Sunday 13 April 2008


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:

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
  • 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
Preparation

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!
14/ Once the options are selected, click OK
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.