Not Quite a Blog

Warning: The following assumes that you have a 2G iPhone, a Mac laptop or desktop and some familiarity with the command-line.

I just had perhaps the most painless iPhone OS upgrade from 3.0.1 to 3.1. (here is the last installment on upgrading to 3.0.1)

You'll want a copy of the firmware file (IPSW) for iPhone OS 3.1 and PwnageTool from the iPhone Dev Team (you can get iPhone firmware here and PwnageTool 3.1 here). This time we'll create a custom IPSW so get any custom boot logos handy

Here's what you do:

1. Install aptbackup from Cydia if you haven't already. Use it to back up your Cydia apps.
2. Sync with iTunes and be sure that it creates a backup (this will be your reference if you mess up, mostly).
3. Aptbackup has a nasty habit of not working. It really kind of sucks, but it's good for creating a list of installed Cydia apps. So, per this post, SSH into your phone and copy over to your computer the files aptbackup.cydiasources.tgz, aptbackup_dpkg-packages.txt and aptbackup_openssh.tgz found at /var/mobile/Library/Preferences.
4. Open PwnageTool and create a custom IPSW... I'd just recommend following these directions from hackintosh. They work well.
5. You will want to restore from the backup you made earlier using iTunes to get your settings and stuff back.
6. If you're on T-Mobile like me and subscribe to a data plan, you'll want to make sure that you have wap.voicestream.com set as your APN in Settings -> General -> Network -> Cellular Data Network. Otherwise, you'll see an error that reads: "Could not activate cellular data network: You are not subscribed to a cellular data service".
7. To avoid major lameness, don't use AptBackup to actually do the restore. On your computer, do a less aptbackup_dpkg-packages.txt to list the packages that you had installed via Cydia, and manually install them one-by-one. Yeah, it sucks, but it sucks less that not having your AppStore apps! (I had a particularly lame experience with AptBackup trying to use it to restore my Cydia apps. As outlined in this post, after running AptBackup, all my AppStore apps disappeared. They showed up in SBSettings and were still listed in the Applications pane of iTunes, but it appeared as if AptBackup had uninstalled these apps from my phone!)
8. Now it's just a matter of moving your icons to the right place.
9. I'd suggest changing the passwords for both the root and mobile users... from the default of alpine to something more substantial. (To do this, ssh into the phone as root, do passwd for root and then do su mobile to change yourself to the user mobile and do passwd for that user too.)
10. If you use Cycorder, you'll also need to re-establish the symbolic link between where cycorder stores its videos and AirSharing, if you had it set up like that. (Do that as the mobile user so the permissions line up.)

UPDATE [2009-10-05T11:16:56]: added bit about APN to get data network back.

As I've detailed before, it's a bit of a pain in the butt to upgrade a jailbroken, unlocked iPhone (I have the 2G original iPhone). (Warning, I'd advise using these directions instead of those just linked to. I believe these to be superior.)

I hoped that AptBackup would help ease a bit of the pain... AptBackup saves a list of Cydia applications (applications that run on jailbroken iPhones) to a place that iTunes can back it up. The idea being that you restore from iTunes, restore from AptBackup and at least all your old programs are there. No dice. I don't think AptBackup works with iPhone OS 3.0. Anyway, it didn't seem to for me. (A friend pointed to this article which tells which files to copy via SSH from your iPhone once you've told AptBackup to "back up". This is handy if AptBackup barfs and you need to SSH in and copy these files back.)

