mercurious

For those who cannot wait for an AppTapp 1.1.1 Update

See our Install AppTapp 3.0 beta in iPhone 1.1.1 without Command Line tutorial←

Certainly, at this moment, we can only assume that Nullriver is busy updating their AppTapp installer to integrate the revised jailbreak and install procedure required with the iPhone 1.1.1 software update. Only in the past few days have the new symlink technique tools been released in beta. Ironically, you use AppTapp in the process of preparing your iPhone 1.0.2 to update to 1.1.1 and then apply another third-party hack to get around the recent lockdown of the SpringBoard, which no longer uses the DisplayOrder.plist file to determine the visibility and ordering of icons on the main menu, rendering SummerBoard obsolete in favor of another hack which allows horizontal-style scrolling to add more icons.

What you’ll lose with 1.1.1

By gaining the 1.1.1 features such as the WiFi Music Store, Home button double-click shortcuts, and space-bar double-tap for a period feature, among other minor tweaks, you will lose certain things you might have enjoyed under 1.0.2 and under, with the third-party applications and enhancements. This includes losing the ability to order the icons in the SpringBoard with rSBT, applying SummerBoard themes, and perhaps most critically for some, the ability to create custom ringtones. iPhone 1.1.1 requires a strange ring tone file format (.m4r) and tools to create these files don’t seem to be available, yet. This is especially disappointing as it effectively eliminates your ability to create sound effect ringtones, or install the brilliant Cellphone sound that’s found deep the iLife sound library. Why does Apple think we only want musical ringtones? What if customers find them dreadfully annoying, and would prefer a simple ring that sounds like a cellphone, such as the one featured on the original iPhone TV commercials!

Update requirements

Once a step-by-step procedure was published by iPhoneAlley, we decided we would take the plunge and see if it works, rather than wait it out for Nullriver to release their elegant “next-next” wizard that handles the process easily and command-line free in a single fool-proof method that minimizes opportunities for error. We can confirm with amusement that, indeed, the 1.1.1 software update does allow third-party programs to be installed. Although the process is different, it’s not really any more or less scary than the original manual method we used before AppTapp was released with its novice-ready installation. In fact, the tools and methods have actually evolved since, and someone who fits the following profile could consider doing this also:

1. Have a Macintel (no PowerPC or Windows support at this time)
2. Have an AT&T account (no unlocked SIMs; free/open source unlocking tools aren’t ready yet)
3. Have about 30 minutes of patience to follow directions very carefully
4. Have some experience with AppTapp, Terminal, SSH and SFTP
5. Don’t mind potentially voiding your Apple warranty

Disclaimer, Warning, Caution

If you don’t qualify with all of the above conditions, you should definitely either wait for Nullriver to update AppTapp for 1.1.x, or think again about your inclinations to modify your iPhone.

Otherwise, all the usual warnings and disclaimers apply: Do this at your own risk. We assume no liability. Future updates from Apple are almost certain to close whatever loopholes were discovered at this point. Third-party applications make modifications to your iPhone, such as write preference files, that an Apple support technician might be able to detect, even after performing a Restore.

Further clarification

We followed iPhoneAlley’s step-by-step instructions, which are adequate for those of us that fit somewhere between a command-line hacker and a novice. The process takes about 30 minutes and seems to be reversible with the described downgrade feature. It’s important to make the clear distinction between “unlocking” and “jailbreaking,” the former is a far more risky endeavor where you modify the deep innards of the device to allow SIM cards and service providers other than AT&T. Inoperable bricked phones have been reported with the 1.1.1 in this case. Jailbreaking is simply opening up the iPhone’s file system to allow read and write access to allow the installation of third-party software and other customizations. Unlocking and 1.1.1 upgrades is probably still too risky at this point, while jailbreaking seems to be fairly safe.

Lean Machine

It’s worth noting that there are only two third-party applications that we ended up installing on our newly upgraded 1.1.1 system: NES and Chat. All the other programs are basically proof-of-concepts, raw experimentations, non-essential and easily forgettable. However, retrogaming and a genuine IM client, two things that might never be officialized by Apple (via AT&T) are considered indispensable additions to sorely lacking features of the factory feature set: games and IM.

UPDATE October 20, 2007

It turns out that the release of iNdepenence 1.2.2 was probably premature, as a later, greater version (1.2.4) emerged on October 18 that resolves some key issues with 1.2.2, that include how the Springboard is handled. Anyone who used 1.2.2 (us!) could have either used some patches released to resolve issues, or end up starting the whole restore, downgrade, exploit, upgrade, re-install process all over again. We’re compiling a tutorial and notes as we go through it. Stay tune for a posting on the subject.

