Unlocking 1st generation iPhones (on 2.0.1 firmware)

intel Mac & PPC

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Who is this guide for?

• 1st generation iPhones (3.9 or 4.6 bootloaders)
Official contract, or not
• Already Pwned (I was already Pwned on 2.0 firmware)

Thanks again go out to the iPhone Dev Team for providing this amazing, and FREE program for jailbreaking, activating, unlocking, and customizing the 1st generation iPhones. You can visit their website here.





I was already Pwned on 2.0 firmware. If you are not currently Pwned, you can still use this tutorial, however you may see some additional dialog screens with the PwnageTool program. You can read my 2.0 PwnageTool tutorial here. This will allow you to see what the full process looks like. Also note, my iPhone was already unlocked as well.

BigBoss has compiled a FAQ for issues with 2.0 and 2.0.1 here.

Note: If you should have any issues with Mail, try using BossPrefs to fix it. Press the More button, and then press Fix User Dir Permissions.

Step 1.

If you have not already downloaded PwnageTool 2.0.1, then do so here. If you have installed the previous version of PwnageTool then delete or rename it so there are no conflicts with this newer version.

Download the 3.9 and 4.6 bootloaders from the Internet. You'll have to find them yourself, I won't provide them.

If you haven't already downloaded 2.0.1 firmware from Apple, then you can download it here.

Step 2.

Launch PwnageTool. Click PwnageTool in the menu bar and select Check for Updates...




At this screen click Install Update.




Once you are updated, make sure the Expert mode button in the top left corner is selected. Click the iPhone on the left.




You should get a green check mark on the iPhone you selected. Click the blue arrow button in the lower right corner.






PwnageTool will search for the 2.0.1 firmware on your computer first, then from the Internet. When it displays the firmware file, click on it, then click the blue arrow in the lower right corner.




You will be at this screen and have many choices you can make. Click on General. Then click the blue arrow at the bottom.




At the General Settings screen, if you are not using an authorized carrier, then check the box for Activate the phone. If it is not greyed out, then check the box for Enable baseband update. Check the box for Disable partition wipe-out. Click the blue arrow in the lower right corner.




At the Bootneuter settings screen, check Neuter bootloader, check Unlock baseband (only if you want to unlock - I checked this and I was already unlocked), then check Auto delete BootNeuter.app. Click the blue arrow in the lower right corner.




At the Cydia settings screen, click on the Download packages tab. Then click the refresh button and you should see a list of packages. Anything you select from this list will be added into your custom firmware so you won't have to download the package later. Make your selections and click Add to queue.




Click the Select packages tab, and check all your program boxes, or they won't be installed. Click the blue arrow in the lower right corner.





At this screen click the blue arrow in the lower right corner.




At the Custom logos settings screen, you can choose to use the suggested images by leaving their boxes checked, or uncheck them and use the stock images. If you click on Browse... you can add your own images in their place. Click the blue arrow in the lower right corner when done.




Here is a template image you can use. It is 320 by 480 in size. It has a one pixel, transparent border on all sides. All you have to do is paste in your 318 by 478 image onto it and center it. Then just save the image with the transparency intact and your image will work. Make sure your saved image is 100kb or less.




Finally, click the Build button and the blue arrow in the lower right corner.

Note: Since I was already Pwned, the following instructions (within this bordered area) did not apply to me. They may apply to you, however. You will receive a pop up warning if the 3.9 version bootloader is not found. Answer No to this question. You will then be asked if you would like to browse for the bootloader. Answer Yes. Now navigate to where you saved the two bootloader files from Step 1. Select the BL-39.bin file and click Open. You will receive a pop up warning if the 4.6 version bootloader is not found. Answer No to this question. You will then be asked if you would like to browse for the bootloader. Answer Yes. Now navigate to where you saved the two bootloader files from Step 1. Select the BL-46.bin file and click Open.

Name your custom firmware file, and select where to save it.




You will now see this screen while your custom .ipsw is assembled. This stage is about four minutes long.




You will be prompted to enter your system password. Note: My IPSW building process failed two times in a row just after I input my password. It finally worked on the third try, I don't know why.




You are then asked if your iPhone is CURRENTLY Pwned. I clicked Yes.




If you weren't already Pwned before, then you will receive instructions to put the iPhone into DFU mode. At this point iTunes may launch, along with a pop up mesage, just move them out of the way at this point. This did not happen to me. Instead, I received this message.