The Well-Tempered iTouch - kentbrewster.com

Here's a list of notes-to-myself about hacking the iPod Touch. I'm posting it here in the hope that it may be useful to other owners, who are happy with their new toys but can't help thinking that there might be more fun to be had.

Perhaps you bought the 16-gigabyte model, which now costs exactly what the 8-gig iPhone does, and you're wondering why it didn't come with e-mail, or an RSS reader, or an IRC client, and why you can't just go ahead and add one. Maybe you'd like to read Cory Doctorow's books on it. Or maybe you agree with the Owner's Manifesto and would like to crack into the thing a little bit and see what's inside. Remember, if you can't open it, you don't own it.

This list is not guaranteed to be definitive, all encompassing, or kept up-to-date. Comments are open, however, and I do hope for help from fellow travelers.

Oh, and: yeah. I know. It's an "iPod Touch," not an iTouch. Sorry if that makes you crazy; I'm not going to stop saying it.

Before You Begin: the Scary Warnings

Please seriously consider not doing this. It's painful.

If you are not a dedicated hobbyist, hacker, or both, and all you want is the iPhone application bundle--including Mail, Maps, Weather, Stocks, and Notes--update to 1.1.3, visit iTunes, and pay for it. It's supported by Apple, works on all the mail providers (not just Gmail, which now has IMAP support), and the Maps application has been upgraded to do some really neat stuff with IP location.

If you absolutely must do this, kindly heed the following warnings:

Please read the entire (horribly long) page before doing anything, including the comments. Actually, please read the comments first, since the readers of this page are much, much smarter than I am, and have been responsible for pointing out all critical errors so far.
I won't support you if you demonstrate basic lack of knowledge. If you can't get a command prompt open and navigate from directory to directory, please go take the BLUE pill; it's avaiable for $20 via iTunes.
Sorry, I don't know where to get those NES ROMs. Don't ask. I'm just barely okay with showing how to get the iPhone apps; as soon as the price from Apple drops to $0, that part will be going away.

If your iTouch Freezes, Freaks Out, or Otherwise Becomes Unusable

Check that you have iTunes version 7.5 or below. If you have 7.6, much of what we're doing won't work.
Start over from Restoring Version 1.1.1, just below.
Give up this madness and update to the current version.

Getting Started

To install third-party applications, you'll need to jailbreak your iTouch. When we're done, you'll have a new application, Installer, which will allow you to download and install other programs.

If you just got your iPod out of the box, please go through the steps to download iTunes to your computer and synch it for the first time.

Important: if iTunes offers to install new software on your iPod when you first set it up, say No.

Also take a moment to familiarize yourself with a few important features, namely the Home button, which is a white square inside a round button on the front of your iTouch, and the Sleep button, which is a thin raised line on the top edge of your iTouch, the opposite edge from where the docking cable and earphones plug in.

Make sure you can get to the Internet. Find the Settings function--the square icon with gears on it--touch WiFi, and then choose a network. If you can't get to a wireless network, you're not going to be able to get much further than this. Once it looks like you've joined a network, press your Home button to get out of Settings, and bring up Safari. If Safari will show you a Web site (any Web site) you are ready to move on.

Check your version. Press your Home button to get out of Safari, bring up Settings again, go to General, and then About. If your version starts with 1.1.1--mine says 1.1.1 (3A110a)--skip the next step. (If you got your iTouch for Christmas, you've probably got 1.1.2. If you got it after January 18th, you may have 1.1.3; please read the next paragraph carefully!)

Watch Out for Firmware Version 1.1.3 and iTunes 7.6 or Above!

If your version number says 1.1.3, you've either got a brand-new post-Macworld iTouch, or you've inadvertently upgraded since the push went out. If you're not already on firware version 1.1.3 and/or iTunes 7.6 or above, you're going to want to be very careful not to get the iTunes updates.

Before you begin, check your iTunes version. If it says 7.6, much of what we're going to try to do below won't work. Make sure all your music is safe in a different directory, uninstall iTunes, and download and install version 7.5, which you can get from filehippo.com.

Alert reader Nick says this works to get out of 1.1.3:

Download the firmware version you need, which is 1.1.1. (Link is below, in step 1.)
Connect your iTouch and bring up iTunes 7.5 or below.
Turn off your iTouch, using Home plus Sleep for ten seconds, and then slide the red slider. (Your iTouch should disappear from iTunes.)
Press and hold Home and Sleep until iTunes sees your iTouch again. (You won't see anything on the screen of the iTouch. Just watch iTunes.)
Skip to step 4, below, and restore the 1.1.1 firmware.

Restoring Version 1.1.1

Warning: what we're about to do is absolutely guaranteed to wipe everthing on your iTouch. Please make sure that any music, video, photos, or other content is backed up before you continue!

Open up a Web browser on the computer where iTunes resides and visit the following URL:

http://appldnld.apple.com.edgesuite.net/content.info.apple.com/iPod/SBML/osx/bundles/061-3932.20070927.p23dD/iPod1,1_1.1.1_3A110a_Restore.ipsw

Save this file to your desktop. It's quite large (150mb), so it might take a long time. If you're having trouble downloading it, I recommend the Opera Web browser, which has a very stable pause/resume/recover-after-errors download function.
Once you're done loading, open iTunes, plug in your iTouch, and make sure it's not rigged to automatically do anything--especially upgrade its firmware--when your iTouch is connected. Leave this setting on forever, or else you may wind up with a factory-reset iPod when Apple pushes out the next update.
When iTunes recognizes your iTouch, shift-click (on a PC) or option-click (on a Mac) the Update button. Instead of recovering to the most recent version, a special hidden menu will pop up and ask you for the location of the firmware file you'd like to recover. Choose the 1.1.1 firmware file, which you saved to your desktop, and let it work.

When your iTouch reboots, it should come up with version 1.1.1, ready for our next step, Jailbreak.

Jailbreak!

Next, we're going to break your iTouch out of jail. Left at factory settings, you won't be able to access your own file system, add programs, or do anything else our Cupertino overlords don't want you to do.

Fortunately, jailbreaking your iTouch from 1.1.1 is easy. Bring up Safari on your iTouch and go here:
```
http://jailbreakme.com
```
Scroll to the very bottom, click Install AppSnap, and follow the prompts.
You'll see some loading going on, and then when your iTouch reboots, you'll see a new icon on your home screen, Installer.

If you like, you can stop right here. Many applications run on 1.1.1; feel free to jump right in with Installer and try out a few games. (Labyrinth is my personal favorite.)

On to 1.1.2

You're not really done, because iTunes will bug you constantly about updating your iTouch, and if somebody inadvertently does this for you--say you sych to a different machine, for instance--all your hard work can be wiped in an instant.

