Just found out that ebay have lost my N95 photos and the only edit it will let me make is to add a link to photos on the web, so here they are:
Sunday, 13 April 2008
Saturday, 12 April 2008
"Pwning" an iphone
Introduction
I loathe the things, but when the g/f saw the TV ads for the iphone she started making the sort of noises she really only should do when we're in bed together naked. so, having had a bit of good luck recently, I bought her one.
Foolishly thinking it would be easy to unlock/jailbreak/activate without O2 UK's rip-off contracts.
Turns out all the instruction appears to be written for those who already know their way around Macs, iphones and all thing Apple. I didn't have a Danny (la Rue = clue) so, using the instructions from two other sites referenced on AVForums, I put this step by step guide together. briefly:
i/ Use itunes to update iphone firmware to 1.1.4 & gets copy of 1.1.4 firmware locally
ii/ Use pwnagetool application to "ipwn" the iphone
iii/ Use pwnagetool application to modify the 1.1.4 iphone firmware file held on the Mac
iv/ Use itunes to "restore" the modified firmware to the "ipwn'd" iphone
For the source and screenshots see:
http://www.hackint0sh.org/forum/showthread.php?t=36686
http://www.modmyifone.com/wiki/index.php/PwnageTool_OSX_Usage_Guide_PWN_It
Terminology
Activate: When purchased, the iphone is not useable, even as an ipod or camera. Activating an iphone in hacking terms lets you use all iphone functions except the phone
Unlock: Allows any SIM from any network to be used
Jailbreak: Allows third party software to be used. You cannot do this on an iphone that has been activated in the normal way through itunes and O2.
pwn, pwning: see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pwn
Background
iphones that are sold in the UK need to be activated using itunes. Part of this process involves having to sign up for an expensive (min 35/month) 18 month contract with O2. If you already have a contract or want to use another SIM you need to Activate and Unlock your iphone using other means. Pwnagetool is the best way to do this at the time of writing; more reliable than ziphone.
It works by using a modified baseband (part of the operating system of the iphone) that then allows modified iphone firmware to run. It also modifies the firmware to activate the iphone and also to unlock it. I think that Because the baseband is copyright you can't download the
modified baseband from the pwnagetool site; you need to get it from "other sources".
Prerequisites
A/ Unbox the iphone and plug into mains to charge a bit while you finish the preparations
B/ Download "pwnagetool.app" from The Pirate Bay using bittorrent. As I am a Windows/PC user, I find the easiest way to download torrents is to use the Opera internet browser.
C/ On your Mac, open itunes. At the top, click on "itunes", then "check for updates" and make sure you have the latest version.
Detailed Steps
1/ On the Mac, start itunes and then connect the iphone to the Mac. itunes should recognise the iphone.
2/ On the Mac, at the top of itunes, click on "itunes", then "check for updates". You should be prompted to update your iphone to 1.1.4. Follow the prompts to do this. The iphone not only need to be at 1.1.4 but also you need the copy of the 1.1.4 firmware file that this process will load on to the Mac. If your iphone is already at 1.1.4, one of the links above will show you how to just download the 1.1.4 iphone firmware using itunes.
3/ Unzip the pwnagetool file that includes the baseband images, which you downloaded earlier
4/ Shut down the iphone: Press and hold the Sleep/wake button on top and slide on the screen to shut down.
5/ Start iphone in Recovery Mode: Once shut down hold the Sleep/wake and Home buttons [] (on front at bottom) until the Apple logo comes up
6/Continue holding the Home button but release the Sleep/wake button until the "connect to itunes" logo on the iphone comes up
7/ Close itunes
8/ Run the pwnagetool application unzipped in step 5 and click Browse .ipsw
9/ Browse to User (ie your name on your mac)>Library>iTunes>iPhone Software updates and select iphone1,1_1.1.1_4a102_Restore.ipsw (you can search for it)
10/ Select Open
11/ The file will take a few seconds to load then show Loaded with the filename, then reconised with the version contents
12/ Click on the iPwner button, the file will unzip and various messages will scroll up. The iphone will display a pineapple logo and then boot back into the "connect to itunes" logo
13/ On the pwnagetool app, click on the "IPSW Builder" button.
15/ Check/change the name of the custom ipsw and then click Save
16/ Enter your (Mac) password if requested; once the tool reports "successfully built..." quit the pwnage tool
17/ Start the iphone in recovery mode again (step 5)
18/ Start itunes, it should detect the iphone in recovery mode; press OK
19/ You should see an iphone screen with a restore option at the bottom. Press and hold the Alt/Option key and select Restore, release the Alt/option key.
