iPhone 3GS with iOS 4.2.1 BB 06.15.00 Stuck in Recovery Mode

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iPhone 3GS with iOS 4.2.1 BB 06.15.00 Stuck in Recovery Mode
Posted by Jaxov on December 4, 2010
My iPhone 3GS was running iOS 4.1 with 5.14.02 baseband until i upgraded my iPhone to iOS 4.2.1 and baseband to 06.15.00 by using Redsn0w 0.9.6b5. After jailbreaking it worked well but when i unlocked it with Ultrasn0w 1.2, my iPhone got stuck in recovery mode and now i am unable to get my iPhone out of recovery mode.

I tried to kick my iPhone out of recovery mode by using Recboot and TinyUmbrella but it never worked. Is there any way i can get my iPhone out of recovery mode? I saw other people also had the same problem. Thank you very much.

Quested asked by Michael on Fri, Dec 3, 2010 at 9:18 PM

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Is There Any Way to Downgrade iPad Baseband 06.15.00 on iPhone 3G?
68 Answers - Add Yours+
Jaxov says:
December 4, 2010 at 2:37 pm
No, you won’t be able to use TinyUmbrella or Recboot to kick your device out of recovery mode due to baseband protection. If you have iOS 4.1 SHSH blobs saved, you can still downgrade your iPhone 3GS from iOS 4.2.1 to iOS 4.1

Download iTunes 10.1
Download iOS 4.1 custom IPSW for iPhone 3GS (Stock IPSW will not work due to 06.15.00 baseband)
Download iREB for iPhone 3GS
Add the following line to Windows or Mac HOSTS file (or use TinyUmbrella to downgrade):
74.208.105.171 gs.apple.com

Put your iPhone into semi-jailbroken state using iREB. See how-to instructions here
Now restore iOS 4.1 custom IPSW using iTunes
You’ll get 1015 restore error. Now use Recboot or TinyUmbrella to kick your iPhone out of recovery mode.
Now unlock your iPhone with Ultrasn0w 1.2
Reply →
Mkt says:
December 5, 2010 at 12:52 am
I have the same problem but do not have SHSH blobs saved and can’t downgrade; is there any other way to get the phone out of recovery? I really don’t want an expensive paper weight. Thanks for any help.

Reply →
Jaxov says:
December 5, 2010 at 2:03 am
I am sorry to say but without SHSH blobs, you can’t downgrade the firmware unless you are iPhone 3G or iPod Touch 2G (MB) user. If you ever jailbreaked your iPhone 3GS on iOS 4.0.x or iOS 4.1, there is much possibility that Cydia might have saved the SHSH blobs of your device. So try the above steps and see if it works or not!

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Insight says:
December 9, 2010 at 11:14 pm
Hi,after jailbreaking FM 4.2.1 and flashing BB 6.15.00 is my iphone just stucked on recovery mode.I have tried many times to restore with some custom firmware from internet but nothing worked…any idea how to kick it out of recovery mode?once there was a pineapple on my screen insted an apple but after a while again itunes screen..://

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BIGRICH0272 says:
December 20, 2010 at 9:29 am
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=T8O43DCW download this ipsw its for iphone 3g with no 1015 error

Michael.L says:
December 22, 2010 at 7:03 pm
Well, I have iPhone 3G stuck in iOS 4.2.1 recovery mode and I use the file BIGTICH gave. I really didn’t get the 1015 error, but I got 1603 error!! I getting carzy about this since it’s 3 a.m. now and I am still stuck here!

Kaiba_Corp says:
December 5, 2010 at 5:46 am
Exactly the same thing happened to me. If you’re still stuck in 4.2.1 recovery mode just go back to 4.1, notice that 4.2 has a new (plug to itunes) recovery logo. I,ve been going back and forth with this 4.2 for more than five time but no luck kicking out of recover mode so im back to 4.1.

