March 28, 2024

How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

Posted November 28, 2010 at 5:29pm by iClarified
These are instructions on how to jailbreak and unlock your iPhone 3G on iOS 4.2.1 using PwnageTool for Mac. This tutorial will explain how to upgrade your baseband if needed for an unlock.

Step One
Make a folder called "Pwnage" on the desktop. In it you will need a couple of things. PwnageTool 4.1.3, found here

You will also need the 4.2.1 iPhone firmware.
4.2.1 (3G): iPhone1,2_4.2.1_8C148_Restore.ipsw


If you are on the 05.14 or 05.15 baseband you will also need the iPad 3.2.2 firmware. You can find out how to determine your baseband version here.
3.2.2: iPad1,1_3.2.2_7B500_Restore.ipsw

When downloading the IPSW file, it is best to download it with Firefox since Safari often auto extracts it!
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

Step Two
Double click to mount PwnageTool then drag the PwnageTool icon into the Pwnage folder.
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

Then from the Pwnage folder double click to launch the PwnageTool application.
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

Click Ok if presented with a warning.
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

Step Three
Click to select Expert Mode from the top menu bar
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

Step Four
Click to select your device. A check-mark will appear over the image of the device. Click the blue arrow button to continue.
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

Step Five
You will be brought to the "Browse for IPSW" page. Click the Browse for IPSW... button.
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

From the popup window select your firmware from the Pwnage folder then click the Open button.
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

Step Six
You will now be asked if you want to update your baseband to the 06.15 version. If you are on 05.14 or 05.15 or higher you will need to do this to unlock. You do not need to do this for jailbreak only.
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

Please read the following very carefully before deciding whether to do this.

1. There is no way to come back down from 06.15, and there’s no hiding the baseband version from Apple. You’ll be voiding your warranty in a very obvious way.
2. If some future baseband comes out with a critical fix, you won’t be able to update to it if it remains down in the 05.xx sequence (then again, you wouldn’t update to it if you wanted to keep your unlock anyway).
3. Starting with FW 4.2.1 if you have 06.15 on your iPhone you won’t ever be able to restore to stock firmware (it will fail). You’ll need to only restore to custom IPSWs (then again, if you’re unlocker you should already be doing that).
4. There are reports that 06.15 may disable your GPS. The iPhone Dev-Team is currently working on a fix.

Don’t update to 06.15 if you don’t need to! Only do this if you need the unlock and you’re stuck on 05.14 or 05.15, and you’re willing to assume the above risks.

If you pressed YES then click the Browse for IPSW... button.
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

From the popup window select the iPad 3.2.2 firmware from the Pwnage folder then click the Open button.
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

Step Seven
You will then be brought to a menu with several choices. Click to select General then click the blue arrow button.
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

The General settings allows you to decide the partition size. Check Activate the phone if you are not with an official carrier then click the blue arrow button. Here you can also choose to enable iOS 4 features such as Multitasking, Wallpapers, and Battery Percentage. If you choose to do this please be aware that the performance of your device could suffer.

NOTE*: Deselect Activate if you have an iPhone legitimately activated on an official carrier.
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

The Cydia settings menu allows you to create custom packages so you do not have to manually install the necessary them later.
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

Click to select the Download packages tab. Then click the Refresh button to display all the available packages. Double clicking the package you want will download it and make it available in the Select Packages tab.
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

Checkmark the ones you want then click the blue arrow button.
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

The Custom Packages Settings menu displays listed package settings for your custom IPSW. For know leave these settings as is. Click the blue arrow button to continue.
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

The Custom Logos Settings menu allows you to add your own images as boot logos. Click the Browse button to select your Boot logo and Recovery logo. If you would like to use the iClarified ones they can be found here: Boot Logo, Recovery Logo
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

Remember the rules for them: RGB or Grayscale format with Alpha channel and dimensions below 320x480...
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

Click the blue arrow button to continue.

