How to downgrade your iPhone4S, iPad2 or iPad3

[pianoman]

Sorry if you feel that way, but IMHO the title of the thread tells exactly what the tutorial walks you through doing.

The point is why would one ever want to downgrade an iPad3 unless it were to jailbreak it? When someone reads the title of this thread (like me) the first thing they think is - "YES! I can finally jailbreak my iPad3 NOW!" That's not the case. Nobody downgrades except to jailbreak, JMills.

Pianoman is right.

You don't have to be on any currently signed iOS to save blobs for it. All you need to do is to be jailbroken.

My iPhone had 5.1 SHSH blobs before I ever installed 5.1.

Cydia *automatically* saves SHSH for the currently signed iOS version...regardless if you were on it or not.

I give it one week...maybe 2 and you will see SHSH blobs for 5.1.1 in Cydia's home page without ever being on 5.1.1.

The delay is because Saurik has to update the server to except the blobs for the newest firmware....like he always has.

Yes, of course! That's right. I knew I remembered seeing 5.1 blobs saved in my Cydia when I've never been on 5.1 ever. BUT I wonder if they're device specific. JMills and Mickey are right that there was never 'any' iPad 3 that ever saw 5.0.1. And I think the whole "signing" process is device specific. Yes? No?

What I remember - is that since the beginning of the very first iPhone ever - I've never had to save blobs - since Cydia always had them for me. I've been able to downgrade any phone I've ever had after I tried out the new iOS - and I've never had to use TinyUmbrella to save SHSH blobs. I never understood what all the fuss was about. The only people who need "blobs" ever are us jailbreakers anyway. And Cydia always saves all blobs. So this "hurry up, save your blobs" thing has always been a mystery to me - why one would ever need to if Cydia's doing it for you always.

NOW - what may be the case here - is that blobs are still device specific and can't go backward in time. Like - when I bought my daughter's new iPhone 4 a while back and it came with 4.3.3. When I jailbroke it and looked into Cydia - there were no blobs in there for 4.2.1! It's not like Cydia stores every iOS version blob ever possible for our phones. It only stores, I think, what it sees from the first moment you ever jailbroke it ON "your" PARTICULAR DEVICE. AND then it saves every blob AFTER that point for you.

JMills, can you clear this up?

 

[Mickey330]

NOW - what may be the case here - is that blobs are still device specific and can't go backward in time. Like - when I bought my daughter's new iPhone 4 a while back and it came with 4.3.3. When I jailbroke it and looked into Cydia - there were no blobs in there for 4.2.1! It's not like Cydia stores every iOS version blob ever possible for our phones. It only stores, I think, what it sees from the first moment you ever jailbroke it ON "your" PARTICULAR DEVICE. AND then it saves every blob AFTER that point for you.

JMills, can you clear this up?

I'm not JMills, but let me take a stab at it.

Blobs can only be saved when Apple has the signing window open. Once their signing window is closed, blobs cannot be saved. And, yes, they are specific to a device as one phone's blob cannot be used on another.

Which is why an iPhone 4 that was bought running iOS 4.3.3 can not be downgraded to iOS 4.2.1 even though that version iOS was available to that phone. If the phone was never jail broken, then saurik's Cydia never could save the blobs automatically. And if it was never jailbroken, and the person who owned never saved the blobs with Tiny Umbrella, then no, the iPhone 4 can never have iOS 4.2.1 installed on it. But, if the blobs were saved, yet the phone still not jail broken, then yes, you could put an older iOS version on it.

Just to clarify, it does not matter when or if you jail broke your phone - you can save blobs as a separate process. Using your daughter's iPhone 4 as an example (assume you didn't get it new from the store; you bought it used): If the original owner never jail broke that phone, then yes, no blobs would be saved to Cydia. However, if that owner saved all available blobs every time there was an opportunity, the he could sell you that phone and you could use those saved blobs to jail break the phone on an older version. It all depends on when the blobs got saved - which all comes down to the signing window Apple has when they release new firmware.

So, technically, you can go backwards in time - as long as the blobs are saved.

And, I am one of those people who saves blobs with Tiny Umbrella as a matter of course. While I appreciate having them automatically done via Cydia's servers, I also take the extra step to run Tiny Umbrella every time a new version is released that can capture the latest blobs. Cause you never know. And, it's one of the main reason why we recommend that anyone who might even THINK about jail breaking go ahead and save the blobs. Because Cydia can't save them if you're not jailbroken. But, if you save them on your own, there is always the chance you can change your mind and so be able to jailbreak.

