iPhone 3G Software Unlock - YellowSn0w

Posted by:Aaron Besson
January 1st, 2009

The iPhone 3G has been PWNED

The iPhone Dev Team have been working on a software unlock for the iPhone 3G since it was available. Like the original iPhone software unlock, it took months to crack the baseband, but it looks like the iPhone Dev Team have done it once again.

Before they warned iPhone 3G owners not to update via iTunes as it would disable the software unlock because of the newest baseband update included in Apples iPhone OS update 2.2. But now it seems like they have managed to unlock the iPhone OS 2.2 baseband with the latest post on their official blog. (seen below)

The iPhone 3G software unlock thanks to the Dev Team is available via Cydia and their official website for FREE. It promises to be a quick and easy 5 minute solution to unlocking your device to work with any sim card you choose.

You can view a tutorial here

BASICS

The unlock about to be released works exclusively with baseband 02.28.00. This baseband is provided by the latest firmware update (2.2) from Apple. You’ll need to upgrade to this release using iTunes and then use QuickPwn to activate etc. There are plenty of tutorials about this on iclarified, bigboss, and other established tutorial sites. Because it works on 02.28.00, it is available to everyone on the planet. This means we don’t need to unnecessarily expose holes in earlier basebands, which is an important concern.
The application is a small daemon that is launched on boot. It injects the payload at boot and also whenever there is a baseband reset. You won’t notice anything about it other than that your third-party sim now works. It’s a small program and unobtrusive. There is no GUI (this is by design).
You can add the application using the sources outlined below (coming soon). There are Cydia and Installer sources available, so use whichever you are comfortable using.
yellowsn0w is completely removable through Cydia, the command line, and iTunes.

DETAILS

There is a known issue with SIM cards that have STK (SIM Toolkit) application menus. These menus are usually items such as “top up” “get credit” “lotto numbers” etc. These menu items confuse the application sometimes. Removing and reinserting the SIM once after reboot (give it about 10 secs after you see the slide to unlock widget) fixes this issue. We’re working on a better fix.
For those of you using SIM cards without STK menus, the application has some optional arguments that will make the unlock much faster for you. So either experiment on your own (use “yellowsn0w -h” for usage) or wait for a customization writeup.
After you install yellowsn0w via Cydia, you should return to the Cydia main menu then reboot your iPhone with the 3rd party SIM installed. Wait for the slide to unlock screen, then wait 10 or 15 secs more. If you don’t see your carrier name pop up, then remove your SIM, reinsert it, and wait 10 secs more. This is the step we’ll be working on eliminating next.

RANDOM

The application is version 0.9. This is considered beta software, you use it at your own risk. You know the score.
The application is released on a non-commerical basis. Please do not accept pirates and scummy ripoffs of this software. We license this software for single use and in a non-commerical environment (meaning you can’t charge for it). The techniques and methods used are not to be used by third party companies. We are watching you Jody…we won’t be so forgiving this time.
Direct linking to the repository URLs is prohibited, please only link to this post. We will be checking referers.
Happy 2009 and enjoy!

The iPhone 3G is used all over the world with all sorts of SIM cards, and we almost certainly will see untested and unexpected situations. If the soft unlock doesn’t work for you on day 1 (literally day 1, of 2009!) then please don’t panic or be impatient. This is new territory for everyone, so enjoy the ride as much as you can

RELEASE INFO

Cydia source: http://apt9.yellowsn0w.com/
Installer repo: http://i.yellowsn0w.com/

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Categories and Tags 3G iPhone, Featured, Jailbreak/Activate, Software Unlock - YES!, What's New, iPhone, iPhone Unlock Updates 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, apple, baseband, iPhone, iphone 3g, iPhone Dev Team, iPhone OS, unlock, yellowsn0w

Comments (13) Trackbacks (0) Leave a comment Trackback

Aaron Besson

January 1st, 2009 at 12:25 | #1

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UPDATES

1. Soon you’ll see yellowsn0w 0.9.1 in the repos. It uses a much longer delay to let your SIM card initialize. If you have problems with 0.9.0, try this one and wait a full minute after you see homescreen, then reinsert sim card. We need both success and failure reports to tune this across the world, so please be patient (but please also report result!)
2. If you are in the U.S. and are trying this with T-Mobile, you must turn off the 3G switch in Settings. Also if you are good with the command line, you can make it much easier by adding the line -q right after the /usr/bin/yellowsn0w line in /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.iphone-dev.yellowsn0w.plist (that’s and advanced tip, hopefully someone will make a boosprefs type of tool for it)
3. No PINs yet, please. Remember how we said this was beta? Well working out the flow for SIMs with PINs enabled is on our to-do list. Please disable any PIN you may have on that SIM before trying yellowsn0w, for now..
Aaron Besson

