[Hands0n]

I couldn't bring myself to getting rid of my iPhone 2G when the 3G model came out last year. It had been a good companion, reliable, and a thoroughly exciting acquisition when new. In mint condition I retired it back to its box where it has only occasionally seen the light of day to re-charge the battery and update the firmware as new releases arrived.

It was no different when iPhone firmware 3.0 came to us last week. The 2G was updated hot on the heels of the 3G, and I do believe that it has injected some new life into the little fella. Certainly, it is interesting to see the 2G perform very similarly to the 3G. And with all of the apps being refreshed the 2G is approaching that of its more basic competitors. A shame, therefore, that in Apple's wisdom they decided not to implement MMS, because that is the only thing missing from the 2G.

And so I have decided to Jailbreak and Unlock the device now that Redsn0w has been released for the 3.0 firmware. The process is simple to follow and the full kit of instructions for Mac are here http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=4304 - of course, on the same source you will find a set of instructions for Windows here http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=4302 .

These pages also contain links for the four binary files that you will need;
- RedSn0w
- BL 3.9
- BL 4.6
- 3.0.0 iPhone firmware

The process is fairly foolproof, requiring nothing more than an ability to follow instructions to the letter and in strict sequence :) I managed it first go, having never run Redsn0w or the procedure before, although familiar with the fundamental concept :D

I was debating what to do with the 2G. Do I hand it down to the younger lad who will very soon tire of it as it is not 3G and therefore won't do MMS? Or perhaps I could re-sell it on eBay.

Well I'm gobsmacked! There are literally dozens of unlocked iPhone 2G for sale (http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m38.l1311&_nkw=iphone+2g+8gb+unlocked&_sacat=See-All-Categories) on eBay, with one with less than an hour to go currently being bid for at £165 (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Apple-iPhone-2G-8GB-Excellent-Condition-UNLOCKED_W0QQitemZ160343260627QQcmdZViewItemQQptZU K_MobilePhones_MobilePhones?hash=item255533fdd3&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1690%7C 240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50) - and this phone is only on 2.2.1 firmware!

This is all very tempting indeed. I'll be sleeping on it before I make my mind up. If that "slightly marked" iPhone can fetch £165 what will a completely mint one with 3.0 firmware, unlocked, Cydia etc.. command? I'll wager at least £166 :D

Decisions, decisions ....


Edit: Meh! I listed it :) here (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320388935014)

[miffed]

Eh , Where's it gone ? ..... Do I sense a change of heart ?:D

[miffed]

I used Pwnage , simply because I have used it before and knew what to expect (and what NOT to expect :D )

I have the same feeling as when I Jailbroke the 2G - I wished I had done before , but for some reason there is this urge to keep the device 'virgin'

As I said earlier , well worth it IMO simply for the Cycorder app and the SIM unlock .
Wonder how much my (now unlocked) 3G would fetch on flea bay , it's "almost" mint ( :) ) - the only marks are the innevitable gentle "chaffing" at the two points on the back that contact the surfaces when put down.

Although having said that , Fleabay is a pain in the neck :mad:

[Hands0n]

Eh , Where's it gone ? ..... Do I sense a change of heart ?:D

:) Nah, eBay pulled my ad because they didn't like a condition I put in it.... so its relisted here http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320389014717&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:GB:1123 and attracting a bid of £0.99p so far ... as if ... :D

[Hands0n]

Oooooh, exciting!

3d 13h to go, 4 bids, 6 watchers and £10.50 on the meter so far :D

Monday is going to be a nailbiting day ... ;)

[miffed]

There is some madness out there , that's for sure.

My mate saw a non-working 2G (8GB) going for auction , and thought it worth a punt on the off chance he could revive it .... but gave up when the auction hit £187 !!! (for a DEAD phone !!)

Why anyone would pay more than £350 for a 3G , or £450/£550 respectively for a 3GS ? (Even if they are factory unlocked) - but hell they do on eBay :D

[Hands0n]

ROTFL - yea, there was one with some right old damage to the side with the buttons on, the mute switch was physically broken in the On position - and already the auction price had got to over £100, even with photos of the damage!!! What drugs are people on??

