March 19, 2024
How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3GS Using RedSn0w (Mac) [4.3.3]

How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3GS Using RedSn0w (Mac) [4.3.3]

Posted May 6, 2011 at 2:15pm by iClarified
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These are instructions on how to jailbreak your iPhone 3GS on the 4.3.3 firmware using RedSn0w for Mac.

If you want to jailbreak a lower firmware version you can find the appropriate tutorial here.

Make sure not to update to iOS 4.3.3 if you need an unlock as one is not yet available unless you opt to use the iPad baseband.


IMPORTANT FOR UNLOCKERS
During this process you can 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. Please read the following very carefully before deciding whether to do this. You can find out baseband version here.

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 your baseband is already unlockable and you are on a lower firmware version then use PwnageTool to update to 4.3.3 without upgrading your baseband.

Step One
Create a folder on your desktop called Pwnage

Download RedSn0w from here and place it in the Pwnage folder. Likewise, download the latest 4.3.3 firmware from below and place it in the same folder.

4.3.3 (3GS): iPhone2,1_4.3.3_8J2_Restore.ipsw

Extract the RedSn0w zip file by double clicking it.
How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3GS Using RedSn0w (Mac) [4.3.3]

Step Two
Connect your iPhone to the computer and launch iTunes.
How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3GS Using RedSn0w (Mac) [4.3.3]

Select your iPhone from the list of devices on the left. Now hold down Option and click the Restore button. Restore is preferred as it won't create any wasted space on your iPhone.
How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3GS Using RedSn0w (Mac) [4.3.3]

Navigate to the Pwnage folder on your desktop and select the 4.3.3 firmware ipsw. Click the Choose button to continue.
How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3GS Using RedSn0w (Mac) [4.3.3]

Step Three
Once iTunes has finished updating your iPhone to the desired firmware open the Pwnage folder on your desktop and launch the redsn0w application from the redsn0w folder we extracted earlier.
How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3GS Using RedSn0w (Mac) [4.3.3]

Step Four
Once RedSn0w opens click the Browse button
How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3GS Using RedSn0w (Mac) [4.3.3]

Step Five
Select the 4.3.3 firmware ipsw we placed in the Pwnage folder on our desktop then click Open.
How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3GS Using RedSn0w (Mac) [4.3.3]

You will be asked if this device is a newer fixed model. If yours is then click the Yes button; otherwise, click the No button.
How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3GS Using RedSn0w (Mac) [4.3.3]

Step Six
Once the firmware has been verified click the Next button to continue.
How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3GS Using RedSn0w (Mac) [4.3.3]

Step Seven
RedSn0w will now prepare the jailbreak data
How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3GS Using RedSn0w (Mac) [4.3.3]

Step Eight
From this window you can select the jailbreak options you would like. Make sure Cydia is selected.
How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3GS Using RedSn0w (Mac) [4.3.3]

Verbose boot displays detailed information on boot of your device and is generally only needed by developers and advanced users.

Make sure Cydia is selected. For this tutorial we will also select Custom boot logo and Custom recovery logo.

When you click to select each custom logo option a dialog window will appear asking you to select the image. Locate the image you would like to use then press the Open button.
How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3GS Using RedSn0w (Mac) [4.3.3]

*Remember the rules for boot logos are: RGB or Grayscale format with Alpha channel and dimension below 320x480. If you would like to use the iClarified ones they can be found here: Boot Logo, Recovery Logo

If you read the warning above and you would like to update your baseband to the 06.15 iPad version for unlock then check Install iPad Baseband. Click Yes when prompted to confirm your decision.
How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3GS Using RedSn0w (Mac) [4.3.3]

Click the Next button to continue
How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3GS Using RedSn0w (Mac) [4.3.3]

Step Nine
Please plug your iPhone into the computer and make sure its OFF then click the Next button
How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3GS Using RedSn0w (Mac) [4.3.3]

Step Ten
RedSn0w will now guide you through the steps to get into DFU mode. You can find more help with DFU mode here
How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3GS Using RedSn0w (Mac) [4.3.3]

Hold down both the Home button and the Power button for 10 seconds.
How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3GS Using RedSn0w (Mac) [4.3.3]

Release the Power button and continue holding the Home button until RedSn0w detects the device.
How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3GS Using RedSn0w (Mac) [4.3.3]

Step Eleven
Your iPhone will now reboot
How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3GS Using RedSn0w (Mac) [4.3.3]

Step Twelve
RedSn0w will then begin uploading the new RAM Disk and Kernel.
How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3GS Using RedSn0w (Mac) [4.3.3]

