How to: Jailbreak the iPod Touch (FW 1.1.2)

I spent hours and hours searching for a way to jailbreak my iPod Touch, correctly. There are literally thousands of written manuals online, but if you happen to stumble upon my site, please drop by and say hello or something. I'd appreciate that :)

Credits for the contents of this post goes to:

• Lifehacker
• ipodtouchmaster
• and many more I didn't keep track to where I looked into. Sorry!

This write up is obsolete, but it still apply if you want to jailbreak 1.1.1 or 1.1.2. If you want to jailbreak 1.1.3, please scroll to the last few sections of this post (sorry I'm lazy!) and there's a section called "I want to jailbreak 1.1.3". Cheers all!

Ok. Here's the thing. You finally got your most wanted iPod Touch last Christmas as a gift and you had fun playing with it. Then you start surfing for iPod Touch stuffs on the net. Suddenly, you met this term: jailbreak. You don't know what it is. You feel excited. You wanted to do all those things other people have done on the net. So you look for information on how to do that.

Why do you jailbreak it? I would say, I want to make full use out of my iPod Touch. So I have to jailbreak (or hack it, if you want to put it that way) the iPod Touch. I have gathered all the information around the net, and this is my consolidated version. I hope it helps you increase your chances of jailbreaking your iPod Touch.

DISCLAIMER:

NOTE: This tutorial covers only for iPod Touch (8GB or 16GB), and for users who's running Windows only. I do not own a MacOSX system hence I do not know of the keyboard layout and mouse clicks. You may find other sources on how to jailbreak using your iMac.

For a MacOS version, please visit this nice page by RupertGee. He should answer most of your MacOS woes using iPod Touch.

If you're using iPhone, please look elsewhere, because I can't experiment with a legitimate iPhone in my country yet. Sorry! But I have heard that the procedures are almost the same, but if it doesn't work, then SORRY! Cause I can't test it, and I myself wouldn't know of the outcome.

Please do take not that jailbreaking your iPod Touch may void your warranty that comes with it. Unless you got plenty of iPod Touches with you, you should not attempt to do this. JAILBREAK AT YOUR OWN RISK! I will not be held responsible for any kind of damages done to your iPod Touch after you've followed these steps.

One thing to note, jailbreaking WILL not brick your iPod Touch. I'm not sure of future updates, but the term "brick" is to render your device unusable. I've check several sources and confirmed that jailbreaking WILL NOT brick your device (well mine didn't!). But please make sure before you send to the local Apple retailer to do a service or repair, do restore back to factory settings because a jailbroken iPod Touch will void it's warranty.

Force Restore Mode (Recovery mode)

Should you choose to follow the steps and you decided that wanted to stop at any time (or if there's any unforseen problems), you can force restore your iPod to it's factory settings. To do that, you'll need to:

• Hold down the "Home" button
• Hold down the "Standby" button
• When it says "slide to turn off", ignore it.
• It should restart with a blank screen. DO NOT LIFT THOSE BUTTONS YET.
• An "Apple" icon appears. You can lift the "Standby" button, but keep pressing the "Home" button
• Once you see a "connector" and an "iTunes" image, that's when it's in Recovery mode.
• Now open up iTunes, and connect your iPod Touch with the dock connector.
• Click on "Restore" under the "Summary" tab in "Your iPod" under "Version". A download process should follow and you will be restored to the factory settings. Downloading may take a while, so you can prepare some coffee or watch some TV shows while waiting for that.

Or you can just drop by to your local Apple store, and ask them to do a restore for you. And hopefully, they didn't find out you're trying to jailbreak the iPod! :)

Part 1: Get your firmware to version 1.1.1

Step 1.1: Check it's firmware version. If it's version 1.1.2, you'll need to downgrade it to version 1.1.1. To find where it is, it's in iTunes -> Devices -> Your iPod's -> Summary

Step 1.2: If it's already 1.1.1, go to Step 4 (to download the 1.1.2 jailbreak files), then skip the rest of the steps and go to the next section. If your version is other than that, you'll need to download the 1.1.1 firmware here. If it's older, download the upgrade, and perform a manual restore on it. Follow Step 5 for steps to manual restore it. I know restore and update is 2 different things, but trust me, you should do a restore instead of an update. You can always fill up your player with all the media on another time right? :)

Step 1.3: While it's downloading, go ahead and restart your iPod Touch in Recovery mode. It's the same procedure as the "Force Restore" mode, so you'll need to scroll up a little to find instructions on how to do that.

