How Tos

How to jailbreak your iPhone or iPod touch 3.1.2

Fight the power

How to jailbreak your iPhone or iPod touch 3.1.2
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We’re not going to get too bogged down in the rights and wrongs of jailbreaking here. I just busted my iPhone out of the iTunes penitentiary, and have no intentions of pirating games (if nothing else, 59p isn’t worth my time) so there’s no reason to assume you’re going to, either.

[Editor's note: in case you're in any doubt, piracy is theft and it materially harms the industry. Don't do it.]

But what’s really surprised me since the jailbreak is how much my iPhone now feels like it really belongs to me, and in that respect you’re well advised to claim your device as your own.

It’s worth pointing out here that there are two aspects to a full jailbreak: jailbreaking, and unlocking.

Jailbreaking allows you to install applications and games that haven't been approved by Apple, as well as providing more functionality with the device itself.

Unlocking allows you to use your iPhone on different cellular networks, much like unlocking an ordinary mobile phone.

This tutorial only covers the jailbreak, and at the time of writing upgrading to version 3.1.2 makes it very difficult for you to also unlock your iPhone from your network provider. I’m in the middle of a contract, so it didn’t matter to me, but bear this in mind if you’re looking to take your iPhone business elsewhere.

If you're worried about the dangers, there really aren't that many. Sure, there's the problem with security that's hit the news lately, but there's a simple fix for that.

Otherwise you can carry on using your iPhone/iPod touch, the App Store and iTunes exactly as you did before. The only difference is your device will look cooler, and work harder.

It’s difficult to brick your iPhone, but not impossible. Minimise the risk by syncing your device before starting, and make sure it does a full backup. If all goes wrong, this should put your device back to square one. Safety nets are good.
This jailbreak operates on the latest 3.1.2 firmware update. I’ve seen reports that it works on 3.1, though that wasn’t my experience. You can try without harm before upgrading, of course. So if you're like me you'll need to update to 3.1.2 (bearing in mind that once you’ve done so, there’s currently no way to unlock the device). If this all goes well and you’re of a nervous disposition, sync and backup again with iTunes.
We’re going to use the newly released BlackRa1n application to jailbreak, so head over to the official site and download the Windows or Mac version depending on what you need. Once it's downloaded, plug your iPhone/iPod touch in via USB and run the BlackRa1n file on your computer.
With BlackRa1n running, hit the ‘make it ra1n’ button. Your iPhone will now go blank as it enters recovery mode. This is normal, so remain calm. BlackRa1n moves automatically through the procedure, first displaying ‘running’, and then ‘done, waiting for reboot’. Note: Now, this could just be me, but I was having no success with the next step until I did something undocumented. The first couple of times I tried this jailbreak and my iPhone had gone into recovery mode, the process stopped. I had to switch the iPhone off and try again (no harm was done - it just didn’t jailbreak). However, during one attempt when the BlackRa1n program on the computer displayed ‘done, waiting for reboot’ and nothing was happening on the iPhone, I shut BlackRa1n down and restarted it. The iPhone sprang into life and onto the next step. Just FYI, in case you encounter a similar issue.
The ‘GeoHot’ picture appears full-screen on the iPhone while the device reboots. This should be pretty much the same image you saw on the official BlackRa1n homepage (see step 3). Once it’s restarted BlackRa1n will let you know it’s jailbroken and give you the opportunity to donate to the software developer.
Looking through your Home screens (now known as the Springboard to us jailbreakers) on the iPhone, you’ll now see a new application called ‘blackra1n’. Make sure your iPhone/iPod touch has a net connection available, and open it.
Here you’ll see the option of installing Cydia or Rock. These are like unofficial App Store alternatives, and it’s here you’ll likely get most of your apps that Apple doesn’t want you to have. Click to install Cydia, as it’s easy to install Rock later from within Cydia. BlackRa1n will then download and install the Cydia system. Note: sn0w is for unlocking the device, though as previously discussed, that’s not applicable in this jailbreaking method.
Once Cydia has installed, the Springboard will restart and you’ll have another new icon next to BlackRa1n. Should you wish to get rid of the BlackRa1n app, run it again and click the button to uninstall it. You can now start customising and using your iPhone to its full potential.
The first thing I did was to smarten up the Springboard: check out my awesome Meatwad wallpaper and notice I now have five apps in the bottom row, and five rows of applications per Springboard screen. We’ll go into this in more detail in a future tutorial. In the meantime, why not tell us how your jailbreak went, and which apps we should all enjoy with our new found freedom in the comments below. Note: We’ll have another tutorial for you very shortly about how to secure your jailbroken iPhone, so you don’t wind up with Rick Astley smiling at you where Meatwad should be. Stay tuned.


Spanner Spencer
Spanner Spencer
Yes. Spanner's his real name, and he's already heard that joke you just thought of. Although Spanner's not very good, he's quite fast, and that seems to be enough to keep him in a regular supply of free games and away from the depressing world of real work.