[How To] Jailbreak iOS 5 Final using sn0wbreeze to Preserve Baseband

Apple seeded iOS 5 update to the public yesterday. It’s the same GM build which was released last week to the developers. And it can be jailbroken with the already available sn0wbreeze 2.8b8 & redsn0w 0.9.9b5. (Both these tools currently provide tethered jailbreak, meaning that you need to connect iPhone to computer everytime it reboots & boot it in tethered mode)

Update: 25th Jan, 2012

[How To] Preserve Baseband & Jailbreak iOS 5.0.1 using sn0wbreeze 2.9

sn0wbreeze helps you to update to a newer iOS version without updating the baseband or the modem firmware. This is helpful for unlockers. Users with locked iPhones can preserve the baseband to use ultrasn0w or GEVEY sims to unlock their iPhone 3GS/4.

Note: sn0wbreeze is for Windows only. If you’re on Mac & want to build custom firmware to preserve baseband, download redsn0w 0.9.9b5.

[How To] Jailbreak iOS 5 using sn0wbreeze to Preserve Baseband

1. Download iOS 5 for your iPhone & make sure you’ve iTunes 10.5

2. Download sn0wbreeze 2.8b8 from ih8sn0w.com

3. Open sn0wbreeze & point it to iOS 5 IPSW file

4. sn0wbreeze will then recognize the firmware

5. Click Next & you’ll see three options:

1. Baseband Preservation Mode: This mode only preserves the baseband, doesn’t jailbreak or install Cydia, SSH, etc. This mode doesn’t “hacktivate”
2. Simple Mode: This mode preserves the baseband as well as installs Cydia, SSH & other necessary packages that will jailbreak your iPhone
3. Expert Mode: This mode preserves the baseband, jailbreaks your device, installs Cydia & let’s you install extra packages also. This mode gives you the option to “hacktivate” your iPhone, in case you don’t have original carrier’s sim (eg. AT&T)

So which mode should you select? If you want to just preserve the baseband for using GEVEY sim or ultrasn0w unlock, select baseband preservation mode. But you must have original carrier’s sim with you to activate the iPhone after restore is complete.

If you don’t have original carrier’s sim, select Expert menu & then check “hacktivate” option. This will activate the iPhone after restore. Also, when you select hacktivate option, the iPhone will be stuck after restore. Use iBooty (this will be automatically saved on Desktop along with custom IPSW) to boot tethered. Don’t panic!

Simple mode & Expert mode will also install Cydia, SSH, etc..

6. Select the appropriate mode & click Next (The screenshot below shows Expert mode)

Select Build IPSW & click Next

7. sn0wbreeze will start building the custom firmware. Wait for some time (It may take up to 10 minutes). The custom iOS 5 IPSW file will be saved on Desktop along with iBooty

8. After that, sn0wbreeze will ask you to put your iPhone into DFU mode for patching it to install custom firmware. Follow the steps on the screen

9. Once your device is in Pwned DFU mode (Black Screen), open iTunes, press Shift key + Restore & point to the iOS 5 IPSW file stored on Desktop

10. Sit back & relax. iTunes will restore your iPhone to iOS 5

Now, if you had earlier selected Simple mode or Expert mode, you must use iBooty to “boot tethered” so you can use Cydia & other jailbreak stuff. If you just selected Baseband preservation mode, you don’t need to use iBooty.

You can now use GEVEY sim or ultrasn0w unlock. To know how to use GEVEY sim on iOS 5, follow the steps in this post. If you’ve anymore queries, feel free to comment below.

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