20/ Browse to the file saved in step 15 and select OK.
21/ After a minute or two, once the message appears saying that your iphone has been restored, click OK and wait for the iphone to restart.
22/ When it restarts it will load BootNeuter automatically, then Baseband flash. DO NOT TOUCH THE PHONE.
23/ The phone will reboot when BootNeuter has completed its process back to the home screen.
24/ Turn the iphone off and use a paperclip to poke in the hole at the top of the iphone until the SIM holder pops up.
25/ Change the SIM card over to yours, turn on iphone and enter SIM card PIN code if you have one set.
Should all work fine.
I loathe the things, but when the g/f saw the TV ads for the iphone she started making the sort of noises she really only should do when we're in bed together naked. so, having had a bit of good luck recently, I bought her one.
Foolishly thinking it would be easy to unlock/jailbreak/activate without O2 UK's rip-off contracts.
Turns out all the instruction appears to be written for those who already know their way around Macs, iphones and all thing Apple. I didn't have a Danny (la Rue = clue) so, using the instructions from two other sites referenced on AVForums, I put this step by step guide together. briefly:
i/ Use itunes to update iphone firmware to 1.1.4 & gets copy of 1.1.4 firmware locally
ii/ Use pwnagetool application to "ipwn" the iphone
iii/ Use pwnagetool application to modify the 1.1.4 iphone firmware file held on the Mac
iv/ Use itunes to "restore" the modified firmware to the "ipwn'd" iphone
For the source and screenshots see:
http://www.hackint0sh.org/forum/showthread.php?t=36686
http://www.modmyifone.com/wiki/index.php/PwnageTool_OSX_Usage_Guide_PWN_It
Terminology
Activate: When purchased, the iphone is not useable, even as an ipod or camera. Activating an iphone in hacking terms lets you use all iphone functions except the phone
Unlock: Allows any SIM from any network to be used
Jailbreak: Allows third party software to be used. You cannot do this on an iphone that has been activated in the normal way through itunes and O2.
pwn, pwning: see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pwn
Background
iphones that are sold in the UK need to be activated using itunes. Part of this process involves having to sign up for an expensive (min 35/month) 18 month contract with O2. If you already have a contract or want to use another SIM you need to Activate and Unlock your iphone using other means. Pwnagetool is the best way to do this at the time of writing; more reliable than ziphone.
It works by using a modified baseband (part of the operating system of the iphone) that then allows modified iphone firmware to run. It also modifies the firmware to activate the iphone and also to unlock it. I think that Because the baseband is copyright you can't download the
modified baseband from the pwnagetool site; you need to get it from "other sources".
Prerequisites
- An Apple Mac with OS X (no Windows version at time of writing) and the latest version of itunes
- An iphone
- A copy of PwnageTool.app including baseband images
A/ Unbox the iphone and plug into mains to charge a bit while you finish the preparations
B/ Download "pwnagetool.app" from The Pirate Bay using bittorrent. As I am a Windows/PC user, I find the easiest way to download torrents is to use the Opera internet browser.
C/ On your Mac, open itunes. At the top, click on "itunes", then "check for updates" and make sure you have the latest version.
Detailed Steps
1/ On the Mac, start itunes and then connect the iphone to the Mac. itunes should recognise the iphone.
2/ On the Mac, at the top of itunes, click on "itunes", then "check for updates". You should be prompted to update your iphone to 1.1.4. Follow the prompts to do this. The iphone not only need to be at 1.1.4 but also you need the copy of the 1.1.4 firmware file that this process will load on to the Mac. If your iphone is already at 1.1.4, one of the links above will show you how to just download the 1.1.4 iphone firmware using itunes.
3/ Unzip the pwnagetool file that includes the baseband images, which you downloaded earlier
4/ Shut down the iphone: Press and hold the Sleep/wake button on top and slide on the screen to shut down.
5/ Start iphone in Recovery Mode: Once shut down hold the Sleep/wake and Home buttons [] (on front at bottom) until the Apple logo comes up
6/Continue holding the Home button but release the Sleep/wake button until the "connect to itunes" logo on the iphone comes up
7/ Close itunes
8/ Run the pwnagetool application unzipped in step 5 and click Browse .ipsw
9/ Browse to User (ie your name on your mac)>Library>iTunes>iPhone Software updates and select iphone1,1_1.1.1_4a102_Restore.ipsw (you can search for it)
10/ Select Open
11/ The file will take a few seconds to load then show Loaded with the filename, then reconised with the version contents
12/ Click on the iPwner button, the file will unzip and various messages will scroll up. The iphone will display a pineapple logo and then boot back into the "connect to itunes" logo
13/ On the pwnagetool app, click on the "IPSW Builder" button.
