Filed under: iPhone
iPhone Elite Team publishes 'unbrick' procedure
Suppose you took your iPhone, running 1.0.2 firmware, and unlocked it using anySIM for use on alternate GSM networks. Then suppose -- against the advice of Apple, reliable sources, and men in the streets waving signs saying "The End Is Near" -- you tried to upgrade said phone to the 1.1.1 firmware. Now you have an iBrick, and you wish like anything you could take it back, and return to a happy place... but you can't, unless you have about $100 for the iPhoneSIMFree paid unlock. Well, now, maybe you can.The self-styled iPhone Elite Team has published 19-step directions for rolling back from 1.1.1 to the original 1.0.2 firmware and an unlocked state. Not for the faint of heart (one step says "get the secpack 4.0... some people have it, I have no idea how they got it but it's needed") but some commenters there indicate that the process has worked for them. Note that unlike iPhoneSIMFree, this will probably not allow you to roll forward to the 1.1.1 firmware.
As with every iPhone hack, be aware that you will void every warranty your iPhone ever had, and Apple will burn all your LPs and talk smack about you to its girlfriends. Of course, if you need this procedure, you already know that.
Thanks to everyone who sent this in
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Photoslob said 11:36AM on 10-12-2007
Anyone know if this will unbrick an ipod touch? Let's just say the state of jailbreak on the touch ain't quite there yet....
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xxdesmus said 11:47AM on 10-12-2007
@Photoslob
Read this, you'll need to force a restore:
http://www.ipodtouchfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1806
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Christopher Lloyd said 12:03PM on 10-12-2007
Oh look another iPhone post. Hey guys check out this cool article Computerworld "10 things that should be in Apple's next Mac Pro"
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9042038&intsrc=hm_ts_head
Please fix yourself TUAW.
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imacmatt09 said 12:03PM on 10-12-2007
@The End
Get over it. This is The Unofficial Apple Weblog, not The Unofficial Mac Weblog.
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evenSong said 12:06PM on 10-12-2007
You know, maybe if the normal non-iPhone articles got more attention (e.g. comments), then maybe TUAW would focus more on them? Obviously as every iPhone article generates more than 50 comments, SOMEBODY cares.
Ignore it and eventually all the iPhone news will go away.
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Carl Trimble said 12:06PM on 10-12-2007
Seems like we are getting close to a reLock for AnySIM users!
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Michael Rose said 12:14PM on 10-12-2007
#3, #4, you exemplify the challenge we have to deal with. Something you don't know about this post:
Engadget posted about the free unbrick at 1:30am Eastern time. That meant this morning we were getting emails COMPLAINING that we were eight hours behind the news -- never mind that we were all asleep for those eight hours. There is literally no way to make everyone happy on this issue and speaking for myself, not for TUAW, I am not going to try.
A substantial portion of the readership is eagerly looking for these stories. If you aren't, feel free to skip them or move on. You do not need to announce your frustration, departure, edits to your RSS feeds, views on the skill/ethics/parentage/mastery of English of one or more bloggers, desire to smash things, willingness to fight other commenters, or anything of the sort.
"Grown up articles" are written for grown-up readers. Let's aim for parity.
(And my apologies for taking this out on the two of you, but I haven't had enough coffee today and yesterday's crop of imbecility did not do my atttitude any good. My rule is that I try not to comment anything that I wouldn't say in person... I may be getting a little close to the line there, so sorry.)
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ArkITechT said 12:17PM on 10-12-2007
I can verify this worked very smoothly
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fraggle said 12:36PM on 10-12-2007
These guys are using the wiki as an open work book, so you'll see stuff as it developes. I'm sure soon you'll see less steps, automated packages and I'm guessing a lot more functionality. All i'm saying Watch that space!
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billp said 12:37PM on 10-12-2007
@9
Hmm... okay, but I just wanted to point out my personal appreciation for a return to what I consider to be "normal" tuaw quality today.
Don't get mad at your readers because there are people that would rather see one good, newsworthy post versus a plodding stream of trivia.
Everyone wants to know what is going on in the Apple world, but the major complaint is quality versus quantity. If you consider your readers to be imbeciles for leaving opinions on your articles, then maybe you should turn off your comment system.
Hell, as other people pointed out, this blog is free to read and you guys can do whatever you want.
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Steve in Denmark said 12:41PM on 10-12-2007
"Grown up articles"?!
*laughs*
Get back to writing some then.
