Filed under: Developer, iPhone
iPhone Developer Lockdown reportedly iPinkBricks all dev units
Readers report that update 5A240d is now available on the Dev Portal
Reports are streaming into TUAW that official iPhone developers have been hit this morning by the Pink Screen of Expired Release. Their beta licenses for the current 1.2/2.0 firmware distribution have expired as of 12:01am April 8th. Both iPhones and iPod touches now display the pink-backgrounded "This device is expired. Please install a newer version of the OS" activation screen and will do so until Apple issues a firmware refresh.
You can easily downgrade your iPhone or iPod touch from the PSOD. Just restore your iPhone or touch to an earlier firmware release. You will not be able to use your unit for development until Apple updates the developer release but you should be able to make phone calls.
iPhone hacker Nicholas "Drudge" Penree reports that you can bypass 1.2/2.0 activation using the dev team's pwnage tool. He writes that he is aware of 1.2/2.0 iPhones that are still working today.
[Via iPhoneDevHelp]
Thanks everyone who sent this in.
Update: Straight from our blue & green super-sekrit source: "I got bricked as well. Called ADC and they told me there was a new SDK. They said it was stilllabeledas the old SDK but that if I hovered over the link would show the new one. Not sure how the SDK would fix it vs. a new firmware but I'm downloading it now." I personally can't see any updated SDK material. Perhaps its only available to those accepted into the dev program. Other readers report that they do not see any updates--in the dev program pages or the general iPhone dev center ones.
Update 2: Another blue and green birdie sent us this, which has apparently been posted since the developer program opened: "Important note: Once you install the pre-release iPhone OS on your device, such device may only be used for development and testing purposes until the final (GM) version of the iPhone OS is released. In addition, you will need to install new versions of the software from time to time throughout the beta period. Failure to install the most current version will, after a period of time, put your device in a de-activated state. Updating to the most current version will re-activate your device so that you may continue testing."
Update 3: Apparently the new (possibly 5A240d) firmware seed has only been released to Enterprise developers so far according to yet another blue & green birdie. This birdie tweets that the seed note is quite extensive and includes "unsettling" details. It looks like a lot of device hangs and system restores are in developer futures.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Timothy said 10:34AM on 4-08-2008
Did you mean April, 8th?
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stoneymonster said 10:51AM on 4-08-2008
This seems like really poor planning on somebody's part....
not that I've been invited into the program yet anyway ;)
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Alex said 4:11PM on 4-08-2008
I've got the PSOD as well. Bring on the new firmware. Apple Developer Connection Phone Support wasn't any help when I called. There's not ETA for when the new firmware is gonna show up
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Patrick said 11:23AM on 4-08-2008
I woke up to this disaster too...
Following the downgrade instructions worked, but I was not able to connect to the network to make phone calls.
Apple must have seen this coming...and now I'm stuck without a phone. The installation warning they gave us to designate a phone for development only makes sense, but no way can I afford two iPhones.
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Digitalleon said 11:37AM on 4-08-2008
I purchased a refurbished Ipod touch for this reason. I'm not doing any development on my phone until this firmware issue is settled.
stainboy said 11:30AM on 4-08-2008
poor planning on Apple's part. they should have had an update prepared for this. bad form.
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Pete said 11:36AM on 4-08-2008
Mine was working a half hour ago but now has gone pink.
Luckly, instead of using my iPhone for development I bought an iPod Touch.
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super-sekrit said 11:43AM on 4-08-2008
Well the SDK didn't fix anything. ADC pretty much said I had a brick until a new firmware was released.
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Anson said 11:57AM on 4-08-2008
The Dev Center shows the iPhone OS and SDK versions as currently 5A225c, but the SDK link still points to the 9a2151 version. It seems like the 5A225c version is newer than the 9a2151 version, so maybe it's a recent refresh?
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Alex said 2:02PM on 4-08-2008
The 9a2151 build of the SDK contains the frameworks for the 5A225c build of the iPhone/iPod Touch firmwares. These were last updated on around 3/27/08. As far as I can tell, no new firmware of SDK has been released yet
Eric said 12:04PM on 4-08-2008
hmmm ... now it looks like the apple support discussions site is down after removing the threads regarding the pink screen issue.
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pjcabrera said 12:42PM on 4-08-2008
Wow, great way to build developer relations there, Apple! ROFLWTF
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Robert Brown said 12:19PM on 4-08-2008
Where on earth would the firmware be within the current SDK. I know it is now out of date but where would I get a hold of the 2.0 firmware?
Is the firmware supplied as part of the SDK or do you have to be accepted on the iPhone developer program?
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Dan said 12:54PM on 4-08-2008
To get the firmware legally you must be a member of the iPhone developer program. The firmware is not provided with the SDK.
super-sekrit said 12:46PM on 4-08-2008
Re: Update #2
The issue is that there is NOT a newer version to update to!
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Justin said 12:51PM on 4-08-2008
5A225c is the latest available as far as I can tell. It is the version 2.0 firmware.
I had a brick until I rolled back to 1.1.4, but now I don't have any of my data. I knew it was going to happen at some point.
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super-sekrit said 1:00PM on 4-08-2008
How did you roll back to 1.1.4?
Justin said 1:22PM on 4-08-2008
To revert to 1.1.4, I followed the instructions in PSOD link in this post:
http://www.tuaw.com/2008/04/02/downgrading-your-2-0-iphone-from-the-pink-screen-of-death/
Which they originally pulled from:
http://command-interactive.com/
The tricky part was after the restore, I kept getting the 1015 Error, and I couldn't figure out how to get around it. I think I just unplugged the iPhone and quit iTunes, then plugged it back in and it worked again.
Sojourner said 1:03PM on 4-08-2008
Re: Update #2
A lot of hangs and restores were already in my present for the past firmware release. You mean to tell me it gets WORSE?!?
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Alex said 2:02PM on 4-08-2008
"It looks like a lot of device hangs and system restores are in developer futures" Just great. As if this screw up wasn't annoying enough. I understand the need to instal newer firmware but, to not get any warning then BAM!! you're SOL, that's a bit screwed up
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