If you are an unlocker, “It is super important that people who need the unlock to understand they can keep it only by starting at 3.0 (or earlier) and updating solely to custom IPSWs that don’t update the baseband. For those who have been onboard the “unlock train”, simply install ultrasn0w via Cydia once you’ve restored to your custom IPSW. Don’t forget to turn off the “3G” setting in Settings->General->Network if you use T-Mobile in the U.S.A.”

Below is a snippet from the Dev-Team’s website. However, you will want to check out their blog for full information and the download.

Be sure to read everything carefully before you begin your jailbreak.

Pwnage Pie

Here are some details on our latest version of PwnageTool 3.1.4 for Mac OS X which supports the 3.1.2 release of the iPhone software for iPhone 2G/3G/3GS and iPod Touch 1G/2G.

If you’re already jailbroken (by whatever means), you don’t need to mess around with DFU mode at all. Just create (or get from a friend) your custom IPSW and Option-Restore (Shift-Restore on Windows) to it via iTunes. Don’t enter DFU mode at all. Please make sure you are restoring to the custom IPSW, not the stock one from Apple! For best results, use the latest iTunes (9.0.1) — which includes a nice new application organizer.

This release allows your baseband to remain unlocked at 3.1.2, but it does not unlock a new baseband put there by restoring to official 3.1.x. It is super important that people who need the unlock to understand they can keep it only by starting at 3.0 (or earlier) and updating solely to custom IPSWs that don’t update the baseband. For those who have been onboard the “unlock train”, simply install ultrasn0w via Cydia once you’ve restored to your custom IPSW. Don’t forget to turn off the “3G” setting in Settings->General->Network if you use T-Mobile in the U.S.A.

Note for 3GS users not already jailbroken and stuck at 3.1.x: this version of PwnageTool has a side feature to jailbreak your 3GS. It uses a simple implementation of the usb control msg hole found by chronicdev, geohot, and our very own gray. Now that the hole is public and in use, we expect Apple to close it by the next major firmware update. That’s why 3GS users need to get their ECID hashes for 3.1.x now, and need to stay onboard the “jailbreak train” in all future updates. For more details on what this means, please see our earlier posts or ask in our comments section (moderated by the always helpful @angie and @confucious!).

For the early adopters who ran blackra1n and are having problems with mobilesubstrate, winterboard, diskaid, or ifunbox, you can install a custom .ipsw from PwnageTool to fix these issues. That’s because all jailbroken devices accept a custom .ipsw created by PwnageTool. (However, if you ran blackra1n on a 3G or 3GS that means you updated to stock 3.1.x, and the carrier unlock is now out of reach. We’ll continue to work on a carrier unlock for the latest basebands, but the timeframe for such an unlock is unknowable.)

Note: If you use internet tethering on a carrier that doesn’t officially support it, you’ll lose it by going to 3.1.x. Stay back at 3.0 until a hack for that is developed.

SUMMARY:

* The iPhone 3GS is now supported out of the box in PwnageTool 3.1.4 (or if you have upgraded to 3.1.x in iTunes)
* The iPod 2G is still supported in PwnageTool 3.1.4 but you must already be jailbroken (we’ll update this if there’s a big demand from non-jailbroken ipt2G owners)
* The iPod touch 3G is NOT supported

DETAILS:

1. GOLDEN RULE: If you are using a iPhone 3G or iPhone 3G(S) with ultrasn0w and rely on ultrasn0w to obtain cellular service then you should only update your device with an .ipsw that is made with the new PwnageTool. There are no second chances with this. You need to remember that PwnageTool will provide an upgrade path to newer versions of the iPhone software in the future.
2. Please read all parts of this post before downloading and using these tools.
3. Read items 1, 2 and 3 again and again.
4. At the bottom of this post are the bittorrent files for the 3.1.4 capable version of PwnageTool.
5. PwnageTool will work for the iPhone 3GS
6. PwnageTool will work for the iPod touch 2G
7. PwnageTool WILL work for Original iPhone (1st Generation), the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3G(S) and the iPod touch (1st Generation and 2nd Generation) but NOT the iPod touch 3rd generation.
8. For 3G and 3G(S) users who are Pwned, PwnageTool is your key to updating in the future, just remember to never install an update directly from Apple, always use an .ipsw that has been created with PwnageTool.
9. There is no Windows version of PwnageTool it is a Mac OS X tool only, we are not developing a Windows version of PwnageTool.

