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rdklinc
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How do I use a SIM-less original iPhone as an iPod Touch?

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Hello! I've got a SIM-less 1st gen iPhone with the latest OS that is stuck on the "emergency call" initial screen and that iTunes refuses to deal with. I have a customer who would like to buy it for use as an iPod Touch-equivalent device. This question has been asked before, and I realize that I need to jailbreak/unlock this phone in order to get iTunes to see it without a working SIM, but I've spent 3 hours applying various jailbreak apps with no real success. They all either hang, claim incompatibility with my phone or the OS or whatever variation of the firmware they are attempting to apply, etc. Replies to this question have all been generic "unlock your iPhone" or "jailbreak your iPhone"...is there someone who has actually done this who can provide more specific instructions, i.e. what app, what version, steps involved, etc.? Please note, it's not possible to use the easier jailbreak methods (i.e. jailbreakme.com) with this phone, because it is stuck on the initial screen and therefore needs an external application to do the work.

I wouldn't normally post a question such as this, but considering that original iPhones are increasingly impractical as phones, but are still useful when recycled as iPod-like devices, I think it's an issue that is not going to go away and might as well be solved.

Thanks!

John

Edited by: rdklinc ( )

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hosies
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My advice is to downgrade to 3.1 instead of 3.1.3.

all you have to do is the following

Download iOS 3.1 directly from Apple or got to iClarified and choose the right ipsw

Download PwnageTool 3.1 from modmyi, or Megaupload

You will need bootloader files 3.9 and 4.6 which you can download from here bl39.bin and bl46.bin

Now your are ready!

Put everything you downloaded in a new folder, open PT choose iPhone, click continue let it find the 3.1 .ipsw file that you downloaded earlier, click next and let it create the custom firmware. If you like you can choose expert mode and modify some of the features, like keeping original Apple logos instead of the pineapple one etc...

Now you have the Custom firmware, put your iPhone in DFU mode using PT, close PT and open iTunes (if iTunes opens while putting iPhone into DFU just close it after PT says Success you are in DFU and open it again)

iTunes will recognize that iPhone is in DFU and request that you restore. Using the Option (alt) key on your keyboard click on restore, a pop up will let you choose what firmware to restore from, navigate to your CUSTOM firmware that you created using PT. Now sit back and enjoy while it does the rest for you.

This by the way will Unlock your iPhone as well so you will be able to use it with any SIM card.

Enjoy :)

Awesome, thanks so much! I'll give it a shot!

rdklinc,

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rdklinc
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Hooray, I finally was able to jailbreak both my SIM-less iPhone 2Gs with the assistance of this link:

http://www.ilikemyiphone.com/2010/02/10/...

It was a pain, but worth it.

Edited by: rdklinc ( )

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rj713,

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hosies
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If you are happy with the result then don't change anything, but IMHO PwnageTool is way better than redsn0w in terms of how it arranges files in the custom firmware which leads to more stability and speed on the iPhone.

If you want i can walk you through all the steps.

Best

Thanks for the suggestion! I might give it a try, because although the phones are jailbroken and working well now, they are very slow, so any improvement may be worthwhile. I don't want to take up your time, but if you have a link to instructions, that would be great! They are 2G phones with 3.1.3. Thanks!

rdklinc,

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