UPDATE October 15, 2007

A new version of iNdependence was release today (v1.2.2) on Google code which supports Jailbreak on 1.1.1 firmware. It includes a special UI to perform and prepare for the 1.1.1 update which is not indicated in the iPhoneAlley step-by-step guide that we followed. Any users that have not yet updated form 1.0.2 to 1.1.1 should read the included Help documentation to learn the best method of preparing for 1.1.1 and then using their post 1.1.1 upgrade procedures available in the Firmware tab of this program. If you updated to 1.1.1 from 1.0.2 before this was released, you may need to downgrade with it, and then re-update to allow the ability to perform jailbreaks in the future. In the procedure outlined by iPhoneAlley, you really only get a one-shot-deal to jailbreak, so this new method is clearly preferred. We’ll comment on our experience preforming the downgrade and then re-upgrade using the new version of iNdependence.

UPDATE October 16, 2007

Some experiences in using iNdependence 1.2.2 to manage the migration to iPhone 1.1.1 while preserving AppTapp and jailbreak access (not SIM unlocking) follow. The built-in Help provides the step-by-step directions, however, it still needs some work, as it confusingly refers to itself in a circular fashion. We would still recommend waiting for Nullriver to release AppTapp for 1.1.1 if you’re at all weary of needing to carefully follow an arcane set of instructions or avoid using the command-line altogether. This update to iNependence achieves jailbreaking capabilities on the new firmware, but that’s about it.

Helpful Hints

Things to watch out for, not well documented in the built-in Help, when working with iNdependence 1.2.2 and the 1.0.2 to 1.1.1 upgrade process with jailbreak:

• The built-in Help documentation does not cover how to install AppTapp. However, you can use iNdependence or an SFTP client like CyberDuck to copy the Installer.app file found within the AppTapp installer package. Once copied, you can SSH into your 1.1.1 iPhone and trigger launching it via the command-line. Then you can enter the conceited software beta installer link into your MobileSafari, adding the required Trip1PogoStick hack, to allow the 1.1.1. SpringBoard to display programs, including Installer. Refer to the iPhoneAlley tutorial steps that cover these aspects, and ignore the steps that are covered by the new iNdependence method, which precludes the need to preform the installation of the Trip1Prep step. That seems to be the symlink trick that allows the 1.1.1 upgrade, but iNdependence handles that during its Pre-1.1.1 and Post-1.1.1 steps. On the iPhoneAlley tutorial, they say not to use iNdependence or use the traditional AppTapp installation. Although true in the case of the AppTapp installation, this tutorial needs to be updated to account for the reality that iNdependence has since been updated, and can be used to update to 1.1.1, in fact, offers a preferred method which retains the jailbreak. By following the iPhoneAlley method, you lose the jailbreak after completing the upgrade. It’s gotten very confusing, indeed. Apple is doing an excellent job of altering the infrastructure just enough to disrupt our efforts significantly.
• Be sure to kill the iTunes Helper process using Activity Monitor. Otherwise, iTunes will launch during many of the required reboots, and could interfere with the crucial timing of the re-activation.
• Temporarily deactivate your media syncing in iTunes, especially if you have downgrade. This will save you lots of time as the iPhone gets “erases” and re-built. Re-check the boxes for your songs, photos, videos, etc. after the process has been completed and sync up.
• We discovered the hard way, that you really want to let iTunes perform the Activation, rather than use iNdependence. It appears that if you use iNdependence to activate the phone and then deactivate it, iTunes does not appear to successfully re-activate, and thus you become dependent on iNdepedence. Yikes!
• Although the built-in Help claims that your YouTube will be fine during this process, we found that it did not work after the process. Fortunately, we easily found this reference, where you can download the appropriate security key files and upload them to the correct place on your iPhone file system (/var/root/Library/Lockdown/), and this seems to restore YouTube functionality.
• You’ll need to re-sync one additional time after the process is complete to get your Apple iTunes Music Store account properly associated with your WiFi Music Store in order to purchase music on the iPhone.
• Don’t forget to change your SSH passwords from the defaults, to help prevent getting truly hacked by a malicious user on some WiFi network. iNdependence does make it easy to change these passwords in the SSH tab.

Indeed, we could work on a write-up that combines the best of what’s offered on iPhoneAlley and the iNdepenence built-in Help, but by the time we finish that, Nullriver might have their brilliant AppTapp Installer updated, and then, like before, it’ll be a waste of time, thankfully. It’s very likely that some other passionate modder has beat us to the punch, by now.