How to unlock the iPhone using the anySIM program

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Originally published September 17, 2007
Updated October 2, 2011 with new download links for nostalgia purposes.






Warning

There are some things you should know before you perform anything on this site. There is obviously some risk involved here, but everyone I know of has been able to restore their iPhone by using iTunes. I've heard no report of anyone damaging their iPhone by modding it when using the correct program(s) properly.
  • This site is not for those uncomfortable around computers, and especially the Terminal. If you aren't sure about something on here, then I recommend stopping what you are doing and connecting your iPhone to iTunes, and signing a contract with AT&T.
  • You risk voiding your warranty.
  • Any modifications you perform on your iPhone, including bypassing activation, will be reset if you should install a firmware update provided by Apple. It's a simple matter of redoing everything you previously did to get your iPhone back the way you had it once you update.
  • Read the instructions in their entirety. Do not read into the instructions, follow only what is there. If you can't follow directions, you may damage your phone requiring a replacement from Apple.
  • I am not responsible for your results if they are less than what you expected. You assume all risks. I recommend seeking help in iPhone hacking forums or in the various IRC channels. Check my links page to find them.
  • If you have not activated your iPhone via AT&T, then you will lose the ability to use Visual voicemail. This may have an impact on free email services preprogrammed into the iPhone like Yahoo, GMail, .mac and AOL. You can set up domain based email should you webhost.


The iPhone Dev Team has finally released their FREE application that will unlock the iPhone. Anyone who uses this program should really donate to the team at either: iphone.devteam [at] googlemail.com or iphone.devteam [at] gmail.com.

I didn't create the anySIM program, I'm just the guy who struggled through this process with a couple iPhones and with the help of some others ("bugout-unlkd", "Cobwa", "drudge", "J_unlocked", and "Lurker") I came up with these instructions. In my case, I wound up having to restore my iPhones and reflash the baseband on both of them. Once I did that, my method here worked.

There are many different ways to do this, but this is my method and it worked for me more than once. I've included alternate notes where applicable.



Here is how this unlocking process works in a nutshell:
  • Take your iPhone out of the box.
  • Make the phonedmg folder and download the 1.0.2 firmware into it.
  • Activate the iPhone with iNdependence (you don't need to jailbreak to do this). You could also install SSH and change the passwords with iNdependence. This will require you to Jailbreak and return to jail however.)
  • Now that you have access to the springboard, press "Settings", "General", "About" and look where it says "Version". If it is not 1.0.2 then use iTunes to restore your iPhone to the 1.0.2 firmware only.
  • Run the AppTapp Installer. (You can install anySIM through the Beta repository and skip installing anything else provided you didn't need to use more than 1 SIM in your iPhone.)

    If you do need to use more than 1 SIM then you should definitely install OpenSSH (keep in mind you can't change the passwords with AppTapp Installer.)

    Continue to install Community Sources, BSD Subsystem, and OpenSSH.

  • Use Fugu to load the anySIM application onto the iPhone (if you did not use Installer to do this.) You could also use iFuntastic to transfer needed files to the iPhone if you don't have a Wi-Fi connection.
  • Restart the iPhone and run the anySIM application on it. It will take 15 mintues to complete.
  • Put the SIM you want to use into the iPhone.
  • Launch iTunes then close iTunes.
  • Activate the iPhone again. The iPhone will now work on the SIM you used for this process.
  • If you want to use more than 1 SIM in the iPhone then Jailbreak it again.
  • Launch Fugu and upload the patched lockdownd file to usr/libexec.
  • Close Fugu, turn off the iPhone and turn on the iPhone.
  • You're done! (my Yahoo mail and YouTube worked on both my Cingular and T-Mobile SIMs).
  • You may want to uninstall OpenSSH via the Installer program or uninstall DropBear SSH via iNdependence. You may also want to uninstall the anySIM program and the Installer program.



Attention

I will be using Fugu to install the anySIM program and another file. These instructions can be applied to most any programs or files you want to add to your iPhone. If you haven't installed Fugu yet, then read this guide.




Step 1.

Download the anySIM program here. I don't know if the version I'm providing is different than the one used at the time. Decompress the .zip file and place the contents into your phonedmg folder.

iPhone




Step 2.

Download iNdependence 1.4 here. Note 1.2.1a was used for these screenshots back then. Ensure your iPhone is connected to your Mac and that you have closed iTunes and iTunes Helper as previously mentioned. Launch iNdependence. The program should start you in the "Activation" menu. Press the "Activate Phone" button.

iPhone



You will be prompted to select where your firmware is on your computer. Click on your Home folder, then the phonedmg folder, then click "Open".

iPhone



This process in iNdependence FAILS A LOT! You may need to press "Activate Phone" several times. Sometimes it is best to just close the program and relaunch it and click "Activate Phone" again. Eventually, it will work. When you get lucky, you will see this next.

iPhone





Then this message will appear.

iPhone



You will receive this message once activation has been bypassed. You will now be able to slide to unlock the iPhone and gain access to the springboard where all the applications are.

Close iNdependence, don't just minimize it!

iPhone




Step 3.

Now that we have access to the springboard we can check to see what version of firmware is on the iPhone. Press "Settings", "General", "About" and look where it says "Version". If it is 1.0, or 1.0.1 then use iTunes to restore your iPhone to the 1.0.2 firmware only. If it is already 1.0.2 then you don't need to do anything, just skip ahead to Step 4.

To restore your iPhone to the same or previous firmware, simply connect it to your Mac and iTunes will launch automatically. At the "Let's get started" screen click the "Cancel" button, select "Set up as new phone". Click the "Restore" button to upgrade your iPhone's firmware following these instructions.

Make sure when you are done that you go to the "Devices" section in iTunes and unmount the iPhone, then close iTunes and make sure the iTunes Helper (if loaded) is closed via the Activity Monitor.

iPhone




Step 4.

Ensure your iPhone is in Wi-Fi mode and not EDGE. Determine what IP address is being assigned to your iPhone by your network. Press the Home button, "Settings", "Wi-Fi", select the name of your network by pressing the blue arrow on the right, then look where it says "IP Address". On my iPhone it is 10.0.1.14

iPhone    iPhone    iPhone




Next press Home, "Wi-Fi Networks", "Settings", "General", "Auto-Lock", then select "Never". This will keep the iPhone from disconnecting the SSH connection you will maintain while working on this procedure.

iPhone






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