Here's how I upgraded my 2G iPhone:

1. Had iTunes download, but not install, the iPhone OS 3.0 ipsw file.
2. I wrote down all the Cydia apps I had installed by starting Cydia and hitting the "manage" tab. As updating the FW removes any Cydia applications, you'll need to add these back one by one. (My list is below.)
3. Used PwnageTool 3.0 to create a customized version of the 3.0 ipsw file. Saved this file to someplace where I can find it.
4. Put the iPhone in DFU mode (or recovery mode?). I can never get this right. But I found a way to get it right every time: With your iPhone connected to your Mac, close iTunes and then open PwnageTool (you might have to close and re-open it). See that it has a tab labeled "DFU"? Click on that. This will walk you through how to put your iPhone in DFU mode. Close PwnageTool. (A friend told me that if your iphone is unlocked, you can use recovery mode instead... to get into that disconnect the iPhone, hold the home button while connecting it to USB.)
5. Open iTunes and it will notice the iPhone is in recovery mode. Option-click "Restore" and navigate to the ipsw file you created with PwnageTool. Let iTunes restore from the new firmware and re-sync. (takes a long time)
6. Re-install all the Cydia apps, one-by-one, from the list made above.
7. If you're on T-Mobile like me, in order to use the EDGE Data Network, you'll have to go to Settings -> General -> Network -> Cellular Data Network and put in epc.tmobile.com in for "APN" (or internet2.voicestream.com if you have T-Mobile's Total Internet package.).
8. If you've purchased Snapture (a campera app), you'll probably have to download SBSettings from the iPhone and reset the user directory permissions on your phone (more here). Later: Actually, I can't seem to get Snapture to work. Looks like Snapture Labs will have an updated binary "within hours". Even Later: If you're having a problem deleting old pics and taking new ones, use MobileTerminal or ssh into your phone and delete any directory like 100APPLE or 999APPLE from /private/var/mobile/Media/DCIM/. (see here)
9. Via Terminal, you should change the passwords on the root and mobile users from the default of alpine for both (in the last firmware, mobile's password was dottie, but not anymore.
10. If you've setup Cycorder to save videos to a directory in your Air Sharing directory tree (e.g., a la this post), you'll have to re-establish that symbolic link. (Tip: make sure the target directory exits and is chowned to mobile:mobile.)

Like anyone who cares about security, I've set a passcode lock on my iPhone. However, it's a severe pain in the ass to have to type it in all the time (say, when I'm on a plane reading and want to regularly consult they dictionary (Wordbook)). So, I've set a few-minute delay on the passcode lock such that it doesn't activate immediately.

Here's a use-case and a question: In the above airplane example, what if I need to get up to use the bathroom and want to leave my phone at my seat/in my bag? I'd like in this case, instead of the passcode lock delay, to be able to tell the phone to turn on the passcode lock immediately. How do I do this?

This seems so simple but I can't find a way and it might just not be possible outside of simply changing the lock delay to immediate in Settings (which is another pain in the ass to fiddle with just to get up to use the bathroom... I'd just take my phone with me in this case). And, yes, I do realize that a passcode lock probably want thwart a determined adversary that gets my phone for a few minutes, but still.

I've found myself telling a few people how to either sync applications on the iPhone or SSH into your iPhone without an existing WiFi network.

I have two things that I regularly need to do and often they happen when I'm not near a wifi network (and I don't know how to connect in a network-sense to the iPhone via USB cable):

1. I need to SSH or SFTP to my iPhone to mod something or put something on it.
2. I need to sync certain applications (like PasswordWallet) between the iPhone and my computer.

The simple but, I suppose, not obvious answer is to use the Mac to set up an ad-hoc network... that is, have the Mac act as a base station for a brief period of time. Here's what you do:

1. Turn your AirPort on in the menu bar if not already.
2. From the drop-down menu in the AirPort menu, click "Create a Network..."
3. Choose a name for the network and a password.
4. Click "OK".

Your mac will then set up an ad-hoc network that your iPhone can see.

Sheesh.

Upgrading the firmware in an unlocked, jailbroken iPhone is not easy and definitely nerve-racking.