I've just had an offer to sell outside of ebay for £140, but I aint having none of that .... £140 for a mint condition? He's 'avin a larf!

[miffed]

Yeah , don't sell yourself short !
- Amazing how these things hold (and increase) value - Remember at one point you could go into an o2 shop and walk out with one for £169 !

Can you imagine any other device bought for £270 in 2007 selling for anwhere near the amounts these are going for ?

[miffed]

BTW , when someone posts an eBay link on a forum , it is customary to have a nose at your feedback for "interesting" items .....

....How are you finding the latex gloves mate ?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310114967361

;)

[Hands0n]

LOL, you cheeky wotsit :D

I'm a bit of a grease monkey in my spare moments - nothing I like better than bending a few spanners on the motorcycle, skinning the ole knuckles and generally keeping the "fleet" operational and running tickaboo :)

Sorry mate, no sordid secrets to post on here I'm afraid ... all very boring stuff really ... Well, except that ... the last time ... I bought Vinyl instead of Latex. Not quite as kind to the hands ;)

[Hands0n]

Wow! With 9 hours to go the 2G is being bid at £165! And I've got someone trying to snatch it at £200!! Whats that all about? I wouldn't pay that kind of money for a 2G iPhone ... Although, that said, there are 3G 16GB locked going for £275 and unlocked for £350.

I've got 28 watchers, so am anticiping a bit of a bidding frenzy when the auction ends tomorrow morning at 06:30am

What a crazy world we live in!!

[Ben]

That's a bit of the mythical "Apple products retain their value" sentiment in action right there!

I still think I did the right thing waiting for the 3G... I mean, I could hardly buy a 2G phone these days could I :D Plan on keeping my 3G, though, it has that same sort of NEC e606/SE Z1010/Nokia 6680 feel about it that'll see it sit dormant in a drawer somewhere for many years :D Though right now I'm still determined to find a use for it!

[Hands0n]

Nuts, completely nuts! The final bid was £233.50 :eek: Going by the others that are selling on there this is something of a record...

I realise you can't get a new iPhone of any description for that amount, and this is mint condition, but all the same ... it is a nutty amount to pay for a 2G. Oh well, mustn't complain :D I'm absolutely delighted, especially if he pays up :D

[miffed]

Absolutely cannot comprehend that !! I simply could not part with £233 , knowing that putting another £120 would have got me a current (more capable) model ... BRAND NEW !!

Well done mate

[Hands0n]

What a day today has been - one of highs, followed by devastating lows, crushing worry, inspiration and finally ending on a high again ... What an emotional rollercoaster :D Allow me to share ... :)


Having made the sale on ebay I decided to get the iPhone 2G ready to ship
I can't be shipping it with all my data on it so set the iPhone to "Erase All Content and Settings" - the iPhone said it would take an hour so I went off to get ready for work
Returning an hour later I saw that the phone was restarting, cool, all done.
Horrors! Ten minutes later it was still restarting (the twirly was static, not a good sign)
Tried several hard resets - same thing - gets to the same place, twirly appears, twirls once and then handset crashes :eek:
Time is running out, I have to get to work, sick to the stomach, one last try, no good, aaaarrrrrgh! Have I messed up completely?
A full day of anxiety passes - every idle moment the focus shifts back to the iPhone 2G, what could be wrong, is it now a very expensive brick?
5:15pm arrives, I can't stand this, I'm off ... homeward bound, thoughts racing on what to do to solve the problem
Arriving home the iPhone is still stuck - same as when I left it - dead! Grrrrrr I'm not having any of this...
Time for DFU mode - can I get the handset into that? It took three tries to get it to play ball, but third time it showed the welcoming signs that it was in DFU
I restored a vanilla firmware 3.0 - checked it against an O2 and Vodafone SIM - worked in the former, rejected the latter
I then fired up RedSn0w and ran through the Jailbreak/Unlock routine
Success :D :D :D Snoopy-time :D
Huge wave of relief, I have the iPhone back, it is alive and well, everything works, even the Unlock, 2G voice and data, WiFi.
Boxed it, labelled it, got it ready for a trip to the Post Office tomorrow


Its funny really, having worked on these things for quite a while it is still very, very, very scary when a high-value device like this goes . Fortunately the iPhone is a very robust device, I'm not sure what it takes to break one permanently [as many seem to do] but I've witnessed some horrors only to see the handset be completely recoverable.

