“Today, a new iPhone OS, 3.0 has been released. This is obviously a big and long waited for update for all iPhone users. And we believe, it is about time to officially announce that we are discontinuing support of Installer platform for iPhone and iPod touch.

Over past 1.5 years when we were involved in the Installer project (first in 3.x versions, then in 4.x), a lot of things has happened and we believe it’s time to unify the installation platform for the iPhone — and clearly, over the past year this is DPKG, thanks to tremendous effort of Jay Freeman and his Cydia. We have also dropped our two cents by providing our own themeable and lightweight DPKG installer tool, named Icy.

So now you have a choice, which tool to use — and no matter what you choose, it will be compatible with each other. We obviously cannot speak for Jay, but we will do our best to make sure two products play nicely together.

The Installer 4 repositories we manage will be running until July 1st, 2009, then they will be discontinued and brought offline. So if you wanted to get something that is only available in the Installer — this is the time to do so.

We would like to take the opportunity and say “thank you” to everyone who has contributed and supported Installer project in any way. You rock.”

I honestly haven’t used Installer for quite some time so this doesn’t come as too much of a surprise to me but, I know that a few of you still use it. It does make me a little sad because Installer is what started it all back in the day. The very first article we ever wrote on this site, on September 19, 2007, was about Installer. *tear

Let me know in the comments how you feel about this.

You can check out Ripdev’s original post HERE.

Now a few things about this app that honestly, really bother me.

#1 Apple released an update (10.5.6 firmware upgrade on December 15, 2008) that changed the kernels for the USB drivers which disabled the DFU (Device Firmware Update) for the iPhone. InstallerApp was written for the OS X 10.5.5. What’s the issue? Well, in the words of one of RipDev’s people, “your iPhone was unsuccessful in getting into DFU mode that is required to install InstallerApp support files on the iPhone. It also means that you might be running either on 10.5.6, or have one of those unibody MacBooks. Apple has changed some system files in the 10.5.6 that prevent iPhones from getting into DFU mode (not always) and that’s where the most people have some issues.

This is my issue…Patch it yourself and not wait until 10.5.7 so “it could be fixed.” People are paying for this app; you fix it!

In an email from RipDev, they say:

Unfortunately in our case it’s not a matter of patching our application to work around the issue Apple has created with 10.5.6 update — believe me, we did our best to make is as easy as possibly. However this bug in Mac OS X often prevents people from getting into DFU mode successfully and that’s the pain in the butt for many.

#2 (in relation to #1) If you are a Mac user running OS X, you are probably already running 10.5.6 because it was released on December 15, 2008. That is almost 4 months ago. That’s like building an app for XP service pack 1 when XP service pack 3 has already been released and you hope that by service pack 4 the other guys have fixed your problem. It doesn’t work that way! Sorry! Plus I struggle with thinking this is a “bug” with OS X 10.5.6. It could very well be but this is a way to shut down the jailbreaking of the iPhone!

With that said however, this Desktop App has some real possibilities at being something very big. Here is what you need to use InstallerApp on the computer and iPhone:

1. Mac (with Intel processor) and operating system Mac OS X 10.5 or later (10.5.5 recommended)
2. An Internet connection for your computer
3. iPhone or iPhone 3G with Software version 2.1 or later (iPod touch currently is not supported)
4. InstallerApp 1.0 or later, available at: www.ripdev.com/installerapp
5. External Power USB Hub (not power by your Mac such as the dock your iPhone came with) connected to the Mac
6. InstallerApp Owner’s Manual

The installation of InstallerApp is quite simple. Please listen to me on this one. IF YOU DO NOT TROUBLE SHOOT FROM THE FOLLOWING IDEAS EXPECT A LONG AND FRUSTRATING INSTALLATION.

Those running OS X 10.5.5 and 10.5.6, jailbroke iPhone*Easiest Way*
1. Download the app from the link above.
2. Unzip it and drop it into your applications folder.
3. Click on the app and register your app by going to InstallerApp–>Purchase License (if you haven’t)/Enter License (if you have purchased a license)–>Enter License # (this will give you options for 3 iPhones)–>Shut Down InstallerApp
4. Open Installer on your iPhone–>Search–>InstallerApp Package (starred)–>Install
5. Open InstallerApp on your Mac.
6. You will have a box that says “To install and synchronize applications between your Mac and iPhone, additional software must be installed on the iPhone.” Cancel this and at the bottom of the InstallerApp you will see “iPhone Status”. It should say “Registered (…)” if it is a registered iPhone. Otherwise it will say “Connected”. You will need to register your iPhone in order to use InstallerApp for Mac.
7. Now, at the bottom, sync your iPhone with InstallerApp. This will back up all of Cydia and Installer sources, applications, and mods.

Those running OS X 10.5.5 and 10.5.6, non-jailbroke iPhone*Lucky you don’t have to go through what I went though?*

I am going to give you the easiest way to do this. Things to know:
• If you are running 10.5.5 (not sure why you would be at this point and if you are, you obviously don’t have internet and are not reading this post), you’re golden.
• If you are running 10.5.6, hold on. Your in for a ride!
• As stated earlier, (according to RipDev) there is a “bug” in the 10.5.6 upgrade that causes your iPhone to not go into DFU (Device Firmware Update) Mode. This is were iTunes recognizes the iPhone and then loads. After upgrading in December you may have noticed that iTunes will no longer open when you plug in your iPhone but will recognize it when you manually start iTunes. This “bug” is the reason why.
• Because of this “bug”, you are not going to be able to go through the initial set up for InstallerApp without a few things.
• You need to replace the 10.5.6 USB drivers with the 10.5.5 USB drivers. You can find a special “DFU enabler” utility on the internet that replaces USB drivers from 10.5.6 with the same files from 10.5.5 where everything was fine. Unless you know what your doing, DO NOT DO THIS!! You can read around the internet and find some people who have seriously screwed up their Macs (loss of keyboard, trackpad, and usb functions).
• I suggest getting an external powered (not powered by your Mac) USB Hub (like this). This will automatically set your iPhone into DFU Mode and you can proceed from there.

Now…
1. Download the app from the link above
2. Unzip it and drop it into your applications folder.
3. Click on the app and register your app by going to InstallerApp–>Purchase License (if you haven’t)/Enter License (if you have purchased a license)–>Enter License # (this will give you options for 3 iPhones)
4. Connect iPhone to your computer.
5. The alert will appear that will offer you to install supporting files on the iPhone so InstallerApp will be able to communicate with your iPhone. You can also launch “Push” procedure in menu “Window” > “Pusher” at any moment.
6. Close “iTunes” (if it opens).
7. Click “Push” button to start installation. Follow on-screen instructions.
8. Turn iPhone off. To do so press and hold the “Lock” button on the top of your iPhone for a few seconds until a red slider appears on a screen, and then drag the slider.
9. Press and hold both “Lock” and “Home” buttons for ten seconds, then release the “Lock” button while continuing to hold the “Home” button until the InstallerApp logo appears on the iPhone screen. If the iPhone’s screen is black or white while the application is saying “Installing Applications”, it means that your iPhone was unsuccessful in getting into DFU mode that is required to install InstallerApp support files on the iPhone. iPhone will automatically restart when installation is over. You will see the Apple logo.

Now you should be set to start downloading apps to your iPhone. For instructions on how to do that, click here.

Good luck and let us know how your experience goes with this.

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