New Version of Redsn0w Updates iOS 5 Jailbreak

Apple has released the golden master (GM) version of iOS 5 to developers in preparation for the public launch next week. As usual, the iPhone Dev-Team is constantly working to improve the redsn0w jailbreak tool and now has released redsn0w 0.9.9 beta 3 for Mac and 0.9.9 beta 3a for Windows. The latest version of redsn0w can jailbreak iOS 5 GM on all devices except for the iPad 2.

Of course, the current iOS 5 jailbreak is a tethered jailbreak for most devices, meaning the iPhone must be connected to your computer when booting. If the device is rebooted without using redsn0w then iOS 5 will load up in a normal state without any jailbroken apps available (except for the iPhone 3GS using an old bootrom). As developers already know, iTunes 10.5 beta 7 is required to install iOS 5 GM.

When it comes to redsn0w 0.9.9 beta 3, the installation files can be downloaded directly from the Dev-Team Blog. The team has been adding tools to redsn0w over the past few updates to enhance the jailbreaking experience and make it possible to do more with the software. Besides bug fixes and general enhancements, redsn0w now has these features:

- Uses DFU mode to auto-detect hardware and firmware version (including iOS 5 GM)
- "Just boot" is a tethered boot. Uses whatever “Preferences” you’ve set for boot logo and kernel boot-args
- “Pwned DFU” puts your device in a pwned DFU state for iTunes
- “Recovery fix” gets past 1015 types of errors (when baseband portion of restore fails)
- “Select IPSW” is for picking non-public IPSWs, or overriding auto-detection

There are also a variety of options that help with SHSH blobs, which are needed to downgrade your iPhone to a selected earlier version of iOS firmware:

- “Fetch” - fetch current PARTIAL blobs on device. Should complete in under 10 or 15 seconds. Puts the set of PARTIAL of blobs on your computer as a plist. Checks if Cydia already has a full set for this device and build
- “Verify” - cryptographically verifies existing blob files from either redsn0w, TinyUmbrella, or Cydia server. You can select a whole bunch of blobs to verify at once if you want (like the TinyUmbrella directory)
- “Submit” - both verifies and submits one or more blob files to Cydia. This lets you copy your entire TinyUmbrella cache of blobs up to the Cydia server
- “Query” - queries the Cydia server for all available FULL or PARTIAL blobs for a given set of ECIDs
- “Stitch” - stitches either FULL or PARTIAL blobs to a STOCK or CUSTOM IPSW

SHSH stitching is a powerful tool located under "Extras" in redsn0w that creates a self-contained firmware file including SHSH blobs. This tricks iTunes into downgrading to the firmware every time, without having to deal with multiple files or using additional software. Dev-Team is working on support for SHSH blob stitching on iPhones, however right now it only works with the iPod touch.

Last but not least for Windows users, redsn0w.exe can now be copied or renamed to a new filename with the word "boot" in it for quick tethered booting. When the renamed program runs it will automatically launch in "Just boot" mode. Dev-Team continues to work on improving the iOS 5 jailbreak and making redsn0w even better with each release.