Edit: I had a Nokia N95 go "bang" on me once when updating using Nokia Software Updater. I tried everything, without any success. In the end I took it to the Vodafone store where I was informed "Oh, we get a lot of these back, NSU is always doing this to N95s" ... Since they've fallen out of Nokia warranty I've not even contemplated taking on a new version of the firmware. Who in their right mind makes a software update scheme that is capable of making the handset go terminal?

[miffed]

LOL , I can picture the scene , two weeks from now .....


"Dear Handson
I have just tried to restore the iPhone to original settings , and......

Might be in your interests to print off the iClarified tutorials , perhaps even put the required files on a disk and chuck them in to cover yourself ?

(Mind you , at that price I'd was 24hr phone support !!! ;)

[Hands0n]

You and I appear to think along the same lines :D

He and I exchanged emails yesterday about delivery and stuff - I sent him the iClarified tutorials with links and a very very stern warning about updating to vanilla iPhone firmware. He's got the picture alright - and I don't chuck anything away, so if any attempt at a come-back I'll pull the comment out of my files :)


Now this has got me to thinking, you all knew this was coming ... At this rate I should be able to sell off my "mint" iPhone 3G for something substantial, sufficiently so to effectively pay outright for a 3GS or as near as dammit! As with the iPhone 2G this one has spent its life in a leather wallet which offers great protection, and has no damage whatsoever. Not even hairline surface scratches or scuff marks.

Hmmm, I'm getting that certain itch :D

[gorilla]

Hmmm, I'm getting that certain itch :D

Sell it. Unless you want to give it to a family member. It might not be a "massive" upgrade, but I wouldn't go back to the 3G and for someone like you, who I assume uses the iPhone a lot throughout the day, the 3GS is a worthy upgrade.
Assuming you buy the PAYG you wont even have to worry about a contract, which means you can buy an Android device later in the year ;)

[MrBriz]

Sell it. Unless you want to give it to a family member. It might not be a "massive" upgrade, but I wouldn't go back to the 3G and for someone like you, who I assume uses the iPhone a lot throughout the day, the 3GS is a worthy upgrade.
Assuming you buy the PAYG you wont even have to worry about a contract, which means you can buy an Android device later in the year ;)

That's what I've done. Sold the 3G (£300), got a 32GB 3GS. Hopefully in December I should be able to drop to a PayG sim saving myself £15 pm, and by then I should have also cancelled my other contract, also saving £30 pm! So that's £45 each and every month to save for the iPhone 4.0 :D

[Hands0n]

Sell it. Unless you want to give it to a family member. It might not be a "massive" upgrade, but I wouldn't go back to the 3G and for someone like you, who I assume uses the iPhone a lot throughout the day, the 3GS is a worthy upgrade.
Assuming you buy the PAYG you wont even have to worry about a contract, which means you can buy an Android device later in the year ;)

It is right tempting, to be sure. Incredible to think that I'll possibly fetch around £300 for it (Mr Briz, was that Jailbroken and Unlocked or vanilla?). I'm still reeling a little after the sale of the 2G that has got me £200 towards any 3GS, should I weaken further :D

I had considered sending the 3G down the family line - thinking of younger lad who's desperate for it. But my big concern is he's 15, the idiot age group, and I'd be gutted if his peers nicked it!

Then again, I might just do as Ben did - eat the expense and just be happy of the £200 off the price of the 32GB 3GS ...

I'll sleep some more on this ... ;)

[Hands0n]

The lad has his iPhone - he seems pleased with it. I've certainly not had any negative email from him as I'm sure he would have at that price. I advertised it as "mint" as indeed it was so can imagine that he's been over it with an eyeglass to see for himself.

The decision is made ... Saturday I'm off to the Apple store to get me one of them thar iPhone 3GS thangs. I quite fancy the 32GB, didn't think I'd need all of that space, but then again, if it does video it may well be something that I'll make good use of...