Here's what I just had to do to upgrade from 2.2 to 2.2.1:

1. Wrote down all the Cydia apps I had installed. (they're blasted out of existence each time you upgrade)
2. Allowed iTunes to update my phone to 2.2.1. Also made a copy of the 2.2.1 ipsw (firmware file).
3. Installed the backwards-downgrade of the USB kernel extensions for Mac OS 10.5.5 so that the iPhone's DFU mode (firmware update mode) isn't broken. Rebooted. (see "Fixing DFU Mode on 10.5.6" here)
4. Used QuickPwn to do whatever it does to the firmware, etc. Also, used quickpwn to get the bastard into DFU mode.^*
5. Power it off and back on again.
6. Then let iTunes restore from freakin' backup and re-sync. (takes a long time)
7. Re-install all the Cydia apps, one-by-one, from the list made above.
8. Restore the 10.5.6 USB kernel extensions and reboot so that you get 10.5.6 USB back. (Note: my MacBook Pro would not go to sleep with the old USB code; it would write its memory to disk for a few seconds and then immediately wake. Reinstalling the 10.5.6 USB code fixed that.)
9. If you've purchased Snapture (a phone app), you'll probably have to download SBSettings from the iPhone and reset the user directory permissions on your phone (more here).
10. You should change the passwords on the root and mobile users from the defaults of alpine and dottie. Recall that passwd mobile will change the password for the user mobile. You'll also have to update any stored SSH keys on machines your iphone interacts with.
11. If you've setup Cycorder to save videos to a directory in your Air Sharing directory tree (e.g., a la this post), you'll have to re-establish that symbolic link. (Tip: make sure the target directory exits and is chowned to mobile:mobile.)

^* BTW, getting into DFU mode can be tricky for some dorky reason... seems that you have to do the following: 1) plug the iphone into your computer via USB, 2) turn the iphone off, 3) hold down the power and home keys on the iphone for exactly 10 seconds, 4) release the power key but continue to hold the home key for 10 more seconds. If you fuck this up, you'll just be in regular recovery mode and not DFU mode and you'll be in for a world of hurt. In that case, you'll probably want to QuickPwn again.

I'm a big fan of S3’s Password Wallet (which syncs with their iPhone version).

The most secure mode of their default password generator generates a random alphanumeric password between 8-12 characters long. In their template format, that looks like this:

{[xX#]:8:12}

Which says characters are randomly chosen to be lowercase (x), uppercase (X) or a number (#), and to randomly do this at least eight (:8) and at most twelve (:12) times.

However, I also like throw in special characters, which you can do like so:

{[xXp#]:8:12}

where p means one of the following characters:

~ ! @ $ % ^ & * . ; : ?

Cool!

One thing bugs me though: I'd like to be able to have a toggle for each entry in Password Wallet that would let me specify a different template for password generation. That way, if a site doesn't like those special characters above, I can just flip the toggle and get the random alphanumeric style. (Right now, I have to open the preferences and delete the p from the template to go alphanumeric... and then remember to go and change it back.)

UPDATE: Before this post even when live, Sanford Selznick -- the man behind S3 -- responded to an email that you could use a template like so:

xXxX{p:0:1}xXxX

that will include a special character half of the time. That's a great temporary solution but I'd still prefer named templates. (And, no, I didn't just give you information about my password generation template!)

Even fancier would be something like:

{[xX#]:4:5}{p:0:1}{[xX#]:4:5}{p:0:1}

which produces passwords between 10-12 characters long where the first 4-5 characters are random alphanumeric, then an optional special character, then the same. This will result in 1/4 of passwords generated having no special characters.

I'm going to stick to pure random and a manual toggle, though!

I did.

Deadline is Tuesday (2/2):

If you have a jailbroken iPhone, you've probably availed yourself of Cycorder, the ad-supported video recorder that records decent video (like this).

You probably also followed these instructions, "Easily share Cycorder videos off jailbroken iPhones", using Air Sharing and Mobile Terminal or OpenSSH to make the videos easy to get at.

