This weekend, many instability issues associated with the iphoneinterface hacking tool (details to be found online at irc.osx86.hu #iphone) have been resolved. The big "your multigigabyte disk seems to disappear and be replaced by a few megabytes" bug has gone away and the software now supports both getfile and putfile (although, sadly, not removefile). This means that hackers have been able to unlock access to system files, retrieve them, alter them, and put them back. Read on for some of the biggest hacks developed over the weekend.
Switching Logos. This is shown in the picture I use for this post. You can grab the AT&T logos (curiously enough, the Apple engineers also included logos for Cingular, T-Mobile, and Vodafone). Rundown of the hack: copy the Default_CARRIER and FSO_CARRIER files to your computer, use fixpng to convert them to standard PNG format, use Photoshop to edit the text, and store the altered versions back on the iPhone (using standard PNG seems to work fine). Reboot and enjoy.
Adding ringtones. Place your .m4a files into /Library/Ringtones. I added a couple of sound effects files from a royalty-free CD I had around and they worked fine.
Update widget icons. If you feel like hacking, go into any of the widget applications in /Applications, grab a logo and edit it. These seem to use standard PNG files and don't need the fixpng extra step.
Reorder your widget icons. The DisplayOrder.plist file in /System/Library/CoreServices/Springboard.app specifies the order in which your icons display. Grab the file, use plutil to convert the file to standard text (plutil -convert xml1 DisplayOrder.plist), edit the widget order, and store it back on the iPhone. Then power off and back on.
Reveal the two "secret apps". The iPhone has four extra widgets listed in the "Special" section of DisplayOrder.plist. If you copy these to the main ("icon list") portion, two of them appear as interactive widgets. They are: Demo App and Field Test. Field test simply takes you to the same field test screen as dialing *3001#12345#* does. Demo app doesn't appear to do anything on my iPhone but looking at the strings inside its executable reveals that it's meant to show movies. My guess? It's for displaying iPhones at the store. I haven't yet tried adding a movie named Demo.
Thanks to all the #iphone folks, especially brutalentropy
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-16-2007 @ 3:09PM
Wayne Dixon said...
Several updates to this... M4p Files work. RMDIR also removes files. You can get your sync ability back by putting the original Serivces.plist back onto the phone.
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7-16-2007 @ 3:31PM
Aron Trimble said...
Custom ringtones FTW! I've already done this with two ringtones and it is fantastic... Also, Wayne is correct, copying the Services.plist file WILL fix the syncing problem.
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7-16-2007 @ 4:03PM
macaulian said...
http://www.macaulian.com/WeAreApple.mp3
Can someone please make this as their ringtone on the iphone and upload a video of it to youtube?!
Its the 1983 apple corporate themesong that steve is dancing along to right before he shows the 1984 commercial
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7-16-2007 @ 4:11PM
chindall said...
I am wondering, does custom ringtones work if setting an alarm? I would think it would select from the same list?
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7-16-2007 @ 4:12PM
SoCalDaveBandito said...
ugg.. 1983 ripoff of a bad movie
sounds like:
what a feelin
needs believin
i can't have it all
now i'm dancin for my life
take your passion and make it happen
pictures come alive
you can dance right through your life
WHY would you want THAT as a ringtone? LOL
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7-16-2007 @ 4:15PM
Ian said...
I ended up with the error of only showing a few hundred mbs total after messing around with ringtones. Long story short, the ringtones showed up, some M4p and some MP3, but not all MP3 worked. To do a full restore through iTunes proved troublesome because it had to connect to Apple to download the latest firmware, and Comcast decided it wanted to be down for most of that night. The phone still worked until then, thankfully enough.
Good work guys, thanks for your persistence on getting into the nuts and bolts of the jesus phone!
Amen.
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7-16-2007 @ 4:31PM
Johnny said...
Is there a solution for PPC users out there yet? I don't think I want to wait any longer for software updates!
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7-16-2007 @ 4:40PM
papasteves02 said...
I tried this over the weekend as well. Though the walkthrough says only .m4a files will be uploaded, I tried .mp3 and .m4p files (since I don't have many .m4a files), and they worked fine. Also, they work as alarms as well.
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7-16-2007 @ 5:02PM
Frank said...
@3 -- wow, that TOTALLY is a royalty-skipping remake of "what a feeling", from flashdance. ugh, some things are better left in the "forgotten" pile...!
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7-16-2007 @ 5:32PM
MTheory said...
Actually iphoneinterface allows you to remove files... the command is:
rmdir
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7-16-2007 @ 7:54PM
Dru said...
Would `hacking` the iPhone render it useless for Software Update?
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7-16-2007 @ 10:36PM
David said...
I tried putting "We Are Apple" as my ringtone, but it doesn't work. Even converted it to m4a. I have CTU m4a just fine, hmm odd
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7-17-2007 @ 12:24AM
jven said...
in what folder do i put my ringtones in to sync....
It says library/ringtones but where do i put it?
Please help
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7-17-2007 @ 9:47PM
Pete Zich said...
macaulian, I uploaded it and made a video, it is currently being processed by youtube. It is titled "We Are Apple - iPhone", I'll post a link when it is finished.
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7-17-2007 @ 9:49PM
Pete Zich said...
Of course it finished the moment I added the comment, it's at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTs1aWD50vs
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