How to backup your iPhone’s unlock activation ticket with RedSn0w

Backing up your iPhone’s activation ticket was a step suggested by iPhone Dev

Team member MuscleNerd. Fortunately for us, his team has made it even easier to perform such a backup using the latest version of RedSn0w.

This step is suggested for those who take part in the recently uncovered SAM iPhone unlock method. If you followed our tutorial to unlock your phone, we suggest you follow through on preserving your activation ticket as well.

Check inside for a full video tutorial that shows how easy it is to successfully backup your iPhone’s unlock activation ticket, and any other file that you want to save locally from your iPhone…

Note: Your iPhone must be jailbroken to follow this step and have afc2 installed (most jailbreaks like RedSn0w and Corona include this by default).

Step 1: Open RedSn0w 0.9.10b8 and click Extras > Even more > Backup

Step 2: Leave the default directory in the “Please a path to backup” field, and click Ok.

Step 3: RedSn0w will save off a timestamped zip file of your /var/root/Library/Lockdown directory to the same location where RedSn0w is installed on your computer.

This feature is mainly aimed at saving off the necessary files from this directory, but there is nothing stopping you from using it to backup other files as well.

RedSn0w 0.9.10b8 released to add unlock activation ticket backup support

It didn’t take long for the iPhone Dev Team to release an updated version of RedSn0w

to support backing up the precious activation tickets resulting from the SAM unlock.

Instead of having to manually go in and backup your activation tickets, you can use a new option found in RedSn0w instead.

The full download for RedSn0w 0.9.10b8 can be found inside, along with the tool’s release notes…

Per the iPhone Dev Team’s blog post:

redsn0w 0.9.10b8 adds the ability to backup arbitrary directories or files from your device into a zip file on your Mac or PC. The new button is Extras->Even More->Backup and it requires your device to be jailbroken with the afc2 service enabled (most jailbreaks include that). By default it will backup your activation records from /var/root/Library/Lockdown, which is useful for everyone taking advantage of today’s SAM unlock using Loktar_Sun’s trick (more on that in a later post!).

So in other words, you can now backup arbitrary directories, and RedSn0w will by default backup the /var/root/Library/Lockdown which is needed to preserve your activation ticket.

We’re anxious to see what else the Dev Team has to say about the SAM unlock. Once they chime in with a further update, we’ll be sure to divulge the details.

You can download RedSn0w 0.9.10b8 for Windows and Mac from our downloads page. 

How to unlock any jailbroken iPhone on iOS 5.0 or later on any baseband

Unlocking the iPhone 4S, and the iPhone 4 just got a whole lot easier

thanks to the SAM package unlock revealed earlier this morning.

After alerting you guys to the news, we went into out labs and started testing this for ourselves. After a few failures, we were finally able to come up with a reliable method for making this work every time.

The good news is that this will likely become even easier as time goes on, and needless steps are eliminated. We’re already to the point where we can switch back and forth between our AT&T SIM card and our T-Mobile SIM card without having to reconfigure anything. It’s pretty awesome.

Check inside for our full tutorial that shows how to unlock any iPhone on iOS 5 or higher (running any baseband) using the SAM jailbreak package…

Your iPhone must be jailbroken on iOS 5 or higher. Baseband is irrelevant. Keep your current SIM in your iPhone until instructed to remove it in step 4.

Step 1: Add the following repo to your Cydia sources: repo.bingner.com and then install SAM.

Step 2: Open SAM, go to Utilities, and tap Deactivate.

Step 3: Go back to the SAM main menu, and tap More Information. Under SIM Details copy your IMSI number.

Step 4: Remove your SIM, and replace it with the SIM you wish to use (i.e. T-Mobile).

Step 5: With SAM enabled, tap Method, and select By Country and Carrier. Go back a menu, and select the correct country and then the correct carrier for your SIM card.

Step 6: Go back to More Information, and tap Spoof Real SIM to SAM. Next under SAM Details, delete the current IMSI number, and replace it with the one you copied in step 3.

Step 7: On the SAM main menu go to Utilities, and tap Attempt Activation. Your device should respring if done correctly.

Step 8: Open SAM and disable SAM. Close SAM.