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Ben Johnson says:
December 5, 2010 at 1:42 pm
For those who are stuck in recovery mode (iOS 4.2.1) can only restore to custom IPSWs now. Here are links for iOS 4.1 custom IPSWs for iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G

iPhone 3GS iOS 4.1 Custom IPSW (Activated): http://bit.ly/fsr1Pq
iPhone2,1_4.1_8B117_Custom_Restore.ipsw

iPhone 3GS iOS 4.1 Custom IPSW (Un-Activated): http://bit.ly/fhTuNa
iPhone2,1_4.1_8B117_Custom_Restore.ipsw

iPhone 3G iOS 4.1 Custom IPSW (Activated): http://bit.ly/dIWQ6k
iPhone1,2_4.1_8B117_Custom_Restore.ipsw

iPhone 3G iOS 4.1 Custom IPSW (Un-Activated): http://bit.ly/g3VQMv
iPhone1,2_4.1_8B117_Custom_Restore.ipsw

Reply →
Rin says:
December 13, 2010 at 11:26 am
Hi ben
kindly tell me the step by step to restore to custom IPSWs above.
thanks

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Eugene says:
December 16, 2010 at 5:03 am
what is the difference between activated and unactivated?

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Jaxov says:
December 16, 2010 at 5:34 am
If you have official carrier (AT&T) SIM, choose unactivated else choose activated. Unactivated will require you to activate your iPhone through official carrier SIM when connected to iTunes!

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Misty says:
December 5, 2010 at 5:05 pm
Is there a place to get these custom restore ipsw files for a windows based operating system or are they only for Mac? And I made a custom firmware from sn0wbreeze, but my tunes won’t accept it and it gives me the 1015 error so I did like people say and used tinyumbrella to kick me out of recovery after 1015 error and it still boots back to recovery mode. Am I missing a step? Oh and the host file name changing won’t let me put save any changes to that file so I cannot change it? Any advice? ):

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Jaxov says:
December 6, 2010 at 2:38 am
Custom IPSW of any firmware can be restored on your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad by using iTunes, so custom IPSW files are not platform dependent. When iTunes throws 1015 restore error, it means your firmware has been restored successfully and all you need is to kick your device out of recovery mode using Recboot or TinyUmbrella. In your case, both of these softwares failed to kick your device out of recovery mode because you have upgraded your iPhone to iOS 4.2.1 which comes with a baseband protection. This baseband protection in iOS 4.2.1 prevents you from restoring iOS 4.2.1 or above firmwares on your device. So the only option is to downgrade.

As you are saying that you can not edit Windows HOSTS file, the reason is that you don’t have administrator privileges to edit HOST file. To edit and save Windows HOSTS file, go to Start menu -> Right-click on Notepad -> Choose “Run as Administrator” -> Go to File menu -> Choose Open -> Choose “All Files” from the drop down list -> Navigate to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc and open HOSTS file. Now you will be able to edit and save the changes. Cheers!

Reply →
Misty says:
December 6, 2010 at 3:00 am
Thank you so much for answering my questions and also being patient with me, I am not very good with some of the electronic language. I have had my iphone 3gs for a year and a half now and have always researched fully before jailbreaking or unlocking so that I do not get stuck with this problem. The reason I am stuck in this situation is that my iphone broke so I sent it to apple to fix it and it came back updated to the latest version, this is when I started trying to jailbreak it and unlock it and have found that they really screwed me over big time. I appreciate all of your help and if you find a way to downgrade (without shsh saved) or jailbreak in my current situation I would appreciate any help. Thanks again.

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John says:
December 18, 2010 at 7:37 am
when i do the steps for the host files it says access denied still, what do i do?

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Winle says:
December 8, 2010 at 5:04 am
i have the iphone upgrade to the 4.2.1 with the ipad baseband and give it to my brother and he accidently upgrade to the stock .ipsw now I try to do the redsn0w again and it still in the itunes mode, try all the option with the redsn0w and it still in the itunes mode. I try to restore the custom firmware and it given me error 3194 even though i have 74.208.105.171 gs.apple.com save in host with “administrator” can anyone please help.

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Jaxov says:
December 8, 2010 at 9:42 pm
Error 3194 means you haven’t saved the SHSH blobs of iOS 4.1. Make sure your windows HOSTS file contains 74.208.105.171 gs.apple.com. If the problem persists, try adding 74.208.10.249 gs.apple.com and repeat the whole procedure again.

