How to Downgrade and Jailbreak Your iOS Devices Stock Firmware for the Holidays

Dec 23, 2011 05:43 AM

Lots of people are going to be getting the latest iOS devices this holiday season. But what good is a portable device if you don't hack it? Jailbreaking on the latest stock iOS, version 4.3.5, is a bit of a trivial endeavor. Not many people know how to downgrade from this firmware to a firmware that can be jailbroken (pre-iOS 5). If you want the added functionality and the complete control over your device that comes with jailbreaking, then read on.

Tips

iOS device
Redsn0w
4.3.4 device firmware

Jailbreak iOS 4.3.5

In order to pull this off, throw your device into DFU mode.

Plug the device into your computer.
Turn the device off.
Immediately click the top button after it shuts off. Hold it until it turns on.
When the screen lights up, hold both of the buttons again without letting go of the top button. Hold it for two seconds longer after it shuts off.
Release the top button, but keep pushing the bottom one for another 15 seconds. Count, because the screen will still be black and not notify you that it is in DFU mode.

This exploit works by using the 4.3.4 firmware to downgrade the iTouch and then jailbreak it tethered. This means that the iTouch can only boot when it is connected to your computer and "Just boot tethered" is selected in Redsn0w. Follow along with me in this vTutorial on using Redsn0w to hack an iTouch 4G.