Get Version 1.1.2

Download and save this file. It's your 1.1.2 software, which you want to use instead of 1.1.3:

http://appldnld.apple.com.edgesuite.net/content.info.apple.com/iPod/SBML/osx/bundles/061-4036.20071107.9g3DF/iPod1,1_1.1.2_3B48b_Restore.ipsw

Jailbreaking 1.1.2 is not quite as easy as the 1.1.1 jailbreak, but it's close. Here we go:

You'll need Java on the same machine that iTunes resides upon; chances are excellent you already have it if you are running an even remotely up-to-date Web browser. Check that Java is set up, using Sun's handy online tool, and if it's not, go get it. [Updated: I'm being told that the Sun tool doesn't always work. To tell for sure if Java is on your machine, open up a command prompt (Windows: Start, then Run, then enter CMD in the box) and enter "java" on the command line. If a slew of command-line options comes up, Java is installed. If you get a file-or-command-not-found error, it's not.]
Once you're sure you have Java, download and extract this file:
```
http://conceitedsoftware.com/iphone/1.1.2-jailbreak.zip
```
... to a folder on your desktop.
Got the 1.1.2 firmware and jailbreak? Next, open up Installer on your iTouch, click Install, All Packages, and then install OktoPrep. OktoPrep will chug for a bit and then tell you your iTouch is ready to update to 1.1.2.
Connect your iTouch and launch iTunes. When iTunes recognizes your iTouch, shift-click (on a PC) or option-click (on a Mac) the Update button. Instead of recovering to the most recent version--which you do NOT want to do--a special hidden menu will pop up and ask you for the location of the firmware file you'd like to recover. Choose the 1.1.2 firmware file, which you saved to your desktop, and let it work.
Once you're all done, your iTouch will come back without the Installer on the desktop; this is fine, since OktoPrep is lurking backstage ready to help break you out of 1.1.2.
Eject your device from iTunes, but keep it connected to your computer.
Close iTunes.
Open up the directory you installed the 1.1.2 jailbreak into.
If you're using a PC, double-click windows.bat; if you're using a Mac, double-click jailbreak.jar. If you already know what OpenSSH is, go ahead and tell it to install; it's handy later. (If you don't know what OpenSSH is, don't bother. You can get it later with Installer.)

Sit back, relax, and watch your iTouch being jailbroken. When your main menu comes back, you should see your old friend Installer, plus your optional new friend OpenSSH, all jailbroken and ready to rumble.

If you're seeing mysterious "cannot connect to your device" errors, you may be missing an /opt directory that needs to be installed in your root. I found details on macrumors.com that seem like they may help. I'm not totally clear whether this is a Mac-only problem, or an Intel vs. non-Intel problem; if it happens on PCs as well, I'm not sure where that "root" directory is.

Your First Installation

Before you do anything else, use Installer to load up the BSD Subsystem. Many third-party applications (including the one we're about to install) require it to work.

Do yourself a favor here: any time you're doing package installations on your iTouch, go to Settings, General, and then Auto-Lock, and tell it never to automatically lock. Some of the stuff you're going to download will take more than five minutes to download and install, and it's chancy, coming back from a lock.

Make sure your wireless network is running and bring up Installer. While it refreshes packages, please consider the karmic benefits of donating to the project ... remember, these folks made a much higher enjoyment of your iTouch possible.
Once Installer is back with packages, tap Install (at the bottom of the screen) and then All Packages. Slide down a bit and find the BSD Subsystem.
Try out the Contact and More Info functions; they should bring up extra pages about what the BSD Subsystem is and does.
Tap the Install button at the top of the screen (not the one at the bottom; this gets me frequently) and wait for your package to install.
Once you're back to Categories, get Term-VT100, using the same method as above. Term-VT100 is a terminal program that will allow you to open up a command prompt for your iTouch, right there on the screen. Command-line access looks boring but is actually quite handy; you'll be able to tweak settings without having to load programs designed specifically for that purpose.
When Term-VT100 is done installing, press your Home button. Your desktop will come back, along with a twirly image that means it's thinking. It will then reboot to your locked screen; unlock it, and you ought to see a new icon, Term-vt100, with a lovely black command-prompt icon.

Got Term-VT100? Excellent; bring it up and try this:

pwd

If all has gone well, you should see this:

/var/root

If you're getting a command not found error message, go back to Installer and try installing the BSD Subsystem again. It didn't take.

When all is well, let's make an important change so you won't run out of storage space when adding more third-party programs.

Making Sure You Don't Run Out of Storage Space

Again: this is optional but highly recommended for people who plan on installing more than a few tiny third-party applications.

Since the factory-set iTouch comes with an artificially small size limit on its /Applications directory, you may receive an error message--"Warning: You are running out of disk space. Please delete some photos or videos"--even though you're quite sure you've got lots of space left.

DANGER DANGER WILL ROBINSON: please do this next part slowly and carefully. Screw it up and you'll have to go back, restore version 1.1.1, and start all over again.

Bring up Term-VT100. If you've never seen one before, you're looking at a Unix prompt. (You can also do this with OpenSSH, if you installed it and you know what you're doing.)
First task: move to the iTouch's root directory, copy your Applications directory there, rename your existing Applications directory to Applications.old, and then tell your iTouch to look in the new directory for stuff it previously found in the old directory. Type the following commands, exactly as shown:
```
cd /
cp -pr Applications /var/root
mv Applications Applications.old
ln -s private/var/root/Applications /Applications
```
If you're seeing error messages like command not found when you try cd /, you didn't install the BSD Subsystem. Please go back to Your First Installation and fix this.
Next, let's check that it worked. Still in Term-VT100, enter these commands:
```
cd /
ls -al
```
Somewhere in the resulting list--you may need to scroll the screen up to see it; to do this, drag it gently upwards at one of its edges--you'll see something like this:
```
rwxr-xr-x 1 root admin  29 Dec 26 23:27 Applications -> private/var/root/Applications
```
If it looks like /Applications has been linked to private/var/root/Applications, you're done. If not, you'll want to keep trying that last ln command again until you get it.
Restart your iTouch, by pressing and holding the Sleep button until the slide-to-power-off prompt appears. Power off, wait a moment for the twirly thing to stop and for the screen to go completely dark, and power back on again, using the Sleep button.
Here's where things can go wrong, so please be absolutely sure you've created that link. If you've mis-typed the link, your iTouch may reboot repeatedly, or may come back with no icons on the desktop. If this happens, you'll need to a) restore version 1.1.1 of the firmware and start over again from scratch, or b) try OpenSSH, if you installed it upstream.
If all is good, bring up VT-100 again, and remove the old /Applications directory, thusly:
```
cd /
pwd
```
If the output from pwd doesn't look like this: /, try the cd / command again. You need to be in your root directory for the next command to work. Once you're there, do this:
```
rm -rf Applications.old
```

Relax, the hairy part is over. From now on, everything we do will go through Installer. Let's have some fun monkeying with the interface next.

Monkeying Around with the User Interface

Using Installer, load up two new packages, Customize and SummerBoard. After you have them both, reboot your iTouch, by pressing and holding the Sleep button until the Power Off slider comes up. (If you get further into this process and Summerboard says it's "inactive" down at the bottom, you didn't reboot. Told you so.)

Summerboard will allow you to add desktop wallpapers, themes, hide labels, and other cool stuff; Customize will allow you to hide and change the images for your onscreen icons. I run both, personally; I like the green-grass Leopard background, no icon labels, and a dock containing anything that might have an alert on the icon with number of messages, etc. I also push as many of my customization options (like Term-VT100) off to the second page as possible, to discourage casual goofballs from messing around with my setup.

What? Mail? Yes. And Maps, too. And games ... sweet tasty games for everyone! Hold tight: it's finally time to add some Cool New Toys.

Cool New Toys

Lots of fun may be had with the Installer; it's getting fun-er by the day. My personal favorites include:

Labyrinth - tilt the iTouch to roll the ball through the wooden maze. This is the first thing I show people; they instantly "get" the idea that the iTouch is neat, and you ought to be able to hack it.
iFlix - a Netflix queue manager that must be seen to be believed. (I didn't actually have Netflix until I saw this app running on a colleague's iPhone; it's that compelling.)
MobileRSS - mmm ... feedie goodness! Consumes output from Yahoo! Pipes really nicely.
iSolitaire - awesome Klondike experience.
Sketches - an Etch-A-Sketch for your iTouch. Shake to erase, or upload those pictures to Flickr through Mobile Mail, described below.

In General, Install Things Slowly and Carefully

Especially when dealing with apps that were originalliy intended for the iPhone, install slowly and carefully. Always go back to the home screen, every time, and pay special attention to those "prep" packages.