Reply →
Seb says:
December 8, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Please help me, I have been trying this for 36 hours now!

I tried to downgrade my (I think factory locked) Iphone 3g 8gb from 4.1 (jailbroken) to 3.1.3 using a ispw file and it got stuck in recovery mode. I tried to use RecBoot and TinyUmbrella to kick it out but it didn’t work. Finally I gave up and tried a Restore through Itunes to 4.2.1 and it comes up with a 1015 error at the end, still stuck in recovery mode. I have tried using iREB and Irecovery with no success. I then tried to use a ispw 3.1.3 file that from sn0breeze that you recommended and that didn’t work. I ran redsn0w which worked, after which I am still stuck in recovery mode. no matter what I do I can’t seem to get the phone working again, please help me I am getting so frustrated with it! Thank you

Reply →
Jaxov says:
December 8, 2010 at 9:51 pm
iPhone 3G don’t need SHSH blobs when you want to downgrade to iPhone OS 3.x.x. As your baseband has been upgraded to 06.15.00, so you can’t use stock iPhone OS 3.1.3 IPSW. Download iPhone OS 3.1.2 custom IPSW from the links below and restore it through iTunes by putting your iPhone in DFU mode (not recovery mode). Before restoring, never forget to use iREB to put your iPhone into semi-jailbroken state.

iPhone1_2_3.1.2_7D11_Custom_Restore-Activated.001 (http://www.mediafire.com/?ijmdimwygo2)
iPhone1_2_3.1.2_7D11_Custom_Restore-Activated.002 (http://www.mediafire.com/?kzmdwjinzwg)
iPhone1_2_3.1.2_7D11_Custom_Restore-Activated.003 (http://www.mediafire.com/?zjrmtjmnuoz)

Reply →
DJ NauTicz says:
December 8, 2010 at 11:28 pm
i download the 3gs firmware …. it said firmware compatible..please help

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Goldeneyes says:
December 11, 2010 at 7:23 pm
ok, i jailbroke to 4.2.1 BB update to 05.16. but had to downgrade to 4.1. all works fine, but now i would like to go back to 4.2.1, is it possable?

Reply →
Rin says:
December 13, 2010 at 11:38 am
you said did to downgrade to 4.1 from 4.2.1 BB 5.16 success, so can u tell me the step to do this because now my iphone 3GS stuck also. thank u very much…

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Jaxov says:
December 14, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Your iPhone model? If its 3GS, use the steps in the first answer to restore iOS 4.1 custom IPSW on it.

Reply →
Rin says:
December 15, 2010 at 7:13 am
my Iphone model is 3GS 32GB MC model. i don’t have SHSH and when i try to do with your first answer my iphone just show connect to iTune and in iTunes just show the progress bar with text preparing iphone for restore… and I’m waiting long time but not have any update.
Pls help

Reply →
Rin says:
December 15, 2010 at 12:05 pm
I got 1015 restore error when restore iOS 4.1 custom IPSW. pls advice

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Rin says:
December 15, 2010 at 12:06 pm
Sorry i confuse is 1611 restore error.

Jaxov says:
December 16, 2010 at 5:49 am
First if you don’t have SHSH blobs, you can’t downgrade the firmware. So wait for the next firmware release. Incase your SHSH blobs are saved (intentionally or accidentally), use the following solutions to solve the respective restore errors.

For 1015 restore error:
Use Recboot here!

For 1611 restore error:
1-Change the USB port the phone is plugged in to. Do not plug the phone back in yet.
2-Reboot the computer then plug the phone in and immediately restart the phone in DFU WHILE CONNECTED to the computer.
3-Hit restore.