Lastly - at the time this post was written, no one knew that iOS 5.1.1 would probably be able to be added in to the jail break. We all figured that the jailbreak was going to be released for iOS 5.1 only. So, when this new tool came out, those with iPad3s who had moved up to 5.1.1 ( and now regretted it, or learned better) were able to put the firmware version back onto their iPad for which we expected the jail break - iOS 5.1.

Marilyn

 

[zig9449]

The point is why would one ever want to downgrade an iPad3 unless it were to jailbreak it? When someone reads the title of this thread (like me) the first thing they think is - "YES! I can finally jailbreak my iPad3 NOW!" That's not the case. Nobody downgrades except to jailbreak, JMills.Yes, of course! That's right. I knew I remembered seeing 5.1 blobs saved in my Cydia when I've never been on 5.1 ever. BUT I wonder if they're device specific. JMills and Mickey are right that there was never 'any' iPad 3 that ever saw 5.0.1. And I think the whole "signing" process is device specific. Yes? No?

What I remember - is that since the beginning of the very first iPhone ever - I've never had to save blobs - since Cydia always had them for me. I've been able to downgrade any phone I've ever had after I tried out the new iOS - and I've never had to use TinyUmbrella to save SHSH blobs. I never understood what all the fuss was about. The only people who need "blobs" ever are us jailbreakers anyway. And Cydia always saves all blobs. So this "hurry up, save your blobs" thing has always been a mystery to me - why one would ever need to if Cydia's doing it for you always.

NOW - what may be the case here - is that blobs are still device specific and can't go backward in time. Like - when I bought my daughter's new iPhone 4 a while back and it came with 4.3.3. When I jailbroke it and looked into Cydia - there were no blobs in there for 4.2.1! It's not like Cydia stores every iOS version blob ever possible for our phones. It only stores, I think, what it sees from the first moment you ever jailbroke it ON "your" PARTICULAR DEVICE. AND then it saves every blob AFTER that point for you.

JMills, can you clear this up?

Yes SHSH blobs are specific to your devices UDID...the 40 digit set of characters on the bottom of Cydia's home page.

It was not always like this. The first iPhone could restore to virtually any iOS version you chose.

I'm not sure when Apple started verifying restores but I think it was near the end of iOS 3.xf
firmware. But don't quote me on that. The first I started messing with iDevices was the launch of iOS 4.2....and I know that firmware requires SHSH to downgrade.


The "hurry up and save your blobs" thing would be directed to users that were stuck on a stock iPhone for whatever reason and in that case you need to manually save blobs with Tiny Umbrella or iFaith....tho iFaith only works for A4 devices I think you see what I mean.

I recommend all users to manually save blobs, not because they need to but just in case. Saurik's server could go down....ya never know. Better safe then sorry I think.

But it is still recommended for people that are stuck on iOS 5.1.1 with no jailbreak (like 4S users) to manually save SHSH with Tiny Umbrella.

So the message to hurry up and save blobs makes sense....it's just not necessary for everyone......like people that are already jailbroken with Cydia installed.

 

[Jmills87]

Zig pretty much summed it up, but basically I would agree with him that you should always manually save your SHSH. Cydia only saves an SHSH if you open Cydia while that firmware is still being signed. It's automatic in that it will save the SHSH for you, but you still have to open Cydia to initiate that process. Since your daughter's phone came with 4.3.3, we can predict that 4.3.3 was the only firmware being signed at that point which is why Cydia didn't save SHSH for any earlier firmwares since at the time you first opened Cydia, 4.3.3 was the only SHSH that could be saved at that point.

I always make a point of downloading the new TinyUmbrella as soon as it's released and saving my SHSH for whatever firmware is being signed at that time.

 

[pianoman]

Marilyn, Zig and JMills,
Thanks for clarifying the issue. I mean a true newb to all this would still be confused - but at least it's now clear that:
• You can never go to a previous iOS version (x.x) that predates a new phone's iOS version under any circumstances
• If you ARE jailbroken at the time of a new iOS you NEVER need to worry about being able to downgrade to where you currently are (after trying an upgrade)- because Cydia will always save SHSH blobs of your currrent iOS for you
• Cydia's servers, though pretty rock solid, are not fool proof - where your own hard drives on a computer are a better bet to save your own SHSH blobs via a tool like TinyUmbrella
• SHSH blobs are specific to a given iDevice - you can't use anyone else's for downgrade purposes

Thanks all!

 

[Jmills87]

Very good summary! Glad we could help

 

[pianoman]

Very good summary! Glad we could help

GREAT! Now let me test my summary's effectiveness.