Step Thirteen
Once this is complete you will be notified that RedSn0w is done. Click the Finish button. When your iPhone finishes rebooting (5 minutes or so) it will be jailbroken with Cydia on the SpringBoard.
How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3GS Using RedSn0w (Mac) [4.3.3]

*As usual a big thanks to the iPhone Dev-Team and I0n1c for their hard work and contribution to the iPhone community.
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Comments (41)
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Rose
Rose - June 26, 2011 at 12:56pm
In step 2, iTunes is telling me that my iPhone "could not be restored because the firmware file is not compatible." My phone isn't activated, so I can't figure out how to even find out what firmware it has. I restored it two days ago through iTunes, which probably means I've got the most recent version, which could be bad news bears for me?
Jimmy
Jimmy - March 11, 2012 at 12:22pm
Apple and Palm are selling a artpfolm. They want all users of there devices to get updates to drive the artpfolm forward. I'm been saying this very same thing on several posts awhile back. Companies, namely HTC are only interested in selling phones. They rather you just buy a new phone if your old one has bugs. Google should FORCE device makers using android compulsory updates. The old G1 should get android 2.1. Microsoft with WM7 should control 100% of the software that goes on the phones, similar to the model that google is doing with the nexus one.
Rangga
Rangga - March 13, 2012 at 4:53am
Not quite a year ago, I switched from HTC's iwodnw based phones. My last 3 phones have been imported into the US and I loved them. I did the usual hacking of the ROM's and made it the way I wanted it. I bad-mouthed iphones all day long.Then, I bought one on a whim. Now almost a year later, I have bought 5 different iphones for members of my family. Though I agree somewhat with the closed-minded business practices of Apple, it's tough to beat the ease and usefulness of the iphone. The apps and software design IMO is superior to any iwodnw's based phone for daily use.And now with the new 4.0 OS coming out, it will be the cat's meow I can't wait. And if that were not enough, the possibility that the new 4G may have a removable battery seals the deal. I've always complained about the iphone's battery usage, I thought it was ridiculous. By noon, my battery was dead and I was charging again. After having to replace my iphone 3Gs because I broke it, I received a new one with the 3.1.3 OS. Funny thing now, since I can't jailbreak it like my old one, my battery life goes from 6:30am to 7-8pm before I have to charge it. At first I thought it was the fact that the new phone comes with a new battery but I had recently replaced my battery in my old iphone.Apparently, jailbreaking uses more battery than I thought.An interesting sidenote, when my iphone broke and I had to wait till Monday to replace it, I fired up my trusty HTC and what a disappointment, it was so awkward and non-refined, I ended up using my iphone though I only had a speaker phone to work.Guess I do love my iphone.
AJ
AJ - June 6, 2011 at 9:11am
I have my iPhone on FW 4.3.2 & I am using Mac to unlock. In step 2, after I browse the "iPhone2,1_4.3.2_8H7_Restore.ipsw" file, it prompts me "iTunes will erase and restore your iPhone to iOS 4.3.2 and will verify the restore with Apple." If I click restore, it says "The iPhone could not be restored. This device isn't eligible for the requested build." Any idea how I can get away with this error ?
Ryan
Ryan - August 4, 2011 at 5:21am
Same thing happened to me, it's because an Apple server was blocked in my Hosts file. Go to this folder: /private/etc/ Locate the "hosts" file and open it up. See if there is a line that looks like this... #74.208.10.249 gs.apple.com If so, remove the "#" at the beginning and save the file. You may need to adjust permissions before you can save. After I did this, iTunes allowed the custom firmware to load. Good luck!
unixes
unixes - May 14, 2011 at 5:36pm
I was on 4.0.1.I update it on iTunes to 4.3.3 then Jailbreak it with RedSn0w.Everything worked perfectly! Thank you.
Paul
Paul - May 8, 2011 at 3:43pm
I have a 3GS (newer) and I followed all the steps installing only cydia, but then after the "waiting for reboot" phase the phone's screen goes white and redsn0w says "unexpected error". Any idea ?
Scott M
Scott M - May 20, 2011 at 6:46pm
did you find a fix to the problem, because I have the same one.
kdb
kdb - May 23, 2011 at 4:07pm
I have same problem....have tried 3 time following iclarified steps
cjc