Mc.Crash says:
December 12, 2010 at 1:34 am
i have the same problem i upgraed to 4.2.1 and i don’t have to SHSH .
if i get them from other device, is that work ??
cuz im stick in recovery mode and i tried to restore to 4.2.1 also its not working .
it’s download the 4.2.1 and in the half it cuts .. im so pissed . what i can do now plzzzzzzz i need help

Reply →
Jaxov says:
December 14, 2010 at 10:58 pm
Wow! No, you can never use SHSH blobs of another device. They are unique because they are generated by using the ECID of your device which is unique as well. However you might get lucky if your are iPhone 3G or iPod Touch 2G (non-MC) model user.

Reply →
Mc.CRa$H says:
December 15, 2010 at 11:00 am
ok but now im in recovery mode and i have to downgrade the baseband to be able to downgrade to 4.1 or less, so how i can downgrade from the baseband 6.15 to 5 …. as i said im only start at recovery mode

Reply →
Jaxov says:
December 16, 2010 at 5:46 am
According to iPhone Dev-Team, they are going to release the downgrade tool very soon. So stay tuned!

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Theiqkhan says:
December 13, 2010 at 9:35 am
guys is simple 5 step process
i just did it right now
download ios 4.1
redsnow beta 6
tiny umbrella

open itunes
press shift restore and select 4.1 ios let it restore it will give u error 1.15 once it is done
exit itunes
open tiny umbrella select ur phone and kick it out of recovery mode
use redsnow to jailbreak it again
and use cydia ultrasn0w to unlock it
its a cakewalk
done it 10 times alreadg

Reply →
Rin says:
December 13, 2010 at 11:17 am
my iphone 3GS with model MC, after jailbreak and unlock to iOS 4.2.1 with BB 05.16 success,i have some problem with cydia so i did restore in phone and now my phone got stuck. even i try to do jailbreak again or try to restore with custom firmware (iPhone2,1_4.2.1_8C148a4.2.1Custom_Restore) still got stuck with apple logo. please help me. thanks

Reply →
Mc.CRa$H says:
December 15, 2010 at 11:03 am
in redsn0w choose to make just tethared new and the phoe will start agin.. But each time u restart u have to do that cuz u r on 4.2

Reply →
Jaxov says:
December 16, 2010 at 5:47 am
Thanks Mc.CRa$H for the tip

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Rin says:
December 16, 2010 at 7:58 am
but now i try to do some methods like the first answer with custom firmware so it does not matter relative to my iphone? Pls advice

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Rin says:
December 16, 2010 at 9:55 am
try to do with your method but just show pineapple logo. Any suggestion that u can give will be helpful. thx

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Suril says:
December 14, 2010 at 12:12 am
Hi I tried above mentioned method with custom IPSW files but the problem is while restoring it ..i fased an error code 1604.
Can you please help me with it,
my i phone is 3gs with 4.2.1 and bb 6.15.,
i dont really need to unlock it .i jst want it to start working agen out of recovery mode.
Any suggestion that u can give will be helpful.
Thanks

Reply →
Jaxov says:
December 14, 2010 at 11:01 pm
Have you SHSH blobs saved for iOS 4.1 plus did you used iREB before restoring iOS 4.1 custom IPSW?

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Suril says:
December 17, 2010 at 3:42 pm
No i don’t have SHSH blob saved for my i phone 3gs.But i did used iREB before trying to restore to ios 4.1 custom IPSW.
SO when i selected the custom IPSW file and started a restore it worked fine till end but in the end it gave an Error 1604 and i think my phone is still in 4.2.1 because the itunes logo is new .
Should i just wait for a solution to come so that i can downgrade ios and baseband both?
or can i try some thing else?
Thanks for reply.

Reply →
Suril says:
December 18, 2010 at 8:14 pm
Hi
Jaxov..i solved it …following steps

download latest edition of redsnow.
download original 4.2.1
start your fone in DFU mode (most important step)
once it is in DFU mode. open itunes
it will say that ur phone is in restore mode and u have to restore it ..

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=6JVZF92E download this firm ware
select the firm ware by clicking shit+ restore
and its works perfectly
my phone is out of recovery mode with 6.15 and 4.2.1 but not jail broken and no unlocked but working perfectly fine.

Thanks for all your help

Reply →
Jaxov says:
December 19, 2010 at 4:05 am
Glad to know that suril Now help others on the forum. Thanks!