Scenario #1: my wife's iPad 2 came loaded with iOS 4.3.3. Upgraded it to 5.0.1, jailbroke it. Son downloaded some "unmentionables" and it eventually got unstable. Recently had to restore it to 5.1. With the tutorial above I could downgrade it to 5.0 .1 and then jailbreak it with the Absinthe jailbreak. Correct?

Scenario #2: Friend's iPhone 4S came loaded with 5.0. Upgraded to 5.0.1. Jailbroke with Absinthe. He upgraded by accident to 5.1. Has not yet upgraded to 5.1.1. He too can use tutorial above to get back to 5.0.1 and rejailbreak. Correct?

Scenario #3: ME! My 4S came with 5.0. Went to 5.0.1 and Jailbroke with Absinthe. I would like to try 5.1.1 to see if they solved battery issue. I think you said 5.1.1 can only go down to 5.1 which has no JB yet. So I shouldn't try 5.1.1. Right?

 

[Jmills87]

Scenario #1: Yes, since the phone was jailbroken on 5.0.1, as long as you opened Cydia on that device while 5.0.1 was still being signed, the SHSH should be on file.

Scenario #2: As long as he loaded Cydia at some point while 5.0.1 was being signed, his SHSH should be on file.

Scenario #3: Again, as long as you opened Cydia while 5.0.1 was being signed your SHSH will be on file and you will be able to use this method to freely downgrade back to 5.0.1 from 5.1.1

It's always best to run TinyUmbrella and save SHSH manually and have TU pull SHSH from Cydia's server to confirm which SHSH are saved. Since most estimations indicate that nearly 1/10 iPhones are jailbroken, you have a good chance to have an SHSH saved if the device was refurbished or purchased second-hand.

 

[zig9449]

Scenario #1: Yes, since the phone was jailbroken on 5.0.1, as long as you opened Cydia on that device while 5.0.1 was still being signed, the SHSH should be on file.

Scenario #2: As long as he loaded Cydia at some point while 5.0.1 was being signed, his SHSH should be on file.

Scenario #3: Again, as long as you opened Cydia while 5.0.1 was being signed your SHSH will be on file and you will be able to use this method to freely downgrade back to 5.0.1 from 5.1.1

It's always best to run TinyUmbrella and save SHSH manually and have TU pull SHSH from Cydia's server to confirm which SHSH are saved. Since most estimations indicate that nearly 1/10 iPhones are jailbroken, you have a good chance to have an SHSH saved if the device was refurbished or purchased second-hand.

This is why I buy refurbished iPhones. Wouldn't happen to know where I can buy a good refurbished 4S would you?lol.

 

[Jmills87]

This is why I buy refurbished iPhones. Wouldn't happen to know where I can buy a good refurbished 4S would you?lol.

I just bought a refurbished one off eBay for $430, it came with 5.1 installed but luckily it had the 5.0.1 SHSH saved

 

[zig9449]

I just bought a refurbished one off eBay for $430, it came with 5.1 installed but luckily it had the 5.0.1 SHSH saved

Really? eBay? I'll have to check that out. Thanks.

 

[pianoman]

Thanks, JMills, for the confirmation of my scenario questions above. AND YAY! I can try 5.1.1!

I just bought a refurbished one off eBay for $430, it came with 5.1 installed but luckily it had the 5.0.1 SHSH saved

OH!!! Are you implying that TinyUmbrella can search a massive database of blobs out there in Cydia-land for SHSH blobs "ever" saved for a particular device - even if you're not its first owner?? - !! That would be amazing..

 

[Jmills87]

Yep, if any previous owner ever saved the SHSH blobs for that specific device to the Cydia server, they are there forever and anyone can use them no matter who the owner of the device is I buy broken iPhones, repair them, jailbreak them and resell them and you would be surprised how frequently I get ones with SHSH on file. Probably close to 60%

 

[pianoman]

Yep, if any previous owner ever saved the SHSH blobs for that specific device to the Cydia server, they are there forever and anyone can use them no matter who the owner of the device is I buy broken iPhones, repair them, jailbreak them and resell them and you would be surprised how frequently I get ones with SHSH on file. Probably close to 60%

Wow. Extraordinary. Then is it TU that's the search engine thru Cydia's database?

 

[zig9449]

Wow. Extraordinary. Is TU that is the search engine thru Cydia's database?

Well it's not a search engine...it's just a server that stores SHSH caches for specific UDIDs. All Tiny Umbrella does is fetch the SHSH from the server for the selected device, downloads them, and saves them to the path located in the "Advanced" tab within Tiny Umbrella.

It's cloud storage for SHSH blobs.