Jailbreaking and unlocking the iPhone 3G S using redsn0w and ultrasn0w/purplesn0w

Updated: September 25, 2009

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Who is this guide for?

• All 3G S iPhones.
• 3.0 firmware only.
• Make sure to sync your iPhone prior to using this tutorial. This way your personal information, and any App Store applications will be preserved.
• Requires iTunes version 8.2, or greater.
• I used OS X 10.5.7.

Thanks again go out to the iPhone Dev Team (and Oranav for the unlock exploit) for providing this amazing, and FREE program for jailbreaking, activating, unlocking, and customizing the 1st generation, 3G, and 3G S iPhones. You can visit their website here, and their blog here. You can either use the ultrasn0w unlock from the iPhone Dev Team, or use GeoHot's purplesn0w unlock. One might work better for you than the other, so I'm including instructions for both.

Step 1.

This step has been removed since Apple is no longer signing 3.0 or 3.0.1 firmware.

Step 2.

Download redsn0w (0.8) from me here, or via the iPhone Dev Team's blog post here.

Download 3.0 firmware from Apple here. Note: Safari likes to open "safe" files by default. You must turn this feature off for this download to work correctly. Click "Safari", select "Preferences", from the "Geneal" tab uncheck the box that says "Open "safe" files after downloading". Otherwise just use Firefox to download this firmware file.

You should now have these two icons on your desktop. If your firmware file ends in .zip, then edit the file name to remove the .zip so that it ends in .ipsw.




Double click the redsn0w .zip file and you will see this folder appear.




Go into this folder and drag the redsn0w.app file into your Applications folder.




You may also want to sync your iPhone to backup your personal data.

Step 3.

Launch redsn0w. Click the Browse button.




Navigate to where you saved the 3.0 firmware download from earlier. Select it, and click Open.




The message processing firmware will appear, followed by IPSW successfully identified. Click Next.









A pop up will appear and display several messages quickly.




At this screen you can choose whether to install Cydia, or Icy (Installer's successor). Click Next.




Note: If you are interested in having push notifications working (I don't use this so I can't attest to it), you will need to activate your iPhone with an official SIM. Push does not work on hacktivated iPhones. redsn0w can sense whether or not you require hacktivation based on your previous restore. If you activated officially, redsn0w will do nothing, if you did not activate offcially then it will hacktivate for you. Bottom line - you figure it out. I'm just making you aware of a potential issue.

Now follow these instructions. Disconnect the iPhone's USB cable from your Mac. Turn off the iPhone. Wait five seconds once it's powered off. Hold down the Home button and then plug the USB cable back into your Mac.




On the iPhone you will see the connect to iTunes graphic.




Back in the redsn0w program, the message Jailbreaking... will appear. Other messages include: waiting for reboot, uploading exploit, uploading logo, uploading ramdisk, and uploading kernel.




You'll then see this graphic on your iPhone. The iPhone will reboot, and then code will scroll on the iPhone's screen.




Done! will appear in the program. You can click the Finish button to close the program.




You will see a few different messages (Installing base utilities, Replacing kernel, Flashing NOR, Installing bundles, Syncing file systems, Rebooting) on your iPhone during the next couple minutes. The iPhone will reboot once this has finished.




Your iPhone is now jailbroken. You may see Cydia and Icy on your SpringBoard.