Reply →
Rin says:
December 19, 2010 at 7:13 am
Hi Suril
can u tell me detail with your answer about (start phone with DFU mode).
what the relative with latest of redsnow & original firmware 4.2.1?

before i try to restore with this custom 4.2.1 also but when processing with iTune, it show the firmware not compatible. pls advice
thank for reply

Reply →
Rin says:
December 21, 2010 at 10:16 am
thanks suril & Jaxov

i solved it …

Rahul says:
December 20, 2010 at 6:24 am
Hey Suril,

Please explain in more detail. its been almost a week i am without my phone… need help urgently

thanks
Rahul

Reply →
Misty says:
December 20, 2010 at 6:39 am
Omg this worked! I have been trying to get my phone out of recovery mode for almost a month now. I followed the steps exactly how you said to do them and it took my 3gs 4.2.1 6.15 out of recovery mode. I swear I did these exact steps before, but I did not have the custom ipsw that you put in this link. Do you know how to jailbreak now without downggrading? I added my shsh files for the 4.2.1 now, but I do not have them for 4.1.

Reply →
Siva says:
December 24, 2010 at 5:16 pm
Thanks Suril,
It worked for me too. Solved the issue after 2 weeks.

Reply →
Shassi says:
December 14, 2010 at 3:41 pm
Try to find another iphone of the same model u have…use tinyumbrella to save that working iphone’s shsh file

after that run tinyumbrella…start TSS server

restore firmware 4.1

on error… close and run redsnow with 4.1 firmware…then just boot tethered sorry but it’s the only way!!

hope it helps

Reply →
NOHDYSF says:
December 15, 2010 at 4:41 pm
Thanks all

to Shassi
ARE YOU SURE ITS WORKING … DOWNGRADE IPHONE 3GS BY WHAT YOU SAID

thanks
mohdysf

Reply →
Jaxov says:
December 16, 2010 at 5:35 am
I don’t think it will work as every device has its unique SHSH blobs!

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Shassi says:
December 23, 2010 at 10:52 am
Rectification it doesnt work…

but u can do somthg else…as i managed to succesfully recovered my iphone thats useless as it was jailbroken n my cuz updated it to 4.2.1…but it failed

i screw up by updating the baseband to 06.15.00 (DONT DO IT..avoid 4.1..bb 06.15.00..4.2.1..remain on the old firmware it better off that way!!)

it tried like thousands of time to kick out of recovery etc, etc.. all thats on this blog n else where…

i succesfully got it to wrk..i mean displaying the usb and itunes on the screen (by letting the battery drain itself..wait a couple of days or just dismentle it to deconnect the battery it’ll display the itunes and usb on the screen..just google take apart iphone 3gs)

when reached here save shsh with tinyumbrella..i reckon it might come handy for downgrade.

i jailbroke it again with redsnow beta 5 firmware 4.1

use same redsnow to boot tethered with firmware 4.2.1 (****note different firmware)

here ya go…but i got an another problem now…when i unlock it with ultrasnow i rebooted in tethered mode with redsnow…works fine but then after 1 or 2 minuits of inactivity it turn itself off…what the F!! cant figure this one out

but the battery drain works perfect..disconnect the battery or let it drain itself as it’s stuck in dfu mode. (takes 2 or 3 days)

my iphone is stuck again!!!!

Reply →
Mc.Cra$H says:
December 16, 2010 at 6:02 pm
Guyz finally.. i found a custom 4.2.1 software its work with me and i think its will work for u..
this is the download link:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=6JVZF92E
try it and tell me

Reply →
Rin says:
December 19, 2010 at 3:37 pm
I used this custom 4.2.1 with my iphone 3GS (32GB) iOS 4.2.1 BB 6.15 in the iTune process show : The iPhone could not be restored because the firmware file is not compatible. pls help

my phone got stuck in the recovery mode after choose restore option in phone setting. Thanks

Reply →
Rin says:
December 21, 2010 at 10:18 am
thanks Mc.Cra$h

i solved it.

could u tell me which tool for jailbreak?