Applications from Apple that were Originally Intended Only for the iPhone

If you skipped to here instead of reading the rest of the page, please go back to the top and read the warnings, and the strong advise that if all you want are these apps, go pay for them from Apple.

To run Mail, Weather, Stocks, Notes, and Maps on your iTouch, you will need to download and install some Apple property not specifically intended for the iTouch. You will need to lie, cheat, and steal even more than you already have to do this; if you believe in karma, be very, very careful here.

Maps and Mail are hairy; you'll want to follow the instructions about installing the "prep" software first. Notes, Stocks, and Weather jump right up and run; Notes is really cool, especially when integrated with Mail.

Google Maps on the iTouch may be the single most useful thing I've ever held in one hand. It's what's got me seriously considering an iPhone ... but that's just not gonna happen until I can run the provider of my choice.

Getting Mail Working

Add http://applerepo.com/ to your list of sources. (Sources, Edit, Add) If you have the old repo.us.to repository, your iPhone apps won't show on the list of packages any more.
If sources refresh successfully--this may take a long time--it will come up as the Apple Repository. If it's an anonymous source at the bottom, refresh sources again.
In the package list, find the iPhone 1.1.2 Apps for iTouch category. (In theory Mail will also work on 1.1.1 ... I recommend going to 1.1.2, however, because the Mail install is a pain and you won't want to go through it again if you decide to move up later.)
Add the Mobile Mail Prep for 1.1.2 application and click your Home button, to get all the way back out to your home screen.
Go back into Installer, Packages, iPhone 1.1.2 Apps, and install Apple MobileMail 1.1.2. It will warn you that you need to have Mobile Mail Prep 1.1.2 installed; if you don't, you may wind up going all the way back up to the top of this whole dismal list and starting over again with the 1.1.1 recovery.

As far as I can tell, Mail won't work with Yahoo! via an iPod Touch. I can't see myself giving access to my personal IMAP server to a hacked client, and I can't bring myself to start an AOL or .mac account, so ... it's GMail for me.

Start a New GMail Account

Seriously. Do this. Since you're installing the Mail from a non-Apple source, and there's a strong motivation for wily hackers (or maybe even Apple themselves) to code in a back door and grab what personal information they can, start a brand-new GMail account, just for this experiment, using absolutely no personal information--especially that one crucial password you use on all your social networking sites!--that you care about.
Once your new account is up and running, sign in to GMail, go to Settings, Forwarding and POP/IMAP, and enable POP for all mail. Leave it set to keep GMail's copy in the In box; this will be handy when you have to re-do this entire process in a week.
The one flaky thing you'll notice about Mail on the iTouch is this: when you go into Settings and click the Gmail address, your iTouch may hang, sometimes disastrously so. When this happens, you need to power off, power back on again, and sometimes plug it into iTunes to get it to come back. (I used to think this was part of running mail on 1.1.1, but it also happens to me on 1.1.2. No idea what's up with this; suggestions will be appreciated.)

Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid. Of an Update, That Is....

The next update from Apple is almost guaranteed to hose everything we've done here, and may even make it impossible to downgrade to 1.1.1.

Please be sure you've got iTunes rigged to ask you first before updating your iPod; for maximum paranoia, plug it in, click it in the Devices list, and un-check the box marked Open iTunes when this iPod is Connected.
When updates become available, check back here (and elsewhere; resources are listed below; The Unofficial Apple Weblog is an excellent first stop) before installing anything. Chances are excellent that whatever comes down next from Apple will break everything you've done to your iTouch and restore it back to factory settings.

So Why Bother?

Because something like this has the potential to truly revolutionize communications. One Laptop Per Child becomes a moot point if everybody's got one of these things and it's wide-open; if I could plug in a microphone, camera, and keyboard, I could ditch my laptop and cellphone forever.
Because pressure from people like us is causing the folks in charge to reconsider the use of closed-source hardware and software. There's an SDK coming from Apple in a month or so, for both the iTouch and the iPhone.
Because it's yours, dammit. It's like buying a car and being told you can only drive it on toll roads. You paid for it, you're steering it ... so you ought to be able to drive it anywhere you want as long as you're not endangering anybody else's life, liberty, or property.

Development Tools?

In addition to following several really great tutorials for building Safari web apps that run on the iTouch, I've recently downloaded and installed Jiggy, a very impressive little integrated developer's environment and runtime. Jiggy actually allows you to do iTouch and iPhone development right there on your device. Inside is a tiny Web server; you bring it up, it tells you its IP address, you log in from a full-sized computer on the same wireless network, and program in JavaScript, inside a Web form. This is just plain spectacular work on the part of the Jiggy crew; you can (seriously) get an application working in minutes. More on this, as things develop.

Other Important Resources

jailbreakme.com -- where it all started for me.
iPhoneWebDev -- developing content for mobile Safari.
The Unofficial Apple Weblog, especially Erica Sadun's stuff
ModMyIFone.com -- don't forget to add modmyifone.com/installer.xml to your installer sources.
Nullriver Software
Ipod Touch Hacks
Iphone Dev Team
Hackint0sh
iPhone Dev Wiki
MacRumors, for the bit about the Can't Connect error, post 1.1.2 jailbreak.

For Best Results, Please Donate!

Heinlein was right, as usual: supreme artistic appreciation may only be expressed by the phrase "Pay to the Order Of."

Third-party projects for the iTouch and iPhone are shoestring-budget affairs, done for the love of it. You can help increase the love many times, by donating to the project of your choice. (Hint: jailbreakme.com, Nullriver, and the iPhone Dev Team are really, really good choices.) $20 is a tiny amount compared to the $300 or $400 you paid for the thing, and doesn't even begin to compare to that one crucial opportunity you'll gain because you had an RSS reader, or maps, or e-mail. Your iTouch is a tool, not a toy, and these unsung heroes have set you free to swing that hammer as hard as you want. Donate!

Comments from before Disqus:

mike .:. 2010-03-28 13:40:46: So my ip address is hidden and I'm sae right? They wont be able to track me and give me a fine right?
Kent Brewster .:. 2010-03-27 21:18:48: No, that's a load of crap.
mike .:. 2010-03-27 18:56:16: 2 questions. First question, I have a iPod touch 3rd gen and I jailbroke it with blackra1n.com and I just want to know i your ip address gets hidden when you jailbreak it. Second question, I downloaded a app from Installous and when i oppened it, it said that "you have downloaded this app illegaly and if you dont delete it and buy it from the app store I will submit your ip address to the DA's office". Can he really do that and can he trace my ip address and if he can what is the punishment for downloading the app illegaly(If he really can do that im gonna restore my iPod, I just want to know the punishment). PLEASE REPLY ASAP.
Kent Brewster .:. 2009-09-17 10:55:41: Right, so this is very, very old and should come down. It's here for historical interest only.
ashkan .:. 2009-04-04 13:42:46: salam dooste aziz man ye hacker mikham baraye zdane yek server
Jenna .:. 2008-12-11 17:28:20: My iTouch 16 gb 1st Gen won't go into sleep mode (screen doesn't go dark). I have tried to the reset with the top and home button that doesn't work. What else can I try?
Nina P. .:. 2008-06-10 21:54:02: I followed all of your steps until the ZiPhone part (that was the first suggestion/comment posted here, F.Y.I) I went through the whole ZiPhone process, but I stopped half-way because it had told me I needed to restart the activation process/jailbreak if 10min. went by, and the process had still not completed. Now I have a continuous list of DOS code on my iPod started from what ZiPhone had put on there whilst jailbreaking it. The DOS shows up as: BSD root: md0, major 2, minor 0.

