iPhone Dev Team have finally released their much awaited software method to unlock iPhone 3G.
Its also the world’s first software solution to unlock iPhone 3G and
it supports all firmwares including baseband firmware 02.28.00 which
they had earlier indicated might not be supported.
Update (Jan 2nd, 2009):
The dev team has released an updated version of their yellowsn0w application (v0.9.4) to unlock iPhone 3G.
Update (Jan 3rd, 2009):
The dev team has released an updated version of their yellowsn0w application (v0.9.5) which fixes quite a few problems including some STK (SIM Toolkit) issues.
The dev team had released PwnageTool 2.2.1, QuickPwn 2.2 for Mac & QuickPwn 2.2 for Windows which can jailbreak 1st gen iPhone and iPhone 3G and unlock 1st gen iPhone running iPhone firmware 2.2 which was released by Apple on Nov 21.
They have just released the world’s first and their much awaited software method to unlock iPhone 3G code named yellowsn0w for free.
To unlock iPhone 3G, the dev team has provided the following information:
- The unlock about to be released is only for the iPhone 3G. The iPhone 2G is already unlockable via BootNeuter (as installed by PwnageTool and QuickPwn).
- This unlock works exclusively with baseband 02.28.00. This baseband is provided by the latest firmware update (2.2) from Apple. You’ll need to upgrade to this release using iTunes and then use QuickPwn to activate etc. There are plenty of tutorials about this on iclarified, bigboss, and other established tutorial sites. Because it works on 02.28.00, it is available to everyone on the planet. This means we don’t need to unnecessarily expose holes in earlier basebands, which is an important concern.
- The application is a small daemon that is launched on boot. It injects the payload at boot and also whenever there is a baseband reset. You won’t notice anything about it other than that your third-party sim now works. It’s a small program and unobtrusive. There is no GUI (this is by design).
- You can add the application using the sources outlined below (coming soon). There are Cydia and Installer sources available, so use whichever you are comfortable using.
- There is a known issue with SIM cards that have STK (SIM Toolkit) application menus. These menus are usually items such as “top up” “get credit” etc. These menu items confuse the application sometimes. Removing and reinserting the SIM once after reboot (give it about 10 secs after you see the slide to unlock widget) fixes this issue. We’re working on a better fix.
- For those of you using SIM cards without STK menus, the application has some optional arguments that will make the unlock much faster for you. So either experiment on your own (use “yellowsn0w -h” for usage) or wait for a customization writeup.
- After you install yellowsn0w via Cydia, you should return to the Cydia main menu then reboot your iPhone with the 3rd party SIM installed. Wait for the slide to unlock screen, then wait 10 or 15 secs more. If you don’t see your carrier name pop up, then remove your SIM, reinsert it, and wait 10 secs more. This is the step we’ll be working on eliminating next.
- The application is version 0.9. This is considered beta software, and you use it at your own risk (you know the score). We guarantee that it’s not perfect and will require tweaking. Welcome to the cutting edge. (It’s a good thing these are just temporary RAM patches!)
- The application is released on a non-commerical basis. Please do not accept pirates and scummy ripoffs of this software. We license this software for single use and in a non-commerical environment (meaning you can’t charge for it). The techniques and methods used are not to be used by third party companies.
Basics
yellowsn0w is completely removable through Cydia, the command line, and iTunes.
Details
Other details
Before you start hacking your iPhone, it’s a good idea to backup your iPhone.
yellowsn0w is available via Cydia which gets installed when you unlock your iPhone using QuickPwn 2.2 for Mac or QuickPwn 2.2 for Windows. QuickPwn which is a GUI based tool and quite easy to use.
You can follow these instructions:
- Launch Cydia from your iPhone’s home screen.
- Tap the Manage tab and then Sources.
- Tap Edit on the top right corner of the screen.
- Then tap Add to enter the resource URL http://apt9.yellowsn0w.com (for Cydia) which will install the yellowsn0w source.
- Tap on the installed yellowsn0w source, and tap Install on the top right corner, this will install the yellowsn0w application which should unlock your iPhone 3G.
As mentioned by the
dev team above those users with SIMs that have apps and
other menus on them will need to do that extra step. You will know if
you fall in this "extra step" category if your carrier doesn’t show up
within about 10 seconds of the slide to unlock screen.
iPhone users in this category will need to pull and reinsert the SIM
once after rebooting their iPhone to engage the unlock. The dev team is
working on resolving the issue to avoid the extra step.
Please do remember that hacking your iPhone could void its warranty so please proceed with caution.
I just tried the above steps (and even removing and reinserting the SIM) on my iPhone 3G but it didn’t seem to have worked for me.
Update 1:
The dev team has just updated their blog that they will be yellowsn0w 0.9.1. Here is what they have to say:
It uses a much longer delay to let your SIM card initialize. If you have problems with 0.9.0, try this one and wait a full minute after you seem homescreen, then reinsert sim card. We need both success and failure reports to tune this across the world, so please be patient (but please also report result!)