However, if you update Air Sharing, the directory in which Air Sharing lies may change (something like D4C0BF5B-05F5-42E0-8D89-D86014122F26/... in /private/var/mobile/Applications/)). That means that the symbolic link you created above is now stale.

If Cycorder is crashing immediately upon launch, you probably have updated Air Sharing (such that it's directory has changed) and now have a stale symbolic link that is pointing your /private/var/mobile/Media/Videos directory (where cycorder expects to store videos) to a non-existent directory in /private/var/mobile/Applications/.

To fix it:

1. Start up Air Sharing.
2. SSH into your phone: ssh root@10.0.1.34 (or whatever Air Sharing reports as your iPhone's IP address.)
3. Change directories to where your apps are at: cd /private/var/mobile/Applications

4. Now, you need to figure out which directory Air Sharing is in. I'd suggest just using find:

   root# find . -name "Air Sharing" -print
   ./FA299166-2613-4F36-9043-A52711FA9123/Documents/Air Sharing
   

5. Change directories to where Cycorder expects the Videos folder to be: cd /private/var/mobile/Media/

6. Move the current symbolic link to somewhere else: mv Videos Videos.2.bak
7. Create a new symbolic link to point Videos/ at the Air Sharing public directory: ln -s "../Applications/FA299166-2613-4F36-9043-A52711FA9123/Documents/Air Sharing/Public" ./Videos

(Note that the cryptic directory, FA299166-2613-4F36-9043-A52711FA9123, will probably be different for you.)

After this, Cycorder should operate as normal.

If you have an iPhone and a WiFi router at home, please do the following:

1. Go to:
2. Submit your address and then enter the MAC address (?) of your router and your email address. Submit this information to Skyhook.

Why? Because the iPhone also uses WiFi router signals to improve the quality of its location-based services. By submitting your router's information, you are helping to make the iPhone's services more accurate.

If you're a complete idiot like me, you read the news at the iPhone Dev Team blog and was excited that you could upgrade your 2G iPhone to the new 2.2 firmware with no extra tricks... and you just did it.

If you're also an idiot, you probably did not "unhide" applications that you had previously hidden using Cydia's BossPrefs, Poof or Categories. Also, you probably hid BossPrefs and Cydia, which means you couldn't "unhide" jack squat nor install something like Poof which would allow you to do the same thing.

If you're an extra idiot, you didn't read the comments on the iPhone Dev Team blog post and see the pointer from Gibbles to BigBoss' advice on what to do if applications are missing:

Issue #2: iPhone backup works fine. But now you only have a few icons. Cydia is missing. What can you do where did all your icons go?

First, to address issue #2, missing icons. This occurs because you had installed categories and moved a bunch of files into folders. When you restore, your springboard plist will be restore and that contains a bunch of hidden icons. Here are your options

1) Prevent this situation by unhiding icons and/or deleting your folders before you do yoru final backup before you upgrade

2) After your jailbreak ends, before you restore your backup, install some things that will help you such as: openssh, poof, bossprefs (any of these you did not have installed before would be great). Here is a prioritized list of options:

a) Install Poof if BossPrefs was hidden install BossPrefs if Poof was hidden. Either of these can completely unhide all your apps. If both were used and hidden then move to B.

b) If settings is available, run that. Enable restrictions, disable restrictions. All your apps will be visible. If settings was hidden, move to C.

c) SSH into the iPhone with scp or ssh. If you don’t know how, use this guide. Navigate yourself over to /var/mobile/Library/Preferences and delete com.apple.springboard.plist. Respring your iPhone by typing “killall SpringBoard” into SSH or, if you don’t know how to do that, just reboot. All your hidden apps will be visible.

So, you probably didn't realize that you could go into "Settings" -> "General" -> "Restrictions" and simply turn on and then off Restrictions... which unhides all apps.

You probably dinked around with past customized firmwares for a few hours, wasting your precious time. Don't do that again.