And the worst thing about this is, that my iPod won't show up on my iTunes anymore, not even after I disconnect and reconnect, or even restart and then disconnect and reconnect. What should I do? I have the feeling now that the only possible solution to getting my iPod back so I can try this again (or not? :/) is to go to the Apple Store and see about getting a new iTouch. :(
Jake K .:. 2008-06-04 15:46:25: Wow this looks really complicated.
I did mine really easy, it took me 5 minutes and it works perfect.
Just put ur iphone/itouch in recovery mode and put in in ur comp. Restore it and once its done close itunes.
Go to http://www.ziphone.org/ and download the program and run it. If u have an itouch, click jailbreak and let it do its job. if you have an iphone, press do it all and let it work. tada!
Kevin N .:. 2008-05-29 16:15:47: I've got an interesting problem which I haven't seen any other occurences of on any message boards. I have a 1.1.4 Touch which was successfully jailbreaked using ZiPhone. It worked fine for a day when Wifi stopped being able to find any network. It just aimlessly searches for networks, but never finds one even though there are plenty. This is not the issue where the Wifi is greyed out. It can be switched on and off. I've tried this at various locations where I know there to be available networks. Nothing. this is a new machine, and has never been dropped. I tried restoring the iPod a few times through iTunes. Still can't find networks. Turn Wifi on and off...On and off. Nothing.
Any ideas?
Danzee Panzee .:. 2008-05-28 10:18:38: Well i got the package download error thing and I don't know how to fix it. How do I that my repositories are all correct, and that your queue has not gotten stuck on a broken download. Please HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!
JJ .:. 2008-05-27 12:35:25: hi, i jailbroke my itouch, then i downloaded sketch on it. but how do you save it, and when yu do save it where does it go?
Damel .:. 2008-04-21 00:43:50: ive jail broken my itouch now how can i run windows on my itouch
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-04-07 16:46:55: Ah, interesting ... just watched a co-worker jailbreak a 1.1.4 iTouch, using a Mac and iLiberty, from theiphoneproject.org. If it seems stable I'll try it out on a different iTouch tonight with a PC.
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-04-07 16:39:58: Sorry I haven't been paying attention, folks. I've been very careful not to upgrade my 1.1.2 iTouch and have been happy with it in the intervening months; thanks to all--Carroll, especially!--who have helped out. Personally I'm going to hang out with what I have until the new apps distribution on iTunes settles out; I may return to the un-hacked fold if it looks like it's going to be easier to deal with.

For those package download errors: please check that your repositories are all correct, and that your queue has not gotten stuck on a broken download.
ghettogreg04 .:. 2008-04-02 16:23:21: I keep getting the error message saying package download error also help please!
Brennan .:. 2008-03-31 17:05:04: I could not find Oktoprep to install it. Also, every time i try to install something, i get an error message saying package download error. please help
mau tagulao .:. 2008-03-23 16:48:00: hey pls? help me.. im jus new wif this new gadget.. it says when i turn it on this morning "ipod is disabled, connect to itunes" waahh what shud i do?
jordan .:. 2008-03-18 12:28:49: it says permission denied when i try to type: mv Applications Applications.old what should i do?
carroll .:. 2008-03-13 13:20:18: ok, now i'm wandering u know the apps made for jailbreak to go with installer, will they be "unhacked" and coded into the SDK release allowing for their download off itunes, or even free off the itenrnet, or will they have to be redeveloped by other people???

carroll
kurt .:. 2008-03-12 05:13:33: hey kent,

for my itouch, i updated my itouch yesterday to 1.1.4(4A102).
would i still be able to jailbreak it?
carroll .:. 2008-03-03 10:20:17: Ok, just as notes to other people when i downgraded to 1.1.1 to rejailbreak i had the same problem, i dont know whether this is aproblem for me then or whether other people are experiencing it! anyway im upgrading to 1.1.4 to see what its like i might rejailbreak and downgrade later if its not great!

oh and p.s. kent applerepo.com seems to still work for me as a source and i managed to download mail and mapss etc. (which was strange due to the fact that they were insecure sources and i could install them unlike the other insecure sources!)
carroll .:. 2008-03-02 09:56:26: Ok... also on Tuaw.com i found a complete list of all the source web address locations, i was wondering whether this could also be relevant to my problem bellow, but i udon't think so because i have added the Ste packaging web adress for the 2nd time (it was alrdy there) and it has made no difference... thanks
carroll .:. 2008-03-02 09:52:07: Ok, i have found why it won't install many apps (any from any other source than modmyifone.com or nullriver software) it seems to have some problem with "security" or something like that, all the other sources are not installable and it says package download area, all the sources which i cant install have a red install button not the normal plain one and it says something like "this source is unsecure" and it wont allow the download, i have tried in the settings to see if there is a way for me to switch this off from my ipod but it wont work. Anyway if you have any ideas how to do this then please say.
carroll .:. 2008-03-01 14:32:46: OK, atlast i've managed to jailbreak my touch on 1.1.2, and now i have one problem that i just want to check. My installer wont install any of the apps and says there is a package download error! i wonder whether this means i should rejailbreak my touch to see if its just a problem with mine, or whether others are having the same problem... ty
David .:. 2008-02-23 23:30:21: I tried installing the Oktoprep, I can't find it. I'm sure I'm looking in the right place and I havent downloaded it yet.
Chris .:. 2008-02-19 07:46:29: When I get to the upgrade to 1.1.2 step itunes extracts the files then says your ipod could not be updated and I have to restart the entire process. Does anyone know how to fix this?? Im running vista and itunes 7.4.?.

BTW NES roms can be added using WinSCP from theoldcomputer.com
Under the media folder I added a new folder ROMs and an NES folder inside the ROMs this is where I copied my ROM files to.
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-02-18 13:39:09: Gnash. Applerepo.com seems to be gone ... does anyone know where to go for Maps, Mail, etc.?
Nick .:. 2008-02-12 19:47:51: okay...i ran into another problem. I opened windows.bat, pressed jailbreak, and it brought up a message saying:This application has failed to start because iTunesMobileDevice.dll was not found.
what should i do?
Nick .:. 2008-02-12 19:27:55: UPDATE: for anyone who is having problems with WINDOWS.BAT, here's a solution:
(i'm assuming that the problem is that a command prompt flashes for a second, then goes away)
It's simple, really.. all you have to do is open up winZip, and drag and drop Windows.Bat into a folder on your desktop. Not sure why this fixes it, but when i open it from the folder it's fine....
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-02-05 07:58:14: Nick: are you positive you have Java installed correctly and your machine knows where to find the binaries? When you open a command prompt and enter "java -jar jailbreak.jar"--thus skipping the need for windows.bat--what happens? (See discussion below, from January 10th or so, for more.)

