Quick Tip: Downgrading 4.0 beta to 3.1.3

So you upgraded to the iPhone 4.0 beta and possibly like me you quickly came to regret it because some of your favorite applications just aren’t working right (for me it was Reeder and Evernote). Well, how do you go about the process of getting back to 3.1.3? Well, it’s pretty simple actually. Here’s what I did and what may help you as well.

First, put your iPhone into DFU mode. At this point if you’ve done it properly iTunes will start bouncing in your dock and complaining about finding an iPhone in Restore mode and it can’t be used until you restore it. So, do that. Click restore and the iPhone 3.1.3 firmware will be put onto the phone. But, just when you think all is well, you’re going to get a nasty 1055 error stating that the firmware couldn’t be restored. Don’t worry. This is normal.


Now, you could go through the hassle of going back to 3.1.2 using the keys on Saurik’s server (you have stored your keys there right?)… then using a jailbreak to get back to 3.1.3 but there’s a much easier way. Go to iHackintosh and download a little utility called iRecovery. Once you have iRecovery downloaded, open up a terminal window and type the following:

cd /directory/to/iRecovery then type iRecovery -s

Wait for iRecovery to load then run the following commands one at a time:

setenv auto-boot true
saveenv
/exit
Reboot your phone by holding the home and power button for about 10 seconds, the phone will then reboot, connect to iTunes and activate.
You’re done!

EDIT: So, here’s another few key steps it looks like you’re going to need if you intend to be able to jailbreak 3.1.3 again. I ended up having to downgrade to 3.1.2 – You HAVE to have saved the ECID file with Saurik. Edit your host file (see details here) to include the following:

74.208.105.171 gs.apple.com
With that in place in the host file and your ECID on Saurik’s server you can safely downgrade to 3.1.2. Once the downgrade was done, I immediately loaded up the Pwnage tool, had it build a custom 3.1.3 IPSW and followed the steps to get into recovery mode. Once 3.1.2 was in recovery mode, I switched back over to iTunes and installed the 3.1.3 IPSW. I’m now back on 3.1.3 fully jailbroken and since 4.0 wasn’t able to backup the iPhone properly – I’m even able to restore the phone from the 3.1.3 backup i took yesterday! Huzzah!

(Don’t forget to return your host file to normal when you’re done with all the IPSW tango).



-- Post From My iPhone3g