Step Eight
You are now ready to begin the pwnage process! Click the Build button to select it then click the Blue arrow button to begin.
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

Step Nine
You will be asked to save your custom .ipsw file. Save it to your Pwnage folder you created on your Desktop.
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

Your IPSW is now being built. Please allow up to 10 minutes.
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

You will be asked to enter your administrator password. Do this then click the OK button.
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

Step Ten
When prompted if your iPhone has been Pwned before, we clicked No. It allows for a more thorough restore.
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

Once your ipsw has been built you will be asked to connect your iPhone to the computer. Once it detects your device PwnageTool will guide your through the steps to putting your iPhone into DFU mode.
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

Press and hold the power and home buttons for 10 seconds.
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

Then release the power button and continue holding the home button for 10 seconds.
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

Once your iPhone is successfully in DFU mode, PwnageTool will prompt you to launch iTunes.
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

Step Eleven
Once In iTunes, hold the Alt/Option key and click Restore.
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]

Step Twelve
Navigate to the Pwnage folder on your desktop using the dialog window that appears. Select the custom IPSW that was created and click the Choose button.

Step Thirteen
iTunes will now restore the firmware on your iPhone. This can also take up to 10 minutes. Once done you will be rebooted into jailbroken iOS 4.2.1!
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G Using PwnageTool (Mac) [4.2.1]


UNLOCK: You can now follow this tutorial to unlock your device.