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bhamm said 12:41PM on 10-12-2007
oh look!
no sooner than i replaced (yesterday) the TUAW main feed with a Yahoo pipe to strip away Erica's drivel.. and i STILL get to put up with posts about the iPhone Elite Team (snicker), iBricks, Jailbraking.. Christ! I mean, i'm only willing to work just so hard to stick around here. WTF happened to this blog?!
chalk up another lost subscriber.. actually, chalk up a few dozen. I'm MIS at a multi million dollar Mac-only business.. between coworkers and a couple dozen clients of my own, there are a number of 'less-than-technically-inclined' folks who rely on a custom Newsgator feed (mine).. one that will now be stripped of anything from TUAW. You're running off some of your biggest fans/supporters and you don't even care.
good luck..
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rothnic said 1:19PM on 10-12-2007
@14
I look on the front page, and out of 16 stories, 3 are about iphone hacking. That really isn't that many, considering it's one of the main topics about Apple right now. And I'm sure your multi million dollar mac business is just going to take tuaw.com right off the web....LOL. I guess you could just hire someone to manually sift through your stories for you instead of using RSS.
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Arthur said 1:20PM on 10-12-2007
For christ's sake, listen to your readers and put these stupid iPhone hack posts on a separate feed or start a The Unofficial iPhone Wiki.
I agree with 13. Get back to work. You missed the MS Office 10.3.8 update by 24 hours. Too busy with iPhone hack posting, I suspect.
Michael Rose, you are the the weakest link.
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Michael Rose said 1:29PM on 10-12-2007
14: Bhamm, I care. Really I do. Now, what do you suggest I do to win back you and your dozens of subscribers? Keeping in mind I'm just one blogger among a horde. Sure, yesterday was iPhone-heavy. Today, maybe not.
I reiterate my earlier comment: Engadget had this story 8 hours before we did, and to many readers that's too slow. We are damned if we do and damned if we don't.
Again, sorry to be cranky, but... http://twitter.com/MikeTRose/statuses/330941542
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bhamm said 1:34PM on 10-12-2007
@15
um.. it's not /my/ Mac based business. I'm just in charge of the servers, databases, network, etc..
i'm also not suggesting that TUAW's loss of /my/ readership is going to 'take down TUAW'. But it is worth reminding the folks who own this site that the loss of one subscriber (me, in this case) is going to cost them many others (my clients and coworkers). A few dozen here/there is going to add up, eventually.
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ktulaman said 1:37PM on 10-12-2007
@ 14: Good luck, and good riddance! Don't let the door hit you on your way out.
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mingistech said 1:42PM on 10-12-2007
This is great news. Heading over to my brothers pad to see if we can unbrick him.
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rawhead said 2:18PM on 10-12-2007
I'm leaving! I'm leaving right now!! For real this time!! It's no use trying to stop me, there's nothing you can do!
I have my hand on the door!
I'm opening the door!
I'm stepping out! Don't even think about calling me back! I've had it with you!
I'm stepping out...I'm closing the door! (door slams shut)
(door opens)
I'm really REALLY leaving now!!"
(door slams shut)
Really guys. Leave gracefully if you're gonna leave.
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bhamm said 2:25PM on 10-12-2007
@Michael Rose
Sorry if my flaming appeared to be directed at you personally.. it wasn't meant that way. And it's not that i don't want to hear /anything/ about the iPhone. A lot of us here are interested.. we'd just like the signal:noise ratio adjusted a bit.
At one point, the iPhone coverage was great. Sure, there was a boat load of it (compared to other topics), but TUAW at least provided a feed for those with NO interest. I'm sure those folks appreciated the gesture. For many of us /with/ an interest in the iPhone, i think we feel we're stuck having to dig through the soap opera that is Erica's hour-by-hour cat/mouse with Apple.. just to glean something useful (to us).
I've hacked my Macs for the last 12 years, and still do. I think iPhone hacking is fine. I think, ultimately, lots of iPhone users will benefit from the efforts of people like Erica. I just don't think the main TUAW feed is the best place to air all of this out. That's what's frustrating a lot of us.
I'd personally like to see either:
1. a spin off the iPhone hacking stuff to another blog.. there's clearly enough news/interest/discussion to warrant it.. or:
2. provide an iPhone feed without all of the iBricking, Jailbraking, iPhone Elite Team, etc. drama. As i mentioned previously, lots of us are interested in the iPhone and would greatly appreciate a way to follow it.. without having to sift through the drama.
Thanks Mike, for asking, and for your attention. I have hope :)
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