Step 1.4: You'll then need to download 1.1.2 Jailbreak files. Unzip it's contents to the desktop (or which ever directory you prefer). [Edit @ 10012008] You'll need the jailbreak files IF you want to update to 1.1.2, from 1.1.1. You'll also need the jailbreak files if you cannot reboot the iPod after you've restored it into 1.1.1 (you might get an error message of some sort). I believe that the error message only happens if you downgrade the 1.1.2 into 1.1.1. I'm not sure if it's an iPod error, but I know it's a iPhone error). Just get it (it's quite small, don't worry) and after the whole process is completed, you can delete it. :)

Step 1.5: By this time, hopefully your 1.1.1 firmware download is complete. Now you'll need to downgrade it. Open up iTunes, then go to the part where you saw your version, and hold down Shift key while left-clicking on "Restore" button. A file browser should pop up, and you need to locate your long-awaited .ipsw file. It should end with a _Restore.ipsw, although some sites I visited confirms but it does not need to be. But nonetheless, for the sake of this tutorial, make sure it ends with _Restore.ipsw. Select on that and wait for iTunes and your iPod to restore it to version 1.1.1.

Step 1.6: [This step is optional] If you experience error 1015 after the restore process, don't do anything, because it's expected (although I didn't get any error. Maybe error 1015 only applies to iPhone, I'm not too sure about that). Instead, open up the downloaded 1.1.2 Jailbreak files, and locate windows.bat. Run it, and a GUI (graphical user interface) will a appear. Click on "Boot from recovery" button. You should now be running version 1.1.1 for your iPod Touch.

Part 2: I want to jailbreak it now!

Now the time you've been waiting for. You can now Jailbreak your iPod Touch. However, there is a way for you to jailbreak without wi-fi, which I don't want to cover on that. I've tried, but failed. So, I'd suggest you keep to the tried and tested method for the easiest jailbreaking.

Step 2.1: Using your iPod Touch, open "Safari" and go to http://jailbreakme.com

Step 2.2: Scroll down, and click on "Install AppSnapp"

Step 2.3: Nothing will happen. Really. Instead your Safari will close, and a download process will follow. After that, you'll go back to the "Slide to unlock" screen. Slide to unlock it then. :P

Step 2.4: You should see a new icon. It's called Installer. Your iPod Touch is now jailbroken.

Step 2.5: [This step is optional] If your iPod Touch hangs or freezes or won't respond, do not panic. Just do a simple reboot and you're now good to go.

As of now, you can virtually start downloading all the apps within the Installer application on your jailbroken 1.1.1 iPod Touch. If you're going to update into 1.1.2, then carry on to the next part. If you choose not to update, then this is end of the tutorial.

Part 3: Upgrade to version 1.1.2 (OktoPrep)

IMPORTANT UPDATE as at 18012008: If you're using iTunes version 7.6 or higher, it seems that it will prevent the changes made by OktoPrep tweak, so that you can upgrade to 1.1.2. If you still want to upgrade to 1.1.2, you will need to use iTunes version 7.5. If you still have the iTunes 7.5, don't update to 7.6 or higher if you want to re-jailbreak your iPod Touch and using version 1.1.2.

On another note, some users have reported saying that iTunes 7.6 works in Windows, but not on the Mac. So I'm not quite sure about this. I will need someone to confirm on this issue.

iTunes 7.5 download link

Here's the link to iTunes version 7.5.

You can't just upgrade the now jailbroken 1.1.1 iPod Touch to 1.1.2, if you do that, you'll need to start all over again if you plan to run a jailbroken 1.1.2 iPod Touch. You'll need to download some important packages first before you can do that.

