iPod Touch 2G Jailbreak Log

Well since I now have a Mac (Snow Leopard) machine and Xcode, I can start developing applications for my iPod Touch. However, Apple's regulations require that i need to purchase a developer's license even if its JUST to test my app on the actual device. Since I am learning/developing on the iPod Touch for educational purposes only and have no intention of publishing to the iTunes store I find little choice but to jailbreak the ipod touch. This post will show the steps/missteps I've gone through to do such a procedure along with links to the tutorials I've used.

Image via Wikipedia

First off, in a previous blog I've shown how to jailbreak the iPhone/iPod Touch using the blackra1n tool. The problem I faced when starting off was that I was working with Xcode v3.2.4 and iOS SDK 4.1, iOS firmware 3.1.2 was no longer supported on that SDK so I either had to upgrade my device's firmware or downgrade the SDK. I soon discovered that the blackra1n tool only works for firmware 3.1.2 and I had to find another alternative for jailbreaking. Here are the steps I've gone through:

1. Downloaded the ipsw recovery image (firmware version 4.0) that I will need for the jailbreak. My device is an iPod Touch 2G so if you have a different device you will have to download a different ipsw image that will be compatible with your device.
2. Downloaded the latest Pwnage tool for Mac (you can use Redsn0w for windows)
3. Follow the steps the jail breaking application tells you (they are pretty self explanatory) or if you feel lost follow this tutorial to jailbreak your device.
4. Now what happened to me here is the iPod booted up into recovery mode even though it should have been jailbroken by now. It went into a state where even iTunes failed to recognize it and therefore unable to restore/recover it. Why this happened is unknown to me at this time. What I did now is  force put it into recovery mode by pressing and holding down the power and menu buttons at the same time. It will prompt you to shut down the device, go ahead and shut it down.
5. Now, while holding down the menu button, plug your device to your computer using the usb cable. This will make the device start up in recovery mode and launch iTunes. This time iTunes should be able to detect the device, if it didn't try repeating the recovery steps again.
6. I used my old ipsw image for firmware 3.1.2 to try and restore the ipod back to its original state (for Windows press shift and the restore button in iTunes, for Mac press the option button + restore button). This time the ipod surprisingly booted successfully into the jailbroken 4.0 firmware.

So here we are, a somehow working jail break for the iPod Touch 2G. Your steps may vary according to your device. If there are any question/comments/suggestions please feel free to leave a comment.

Mac OS X Intstallation log [Last Update 22/7/2010]

Image via Wikipedia

This is a log of events and steps taken to install Mac OS X Snow Leopard to on a normal PC. It will be updated as I progress.

• Attempted to Install Mac OS X 10.4 on a Mac Compatible machine. After successful install the machine restarts and gives an error message asking to "Reset the computer". Several repeated attempts later also failed. I Suspect an error with the Hardware itself.
  
• Set up a Hackintosh USB flash drive. Attempted to install it on the same machine to confirm whether its a hardware or software error. The error still persists, this time the machine restarts during the Apple logo screen.
• Set up Hackintosh successfully on a different machine (will be referred to as Mac_B from here on). Mac_B is now currently running Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.
  
• Downloaded the iPhone SDK 4 and XCode 3.2.3 (requires free ADC account) and install them. The installation failed because it requires the OS to be updated to at least Mac OS X 10.6.2 (current version 10.6)
• Downloaded the latest update for Snow Leopard Manually (must choose the "Combo" update if you plan to jump the versions in between your current and the latest). After the update Snow Leopard starts up but gets stuck on a blue screen that it refuses to go past.
• Tried re-installing Snow Leopard via USB flash drive again, the installation seems to have rolled it back to Mac OS X 10.6 and left all the files on the hard disk untouched.