Anonymoose: I haven't tried it, but no, I don't think you can fool iTunes by changing the version number. Sorry!
Nick .:. 2008-02-04 17:35:00: hokay. i just got back home from vacation, and i want to upgrade to a jailbroken 1.1.2.
I followed your steps, but my iPod seems to just be sitting there, doing nothing(in 1.1.2, without installer or anything). It has something to do with Windows.bat, because every time i double click on it(straight from win-zip) it flashes a command prompt for a split second then disappears. help, please.
anonymoose .:. 2008-01-30 08:13:36: Well this sucks. My friend updated my iTouch to 1.1.3 (soft-upgrade). So I had to re-jailbreak everything (because I wanted all my old apps back, and I don't like 1.1.3 for reasons I mention below). Then when I got to the step (again) to move the apps folder to prevent artificial out of space errors, I made a typo, and Terminal wouldn't allow me corrections (when I pressed delete it instead makes a space) so I had to restart from the beginning (again.) Ahhh! FJKDLJFKLDESF

So the purpose of this post is not to complain, I want to ask if there is a way to artificially change the version number so that it appears the version is up to date (so I can manually change the version number everytime the Apple overlords update). I don't think I am ever going to update to 1.1.3 because there was a huge change in the Library folder which removed a lot of the functionality (especially for some of the hacks I was developing). 1.1.2 will suffice, especially since there are 1.1.2 Google App hacks now... I could probably hack the version number myself, but I figured i would ask first. Thanks in advance =)
James .:. 2008-01-30 04:00:54: now I tried a different version of the firmware, ending with 110a, and iTunes gives me an "unknown error occurred (1403)" now what does this mean?
James .:. 2008-01-30 02:37:40: when i load the restore software, it updates then halfway through says that an "unknwon error occurred (5)" what does this mean?
Andrew .:. 2008-01-28 15:53:35: Actually, never mind that last comment. Is it even possible to downgrade on a PowerPC?
Andrew .:. 2008-01-28 15:22:40: Kent, will iJailbreak work on my iPod even if it's not jailbroken at all (on 1.1.1 or 1.1.2)?
Henry .:. 2008-01-28 14:30:37: Hey guys so I tested it for the second time today and it worked again! this time I waited for 15 minutes to see if the ipod would reset itself but it didn't and then I used Independence! It reboot the ipod instantly so yea i hope this helps anyone with a problem with jailbreaking 1.1.2 in the future!
Thanks everyone again!
_henry
Henry .:. 2008-01-28 12:36:06: Hey guys i found a better method on macrumors when running 7.6 and after running jailbreak.jar!
download independence and run the program and it will reboot it for you! here is the guide I found when i was poking around no need for finding another computer or creating another log in!
http://guides.macrumors.com/Jailbreaking_and_updating_to_1.1.3
I hope this helps! (oh i know that the guide is for iphones currently the only thing i did was used the independence program to reboot my ipod touch when it was sleeping [at least that is what i did i am going to go through the process again to see if it wasn't a fluke])
_henry
Henry .:. 2008-01-27 21:42:40: Wow I was going to get back to you guys about I tried it with 7.5 and it worked but obgiously you got that haha. Yay! I believe this is the only site (thus far that actually addressed this problem many forums haven't yet)
THANKS YOU GUYS SO MUCH!
_henry
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-27 20:25:45: Andrew, are you using Windows or OSX? If you're on OSX, you might want to try ijailbreak, which (they say) will jailbreak 1.1.3 iPhones and iTouches. Here's their unbricking advice, if you're stuck:

"To restore your iPhone or iPod Touch, hold down the Power and Home buttons on the device until the Apple logo appears on the screen, at which point you can let go of the Power button-- but keep holding the Home button. When you see the Connect to iTunes logo appear, you may let go of the Home button, connect your device to your computer, and use iTunes to restore."
Andrew .:. 2008-01-27 10:02:37: I updated to 1.1.3 about a week ago but I want to jailbreak my iPod again. I'm trying to downgrade but itunes 7.6 just gives me an error when i try to restore to 1.1.1 or .2 and on itunes 7.5, the ipod won't even show up. help?
andy .:. 2008-01-26 19:32:16: The iTunes 7.5 that I used below in XP was straight off of the filehippo site. It seems to work fine for jailbreaking.
andy .:. 2008-01-26 18:44:22: Ok, I have a solution for OSX (macintosh) users with iTunes 7.6.

You need access to XP with iTunes 7.5.

You can't downgrade your OSX iTunes, so if your at 7.6 like I am, your stuck.

There also seems to be something wierd with the jailbreak 1.1.2 jar and XP vs Mac (Intel, I have a Mini CoreDuo). The jailbreak never reboots twice on the Mac USB/iTunes- however, on a windows XP with iTunes 7.5 it jailbreaks properly (i.e. reboots twice after flashing).

So this works.

On the mac, using iTunes 7.6 you can do these steps:

- restore to 1.1.1
- install jailbreak app on touch
- install octoprep
- update to 1.1.2

NOW SWITCH TO XP w/ iTunes 5.

- Connect touch and make sure iTunes see's it.
- Eject it from iTunes
- Quit iTunes
- Run jailbreak 1.1.2 jar
- watch as touch reboots twice (it will go it restore mode for a second, then reboot)
- start touch, you'll see the installer and SSH (if you choose to install it)

NOW YOU CAN SWITCH BACK TO OSX and iTunes 7.6. It will recognize the touch!!!

Then continue with the excellent instructions here, and have fun.

Thanks for these directions!
andy .:. 2008-01-26 18:00:23: Filehippo is windows only. Here is a site that has the Mac versions of iTunes. I haven't installed yet, I've heard stories that it's not easy to downgrade iTunes on the Mac, so perhaps I'll do this in windows using parallels.

http://www.oldapps.com/download_iTunes_mac.php
Matt .:. 2008-01-26 15:52:25: Kent, its me again. I'm jailbreaking my friends ipod on my system. Everything has gone well up until the last step. After running the 1.2 jailbreak and the rebooting, the installer icon does not appear on the iTouch. I downgraded to 7.5 and got the same results. Ideas?
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-26 10:22:33: Right, just updated the cautionary bits with a warning that you need to be on iTunes 7.5 or below. Thank you all for being patient and continuing to contribute valuable clues about this!
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-26 10:11:06: It looks like filehippo has many different older versions of iTunes, including 7.4, 7.4.1, 7.4.2, 7.4.3, and 7.5. I am going to guess that we want 7.5; can someone please try it out?
andy .:. 2008-01-26 09:02:47: OK, something is up with iTunes 7.6 (29). When the touch reboots from running the jailbreak.jar, iTunes claims the ipod is in recovery mode and will only 'recover' (i.e. wipe and install image) thus negating all the work so far. I've tried it twice and arrived at the same result. So the jailbreak.jar is doing something that iTunes 7.6 is checking for and trying to stop.

So, I'm off to find a mac with an older version of iTunes to do the 1.1.2 jailbreak and see if that works.
andy .:. 2008-01-26 08:12:37: An update for Mac users w/ iTunes 7.6 (29) - in Step Restoring Version 1.1.1:4 (downgrading a 1.1.3 touch to 1.1.1 - you must click RESTORE button _not_ UPGRADE. Clicking on Upgrade results in an error that says "cannot update ipod xxxxx."

However, the touch is fine. Just OPTION-CLICK RESTORE and it works fine.

When it comes time to put back 1.1.2, you can use the UPDATE button.

Makes sense, if you think about it.
Henry .:. 2008-01-25 21:42:17: Hey Kent,
Thanks for getting back to me so fast! I am going to download 7.4.2 and which is the only version closest to yours that I could find then if that doesn't work I will try 7.5 I will get back to you on the results.
Thanks again.
_henry
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-25 12:22:47: I have iTunes 7.4.3.1, Henry. I'm wondering if 7.6 has been patched to interfere with the jailbreak....
Henry .:. 2008-01-24 23:52:40: Hey Kent,
I tried following your guide and I have the same problem as Sandra and Russ, After I complete the whole process (after the jailbreak.jar) My ipod will enter recovery mode again.
I have Mac OSX 10.4.11 and Itunes 7.6. I used your links to get the firmware and jailbreak.
I am sure that itunes is closed after I option + update to 1.1.2
The jailbreak.jar runs throught the entire thing and says it will reboot several times but it does not I have waited once for 20 minutes and I have meticulously gone through the guide again and again and each time it has the same ending with the recovery screen on my ipod. I am really at a loss HELP!!
Thanks in advance
_henry
Donovan .:. 2008-01-24 19:41:08: Hey there, Donovan again, just wanted to say, DAMMIT, cause I tried real hard not to be a poster that needs to be on the STUPID USER list, but sadly I faild. Okay, so I throw my stupidty out there in case it helps others, if you get the same error, sleep + home until you get the apple logo, then let go of sleep and you can get it back to restore mode, my stupid part was forgetting to HOOK it to the synch cable when I did that. THANKS!
Donovan .:. 2008-01-24 15:25:06: Hey there, thanks for the directions, sadly I seem to have flubbed it and could use some advice. I did a fully successful jailbreak all the way through 1.1.2 and then when I went into the VT to re-allocate the space I am guessing I did something really fat fingered though it looked right because when I re-booted I got the "blank screen" as you described. SO, restarted at 1.1.1 and got to the part where I jailbreak 1.1.2. Ran the jailbreak software with SSH option, all seemed to work, it reported success. Then on reboot I get a stream of command line culminating in the following:
singleuser boot -- fsck not done
root device is mounted read-only
launch[12]: can't exec /bin/sh for single user: no such file or directory

Problem is it sticks there so I can't get it recognized in itunes to restart at 1.1.1

Any thoughts would be MOST appreciated!!!