Before that, add a new source. This is where you can find OktoPrep tweak.

http://hackthatphone.com/1.xml

Step 3.1: See that new icon on your iPod Touch? It's called Installer and you should click tap on it

Step 3.2: Go to Install tab.

Step 3.3: Look for Tweaks 1.1.1. Tap it.

Step 3.3 (Updated): If you can't find Tweaks 1.1.1, go to "Hack That Phone" instead.

Step 3.4: Look for OktoPrep. Install it.

Step 3.5: [This step is optional] You may need to restart your iPod Touch for the tweak to take effect. Although it will look like nothing has happened ;)

Part 4: What? I got an un-jailbroken version 1.1.2?

Well, if you put that way. Yeah. So what now? Before you begin, please ensure you have downloaded jailbreak 1.1.2 files as described in Part 1. Now you can begin to jailbreak your 1.1.2 iPod Touch.

Step 4.1: Make sure you've already installed OktoPrep, or you'll never be able to jailbreak 1.1.2 and have to start all over again. If you haven't done so, scroll up a bit under "Upgrade to 1.1.2".

Step 4.2: Launch iTunes.

Step 4.3: Go to the place where you saw your version (we've seen that many times now). Now what you're going to do is upgrade to 1.1.2.

Step 4.3: Download firmware version 1.1.2 into your hard disk (put it in the desktop or something) and perform a SHIFT + left-click on the Update button in iTunes. Locate the file you've downloaded, and let your iTunes and iPod Touch do it's work. Do not just click on update without holding Shift, or you'll download the latest version from whatever Apple has.

Step 4.4: After the update, you need to jailbreak it. Go back to the jailbreak 1.1.2 folder. Double click on windows.bat. Then click on jailbreak! You can now install SSH (Secure Shell) that comes with the jailbreak 1.1.2 program, which is useful if you want to transfer files from your PC into the iPod Touch.

Step 4.5: Now you will have the same Installer with version 1.1.2 jailbroken! And you will also have another icon, SSH if you choose to install it.

Step 4.6: Why are you still reading this? Get your iPod onto wi-fi, and start installing all those most wanted apps in your jailbroken iPod Touch!

Part 5: Essential downloads

So you have jailbroken your virgin iPod Touch? Now this steps are crucial for future use.

First thing to download is to install BSD Subsystem. These are essential for future use, tweaks, mods, etc. They are particularly useful.

Next, download Term-vt100. You will never be able to install it without installing BSD Subsystem though, so make sure you installed the first things first. Term-vt100 is useful when you want to do certain things, like checking your disk space in all partitions and changing permissions.

The next thing you could download is MobileFinder and Squid. These are basically file browsers that allows you to browse and modify contents/permissions of the files in them. Most of the tutorials I might be writing will utilize these and hence they are essential.

Now, the most important thing to install is BossTool. In order to download that, you'll need to add another source in the Installer app. Add this source (http://www.sleepers.net/~iphone/repo.xml) and you can download BossTool. BossTool is important to allow you to use the other partition of your disk to install your Applications, hence making you having virtually more space to install applications in.

Once all these are downloaded, make sure you reboot your device so that all changes can take effect.

I want to jailbreak 1.1.3!

UPDATE

There is a new way to jailbreak 1.1.3 WITHOUT having to downgrade. It was a release made by zibri, and it can be jailbroken directly from 1.1.3 firmware.

However, it's success depends a lot on luck. iPod Touch users should not attempt this jailbreak. Zibri's currently working on an iPod Touch compatible version, so we'll have to wait a little longer.

To tell you the truth, there is no stable jailbreaking methods yet. Most of them requires some hack files, some other tricks which is not very "human friendly" to begin with. Even with my level of expertise, I'm not comfortable trying it.

And it involves having a valid wifi connection which apparently I am unable to supply with.

You should look elsewhere for the jailbreak method. However if I can find a safe/stable way to do it, I will write a new post on it, so keep your eyes peeled.

Happy trying and good luck!

All information stated are for private and educational use. Fuck educational use. Use it at your own risk.