Reply →
Payas says:
December 21, 2010 at 4:09 pm
Thanks working fine. I have iPhone 3GS 4.2.1 with BB 6.15

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John says:
December 18, 2010 at 7:50 am
please i need your help! I can’t save the host files even after i run it as administrator and on top of that when i try to restore with the custom fw i get error 1600
I don’t know what else to do.. i’m so close on giving up

Reply →
Jaxov says:
December 19, 2010 at 4:01 am
1600 restore error has nothing to do with HOSTS file, just use iREB and you will be able to get rid of all 16xx errors! Cheers!

Reply →
Visky says:
December 18, 2010 at 1:02 pm
Even i have the same issue. I had jailbreaked 3.1.3 iOS and yesterday i updated my iphone to 4.2.1. It got locked and so i again jailbreaked it. It worked fine except sensing my carrier. So i tried using ultrasnow to make it work and after restarting twice it stoped working. I am now stuck at itunes logo and cannot do anything. I bought from a person in US and I am india now. I dont know whether he had stored SHSH blobs or not..??? what to do….JAXOV pl pl help.

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Visky says:
December 18, 2010 at 1:04 pm
i mean when i bought the iphone from him, it had iOS 3.1.3 which was jailbreaked.

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Jaxov says:
December 19, 2010 at 4:03 am
Restore iOS 4.1 custom IPSW.

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John says:
December 19, 2010 at 4:43 am
i keep getting error 1600 when trying to restore my iphone with the custome fw please i need help!

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John says:
December 19, 2010 at 5:53 am
im so sorry to be a bother..i really am but i am freaking out. heres what i did
i have the screen that has the usb and itunes logo
I then used iReb to put it into DFU etc
It finishs then says open itunes for restore etc
i shift click restore
select the 4.1 custom fw
it goes through the process of preparing but as soon as the iphone starts up it gives me the apple sybol then goes right back to the itunees logo and in itunes its stuck on preparing iphone for restore…
D: any ideas? i’m so lost =/

Reply →
John says:
December 19, 2010 at 7:07 am
Looks like i got it to the screen where it says “Sim card not installed” Seems like my fw was 4.2.1 and that is why it was not working…What is their i can use cuz it seems like whenever i use redsn0w to re-jailbreak/unlock it, it gets stuck at the apple symbol..what to do there?
Thanks for putting up with me lol.
O and i used the Redsn0w to get me into dfu mode..it looks like iReb didn’t work for me.

Reply →
Rahul says:
December 19, 2010 at 12:52 pm
Hello Suril,

Can you please be a lil more explainatory…
if i just have to restore the custom firmware
why do we need to download the original 4.2.1 firmwaare n redsnow ???

Reply →
Stevenxid says:
December 20, 2010 at 2:46 am
i have the same too, my 3gs now can be used anymore, if i downgrade in ios 4.1 that can be succesful but i have a blank screen on dfu mode that can’t i do anything …… i want to used the files custom 4.2.1 may be this afternoon i’ll be download it and i’ll make my review here …. thx all

Reply →
KarloE says:
December 22, 2010 at 7:01 pm
Hi Suril,
Can you explain what did you do after the error code 1604.
Did you use the custom firmware or the original?
Why did you download redsnow?
why did you download original firmware? Did you use it?
Please help me because I have the same error code.
Thank you

Reply →
Shassi says:
December 23, 2010 at 11:35 am
just drain the battery and everythg will be fine!!!

Reply →
Cezar says:
December 25, 2010 at 1:16 am
i have a 3gs 16 gb 4.2.1 , i managed to unlock it using redsn0w 0.9.6b5 , after few days my babyboy did something while i was away and it was stuck to apple logo , so i made a mistake and tried to restore it , now am stuck on the usb cable with itunes logo , i tried to do the same procedure Ive done before but it was useless .
every time i try to use redsn0w it stops at “flashing baseband (dont interrupt)” for few minutes after that it restarts and go back to the same usb cable with itunes logo .
i dont have the SHSH blobs saved !!! .
is there a way to get it working again or throw it in the drawe ?!?!?1
please help

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