And also, my bad if this post repeats, tried to post once but it seemed not to stick!
Sam .:. 2008-01-24 14:43:50: I updated my touch back to 1.1.2 after i jailbreaked it on 1.1.1 and the install app was gone... what am i doing wrong.
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-21 09:41:12: James and Josh: sorry for the delayed response; hope you got it working again. If your iTouch freezes, you need to keep holding Home and Sleep until it reboots. If it hangs immediately when it comes up, reboot it again. If it keeps hanging immediately after it comes up, you need to get it back into Restore mode and start over again from 1.1.1.

Please be absolutely sure you have 1.1.1, 1.1.2, and the 1.1.2 jailbreak from conceitedsoftware.com, and please do read through the comments that have already been left by your fellow explorers; this can be a long, tedious process.

Leoncito: no idea, sorry. I searched for ROMs before attempting to install the NES emulator, and was disappointed enough at the results not to even try.

JJ: updated, thanks. I'm going to start thinking about ways to re-organize this page; it's getting huge and unwieldy, and I'm starting to hear comments from people who are pretty clearly not reading all the instructions before beginning.
James .:. 2008-01-19 19:35:56: I was updating to the 1.1.2 jail break and it was done installing from my computer, and the little black command box window said rebooting ipod. so my itouch shut off, turned on and then theres the little loading circle going with the battery in the backround and slide to unlock but the screens frozen and nothing works to change the screen. I cant turn it off, use the home button, make it sleep, and when i plug it in the screen does not change and even unplugged it looks the same even though the loading circle is still spinning
leoncito .:. 2008-01-18 19:24:26: how can i get nes?? roms?
JJ .:. 2008-01-18 17:45:39: not sure if its been posted, but just in case if you're having problems adding the apple repository source to get the iphone apps, its no longer http://repo.us.to, instead try http://applerepo.com/, then you should see the 2 new categories for iphone apps, it took me forever to figure this out!
josh .:. 2008-01-18 14:17:21: when i am restoring my ipod it says. The ipod could not be restored. AN unknown error has occured [1]
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-18 14:04:17: Sorry, Phil; the only advice I have for you is to try the advice on macrumors.com. I can't find anyone running Windows who has had this problem.
Phil .:. 2008-01-18 12:12:33: Hi,
again
The point i made below was my bad.
it's fixed.-i was installin the iphone firmware not the ipod one soz.

But there is another problem its when i double-click the windows file and the screen comes up. i jailbreak but the it says 'cannot connect to your device'.
i no it says about that in ur guide but i dont understand that. and was wunderin if u cud help.
nb there is no root file in my c drive. Is that a problem ?
Phil .:. 2008-01-18 11:04:27: Kent,
Hi,
I think ur guide is gr8.
i have followed ur steps exactly. But when i get to 'Get Version 1.1.2' i have problems i hav java for defo and downloaded the file to desktop. then i have installed oktprep successfully. I hold shift and click UPDATE (im on a pc(laptop) xp) the box appears and i choose the 1.1.2 file. It extracts but when it finishes it says unable to update Unknow error ocured (5). And then it puts my itouch into recovery mode wipping every thing off.
Plz help im stumpped.
thanks.
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-18 09:30:09: Dapper: updated, thanks. Also put in a word of warning about the Sun tool not always working.

Sandra: if your iTouch is stuck in recovery mode--won't come up, even if you power it on and off multiple times--you are probably going to have to recover firmware. I'd try restoring to 1.1.2 first and running jailbreak.jar again; OktoPrep might still be back there ready to run. If it doesn't work, you're going to need to start over with 1.1.1. Sorry the news isn't better.
Dapper .:. 2008-01-18 01:09:28: Hey Kent - Step 4 under "On to 1.1.2" we need to click and hold on CTRL (PC) or alt/option (MAC) "update" and choose "Update" then locate the downloaded FW. Not "Recover"

I am using a MacBook - "Recover" is "Restore" for some reason on a Mac. justa FYI

thank you for this wonderful resource you've put together! :)
Sandra .:. 2008-01-17 17:41:54: I've done the jailbreak.jar step, it runs, jailbreaks, shows the "Your iPod will reboot a couple of times" message, etc. Right after that happened, the iPod went into recovery mode. What should I do?
Itouch user .:. 2008-01-17 17:37:57: nevermind, i've gotten it now, thanks for the guidelines
Itouch user .:. 2008-01-17 17:33:01: okay, so i have 1.1.1. abd i went to the jailbreakme site, and one i got there, i it install and it just went back to the main screen? what's that about?
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-17 15:29:49: Right, I've updated to Nick's instructions for how to recover to 1.1.1. I've also located the link to the 1.1.2 firmware, which you'll need now that 1.1.3 is out.

Reinforcing what Nick said: you cannot jailbreak 1.1.3 yet! Don't upgrade; you'll need to slide back down to 1.1.1 and start over.
Nick .:. 2008-01-17 13:44:17: oh, and kent? can you inform me when you figure out how to upgrade to a jailbroken 1.1.2? right now the update button will take me to 1.1.3, not 1.1.2.
thanks!(or maybe i'll just wait till 1.1.3 jailbreak comes out!)
Nick .:. 2008-01-17 13:37:31: hokay. i've found 2 ways to downgrade your 1.1.3 touch.
1: Connect your ipod, and bring up itunes. Turn off your ipod(red slider). Hold the home button and the sleep button for 10 seconds(together), then let go of the sleep button and continue holding the home button for 10 more seconds. You won't see anything on the screen(of ipod), but it'll be connected to the computer, and you can restore as usual(with the 1.1.1 firmware).
#2: http://www.tuaw.com/2008/01/16/downgrading-your-1-1-3-iphone-or-ipod-touch/
Nick .:. 2008-01-17 13:03:31: wait----Dermapthera... can i get a link? i really need to do this before i leave for ohio tomorrow. thanks.
Nick .:. 2008-01-17 13:02:29: Dapper- NO. do not update it to 1.1.3. It will WIPE all of your data, and you can't jailbreak 1.1.3 yet. Just download the 1.1.2 firmware, save it to your HD. then just...well, he said update NOT restore, so...i don't know from there.
But i've given up until the 1.1.3 is jailbroken. Everyone else, DO NOT UPDATE TO 1.1.3! UNTIL THEY JAILBREAK IT THERE IS NO WAY TO DOWNGRADE OR JAILBREAK(so far)!
dermapthera .:. 2008-01-17 06:26:56: hey dude. i did some research and found out that it's possible to downgrade from 1.1.3 to 1.1.1. I've written a tutorial for it on my page though. I got that information through another dude who managed to downgrade his accidentally upgraded 1.1.3.

