Questions re: Iphone 3gs

IntoTheAshtray

My protective touch-screen film needs replacing; (1) Where can one purchase them, and how much are they? Are they really so important?

Also, how do I update it to version 3.2? (I'm not even sure what version it is I have now, fwiw. I bought it second-hand, unlocked + jailbroken, if that helps.)

Thanks.

Hecklar

Go into settings/general/about and you'll see what firmware version your on at the moment. 3.2 in a really old firmware now and on a 3GS you would be better going for the latest 4.2.1.
If your phone has never ran any of the later firmwares then you obviously won't have shsh files for them so apple won't sign them while you do the upgrade.

Your better off just waiting on the next untethered jailbreak release and upgrade then,.

IntoTheAshtray

Hecklar wrote: »

Go into settings/general/about and you'll see what firmware version your on at the moment. 3.2 in a really old firmware now and on a 3GS you would be better going for the latest 4.2.1.
If your phone has never ran any of the later firmwares then you obviously won't have shsh files for them so apple won't sign them while you do the upgrade.

Your better off just waiting on the next untethered jailbreak release and upgrade then,.

Thanks for the reply.

What's this about Apple signing the files? Sorry, I'm totally ignorant of all this.

If I upgrade it, will it slow down the device, or interfere with any of the stuff I have on it? As I said, it's unlocked, jailbroken and 2nd hand.

Hecklar

Put simply, when you upgrade your phones firmware with itunes, it contacts apple to get a "yeah, thats cool" signal from them. this is called "signing firmwares". they only sign firmwares that are the current ones so if your not installing 4.2.1 for instance, the update process will fail as it wont get the "go ahead" from apple.

when you jailbreak a phone you can save the "yeah thats cool" signal (its an SHSH file) so they if you ever want to switch back to that firmware in the future, you can fool the phone into using the file you already have. since you it doesnt look like you've been on any of the later firmwares, you wont have the SHSH files and your only upgrade option is to the latest firmware. 4.2.1.

The problem with that is the jailbreak. the phone will work great and you'll have some new features etc. but there isn''t a proper jailbreak released for it yet. I'd just wait it out personally and there will be a proper, unthethered jailbreak released soon enough.

hope thats a little clearer for ya.


PS. if jailbreak means nothing to you and you don't use the whole jailbreak thing then it makes no difference to you to just upgrade through itunes.

guil

Hecklar wrote: »

Go into settings/general/about and you'll see what firmware version your on at the moment. 3.2 in a really old firmware now and on a 3GS you would be better going for the latest 4.2.1.
If your phone has never ran any of the later firmwares then you obviously won't have shsh files for them so apple won't sign them while you do the upgrade.

Your better off just waiting on the next untethered jailbreak release and upgrade then,.

3.2 was never a firmware for an iphone, updating to 4.2.1 will leave the op with a tethered jailbreak and no way to unlock unless they install the ipad baseband, thats rubbish about shsh aswell, once ya save it, cydia will continue to save it for future firmwares
op first off download tinyumbrella http://thefirmwareumbrella.blogspot.com/
conect the iphone and run it, it will tell ya if the previous owner saved shsh with cydia

Hecklar

Well shall I say "version of Ios" then? does that satisfy you? oh, but it wasnt known as Ios then. oh dear.

If you bother yore arse to read the entire thread you'll see i reccomend the OP not upgrade to 4.2.1 as it is currently only a tethered jailbreak. there is an untethered one in the works and the unlock is at an advanced stage so i advise waiting before upgrading.


regarding "thats rubbish" re SHSH files. Of course Cydia will save them for future firmwares, but how do we know the OP has ever been on these later firmwares? especially since it appears the OP isn't very familiar with the whole business. If the phone hasn't ever been on these firmwares, their will be no SHSH files saved.

guil

first off ya said he would be better off going to 4.2.1 but then later on ya said to wait and then update, my mistake, sorry

wrote:

Well shall I say "version of Ios" then? does that satisfy you? oh, but it wasnt known as Ios then. oh dear.

what do ya mean by that?
ya dont need have a firmware installed to save the shsh, i'm on 4.1 and have never being higher
like i said, the previous owner could have saved them

jumbone

Hecklar wrote: »

Well shall I say "version of Ios" then? does that satisfy you? oh, but it wasnt known as Ios then. oh dear.

3.2 was never a firmware/iOS version/iPhone OS version. The issue guil had was with the version number, it went from 3.1.3 to 4.0.0.

OP, the film thing is usually called a screen protector and are available cheaply in many places online such as adverts (50c to €2), in phone shops (fiver or tenner). Get a few as the edges will lift again after a while and sometimes you fuck up putting them on and destroy the screen protector. Of course you can get away fine without one - i have for a few months since my last one came off and I've no scratches yet.

With regards to updating, you will need to know the phones current software version, the phones modem firmware and the phones bootrom version.

Software version and modem firmware can be found under:

Settings> General> About> Version
and
Settings> General> About> Modem Firmware

To get the bootloader version is trickier and requires you to connect your phone to your computer. You don't need to understand this, just follow instructions:

http://www.redmondpie.com/how-to-check-iphone-3gs-bootrom-iboot-version/ wrote:

Step 1: Put your iPhone into DFU Mode (not recovery mode)

• Connect your iPhone to your computer
• Turn iPhone off.
• Start iTunes
• Hold Power and Home buttons together for 10 seconds or so.
• Release Power button but keep holding the Home button until your computer recognizes a new USB device.
• iTunes will now recognize your iPhone.

Note: Your iPhone screen at this time should be blank (black in color), if not, then you are most likely in Recovery Mode, not DFU mode.

Step 2: Right Click on My Computer and click on: Properties -> Hardware (tab) -> Device Manager
Step 3: Select the “+” to open submenus tree items for "Universal Serial Bus (USB) Controller".
Step 4: Now look for "Apple Mobile Device USB Driver", right click and select Properties.
Step 5: Go to "Details" and find "Device Instance ID".
Step 6: Simply scroll through the string and you’ll find the bootrom version (iBoot) as shown in the screenshots below:

iPhone 3GS – Old Bootrom 359.3


iPhone 3GS – New Bootrom 359.3.2

Alternatively, you can connect the phone to your computer and run a program called f0recast. Post back here with whatever it tells you an I (or another poster) will help you.

http://hotfile.com/dl/75403554/4b03730/f0recast-V1.2.zip.html