If you are in the U.S. and are trying this with T-Mobile, you must turn off the 3G switch in Settings. Also if you are good with the command line, you can make it much easier by adding the line <string>-q</string> right after the /usr/bin/yellowsn0w line in /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.iphone-dev.yellowsn0w.plist (that’s and advanced tip, hopefully someone will make a boosprefs type of tool for it)
Update 2:
The dev team has just released yellowsn0w 0.9.1 and I was able to successfully unlock my iPhone 3G which had failed when I tried the first time with yellowsn0w 0.9. If you have added yellowsn0w 0.9 then the update will be available in Cydia, simply upgrade to 0.9.1. If this is the first time then adding the resource will install yellowsn0w 0.9.1 resource. Please remember to follow the instructions mentioned below carefully:
- Removing and reinserting the SIM once after reboot (give it about 60 seconds (with v0.9.1) after you see the slide to unlock widget) fixes this issue. We’re working on a better fix.
- For those of you using SIM cards without STK menus, the application has some optional arguments that will make the unlock much faster for you. So either experiment on your own (use “yellowsn0w -h” for usage) or wait for a customization writeup.
- After you install yellowsn0w via Cydia, you should return to the Cydia main menu then reboot your iPhone with the 3rd party SIM installed. Wait for the slide to unlock screen, then wait 10 or 15 secs more. If you don’t see your carrier name pop up, then remove your SIM, reinsert it, and wait 60 secs more.
Here are some more updates from the dev team:
- If you are in the U.S. and are trying this with T-Mobile, you must turn off the 3G switch in Settings. Also if you are good with the command line, you can make it much easier by adding the line <string>-q</string> right after the /usr/bin/yellowsn0w line in /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.iphone-dev.yellowsn0w.plist (that’s and advanced tip, hopefully someone will make a boosprefs type of tool for it)
- No PIN support yet. Remember how we said this was beta? Well we’re still working out the flow for SIMs with PINs enabled. Please disable any PIN you may have on that SIM before trying yellowsn0w, for now..
The dev team are just brilliant to quickly release a fix to resolve the issue some folks were facing. They are working to eliminate some of the extra steps. I would strongly recommend you to follow the Dev team’s blog for more detailed instructions and in case you want to report any issue.
Update 43:
If you try to unlock iPhone 3G running anything other than baseband 02.28.00 then dev team’s unlocking solution will not work, it detects the wrong version and quits, so check your modem firmware setting in Settings->General->About.
Update 4 (Jan 2nd, 2009):
Folks at Hackint0sh have published a guide with some useful tips to unlock iPhone 3G. It has helped readers Ricki and maikel to unlock their iPhone 3Gs successfully. Thanks Ricki for the tip.
Update 5:
The dev team has released an updated version of their yellowsn0w application (v0.9.4) to unlock iPhone 3G. Some folks were able to successfully unlock their iPhone 3G. If you have already unlocked your iPhone 3G, I would recommend you to avoid upgrading to the new version as it did not work as smoothly when I tried.
However, if you had tried unlocking your iPhone 3G with the older version and it did not work, you can try upgrading to the new version of yellowsn0w via Cydia.
Also checkout this guide over at Hackint0sh, it has some useful tips to unlock iPhone 3G. I was able to successfully unlock my iPhone 3G (again) with the latest version of yellowsn0w by following it.
Update 6 (Jan 3rd, 2009):
We has just published step-by-step guides to jailbreak iPhone 3G using QuickPwn.
Step-by-Step Guide to Jailbreak iPhone 3G using QuickPwn (Windows)
Step-by-Step Guide to Jailbreak iPhone 3G using QuickPwn (Mac)
Update 7:
The brilliant and selfless dev team have been busy fixing issues which users have reported after releasing world’s first software method to unlock iPhone 3G. They have released v0.9.5 of their yellowsn0w application to unlock iPhone 3G. They have mentioned that the latest version fixes quite a few problems including some STK (SIM Toolkit) issues and have adviced everyone to upgrade to this version. You can upgrade to the latest version via Cydia.
If you are still facing issues, please report them here so the dev team can fix them. One of our reader, Kenneth who tipped us about the latest version has reported that he was able to successfully unlock his iPhone 3G with yellowsn0w v0.9.5. He was facing issues with the previous versions of the application. Thanks Kenneth for the tip.
Update 8:
I tried upgrading to yellowsn0w v0.9.5, however I ended up hitting an issue. I used the following steps and was able to successfully unlock my iPhone 3G (again).
Launch Moble terminal app (you can install it via Cydia)
Type yellowsn0w -c
Type yellowsn0w -r
Type yellowsn0w -l (I got an error message "illegal option –l, Unknown message" but I ignored it and continued with the remaining steps)
Airplane mode on (keep it in that mode for more than 10 seconds)
Airplane mode off
Update 9:
We have just published a step-by-step guide to unlock iPhone 3G, hope it helps.
Update 10 (Jan 7th, 2009):
Dev Team have updated their yellowsn0w app to unlock iPhone 3G. It fixes even more problems.
Please don’t forget to drop us a line to tell us if you were able to successfully unlock your iPhone 3G.
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