Update: geohot released a Windows jailbreak called “blackra1n” which is similar to redsn0w in that it covers multiple devices (and it covers beyond just firmware 3.0.1 where redsn0w currently stops). blackra1n is not a carrier unlock. You must always avoid updating your baseband to maintain your unlockability. If you use blackra1n to jailbreak 3.1 or 3.1.2, the steps you take before running blackra1n will prevent the unlock from working on your iPhone for potentially a very long time. By the way, we haven’t yet tested whether a blackra1n’d device can accept a custom IPSW without tweaks, but if it doesn’t then it should only require a minor change.

According to the Dev Team, you will want to hold off on up upgrading because neither PwnageTool or redsn0w work on 3.1.2. Below is what they had to say on their blog.

WARNING! At 10.20AM PDT on October 8th 2009 Apple released the 3.1.2 version (7D11) of the iPhoneOS.

If you care about your jailbreak and unlock, don’t update your device – 3G and 3G(S) owners should pay particular attention to this warning.

PwnageTool and redsn0w are not yet compatible with 3.1.2
There is no estimated release time for compatible tools (please don’t bug us about this).
Any information we have regarding this update will be posted here.
You can also follow us on twitter – @iphone_dev
@wizdaz has made a very cool DevTeam alert widget for his upcoming app called SmartScreen

Download Pwnage Tool 3.1.3 for the Mac

Details from the Dev Team:

The iPhone 3GS is now supported in PwnageTool 3.1.3, assuming the phone was pwned at 3.0 or 3.0.1 – PwnageTool does not support the 3GS out of the box. If your iPhone 3GS has 3.1 preinstalled and is not Pwned then there is no tested jailbreak solution at the moment.

The iPod 2G is now supported in PwnageTool 3.1.3, assuming the iPod 2G was pwned at 3.0 or 3.0.1 – PwnageTool does not support the iPod 2G with 3.1 software out of the box.

GOLDEN RULE: If you are using a iPhone 3G or iPhone 3G(S) with ultrasn0w and rely on ultrasn0w to obtain cellular service then you should only update your device with an .ipsw that is made with the new PwnageTool. There are no second chances with this. You need to remember that PwnageTool will provide an upgrade path to newer versions of the iPhone software in the future.
Please read all parts of this post before downloading and using these tools.
Read items 1, 2 and 3 again and again.
At the bottom of this post are the bittorrent files for the 3.1 capable version of PwnageTool.
PwnageTool will work for the iPhone 3GS assuming you have already Pwned it at 3.0 or 3.0.1
PwnageTool will work for the iPod touch 2G assuming you have already Pwned it at 3.0 or 3.0.1
PwnageTool WILL work for Original iPhone (1st Generation), the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3G(S) and the iPod touch (1st Generation and 2nd Generation) but NOT the iPod touch 3rd generation.
For 3G and 3G(S) users who are Pwned, PwnageTool is your key to updating in the future, just remember to never install an update directly from Apple, always use an .ipsw that has been created with PwnageTool.
There is no Windows version of PwnageTool it is a Mac OS X tool only, we are not developing a Windows version of PwnageTool.

Read the full release info from the Dev Team.

Description:

Today MediaPhone announced ‘SmartScreen’ an application for the iPhone and iPod touch that will allow informational widgets to be placed and used on the lock screen.

Widgets are similar to those offered by Apple’s ‘dashboard’ and they follow familiar look and feel.

The widgets can be rearranged on the lock screen by using a ‘tap and hold to move’ action that is often used by to iPhone users (when moving icons around the home screen).

The application will work on all models of iPhone and iPod touch that run OS 3.x, unfortunately due to the nature of the product it will not be available for purchase in the Apple AppStore but will be sold to customers of jailbroken phones via alternate means.