Step 9: Open iTunes and plug in your device to your computer. You may have to unplug it and plug it in a few times. Be patient. You should receive a message stating that it failed to activate your device, but that’s a good thing, click ok. Be patient, and eventually you will see the carrier logo for your new SIM.

Note: From here on out you can freely switch between your original SIM and your new SIM. All you need to do is plug in the device and repeat step 9 to activate your desired SIM. Please see our video tutorial for more details.

I know that there will likely be variations of this tutorial, or a simpler less step-driven method to come. We will have a more fleshed out comprehensive follow-up on the unlock in the near future.

How to save your Activation Ticket to preserve your unlock

For the record, MuscleNerd has stated that he recommends saving off your Activation Ticket for each SIM that you use, as they might come in handy in the future. These can be found at: /var/Root/ibrary/Lockdown and you can access this easily with iFile or via SSH.

This is perfect for those of you who travel abroad or who need a second SIM card. It’s been working great for me thus far, what about you?

Exploit discovered that could allow A5 devices to downgrade from iOS 5.1

Folks with newer devices on iOS 5.1 will be happy to hear that

iH8sn0w has uncovered a new exploit that could potentially allow users to downgrade their A5 gadgets to the more jailbreak-friendly iOS 5.0.1 in the near future.

As noted by Gadgetsteria, the Sn0wBreeze creator announced yesterday via his Twitter account that he has uncovered a “loophole” in Apple’s APticket system that allowed him to downgrade his iPad 2 from 5.1 to 5.0.1…

Here’s the tweet:

iH8sn0w@iH8sn0w

Found a loophole in Apple's apticket system. Restored my iPad 2 to 5.0.1 from 5.1. Works on all A5 devices. :)

25 Mar 12

• Reply
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This is actually a pretty big deal, considering there isn’t currently a jailbreak available for A5 devices (untethered or otherwise) on iOS 5.1. Nor is there a method of downgrading the firmware on these devices at this time.

Chances are you’ll need saved SHSH blobs from iOS 5.0.1 for whatever hardware you’re looking to downgrade, but we won’t know anything for sure until we see an official release. And unfortunately, we don’t have any kind of ETA.

As always, we’ll let you know more as soon as we do. So stay tuned.

Sn0wBreeze v2.9.3 released to jailbreak iOS 5.1 on Windows

Hot off the heels of Thursday’s RedSn0w iOS 5.1 compatibility update
comes Sn0wBreeze v2.9.2, which makes the popular Windows jailbreak tool compatible with iOS 5.1.

If you’re familiar with previous iterations of Sn0wBreeze, then you’re not going to find any surprises here. It’s still about creating a custom IPSW and restoring via iTunes to accomplish the jailbreak.

One of the advantages that you have with Sn0wBreeze is that it will preserve your baseband for those interested in maintaining an existing unlock.

This updated for Sn0wBreeze is compatible with A4 devices and below, and is of course, a tethered jailbreak. Check out more details inside…

Here is the change log for ih8sn0w’s latest jailbreak tool update:

• Added Tethered Jailbreak support for 3GS/iPod Touch 3/A4 Users on iOS 5.1 (9B176)
• iPhone 3GS old-bootrom users are untethered on 5.1/9B176 (as usual).
• Bug Fixes (Specifically with the iPad baseband and iPhone 2G).
• Re-added the iPhone Dev-Team’s iPhone 2G permanent unlock ‘BootNeuter’.

Again Sn0wBreeze is not compatible with A5 devices such as the iPhone 4S or the iPad 2. The reason for that is described below:

A low level (DFU/iBoot/LLB) exploit is required to start the restoration of custom IPSWs. The past two jailbreaks (JailbreakMe & absinthe) for the A5 worked within iOS itself. These exploits are not capable of bringing the iDevice into a state where it will accept custom IPSWs. Therefore, an A5 device cannot currently downgrade to an iOS revision that Apple is no longer signing (even with SHSH blobs) and it cannot preserve the baseband when updating to a newer iOS revision.

Download the new Sn0wbreeze from our Download-section.

Head over to ih8sn0w’s blog for more info on this latest update.

Are you going to jailbreak your device on iOS 5.1, or are you staying put on an older firmware?