- Make sure that "Enable baseband update", "Neuter bootloader", "unlock baseband" and "activate phone" are selected.
- Do not select "upgrade to..." or "Downgrade to..." unless you know what you are doing.
- If you wish to keep the pineapple logo then click on use custom images if not the apple logo will come back!
15/ Check/change the name of the custom ipsw and then click Save
16/ Enter your (Mac) password if requested; once the tool reports "successfully built..." quit the pwnage tool
17/ Start the iphone in recovery mode again (step 5)
18/ Start itunes, it should detect the iphone in recovery mode; press OK
19/ You should see an iphone screen with a restore option at the bottom. Press and hold the Alt/Option key and select Restore, release the Alt/option key.
20/ Browse to the file saved in step 15 and select OK.
21/ After a minute or two, once the message appears saying that your iphone has been restored, click OK and wait for the iphone to restart.
22/ When it restarts it will load BootNeuter automatically, then Baseband flash. DO NOT TOUCH THE PHONE.
23/ The phone will reboot when BootNeuter has completed its process back to the home screen.
24/ Turn the iphone off and use a paperclip to poke in the hole at the top of the iphone until the SIM holder pops up.
25/ Change the SIM card over to yours, turn on iphone and enter SIM card PIN code if you have one set.
Should all work fine.
Thursday, 6 March 2008
Accessing HP Recovery Partition
Make your Recovery Disks first; test them by doing a restore from them.
You can use a third party partitioning tool like Partition Manager to reduce the size of your C: drive and then make your D: drive bigger. You can then store data on the D: drive that will not be erased during a system recovery. Or you can create another partition and drive altogether.
Two problems you need to overcome:
1/ Pressing F11 may not work after changing the partition sizes. Boot from the Recovery Disks, select "Run program from hard drive" and the recovery partition will be available for F11 again
2/ After recovery, the data on the D: drive will still be there but may be inaccessible. To get at it, run the following batch file (as administrator):
REM to see recovery disk on HP PCs
REM remove read only, system and hidden attribute from
REM all files and folders including in subfolders
d:
cd\
attrib -R -S -H d:\*.* /S /D
REM Delete all desktop.ini files from all subdirs
del /F /S desktop.ini
To open a command prompt as Administrator, Start, All Programs, Accessories, right-click command prompt and select "Run as administrator".
You can use a third party partitioning tool like Partition Manager to reduce the size of your C: drive and then make your D: drive bigger. You can then store data on the D: drive that will not be erased during a system recovery. Or you can create another partition and drive altogether.
Two problems you need to overcome:
1/ Pressing F11 may not work after changing the partition sizes. Boot from the Recovery Disks, select "Run program from hard drive" and the recovery partition will be available for F11 again
2/ After recovery, the data on the D: drive will still be there but may be inaccessible. To get at it, run the following batch file (as administrator):
REM to see recovery disk on HP PCs
REM remove read only, system and hidden attribute from
REM all files and folders including in subfolders
d:
cd\
attrib -R -S -H d:\*.* /S /D
REM Delete all desktop.ini files from all subdirs
del /F /S desktop.ini
To open a command prompt as Administrator, Start, All Programs, Accessories, right-click command prompt and select "Run as administrator".
Thursday, 21 February 2008
HP Pavilion s3150.uk recovery disk creation
If you have trouble creating recovery disks for your HP Pavilion PC try reducing the DVD burning speed in the main DVD burning program (Roxio in my case).
I was following this HP support article:HP and Compaq Desktop PCs - Drive Cannot Write to Writable Discs (Windows Vista)
But, as I'd already toasted half my DVD-Rs I followed all the steps before I tried again. And I updated all the drivers from the HP support site, including the BIOS and DVD writer firmware. I did try and run the HP Recovery Disk Creator before I reinstalled Roxio, but it wouldn't work (I thought it might use Windows own DVD writing capability).
Although I did everything at once, I'm reasonably sure it was the Roxio writing speed step from the above that fixed it.
If you want to be able to write more than the one set you are allowed, you could try turning on System Restore for the Restore drive as well as the C: drive and then roll back both drives once you've created the first set. Or you can probably just copy them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)