Previous tethered jailbreaking tools were less than ideal — who wants to connect their devices to a computer every time they power down? — so an untethered solution was hotly anticipated. But before you dive in, it’s important to note that the Dev-Team’s new version of redsn0w 0.9.7 isn’t the robust solution some people have been hoping for.
First of all, it’s the very first beta release, which means it’s rough around the edges, and things can go sporadically or randomly wonky. Second of all, even if everything were smooth sailing, there’s still a process involved — unlike Comex’s upcoming hack, which will reportedly allow for easy, one-touch jailbreaking.
Some other important things you need to know before you even think about using this:
If you depend on the Ultrasn0w unlock, DO NOT jailbreak using this. It will remove your unlock.
This beta release of redsn0w 0.9.7 disables Bluetooth functionality.
This hack only works with Mac OS X. (Sorry, PC users.)
This hack only works for the current models of iDevices (iPhone 4, iPod Touch 4G, iPad)
The iPod app only seems to work on the iPod Touch 4G right now.
This tool uses your saved SHSH blobs for iOS 4.2 Beta 3, so if you don’t already have this, you may need to restore your device to the official iOS 4.2.1 firmware, and then jailbreak your device with redsn0w 0.9.6b4 first before using redsn0w 0.9.7. (If you jailbroke using redsn0w 0.9.6b5, you probably used it for unlocking purposes and should definitely stay away from this hack for now.) For more on what SHSH blobs are, click here.
On a positive note, jailbreakers who have already used redsn0w 0.9.6b4 and have their 4.2 Beta 3 blobs saved will not have to restore or re-jailbreak their device.
If you can wait for a full release or better yet, for Comex’s hack, that’s clearly the better way to go. But if you absolutely must jailbreak untethered this weekend and aren’t deterred by these issues, then hit the link to see the full tutorial on RedmondPie. Before you attempt this hack, though, let us give you one last very important note:
This beta 1 release is a rough version. If you have important data, photos or other media in your device that you want to safeguard, you absolutely should back everything up before you proceed. (And don’t forget — your camera roll pics don’t automatically sync to your computer, so remember to copy those over.)
If you give this a shot, please let us know how you fared. Did everything work well? Did you have problems? Would you recommend it to others? Weigh in.