0w 0.9.10b6 that supports iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 1 and 3rd-generation and 4th generation iPod touch.

If you’ve upgraded to iOS 5.1 accidentally (don’t upgrade to it if you’re on iOS 5.0.1 or lower) and want to jailbreak your 4th generation iPod touch or fourth generation iPod touch then you’ve come to the right place. We will take you through the step by step procedure to jailbreak iPod touch on iOS 5.1 using Redsn0w.

Here are some important points to note before you proceed.

• This guide is meant for iPod touch 4G and iPod touch 3G users. iPad users can checkout this step-by-step guide and iPhone 4 / iPhone 3GS users can refer to this step-by-step guide.
• Redsn0w 0.9.10b6 only supports a tethered jailbreak, which means that you need to connect your iOS device to the computer on every reboot.
• Please note that jailbreaking your iPod touch may void your warranty and hence proceed with caution and at your own risk.
• Please do not forget to backup your iPod touch before you proceed. You can refer to this post for instructions on how to backup your iPod touch.
• If you’ve jailbroken your iPod touch then you can use jailbreak apps such as PkgBackup from Cydia to take a backup of all the jailbreak apps and tweaks so you can reinstall them easily after successfully jailbreaking your iPod touch rather then installing them individually.
• After the jailbreaking process is complete, do not forget to checkout our article on tips to keep your iPod touch secure.
• Please ensure you are running latest version of iTunes i.e. iTunes 10.5 or later.
• Known issue: iBooks won’t work if you jailbreak your iPod touch using Redsn0w 0.9.10.b6. Dev team is working hard to fix the issue.

You can follow these step-by-step instructions to jailbreak your iPod touch 4G or iPod touch 3G with the assumption that you’ve already updated your iPod touch to iOS 5.1 (please note Settings –> General –> About –> Version should be 5.1):

Step 1: Download Redsn0w 0.9.10b6 for Windows from this link and Redsn0w 0.9.10b6b for Mac from this link and save the application in a folder named “Redsn0w” on your desktop.

Step 2: Double click the Redsn0w zip file and extract the application to the Redsn0w folder. Navigate back to the Redsn0w folder and launch the Redsn0w application.

Step 3: After launching Redsn0w, click on the Jailbreak button.

Windows 7 users should run the exe in Windows XP compatibility mode (right-click on the Redsn0w exe and select Properties, then select the Compatibility tab and select Run this program in compatibility mode for Windows XP). Windows XP and Windows 7 users should run Redsn0w as ‘Administrator’ (right-click on the Redsn0w exe and select ‘Run as an Administrator’).

Step 4: You will now be prompted plug your iPod touch to the computer and switch it OFF. Follow the instructions and click on ‘Next‘ to move to the next screen:

Step 5: You will now need to put your iPod touch into the DFU mode. Redsn0w will take you through the necessary steps:

(a) Hold the Power button on iPod touch down for 3 seconds:

(b) Now simultaneously hold the Home button and keep the two buttons pressed for 10 seconds:

(c) Now release the Power button while keeping the Home button pressed until Redsn0w detects the device:

Step 6: Your iPod touch should reboot now. Please remember to release the Home button.

Step 7: Redsn0w will now start preparing the jailbreak data.

Step 8: You will now be prompted to select the jailbreak options you would like. Make sure Cydia is selected and select ‘Next‘ to continue.

Step 9: You iPod touch will be rebooted again and Redsn0w will now begin uploading the new RAM disk and kernel.

Step 10: You will now be notified once the jailbreaking process is complete. Click on the ‘Finish‘ button to exit the application.

Step 11: Your iPod touch will reboot once again (which could take approximately 5 minutes). After it has rebooted, your iPod touch should be successfully jailbroken. You should find Cydia jailbreak app on your iPod touch’s home screen.

If you’re new to the jailbreaking world and wondering what to do after jailbreaking your iPod touch, checkout our jailbreak apps category page to find out the apps you can install on your iPod touch using the Cydia app. Please note that some of the jailbreak apps and tweaks may not be compatible with iOS 5.1 so please be cautious while installing them.

Tethered Jailbreak:

Once Redsn0w has finished jailbreaking your iPod touch, you will need to boot it tethered, which means that if you need to reboot your iPod touch it will be stuck on the Apple logo. All you need to do is rerun Redsn0w and this time click on Extras and then click on Just boot from the list of options and follow the on screen instructions to reboot your iPod touch.

Troubleshooting:

How to fix the White/Blank Cydia icon issue:

If you notice the white Cydia icon (which fails to launch) after successfully jailbreaking your iPod touch. Then follow these steps to fix the issue.

• Launch Redsn0w again.
• Click on Extras and then click on Just Boot from the list of options.
• You will now be prompted to plug your iPod touch to the computer and switch it off. Follow the instructions in the correct sequence and click on ‘Next‘ to move to the next screen:
• You will now need to put your iPod touch into the DFU mode. Redsn0w will take you through the necessary steps:
• Hold the Power button on iPod touch down for 3 seconds.
• Now simultaneously hold the iPod touch and keep the two buttons pressed for 10 seconds.
• Now release the Power button while keeping the Home button pressed until Redsn0w detects the device.
• Your device will reboot and you will see the Pwnage icon on your iPod touch’s screen for few minutes.
• After your iPod touch is successfully rebooted, you will see the regular Cydia icon (brown). You should now be able to launch Cydia without any issue.

Hope this helped. Please don’t forget to let us know how it goes and feel free to drop us a line in the comments if you hit any issues.

Update (April 15th, 2012):

Dev team has updated Redsn0w to 0.9.10b6b to fix an issue affecting those users running OS X 10.5.x or earlier. So we have updated the download link.