***THANKS: Thank you to Geohot and the Dev-Teams for their hard work in making this jailbreak and tutorial possible!
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Comments (58)
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Sha
Sha - February 6, 2012 at 10:15pm
iPhone 3G, iOS 4.2.1 jailbreak with Pwnage Tool. Only problem is I am not getting the wifi. Is there solution to fix wifi ? Please help.
Miguel
Miguel - November 18, 2012 at 8:38am
Same here. Lost wifi. Does anyone know if this can be fixed?
Joe
Joe - November 4, 2011 at 7:42am
while i was trying to jailbreak and unlock my 3gs 4.2.1 via pwnage tool (when changing baseband to ipad 6.15) , i had made it to the last step of getting into the dfu mode and after that my itunes did not restore it to the new custom restore since it was not updated. Now i am stuck in dfu mode plz help. I just updated my itunes to 10.5
Maxvot
Maxvot - October 19, 2011 at 10:20am
I have some odd situation at my end. I have iPhone 3G wich was jailbreaked and unlocked with ultrasonw. Accidentally, I upgraded my Modem Firmware to 5.14.02 & version is 4.1 (8B117). Fortunately my service provider allowed me to get on to network. I dont know how, may be now in my country (India) we have oficial unlocked iphones. Now my question is, since we can use official unlock phones in India. If I upgrade my iPhone 3g to 4.2 version with my itunes. Will it work ? Cause I have no clue about what firm ware I would be getting. As it is 4.2 is last Os that can be updated on 3G. The reason I need to upgrade to 4.2 is that, my phone is very slow. I dont see many facilities in my phone right now. e.g. Setting up fonts for notes. Multitasking. Home screen and lock screen option etc. Please suggest or help.
iDum
iDum - May 29, 2011 at 12:06pm
Hello, Thanks a lot for your tutorial - however, would it be possible to do it with an older firmware? 4.2.1 isn't very efficient on a 3G. If I want to jailbreak, can I just do it the same way, but with selecting 3.1.3 for 3G firmware? Thanks in advance, Alex
derelict
derelict - April 6, 2011 at 10:03am
Hi, I have a 3G which is jailbroken and unlocked with pawnage tool. I have version 4.2.1 with baseband 05.11.07. Since the upgrade the phone has become very slow and it crashes very often, expecially with multitasking. (e.g. Whenever I try to go to the sms app from the main screen) and also some apps that don't work as they should. What should I do? Anybody else has this problem?? Thanks for any help!!
Scott
Scott - January 20, 2011 at 12:26pm
So, I upgraded my 3G, 4.26.08 baseband, to 4.2.1 - keeping the baseband intact. However, I could never get Cydia to run. It would launch and then immediately crash. A quick Google search revealed that this is a known issue with 4.2.1. Why isn't that mentioned anywhere here? It appears that there is no way around this using Pwnage - you have to use RedSn0w. and then can only jailbreak it via tethered. Has anyone else had a different experience or been able to get Cydia to work? Thanks for any replies.
matrixmaniac
matrixmaniac - February 21, 2011 at 12:06am
Same thing for me: I upgraded from a 3.1.3 I believe. I was unaware that the iPhone is a locked one (did it for a friend who was unaware himself), but using Pwnage saved the BaseBand at 05.12.01. Of cource firt I didn't set the "activate" option. But after the bad surprise I did. The phone activates now, everything works except Cydia (and the unlock of course) :-(( Cydia just crashes right after being launched :-((( I didn't find much in Google about it though... Using Redsn0w doesn't seem to be an option because it requires to update the BaseBand... HELP!
dr. jlo
dr. jlo - January 9, 2011 at 1:01am
I have a 3G 16GB unlocked and jailbroken at 4.1 with BB 05.13.04. I was having a lot of crashes (one per day) and a friend advised me to use redsn0w to upgrade to 4.2.1 and that would be better for a 3G. I looked at the redsn0w tutorial but it looked like it recommended me to use Pwnage tool instead due to my BB. So I used Pwnage tool for the 4.2.1 firmware, following the instructions carefully, but now after I restored/restarted my phone and unlocked it with ultrasn0w, it says "Version 4.1 (8B117)" under "About". Can anyone help with that? Is that display incorrect and I really have 4.2.1 or did I do something wrong? Is there a way to check a 4.2.1 feature that should be on my phone now? Thanks so much in advance. Dr. Jlo
ramiroa
ramiroa - January 4, 2011 at 12:29pm
Hi. I've DL'd the files and followed the steps here exactly and have a problem. When I choose the firmware "iPad.1,1.3.3.2 7b500 Restore.ipsw", I get a pop-up: "wrong firmware selected". What could be wrong? I DL'd the firmware from a torrent from PirateBay. Could this be the issue? I have an iPhone 3G/ 4.1-8B117/ 05.14.02 Thanks!
The Heed
The Heed - December 22, 2010 at 4:35am