cjc - June 8, 2011 at 1:09am
count me as having the same problem. I found some info somewhere that indicated that somebody had luck by doing a full restore then re-running redsn0w, so I tried that. didn't work. would love a solution... may try on a PC. I've been doing all this on a macbook 2006.
Tom Smith
Tom Smith - May 6, 2011 at 6:16pm
So I just jailbroke it, it restarts and Cydia is sitting there but the icon is grey...i try to open it but it just crashes...what the hell?
Don Draper
Don Draper - May 6, 2011 at 2:38pm
When you do the "Option"+restore does it preserve the data on your iPhone? I have over 100 customized apps so I'd prefer it to not wipe the phone...
xdrive
xdrive - April 27, 2011 at 12:21pm
i tried to jailbreak iphone 3gs using redsnow 9.6rc14 but the jailbreak fails. only ipad baseband is upgraded. its a 3gs with serial xxx49 so i selected YES when prompted to have a fixed bootroom. what did i do wrong? i updated to stock apple 4.3.2 firmware before jailbreak. from 4.3 to 4.3.2. everytime i do the jailbreak again, there is a crash error in the iphone screen and when the iphone reboots CYDIA cant be found anywhere in the home screen.
Black_Hawk
Black_Hawk - April 19, 2011 at 12:23pm
Well "The iPhone could not be restored. This device isn't eligible for the requested build" thats itunes message and i do not want to be on the 5.16.02 and im @ 5.15. So with the risks i won't ipad baseband update so how do i get around this itunes error??
Yasmina
Yasmina - March 11, 2012 at 2:19am
Hi Pugalenthi!The file I linked in the end of this post is allcatuy a plain zip file so you can unzip it and see the source code and other relevant resources. In order to modify this to work on your iPhone 3g, you would need to unzip the file and check the hardware IDs of iPhone 3g from the properties (see the picture in the beginning of the post). Then you would need to replace the iPhone 4 hardware IDs listed in the code (in some file in the root of the unzipped folder) with the ones for iPhone 3g. Finally, you would need to zip the source codes back into a similar package you downloaded (don't change the filename) and proceed with the instructions on how to install the package to your system. Ideally you would not need any special tools to make the change. However, the tutorials and tools can be found from Device Experience Development Kit that is available . It's not a 10-minute job to use those tools, tho.
Max
Max - April 19, 2011 at 5:21am
I'm unable to download the redsn0w file. Can someone pls upload the file for me somewhere?
Seb
Seb - April 21, 2011 at 7:55am
Me too.... pls upload it again!?
stevesien
stevesien - April 19, 2011 at 12:30am
3gs. Jbroke 4.3.2, was fine on 4.3.1, Cydia is white icon and does not work. Anyone else g this? Anyone fix it. Should have left it alone.
stevesien
stevesien - April 19, 2011 at 2:59am
I redid everything, reinstalled stock 4.3.2 from Apple, then did Redsnow again, now its OK, had to reinstall Cydia once also after initial run of Cydia. All this with the ##74.208.10.249 gs.apple.com blocked Now its all good :)
Frank Foehrenbach
Frank Foehrenbach - April 6, 2011 at 2:11pm
I am currently running iOS 4.2.1 on an iPhone 3GS and iTunes 10.2.1. When following the steps in this guide, Step 2 instructs the reader to perform a restore in iTunes, selecting the downloaded ipsw file. After I select the ipsw file (iPhone2,1_4.3.1_8G4_Restore.ipsw), I get the following message "iTunes will erase and restore your phone to iOS 4.3.1and will verify the restore with Apple". I click on the Restore button, and I am getting the following message "The iPhone could not be restored. This device isn't eligible for the requested build" Anyone know what I am doing wrong here? Did I download the wrong ipsw file?
Amanda
Amanda - April 6, 2011 at 2:36pm
Try plugging in your iPhone to iTunes and updating to software 4.3.1. Then follow the steps in this guide.
Frank Foehrenbach
Frank Foehrenbach - April 6, 2011 at 2:46pm
Sorry forgot to mention that my iPhone 3GS is already jailbroken at iOS 4.2.1. Do I upgrade using the Download from Apple to 4.3.1 then jailbreak it again using the steps in the guide? I thought updating your phone using the download from Apple would not allow you to jailbreak your phone again. Thanks in advance.
Amanda
Amanda - April 6, 2011 at 2:53pm
I had to update my 3GS to 4.3.1 using itunes a week ago due to a problem I ran into. So a few days ago I used these steps to jailbreak. I had to try it a few times because I rushed it the first time. Once I did each step properly it worked like a charm.
Amanda
Amanda - April 6, 2011 at 2:59pm