January 1st, 2009 at 12:26 | #2

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allot of users are reporting mixed results..
Kevin Britain

January 2nd, 2009 at 00:13 | #3

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Used yellowsn0w but unfortunately no luck.. don’t know if it’s our trini network.. but will try some other stuff..
-LiNkS-

January 2nd, 2009 at 03:02 | #4

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i tried it and it give me invalid sim and now its asking to be re-activated
Dave

January 2nd, 2009 at 03:48 | #5

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yellowsn0w looks very promising, but I will stay with the turbo sim method until all the bugs have been ironed out. My 3G works and want to keep it that way.
Dana

January 2nd, 2009 at 12:10 | #6

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Hi, i just unlock the iphone 3g however is there an APN address i have to enter for Bmobile. My problem right now is i can recieve calls but i cannot make calls. So i am jst thinking if i have to add an apn ADRESS. What to do ???
Aaron Besson

January 2nd, 2009 at 22:10 | #7

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-LinKs-

restore the iphone with itunes,
then restore with a custom 2.2 firmware with Cydia (created with pwnage)
update cydia, install bossprefs (or turn off the following with settings - some say bossprefs works better)
turn off 3G, edge, data roaming etc..
install yellowsnow,
go to settings and reset network settings (phone will reboot)
when it reboots, leave it for about 2 mins on the slide to unlock screen, remove ya and place it back in the phone
(if needed toggle airplane mode and try resetting network settings again)

DO NOT restore a backup of your phone in itunes..
Aaron Besson

January 2nd, 2009 at 22:21 | #8

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Dana BMobile APN is: internet
no usr or password..

try that, if not try restoring with a custom 2.2 firmware and repeat the yellowsnow, make sure to reset your network settings..
AaronBesson

January 6th, 2009 at 02:12 | #9

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-LinKs-

as I said you need to do the entire process with the sim you want to use in there (DO NOT PUT IN YOUR AT&T CARD)
DO NOT ACTIVATE WITH iTUNES

put the LIME SIM card in
make sure you restore to 2.2 and then quickpwn (to jailbreak and get cydia)
set up your wifi
update Cydia
reboot the iPhone
install Yellowsn0w
reset network settings
when the phone soft reboots, wait 2 mins (you will NOT see signal - you MUST do this so yellowsn0w can run completely, it runs on startup)
turn on airplane mode for 10 secs.. turn it off (this will allow your sim card to get on the GSM network)
you should have signal

If this is not working it means, you are messing up the timing, missing out a step, your LIME and Digicel cards have apps on them (like to show your balance etc) these dont work. IF you have a password assigned to your sim card it will not work. You must have edge coverage from your carrier apparently (not on your account, but the iPhone needs to see the data network with yellowsn0w), those without it are having some trouble.

again if you are having trouble, you are probably rushing the process or have another problem, take you time, eliminate the problems and let me know if you get through.
-LiNkS-

January 6th, 2009 at 03:15 | #10

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Can some PLLLLLLEEEAAAAAAAAAASSSSSEEE give me a full layout of unlocking my iphone 3g…..i try it of over and over its not working at all my at&t sim is useless (no service) i also tried bout 4 times with both LIME & DIGCEL sims and was not successful.
-LiNkS-

January 6th, 2009 at 11:32 | #11

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i go yellowsn0w 9.6 and it worked up top the where you said reset network setting after dat it reboots its self…..and BAAAMMMMMMMM ….its workin……i guess was just to wait for the update…..

Thanks alot for the help
-LiNkS-
-LiNkS-

January 6th, 2009 at 11:53 | #12

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ok……have another issue…my wifi is working now……don't want to reset the phone, herd some reset and had to do th whole process over, What can i do?
AaronBesson

January 7th, 2009 at 01:09 | #13

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you wifi is not or is working?

(glad to hear you got it unlocked)