How To: Jailbreak Any iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad

HiTecK

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General Info: The What & The Why of Jailbreaking

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So, you've heard about jailbreaking, and it sounds intriguing. And dangerous. (But mostly just intriguing.) Here's how to hack your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad—yes, iPad—into an unrestricted, freshly empowered mega-machine.

In buying an iProduct, you're accepting that its fate will be dictated by Apple. They control what kind of apps you install on your device, which of the hardware functions you can exploit to their full potential, and which carrier you can use your iPhone with. They've loosened up on at least one of those fronts in the last year or so, expanding the types of apps available in the App Store, but many—screw that, most—of the same restrictions still apply. Want to install an app that Apple hasn't explicitly approved? Sorry. Want to use an app over 3G that's been designated for Wi-Fi? Nope. Want to change your apps' icons? Install -wide gestures? Record video on iPhone 3G? No. Such. Luck.

Enter jailbreaking. In technical terms, to jailbreak is to enable a device to run code, meaning programs or system modifications, that hasn't been sanctioned by Apple. Its roots reach back to a time when there were no apps for iPhone OS, and a clever group of hackers zeroed in on some exploits gave people their first way to install apps on their devices, by way of an underground App Store called Installer. It used to be that you could hack your device simply by visiting a webpage. That was two years ago. Since then, the iPhone and iPod Touch have been given a legit App Store, Apple has closed one security hole after another, and jailbreaking has become alternately more and less difficult, depending which device and software version you have.

A few weeks ago, a Mac tool called Spirit was released to the world. It's simple, relatively safe, and, at the time of it's release, worked on all devices. Every iPod Touch could be jailbroken to run custom apps. Every iPhone, too. Even the brand new iPad could be hacked. Theming, data tethering (sans-AT&T), console emulation, secret settings, and much more: With jailbreak, your iThing is truly yours.

Unfortunately, Spirit is no longer universal. Apple dropped a few new surprises on us that broke the tool. The main culprit: iTunes 9.2. Also guilty: the iPhone 4, and iOS 4.0. If you're using any of these, forget about Spirit. More on your options later. However, meet these requirements, and you're able to use Spirit:

• Any iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch on http://www.everythingicafe.com/forum 3.1.2, 3.1.3, or 3.2.
• An activated device: one not stuck on the Connect to iTunes or Emergency Call screen.
• Any version of iTunes 9 earlier than 9.2 (iTunes 8 & earlier do not work)
• Syncing with iTunes before trying this is highly recommended.

If you meet these requirements, read on for how to jailbreak with Spirit. If not, skip down to the section for those of you with newer, shinier devices.

How to Jailbreak with Spirit

Before we get dirty, a disclaimer. Read it.

When you jailbreak or unlock a device, you're chaining some fundamental aspects of the system software—you know, real low-level stuff. The tools are generally good, and if you follow directions carefully, you should be fine. But if something goes wrong—and there is more than one way this can happen—you can suffer data loss, or even brick your phone. Even worse, Apple claims that jailbreaking voids your warranty. You can restore your device to remove evidence that it ever happened, but if the device goes down while jailbroken, you could well be stuck. In addition, jailbreaking does not jibe with the DMCA, and breaks relate license agreements.

To the point: Follow this guide at your own peril, know that there's risk and be careful. Consult elsewhere if you're nervous, or worry that I've missed something.


The Spirit tool has made the jailbreak fairly simple, but there's still room for error. Step by step:

What You Need:
• Spirit Jailbreak Tool [URL="http://spiritjb.com/"](Windows, Mac OS, & Linux)

• iTunes 9.x (below 9.2)
• iPod cable
• An iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch that a.) Isn't currently jailbroken (obvious, but just in case), b.) is working, i.e. not stuck in a startup loop, or displaying that "Connect to iTunes" screen and c.) is running a device software version 3.1.3 or lower (or in the case of the iPad, version 3.2)

1. Plug your device in, so that it's recognized by iTunes
2. Back up your device to your iTunes library, and sync it. Having the backup handy will allow to you restore your settings in case you need to wipe your device later; syncing everything—including photos, which some users report losing during the jailbreak process—ensures that all the media on your device will remain untouched, or at least restorable.
3. Open the Spirit Jailbreak tool. It will open in a small window, and should display a message like "iPad (3.2) Connected." If not, disconnect and reconnect your device, and open the tool again.
4. Click "Jailbreak"
5. During the jailbreak routine, don't interfere with the device. It's probably better to leave your computer alone as well, to avoid a crash at a critical moment. First, you should see a screen on the device that says "Restore Complete." The device will restart, display a spinning pinwheel icon, and open up a colorful screen like this, with a progress bar:

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Spirit should be done doing its thing in under 30 seconds. Your device should then boot up to your homescreen, as it was before—same background, same apps, same settings. Now you're jailbroken. Skip over the next section (for OS 4.0 & iPhone 4 users) and read the Post-Jailbreak section.

How to Jailbreak (for iOS 4.0 & iPhone users)

So, you've made the jump to iOS 4.0, or the iPhone 4, or iTunes 9.2, or most likely, all of the above. In this case, the Spirit jailbreak will not work for you, and in some cases, you might not be able to jailbreak at all (yet).

Here's what you can jailbreak:
•iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS running iOS 4.0 (Windows + Mac)
• iPod touch 2G running iOS 4.0 (Windows + Mac)

And here's what you can't:
• iPhone 4
• iPod touch 3G
• V1 iPhone or iPod touch - neither compatible with iOS 4.0

If you have an iPhone 4, hold tight. A jailbreak has been found, but it currently uses Apple-licensed software and can't be released to the public yet. But don't worry, it's coming soon. The same holds for the iPod touch 3G; the jailbreak will come. Patience.

Should you be able to jailbreak otherwise, choose the proper guide below:

iPhone 3G running iOS 4 - Mac / Windows
iPhone 3GS running iOS 4 - Mac / Windows
iPod touch 2G running iOS 4 - Mac / Windows

Follow the guide that complies with your device & software above, then read the post-jailbreak section below.

Post-Jailbreak

When you restart your device, you'll see a new icon on your homescreen, called Cydia. Open it up. This is your new App Store. Don't worry, the regular App Store still works. Now you've just got another one.

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Cydia will look a bit different on the iPad and iPhone or iPod Touch, but will contain most of the same software.

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The first thing you need to do, though, is click the button that says, "Make my life easier, thanks!"

This will back up your device activation profile (called an SHSH blob) to remote servers, which ensures that you won't lose the ability to jailbreak if you accidentally upgrade your device device software in the future. More on that later.

Regarding Unlocking

Traditionally, unlocking (opening your phone to use with different carriers) and jailbreaking have fallen to the same tools. Since unlocking has become more difficult with later firmwares, the tools have grown apart. If you want to unlock, though, there may be hope.

If you haven't upgraded your iPhone to firmware 3.1.3, or can downgrade to an earlier build, you can use the Pwnage Tool, located here. The process is self-guided and quite similar to using Spirit. Unlocking is a comparatively narrow concern, and can get much more complicated, so I'll leave it at that. More info here.

Anyway, that's it! It's time to explore Cydia.

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Hi,

Does anyone have a link to the correct download for spirit? Theres all sorts of bogus links for downloads and I don't want to download malware.

Please can someone post the DL link for me??

Thx in advance.
 
Does anyone know how to reset an i phone5 back to factory condition, its my daughters old phone that she has given to her sister, but she cant remember her old password, not great with phones myself so not much help to them, appreciate any suggestions. Tried a few of the tips from google and you tube, but no luck.
 
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