I forgot to add that my 3GS was jailbroken before I updated to 4.3.1. I didn't have a problem jailbreaking again. I have heard the same about not being able to jailbreak again but I believe that only applies to the former jailbreak software. As in if you updated to 4.3.1 before they developed the jailbreak for the 4.3.1 software, the. You wouldn't be able to jailbreak until the released the new jailbreak version. Make sense?
Frank Foehrenbach
Frank Foehrenbach - April 6, 2011 at 6:07pm
Thanks Amanda, that does make sense, though I tried updating my iPhone 3GS from 4.2.1 (jailbroken) to 4.3.1 in iTunes with Apple update (iTunes -> Check for Updates) and I am still getting the same message. Thoughts?
Amanda
Amanda - April 6, 2011 at 7:50pm
Hmmm, I remember I having this problem the second time I tried this jailbreak. However, I can seem to remember how I got it to work. The only thing I can think that I did differently was that when I let it update on iTunes I stopped it directly after the update and did not let it resync to the previous settings (i.e. Adding photos and apps that you had backed up) basically when I did the above steps my iPhone was "naked" or in the original settings as it was when it came out of the box.
betz
betz - April 19, 2011 at 1:50pm
you should instal this one: iPhone2,1_4.3.2_8H7_Restore.ipsw i think what u got is for iphone 4.
dave
dave - May 7, 2011 at 1:30pm
I just had this problem and I was restoring my 3GS from jailbroken 4.3.1 using 4.3.3 and I received the same error in itunes. I had previously used diskaid to move files and I used iFile to delete the diskaid directory. Once I did this the restore went smoothly. Hope that helps! Also I was on Windows 7
buddy
buddy - May 8, 2011 at 2:20pm
I have the same issue. It won't even let me restore the phone. It's a new refurbed iPhone 3GS. I can't get a restore even in DFU mode. I've tried the ipsw's for both 4.3.3 and 4.3.1 (I know I don't have SHSH's saved so this shouldn't work) both for 3GS. I have not yet tried tricking itunes to ask cydia for the SHSH's for 4.3.3 since I backed them up with tiny umbrella already. I'm asking Apple why I can't even restore my phone normally. Any suggestions? iPhone 3GS old bootrom iOS 4.3.1 Mac - iTunes 10.2.2
buddy
buddy - May 8, 2011 at 5:59pm
Fixed! So if you are currently at 4.3.3 through iTunes (not using the custom ipsw from iClarified) you can use the iTunes/Apple ipsw in Redsnow (although unlockers should use a custom ipsw I believe. I am just jailbreaking). To find this iTunes ipsw for 4.3.3 (on a Mac) go to Home>Library>iTunes>iPhone2,1_4.3.3_8J2_Restore.ipsw and select that file in Redsnow. -Rock!
Amanda
Amanda - April 4, 2011 at 4:01pm
Ugh! I used this method twice and both times the end result is not picking up service....it's extremely frustrating! Any suggestions?
Amanda
Amanda - April 4, 2011 at 4:38pm
Disreguard!! IT WORKS GREAT NOW! :)
mTjay
mTjay - April 5, 2011 at 10:57am
What did u do?? I still dont have service... ;/
mal
mal - April 5, 2011 at 11:22am
can you be more specific about how you solved the problem.
Amanda
Amanda - April 5, 2011 at 2:09pm
I simply redid the whole process of resetting and the actual jailbreak. The first time when I was holding the power button waiting to release it skipped the entire 3 step to enter the mode to jailbreak. So then when I started over I made sure I did every step and it worked. I must have rushed it. Hope that helps. If it doesn't work for you feel free to ask more specific questions.
MarkF
MarkF - April 4, 2011 at 12:15pm
3GS with 3,4,5 digits of s/n as 035. I said my phone was a new one (I figure 0 == 2010) and went thru steps. At step where I hold the power button down the phone boots and connects straight away. I don't get to the steps where I have to hold down the home button and then let go the power button. Then it's followed immediately by an 'unexpected error' Sigh
kgirl
kgirl - April 5, 2011 at 4:37pm
I have same problem, although chose no. First time round it got through that section and then had an error during the break. After that I get the crash you descrbe
Scott M
Scott M - May 20, 2011 at 6:45pm
Hey I have the same problem, were you able to fix it?
lc
lc - April 4, 2011 at 11:00am
3GS JB upgraded go baseband 06.15 from 05.14 done and unlocked with ultrasn0w
Aza
Aza - April 18, 2011 at 11:21pm
Does ultrasnow works on 4.3.2?Any problem?
Domi
Domi - April 4, 2011 at 4:23am
just lost all my important data after installing the new IOS...(didnt sync iphone..and re-installed windows a day ago..so nothing's left) =(
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