A SmartScreen SDK will be available to everyone in November 2009 but widget developers are being selected to participate in a Beta programme, if you feel you could participate and would like to produce widgets, please email dev@media-phone.ch and we will consider you early access to the programme.

Demo Video:

Remember, PwnageTool is the jailbreak that is Mac compatible. Also, PwnageTool 3.1 only works on the 1st gen iPod touch, 1st gen iPhone (iPhone 2G) and the iPhone 3G. We are still waiting for a jailbreak for the iPhone 3GS, the 2nd gen iPod touch and the 3th gen iPod touch as well as a version of the jailbreak that is PC compatible (the PC compatible version of the jailbreak is called redsn0w).

Update 2: Unlocked users on the 3G will probably notice that the name and/or logo of their carrier is missing, but they still have full bars and a signal. So far this seems to be purely a cosmetic issue and it doesn’t impact your signal or coverage. We hope to have this issue “fixed” when we release the 3GS compatible version of PwnageTool. This is very likely tied to Update #3…

Update 3: As of 3.1, the *.ipcc carrier bundles are signed, and you can no longer force tethering capability simply by crafting your own bundle. The good news is this obstacle can probably be overcome by virtue of the jailbreak. But so far that extra hack is not part of the PwnageTool custom IPSW creation.

See full article HERE.

This is the low down on our tools for use with the 3.1 firmware from Apple, please read the whole post in full before attempting anything. Because of changes with Apple’s update techniques this will be a multipart release, starting with the initial release of PwnageTool for Mac OS X – this application supports the iPhone 1st Generation (2G), The iPhone 3G and the iPod touch 1G. NB: THIS DOES NOT SUPPORT THE 3GS OR NEW IPOD TOUCH. redsn0w for Mac OS X and Windows will follow sometime in the near future, please don’t bug us about it – we’ll release when we have something ready.

1.GOLDEN RULE: If you are using a 3G iPhone with ultrasn0w and rely on ultrasn0w to obtain cellular service, then you should only upgrade to 3.1 with a PwnageTool created .ipsw. – Stay away from Apple’s direct updates as described here and here please get up to speed on the whole subject by reading the information contained in these posts.
2.If you have an original iPhone (1st generation) then 3.1 unlock works with this PwnageTool release. iPhone 3G users upgrading to 3.1 will need to continue using ultrasn0w with a PwnageTool created 3.1 .ipsw
3.Please read all parts of this post before downloading and using these tools.
4.Read items 1, 2 and 3 again and again.
5.At the bottom of this post are the bittorrent files for the 3.1 capable version of PwnageTool.
6.This app is suitable for the recent 3.1 release.
7.This version of PwnageTool will NOT work for the iPhone 3GS.
8.PwnageTool WILL work for Original iPhone (1st Generation), Original iPod touch (1st Generation) and the iPhone 3G.

Full article HERE.

However, do not update to firmware 3.1 via iTunes. We haven’t heard anything official on the 3.1 firmware update and how it affects jailbreaking and unlocking yet. We will keep an eye on the Dev-Team for more info.

Original Tweets:
“iTunes 9 plays well with already-jailbroken and unlocked devices”

“@JonathanCee @VictorBissou yep it’s safe to update iTunes if already jb/unlocked. Just don’t update iPhone firmware too!”

This week Apple will be all over the news with their announcements at Wednesday’s “Let’s Rock” event. But with so many new owners of the iPhone 3GS, and with so many new owners of the iPhone 3G (perhaps sold to them buy these new 3GS owners)…now is a good time to send out this general advisory.

If you update to Apple’s new software using the normal iTunes process, you will lose your ultrasn0w unlock. In fact you may lose it permanently, because for most people the baseband firmware cannot be reverted to a previous version (unlike the main application CPU firmware).

But don’t worry…our PwnageTool program let’s you update your main firmware without touching your baseband firmware, so you can still have the best of both worlds. But you must be diligent about saying “no” to your iTunes request this week to update your firmware.

Original Dev-Team article HERE.