To iClarified, Geohot and the Dev-Teams... thank you very much. I toiled for a long time on this - the Unlock didn't seem to have worked after 20 hours of playing with it and multiple attempts - but after nearly giving up, I reinserted my SIM card this morning, and it did. For those struggling - follow the instructions exactly (no skim reading), and persevere. Cheers guys.
Howard
Howard - December 13, 2010 at 11:52pm
iPhone 3G, 3.1.2 (7D11), 5.11.07, jailbroken and unlocked. Yesterday, it was updated to 4.2.1 and unlocked again. 5.11.07 is retained. So far, no sign of battery issue or slowness. FYI. When I cooked the 4.2.1, the only option I chose was battery percentage. I disabled everything else.
DAniel
DAniel - December 24, 2010 at 8:45am
Hey can u help me ? I have exactly the same Iphone 3g on 3.1.2 and sam BB settings ! Using Pwnage tool i always get a message :SBFaskforunlock What did you do ? Yes or no ? Thanks for your help Daniel
T-Mobile iPhone User
T-Mobile iPhone User - December 12, 2010 at 3:33pm
I'm confused. I have an iPhone 3G. It's already jailbroken on 4.1. And, it's unlocked with Ultrasn0w. And, I'm still on the 04.26.08 baseband. Can I upgrade to a jailbroken 4.2 AND unlock with Ultrasn0w?
Howard
Howard - December 13, 2010 at 11:42pm
I updated my jailbroken and unlocked 3G 5.11 to 4.2.1 yesterday. Pwanage Tool retained my baseband at 5.11. It's now unlocked at 4.2.1.
Alison
Alison - December 6, 2010 at 11:16pm
Hi - I was able to jailbreak my 3G phone, but when I tried to launch Cydia, it instantly closes. Does anyone know why? I tried redoing the jailbreak twice and it still doesn't work. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Alison
fifi
fifi - December 12, 2010 at 1:15pm
Hi, I have the same problem. I've tried it three times, I also made three custom .ipsw files with different settings, but without success. After JB Cydia crashes on start. I've downgraded back to 4.0.1 Does anyone know why is that and how can we fix it? -- 3G 4.0.1 05.13.04
laurent bernard
laurent bernard - December 5, 2010 at 8:08pm
I did the JB ... worked flawlessly BUT when i wanted to unlock Cydia crashed. I can not unlock without Cydia!!!! What should i do? can somebody help me ? Thanks in advance
Clint
Clint - December 4, 2010 at 12:30am
I have a 3G BB 05.14.02 and iOS 4.1 I will upgrade to 4.2.1 first before I jailbreak, but want to hold off on 06.15 until the GPS issue has been resolved, can I do this? Or do I have to upgrade to 06.15 when I jailbreak? Thanks in advance.
Greg
Greg - December 4, 2010 at 4:32pm
6.15 is only for the unlock, so Jailbreak 4.2.1 will be good in your case. Do not go to 6.15 unless you want to unlock.
Clint
Clint - December 4, 2010 at 5:49pm
I did the JB without upgrading the BB, however, I'm hoping it's the same process to upgrade the BB if I want to unlock, as I'm probably gonna sell it soon to get an iPhone 4 and I've seen that unlocked 3G 8GB's still go for around $150+ on eBay.
Luis
Luis - December 1, 2010 at 6:39pm
I have a jailbroken and unlock iphone 3g on firmware 4.1 AND BASEBAND 05.11.07, my question is: should I upgrade to BB 06.15 or I can make the custom ipsw without upgrading the BB and unlock my iphone with ultrasn0w ? or I have to upgrade to BB 06.15 to get the 4.2.1 firmware and then unlock?
Greg
Greg - December 4, 2010 at 4:27pm
You should be able to make custom firmware with 4.2.1 and do not upgrade baseband to 6.15. You can then unlock with Ultrasnow.
Giggity
Giggity - November 29, 2010 at 10:31pm
I'm on an unlocked 3G at 4.1, with 4.26.08 baseband. Can I update to 4.2.1 (using pwnage) and unlock without updating my BB to 16.15?
sdfrio
sdfrio - November 29, 2010 at 11:20am
I'm still confused as to weather or not I can use this version for 4.2.1 or if I need to use version 4.1. I have an iPhone 3G currently running jailbroken 4.1, but locked for the last few months because of the 05.14.02 baseband issue. Can someone please let me know if I can follow the instructions here, or for 4.1 - https://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=13001 ... and I should mention I'm on a Mac. Thanks!
macrules
macrules - November 29, 2010 at 11:26am
if you had taken the time to read the dev-team page you would not need to ask. RTFM!!!! 3G is always untethered it says
sdfrio
sdfrio - November 29, 2010 at 11:30am
I did read that page and many others and still find it confusing (as do many others who posted). I'm not looking for someone to be rude and insulting, but rather someone who might kindly give some advise.
sdfrio
sdfrio - November 29, 2010 at 12:16pm
Thanks JB. Much appreciated. Were you starting from the same place that I am? 3G + 4.1 + 05.14.02?
J B
J B - November 29, 2010 at 12:29pm
