How to Activate iPhone 3GS After Updating to iOS 6.1 Without Original SIM
0
rlisand • February 4, 2013 at 10:17pm
I have a German iPhone 3GS that I updated from iOS 5.1 to iOS 6.1. I forgot that I needed to jailbreak the device to activate it without the original carrier SIM card. Now the phone is stuck at the activation screen and the evasi0n jailbreak tool says I need to activate the device before I can proceed. How can I bypass this and jailbreak the phone?
Answers
0
iClarified • January 12, 2026 at 7:04am
To activate an iPhone 3GS on iOS 6.1 without the original SIM card, you need to perform a process called hacktivation. Since the evasi0n jailbreak tool requires the device to be already activated, you should use sn0wbreeze to create a custom IPSW firmware file.
1. Download sn0wbreeze and the iOS 6.1 IPSW for the iPhone 3GS.
2. Open sn0wbreeze, select the IPSW, and choose Simple Mode. This mode automatically includes the hacktivation patch which bypasses the Apple activation screen.
3. Once sn0wbreeze creates the custom IPSW on your desktop, put your iPhone into DFU mode.
4. Open iTunes and hold the Shift key while clicking Restore. Select the custom IPSW created by sn0wbreeze.
5. After the restore, the phone will boot into iOS 6.1 already jailbroken and activated.
Once at the home screen, open Cydia and install the evasi0n 6.0-6.1.2 Untether package. If you need a carrier unlock, check your baseband version. If it was updated to 05.16.08, you may need to use Redsn0w to install the 06.15.00 iPad baseband and then downgrade it to 05.13.04 to use ultrasn0w.
1. Download sn0wbreeze and the iOS 6.1 IPSW for the iPhone 3GS.
2. Open sn0wbreeze, select the IPSW, and choose Simple Mode. This mode automatically includes the hacktivation patch which bypasses the Apple activation screen.
3. Once sn0wbreeze creates the custom IPSW on your desktop, put your iPhone into DFU mode.
4. Open iTunes and hold the Shift key while clicking Restore. Select the custom IPSW created by sn0wbreeze.
5. After the restore, the phone will boot into iOS 6.1 already jailbroken and activated.
Once at the home screen, open Cydia and install the evasi0n 6.0-6.1.2 Untether package. If you need a carrier unlock, check your baseband version. If it was updated to 05.16.08, you may need to use Redsn0w to install the 06.15.00 iPad baseband and then downgrade it to 05.13.04 to use ultrasn0w.
0
rlisand • February 6, 2013 at 6:18pm
I was able to resolve this by using sn0wbreeze to create a custom IPSW with the hacktivation option enabled. I then restored the iPhone in DFU mode using iTunes. This resulted in a jailbroken device on iOS 6.1 that bypassed the activation screen. After the restore, I opened Cydia and installed the evasi0n untether and ultrasn0w for the carrier unlock.
0
she1kh • February 7, 2013 at 1:27pm
If you updated directly through iTunes without using a tool like TinyUmbrella or a custom IPSW, your baseband was likely updated. In this case, your baseband may no longer be compatible with ultrasn0w. You may need to look into an official IMEI unlock or use Redsn0w to manage the baseband version.