Cheers.
Dapper .:. 2008-01-17 06:14:15: Kent - under "On to 1.1.2" - Step 4. Connect your iTouch, launch iTunes, choose it on the menu, and click Update. (Important: you want Update, NOT Restore!)

Will this step still work now that 1.1.3 is out? Havn't tried it yet since I am worried at what Apple threw into this firmware release.
Dapper .:. 2008-01-17 06:05:17: to Carroll - please see - Navigating DOS section on this link - http://home.att.net/~gobruen/progs/dos_batch/dos_intro.html

I am sure there are a ton more sites that will show you how to navigate in a command prompt.

Evan - I ran into the same problem when I tried downloading the .ipsw using Safari. For some reason it cut off the extension and most of the end of the file name. Attempts to simply rename the file was unsuccessful. Try using Opera to download the .ipsw It worked for me...
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-16 14:10:06: No worries; it's a frustrating thing. I didn't mean to imply to you or anyone else that you shouldn't try to do this, just that it assumes you have some background skills, like navigating with a command prompt. If you're still interested in doing it, more power to you ... sitting with a friend and doing it together would be a really great way to go.

Nick: to downgrade to 1.1.2 you'd want to grab the 1.1.2 firmware, save it to your desktop, and restore to it the same way you did it for 1.1.1. Given that I haven't tried this myself, I'm not at all sure this is the way to go; please do more research.
carroll .:. 2008-01-16 13:15:25: oh and one mroe thing, sorry for being so negative but isnt this designed to help people do this, not just to say well yyou've never done anything like this before so sorry you can't do this (i mean everyone has got to start somewhere!
carroll .:. 2008-01-16 13:08:44: fine, thanks for the effort kent, il get my friend to do it on his pc was hoping could get it done on mnie so i could do myself especially with updates comnig out and stuff but i suppose im not "techie" enough to do this (that emans i dont spend all my time working out how to hack things because i find that fun)! anyway thanks for trying to help...
Nick .:. 2008-01-16 12:58:08: hm... okay, i just got told to "hold the sleep and home buttons for ten seconds, then let go of the sleep button and hold the home button for 10 more seconds". they say that if i do that, i'll be able to downgrade to 1.1.2, from which i'll downgrade to 1.1.1.

so how would i go about downgrading to 1.1.2?
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-16 11:08:28: Caroll, and anyone else who's having this sort of trouble: sorry, but the sort of work we're doing here requires a certain amount of background knowledge, including experience with a command prompt. If you are having trouble navigating between directories, you might be better off upgrading your iTouch to 1.1.3 and paying the $20 for the extra apps.
carroll .:. 2008-01-16 10:50:09: what do you mean by... Carroll, do this:

cd "C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_03\bin"

kinda complicated for me... i mnot really that good with this sorta thing
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-15 21:56:36: Okay, whoa, hold on ... I'm reading comments from people who have upgraded to 1.1.3 who have not been able to downgrade back to 1.1.1. Be careful out there.
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-15 21:53:32: No idea what might happen with 1.1.3, folks. (I'm going to guess you'll be able to restore out from under it, unless they've done something radically nutty.) Has that update landed already?

From my limited understanding of the Stevenote, they will be selling the iPhone apps (mail, maps, notes, stocks, and weather) for an extra $20, which--if that's all you're hacking your iTouch to get at--is probably worth it.

If what you want is a wide-open iTouch, however ... you still need to jailbreak.
Nick .:. 2008-01-15 19:50:16: oh, i forgot to ask this:
will i be able to use the layout of the new 1.1.3 update once i jailbreak my ipod? or is that not out yet...?
Nick .:. 2008-01-15 19:39:27: hey, kent. i'm really frustrated.... today, i unknowingly downloaded the 1.1.3 update for my iTouch. Then i saw the 20 dollar upgrade, and thought "theres gotta be a better way". Through a forum i go to, i got a link to the jailbreak site and this page. I followed all of your steps, but every time i try to downgrade it, it gives me an error message(after i shiftClick the restore button and select the program[i know it's the right program, i did it 3 times]}. am i totally screwed, and do i have to pay 20 bucks for the new iTouch upgrade?? will i even be able to jailbreak my ipod? thanks.
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-15 14:00:04: Sorry, not sure what's up. Are you using a Mac? If so, did you download the .ispw file with Firefox or Safari? If you used Safari on a Mac, please try re-downloading the firmware with Firefox.
evan .:. 2008-01-15 13:57:00: never mind.. it was error 1403
evan .:. 2008-01-15 13:54:16: what is error 1408
evan .:. 2008-01-15 13:33:13: i know. i chose that file. but there are more files inside. it wont let me choose the whole thing. i have to chose a specific one inside. some choices are: 022-3656-1.dmg,
022-3642-8.dmg, and 022-3655-1.dmg. please pick the right one. thanks.
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-15 13:13:50: Carroll, do this:

cd "C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_03\bin"

... and you should be there.

Evan, you want to chose the file you downloaded:

iPod1,1_1.1.1_3A110a_Restore.ipsw
evan .:. 2008-01-15 12:54:37: yeah... ive done everything you told me and it works. i downloaded 1.1.1 from your site given. I have a mac though. i hold option, click restore and the hidden window comes up. I found the folder and clicked on it. however. there were many files inside of this file. which one should i choose? please help. i have been working on this for days. besides that your site it great. plleeaassee respond!!!
carroll .:. 2008-01-15 11:01:59: urm.... i'm a bit bad at command prompts so im not sure how to navigate there... it says on my C:\Docutments and Settings\Carroll>, so i dont get how i can navigate to C:\Program files.... sorry i can't do this but iv never needed command prompts before, and if you could please tell me so i can check that it would be very kind of you.
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-15 08:37:08: Carroll: please tell me what happens when you open a command prompt, navigate to C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_03\bin, and enter this:

java -jar jailbreak.jar
carroll .:. 2008-01-15 01:12:28: ok... i'v tried what you said and i do have java installed correctly, and i'v moved my jailbreak files to the same folder as it (C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_03\bin), but still nothing happens when i double click windows.bat, maybe you have another solution.
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-14 09:05:21: Caroll: please try what I asked Matt to do. Open up a command prompt, navigate to the directory your jailbreak files are in, and enter "java." If you get an error, please check that Java is installed on your machine.

Spencer: nope, I haven't tried the NES emulator. (Given a reliable source of ROMs, I might.)
spencer .:. 2008-01-13 21:03:49: hey i was just wondering if you knew anything about gettingthe nes emulater to work i've looked at videos numerous of times from youtube and still can't get it to work i've downloaded the nes emulater for itouc, and even went to the sources and added that markmon.mine etc link but i still cannot seem to download the games if you know anything that could help me please help out
carroll .:. 2008-01-12 11:13:44: I have had a similar problem to matt's with the ipod touch hack, whenever i click windows.bat it never does anything it just flashes for a split second and then disapears after also showing for a slip second on a command prompt panel where it is from... you said to matt that he should move his jailbreak file to the file in which java.exe. resided, one i cannot find this file and two i wonder if it is only findable in earlier versions of java (i have version 6.0.02 installed or .03 im not sure, but yours from your bin directory posted to matt apears to be 5.0.06) anyway please get back to me on this so i can also jailbreak my Itouch fully...
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-11 10:37:49: No worries, Matt. I'll update the article to reflect the trouble you ran into; the Sun tool didn't work, is all.
Matt .:. 2008-01-10 16:15:29: Wow...
I'm retarded
I feel so dumb.
It turns out even though when i went to the java web site and it said that it was installed... it wasnt. So i installed and its working. Thanks for the help though. I really appreciate it. I'm really glad to get the full potential from my itouch. Thanks again.
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-10 15:53:26: Okay, sounds like java may not be installed (or installed correctly) on your system. When you go to Start: Settings: Control Panel: Add or Remove Programs, do you see anything that looks like Java? I have several versions of the Java 2 Runtime Environment in mine.

