I’m seeing a lot of misleading articles regarding what happens to hacked iPhones with the iPhone 1.0.2 update. Note that none of this applies to activation or service hacking. Here is my experience with hacking the iPhone and upgrading to 1.0.1 and then all over again with 1.0.2:
1) The 1.0.2 update doesn’t force a restore.
That implies that somehow this is pushed. It’s not. You can choose not to do the update. The usual advice on waiting to do updates applies. If you want to do the update, you must first do a restore, if you have hacked your iPhone. This should be expected and should be the preface to any “hack your iPhone” instructions.
2) The hacks are not disabled.
After doing the restore and update, you need to re-do the hacks. To say they are disabled implies that the software and/or methods used to hack the iPhone no longer work. Jailbreak, iFuntastic, iPhuc, installer.app (and all its associated apps) all work.
3) I have not seen any reports of actual bricking of iPhones.
If you have bricked an iPhone, please comment on this post. Please first note that “bricking” a device means that you’ve literally turned it into a brick. Specifically it means that your device can not be recovered, reset, or restored in any way.
What the 1.0.2 update does:
Having updated the iPhone to 1.0.2, I have not discovered any improvements other than with WiFi and the iPhone’s camera now has pretty decent image stablization, which greatly improves image quality, especially in low light situations. Apple only offers up in the release notes that this update fixes bugs.
The rest of this post is relevant if you’ve fully hacked your iPhone to the point of adding SSH/SFTP. You may consider doing this before updating to 1.0.2 as it will allow to back up additional data, and if you mess up along the way, there’s no effort lost as you’re going to restore your iPhone anyway. Think of this as a practice run.
The best guide I’ve seen yet for hacking your iPhone is at:
www.shauninman.com
Before you upgrade your hacked iPhone to 1.0.2:
1) Make sure to completely synch your iPhone using iTunes.
2) Copy all of your customized images into a folder on your hard drive. Use subfolders that map specific locations where the images will go on your iPhone…keep stuff organized!
3) Copy all of your ringtones to a folder on your hard drive.
4) Back up all of your files that aren’t otherwise synched. Using ssh or sftp, go to /var/root/Library. I backup the entire Library folder, just becuase it’s easier. However, when you go to recover after the update, only copy the files back that you need…things like Notes/notes.db. You can also backup your photos which are located at /var/root/Media/DCIM.
It’s worth considering that each iPhone update will most likely require a restore before hand on hacked iPhones and will require re-hacking (if desired). As such, do yourself a favor and organize everything as you’re doing the hacks. This can result in bringing your iPhone back to the hacked state it was within just a matter of minutes.
