Update iPhone 4 to iOS 4.3.3 for Redsn0w Jailbreak and Preserve Baseband for Unlock! [How To Guide]

Posted May 8, 2011 by Charlie Pryor in iDevice

Recently, iOS 4.3.3 was released by Apple. Those wishing to update to this new firmware can do so via iTunes easily by simply connecting their iPhones to iTunes, and hitting UPDATE.

However, if you wish to unlock your iPhone later, you will run into problems later if you update this way. The new iOS update from Apple will also update your modem firmware, or baseband, which will pretty much eliminate your chances of unlocking your iPhone right now. Unless an update is made for Ultrasn0w, you are pretty much out of luck… unless you are following this tutorial, which is of course why you have come here in the first place…

The instructions below will guide you step-by-step on updating your iPhone 4 to iOS 4.3.3 in such a way that you can PRESERVE your baseband for an unlock in the future. Although my iPhone, featured in the video below, does not currently contain an unlockable baseband, the point is that it stays where it was anyways. If your iPhone has baseband 01.59.00, you will still be able to successfully unlock the iPhone 4 today. The lower you keep your baseband, the better your chances of an unlock are!

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Before you begin, you’re going to need to download a few things onto your system. I recommend a fast internet connection when downloading, as a few items are rather large.

First, Download the Official iOS 4.3.3 firmware from Apple. You can find this on our DOWNLOADS PAGE.

Second, You’ll need the latest version of Tiny Umbrella. This can be found at the Developer’s Website HERE.

Third, Download “RecoveryFix” for your computer. This is also found at the Developer Site above. The link is under the link for Tiny Umbrella.

After you have prepared yourself properly with the tools needed from above, you are ready to start the process of updating. Please note that the video is meant to put a visual to the written portion of this guide, and you should pay attention to both the text and video.

HOW-TO GUIDE:

Follow these steps to update your iPhone 4 to iOS 4.3.3 while still retaining your baseband.

Step 1: Open Tiny Umbrella, and click “SAVE SHSH” Your SHSH Blobs will need to be saved with this software in order to continue.

- If you want to know more about SHSH Blobs, you can find out a lot of information by clicking the “What is Jailbreaking?” button on the menu bar above after this tutorial.

Step 2: Once SHSH Blobs have been saved (you can tell from the LOG in Tiny Umbrella), Open iTunes and BACK UP YOUR iPHONE!

Step 3: In TinyUmbrella, click “Start TSS Server” – If you see a Green Check Mark in the LOG section of TinyUmbrella, you know it’s working properly

Step 4: iTunes will have closed up on you. Restart iTunes, and navigate to the iPhone options section (click on your iPhone in the iTunes sidebar).

Step 5: Hold OPTION (Mac) or SHIFT (Windows) and click the RESTORE button. This is NOT the “Update” button.. it’s the RESTORE button.

Step 6: iTunes will immediately prompt you to select the firmware of your choice from your hard drive. Locate the firmware you downloaded “Before you Began” and point iTunes to this iOS 4.3.3 firmware by clicking “Open.” You will be prompted by one last window telling you everything will be erased. Just click OKAY

- Your iPhone is now restoring… please allow this process to continue until complete.

Step 7: An error will pop up on you. This is the imfamous 1013 error, and there is an easy way to fix this.

Step 8: Locate “RecoveryFix” that you previously downloaded before you began. There are two files inside the folder: fixrecovery421 and fixrecovery43. You will be using fixrecovery43 for this process, and any process that has to do with iOS 4.3.x.

Step 9: Open your command line interface. On Mac OS X, this is the TERMINAL. You can find this with a simple spotlight search, or from the Utilities Folder on your Mac. In Windows, visit your Start Menu, and click RUN. Then, type “cmd” without the spaces. This will prompt your command line interface.

Step 10: Place your Device into DFU mode. This is done by holding the POWER and HOME button simultaneously. Once the phone screen turns off, count to about “2″, then release POWER but KEEP HOLDING HOME. You will know your device is in DFU mode if the screen remains looking as though it is off.

Step 11: Run Recoveryfix43 with your command line. On a Mac, you can easily just Drag it into the terminal window, and hit Enter.

Step 12: You are now done with your Restore. Let the phone to it’s thing, and don’t touch anything. you will know it is working if you begin to see a bright white flash from the screen, followed by a bunch of little code streaming all around it.

Once the process described above has been followed exactly, you are done with your restore, and you are now running iOS 4.3.3. on your iPhone 4, with your old baseband still active on the device. If your modem firmware (baseband) is still 01.59.00, you can still unlock the iPhone. If it is anything higher, you will not be able to unlock (as of today, 05/08/2011).

Now that you have updated to iOS 4.3.3, you can easily get an UNTETHERED JAILBREAK RUNNING iOS 4.3.3! If you are interested in that, CLICK HERE!

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iOS 4.3.3, preserve baseband, unlock, update iphone 4

About the Author

Charlie Pryor

Charlie is a technology nut, and a big fan of Apple products. While attending college at Grand Valley State, he uses much of his free time every day answering questions on facebook. He founded HotTips! back in January 2010, and believes that anybody can learn anything if they have the right teacher.