If you see Java in Add or Remove Programs, you have a path problem. Try moving your 1.1.2 jailbreak files into the most recent directory (mine is C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_06\bin) that contains your copy of java.exe.
Matt .:. 2008-01-10 15:20:43: Yep im getting the error message
It reads:
'java' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

Basically when i do the windows.bat file its inserts the java/jar file directly after i press enter then gives me that error message
so if the guy or girl from Lifehacker has it that would be great!
thanks a ton again
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-10 09:10:37: Someone on Lifehacker says he's had and solved the windows.bat problem; I've asked for his answer.

In other interesting news, anyone with Windows and the .NET framework installed who wants a really easy way to encode video for the iPod Touch (yes, this works with .flv files!) should check out Noda's iPodME video converter. Docs are in french but the app is in English.
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-10 07:25:59: How to skip windows.bat and run jailbreak.jar from a command line, so you can see any errors that come up:

- Open a command window (Start, then Run..., and then enter CMD in the Open: box)

- Navigate to the folder where you saved all the 1.1.2 jailbreak files. (The command window ought to come up in your home directory, so you probably want to cd Desktop and then your jailbreak folder.)

- Enter this:

java -jar jailbreak.jar

When I do it, the jailbreak window pops up. You ought to see some sort of error if there's a problem.
Matt .:. 2008-01-09 20:53:16: im on xp btw
Matt. .:. 2008-01-09 20:52:33: i have all the files and am positive i did the installation right
ive got no clue as to whats goin wrong
thanks for the help btw
Golden .:. 2008-01-09 20:37:40: I'm having the same problem as Matt. (Running Windows Vista) I double click windows.bat but the command prompt window only opens for a split second and then closes again. I have java and all of the files you listed are in the same directory. If you can help I'd appreciate it.
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-09 19:53:47: Please confirm that all of these files:

iTunesMobileDevice.dll
jailbreak.jar
QTMLClient.dll
readline5.dll

... are in the same directory as windows.bat. If you're missing iTunesMobileDevice.dll, poke around in your iTunes directory and copy it over.
Matt .:. 2008-01-09 18:53:55: do u have an instant messenger or something thats easy to talk on?
Matt .:. 2008-01-09 18:23:19: ipod is plugged in and java is confirmed and nothing meaning when i double click a window that looks like the command prompt window comes up for about half a second and then nothing just regular monitor
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-09 15:42:54: iPod plugged in? Confirmed you have Java on your PC? When you say "nothing happens," what do you mean? Blank screen, any errors?
Matt .:. 2008-01-09 15:15:25: Ive done everything up to the windows.bat file but when i double click it and press run nothing happens?? help???
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-09 09:33:01: Russ, can you please confirm that you actually updated to 1.1.2--check Settings, General, About--after installing OktoPrep? I see where you said "Opened iTunes and pressed update," but I'm not sure whether 1.1.2 got on or not.
Russ .:. 2008-01-09 09:22:33: Alright i followed all your steps, downgraded to 1.1.1. Installed OctoPrep. Opened iTunes and pressed update. Ejected the iPod, closed itunes. ran the jailbreak.jar. clicked jailbreak. after a few minutes it finishes but it leaves me at the screen with the connector cable and itunes icon. I believe this is recovery mode? i tried using boot from recovery on the jailbreak.jar but it freezes half way each time. what am i doing wrong? i have attempted this twice, and i always get the recovery mode after jailbreaking 1.1.2
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-07 16:43:45: Update: friend's Community Sources repository got removed somehow, so OktoPrep and OpenSSH went away. If you can't find OktoPrep or OpenSSH, check that you have Community Sources listed as a repository.
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-07 15:54:04: Hmmm ... on now with an old friend who says he ran into trouble finding OktoPrep; apparently only the Conceited Software beta repository showed up when he installed AppTapp. If this is the case with you, add the non-beta repository, by tapping the Sources icon (globe-shaped thingie, bottom right), then Edit, then Add, and adding this URL:

http://conceitedsoftware.com/iphone/

Installer is cranky sometimes about adding sources; for best results, close Installer (hit Home) and restart your iTouch--sleep + home, slide to power off, wait, power back on--to see your changes.

I'd love to hear from anyone else who's had trouble finding OktoPrep once Installer is running; that would be Bad.
tetsuo .:. 2008-01-05 23:10:52: Hej Charles, I had the same problem actually. Are you running a windows in another language? I am running japanese language windows, which means the "Desktop" directory file path will be in Japanese and the windows.bat installer cannot read the file path correctly. Try copying the 1.1.2 directory to c:/ and run windows.bat from there. It worked for me. Also if you are running a firewall it may also stop the program from accessing your iPod. I noticed ZoneAlarm did for me, and I had to allow the program access a couple of times before it worked properly.
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-03 07:32:51: Right, found a possible fix and updated the article; can someone running OSX please check this out?

If you're on OSX and seeing mysterious "cannot connect to your device" errors, you may be missing an /opt directory that needs to be installed in your root. I found details on macrumors.com that seem like they may help.
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-02 21:34:46: Um ... hmmm. Not sure what's up, Charles. Does iTunes still recognize your iTouch? Are you absolutely certain you jailbroke 1.1.1 and installed OktoPrep correctly?
charles .:. 2008-01-02 15:31:55: I am on Windows and everything works smoothly until I need to open up the windows.bat file. Every time I double click on the windows.bat, in order to jailbreak 1.1.2, it says "cannot connect to your device: Please plug in you ipod/iphone into your computer. If you are still having trouble, restart the computer, reconnect the device and try again." I restarted, reconnected, and tried several times. I even repeated the entire process. I am very frustrated and am disparately in need of assistance. Can anyone help me? Thanks
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-01 19:39:20: Okay, well ... I still hate AT&T.
Ryan Kennedy .:. 2008-01-01 12:04:44: I passed on the iPod Touch because of the data access. I want data access anywhere, even when there's no WiFi signal. As for people calling me, it's rare and the few people who call me are either close family or friends, so it's never been a nuisance.

Basically, to me the iPhone is a portable computer that can make calls. Not a cell phone with advanced capabilities.
Kent Brewster .:. 2008-01-01 10:36:38: "I'd rather have a device that works" sounds a bit specious to me. The device is fine; its manufacturer is refusing to ALLOW it to work the way I want it to. :)

I had the opportunity to own an iPhone but passed. Why? Because I hate telephones and all they represent--somebody ELSE can make this thing go off any time they want, and I feel duty-bound to respond--and did not want to fall in love with this horrible thing I've hated all my life. (I know, sounds inconsistent when you consider how close to synchronous communication they're getting with the iTouch ... but there it is.)
mookie .:. 2008-01-01 10:23:21: i bought an ipod touch when it was released and jail broke it and put a whole bunch of apps on it. the best apps for me were the iphone apps and the terminal application. i found that after a while, i didn't end up using any of the other applications that i installed.

so, i ended up selling my ipod touch on ebay and just getting an iphone because i did not want to carry two devices. my iphone has yet to be jailbroken or hacked because i have all the apps that i really need on a day-to-day basis. though, i am really looking forward to seeing third party applications on the platform, that would truly make the porta-MacOSX platform a contender -- it is a helluvalot better than the Windows Mobile platform and even Symbian.

the other thing that drove me to get an iphone was that i didn't want to continue to be paranoid of updates from apple ruining my jailbroken ipod touch. i'd rather have a device that works.

The Well-Tempered iTouch .:. kentbrewster.com