My 3G was at the same baseband 05.14.2 but at 3.1.3 because I had downgraded the iOS because I was unhappy with the speed of 4.x. But now at 4.2.1 and unlocked, it seems like it works well -- no issues. As far as I know this is the only option for a phone that has 05.14.2 as a baseband to be unlocked -- to update it to 4.2.1 w/ a baseband of 16xx via the custom ipsw made by pwnage tool. I'm no expert but I would guess that the iOS version you are on isn't essential (as long as it's not the newest from an itunes/apple update via itunes of course). Just never, ever update via straight itunes/update button -- when you go to update it will be after pwnage tool has instructed you to, and then you'll do so w/ the alt/option key held down + update to show itunes where to get the custom ipsw file... Good luck.
sdfrio
sdfrio - November 29, 2010 at 3:56pm
It worked! I'm all set, thanks! So, anyone else who might be poking around here for clarity. If your current setup is 3G / 4.1 / 05.14.02 go ahead and follow the instructions in this tutorial, followed by the unlock tutorial they link to at the end and you should be in good shape. Thanks to the Dev-Team and iClarified!
graham
graham - December 1, 2010 at 2:50am
I tried the same process with my 3G. the who making a new os thru pwnage and using the ipad bb, and that all worked but then i cant get cydia to start so i cant unlock. ive tried redoing the whole process but i keep getting errors now. any ideas?
Dinos
Dinos - January 22, 2011 at 9:50am
I have an iPhone 3G (iOS 4.1) and baseband 05.14.02 too. Did you use iPhone1,2_4.1_8B117_Restore.ipsw or iPhone1,2_4.2.1_8C148_Restore.ipsw?
macrules
macrules - November 29, 2010 at 10:40am
Here is a short howto that i posted in the comments on the dev-team site: use a mac to untether jailbreak your iPhone 3GS old bootrom: Great news guys, thank you so much!!! This is how I updated my old bootrom 3GS to 4.2.1 : NOTE THAT IT IS NOT ADVISED TO DO UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING - don't blame me if YOU mess it up! Ok, this is what i did - download pwnagetool 4.1.3 UE en iPhone3GS 4.2.1 bundle - drop the bundle from update #2 in Pwnagetool folder: “Show Package Contents” of PwnageTool.app, navigate to Contents->Resources->FirmwareBundles and drop it there. you might als drop the proper 4.1 bundle while you are at it. - read update #3 carefully! - Run pwnagetool 4.1.3 UE, choose Expert, you see the 4.2.1 bundle, select it - uncheck activate in general. let it do like usual and restore the custom bundle with itunes. WOW!that gave me 4.2.1 with 5.13 modem. I also had a Cydia icon, but it does not start. Now fire up redsnow b6 (the latest) choose 4.2.1 bundle. Then choose no (you sure you have a 3GS old bootrom, right?). Follow redsn0ws further instructions. The exploiting with limera1n took a long time for me and it failed (maybe because of custom boot logo). I rebooted the device, chose another usb port, tried again and it worked. Cydia starts now!
JoWill
JoWill - November 29, 2010 at 10:05am
I can't jailbreak my Iphone 3G, I get an error 1015 every time iTunes try to install the Custom_Restore, and my Iphone is on Recovery mode always.
Kelvin
Kelvin - November 29, 2010 at 1:28pm
i got the same problem as well
HangTime
HangTime - December 1, 2010 at 12:18am
So did i unfortunately
Kim
Kim - December 2, 2010 at 12:06am
I got the same exact error when I tried to JB and unlock for my brother's phone. I tried twice and got the 1015 error and the plug in screen, but suspecting that it might have been because his phone was already on the 06.15 baseband, I redid all the steps in PwnageTool and this time clicked no when asked to upgrade. That was the only thing I changed; I then got the new IPSW and restored with it and thankfully it worked! I don't know if this is your case either (with already being on the 06.15 baseband) but I thought I'd share my story of fixing this problem. Phone stats at beginning: 3G / 4.1 firmware / 06.15 baseband Successful JB + UL for use on TMobile: 3G / 4.2.1 / 06.15 Happy to say it definitely runs faster. Thanks Dev Team and iClarified!
J B
J B - November 29, 2010 at 9:33am
The first time I tried this I followed the instructions of the devteam blog, and got a 1604 error (this is for a 3G with iOS 3.1.3 and 15.4.02 -- anotherwords a iphone 3g that was updated to 4.1 and the newer baseband, and then reverted to 3.1.3 because of 4.1's slowness). After several attempts to restore the ipsw made by pwnagetool and my 3G stuck in restore, I followed the iClarified tutorial exactly, created another ipsw with pwnagetool, and the phone restored on the first try. A few tips: Make sure you have the Pwnagetool 4.1.3 Unlock Edition (it's easy to use the other link on the devteam blog which is only 4.1, not 4.1.3 -- when pwnage tool is running go to Pwnagetool > About Pwnage tool to confirm this); If you are on a 3G (not 3GS) you will be updating to iOS 4.2.1 with the unlockable baseband; Also you will need both the 4.2.1 ipsw (apparently this is included with the pwnagetool 4.1.3 AND the ipad1,1_3.2.2_7B500_Restore.ipsw) to complete the process. Hope this helps, it gets confusing but iClarified sure does help.
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