How to Save Your iPhone, iPad SHSH Files With Firmware Umbrella

by iPhoneHeat on Apr 6, 2010

Apple is highly likely to push an iPhone firmware update anytime now. So, it’s time to save ECID SHSH on file to secure your jailbreak. It’s important because when Apple pushes a new firmware, they stop signing the older firmwares and without a valid signature you cannot restore older firmware then.

Once someone updates his iPhone 3GS, iPad, iPod Touch 3G, and iTouch 2G MC to latest firmware without saving SHSH on file they not only lose their jailbreak but also the ability of downgrading to the older firmware. But if you have ECID SHSH saved for an older firmware, you’ll always be able to restore back to that firmware and then jailbreak your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch.

Note: This guide is important for iPad, iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch 3G and iPod Touch 2G (MC) owners. iPhone 3G and 2G users are free of this headache.

How to Save iPhone SHSH Files

If you’ve a jailbroken iDevice, there’s a simple way to save SHSH files. But for those with a brand new device need to follow other steps.. We are going to write instruction for both..

1. If you’re already Jailbroken:

Now that you’ve a jailbroken iPhone or iPod Touch; Launch the Cydia. Check if there’s any mention of “this device has SHSHs on file for iPhone OS: 3.0, 3.1, 3.1.2, 3.1.3” at the top of the Cydia home screen. If there is, then you don’t have anything to do. You may not have saved all SHSH on file but it’s Ok to have the latest one. Current latest firmware version is 3.1.3, so make sure you have that one mentioned there. Checkout the screenshot:

If you already have saved your SHSH on Saurik server you need not to repeat the process every time. If there’s nothing mentioned at the top of the Cydia home screen, Scroll down the Cydia Home Page and look for “make my life easier” and tap on it. This will automatically save your ECID SHSH on Saurik’s server. To confirm, simply close and re-open the Cydia and see if there’s a mention at the top now!

That’s it, you don’t need to do this for each new firmwares, Cydia will automatically save ECID SHSH of future firmware for you.

ADVICE: Never jump to grab the latest firmware unless Dev-Team releases a jailbreak tool for the latest firmware..

2. For Both Jailbroken and Not Jailbroken Devices

If you’ve a new iPhone or afraid of jailbreaking it at the moment and just want to see if jailbreak tool really works for others, it’s highly recommended to save your ECID SHSH on file asap. The current firmware version is 3.1.3 and for iPad it’s 3.2 but Apple is expected to release a firmware update anytime now so, grab your ECID SHSH before it’s too late. You can save SHSH Signature files even if you’re not Jailbroken.

Follow the steps below to grab ECID SHSH on file for a jailbreak free device:

NOTE: You can save ECID SHSH on file only for that firmware version that Apple still signs, currently it’s 3.1.3 for iPhone and iTouch, for iPad it’s 3.2. It is very important to keep doing this for every firmware version that comes out after these!! But If you jailbreak your iPhone at any point in future, simply follow the jailbroken device steps mentioned above and leave the rest to Saurik.

STEP 1

Get your iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad ECID using the following guide:

How to: check iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch ECID

STEP 2

Windows Users:

Go to start Menu and search for notepad. Run it as administrator.

This will open up the Notepad.exe. Now go to File Menu > Open and browse to the following directory: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc

$C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc$

Select the Hosts file from that directory. (Make sure you have chosen to show all files. See the screenshots below.)

Remove any line which contains gs.apple.com, remove it or comment it out by adding # in front of that line then save the file and exit.

Mac Users:

Run the Terminal app from Applications > Utilities and input the following command and hit the enter key:

sudo /Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit /etc/hosts

If asked, input your admin password.

TextEdit will open the Hosts file. Remove any line which contains gs.apple.com, remove it or comment it out by adding # in front of that line then save the file and exit.

STEP 3

Download the firmware Umbrella from here.
Windows users need Java Runtime Environment installed. Download Java runtime environment from here and install it before proceeding.

STEP 4

Run the downloaded firmware umbrella (both Windows and Mac version available in download)

STEP 5

Enter your ECID (that you obtained in the STEP 1)
Select your device. iPhone 3GS or iPad or iPod Touch
Select SHSH Repository:
- Select Apple from the dropdown if you just want to ping Apple for your SHSH and save it locally.
- Select Saurik – Cydia from the dropdown if you want to check Cydia for your SHSH and if Cydia doesn’t have it, it will be stored there.
Hit the Submit button.

While downloading the SHSH’s it will freeze for a minute or two and would seem like it’s not responding, don’t panic, it’s normal and soon enough the SHSH saved! message will appear at the status bar of the Umbrella Window. Your iPhone SHSH will be downloaded and saved in the same folder as Umbrella is. The file size will be around 64kb. That’s it…

Update 1: iH8Sn0w releases AutoSHSH to save SHSH blobs for iPad, iPhone and iTouch with a single click. Download AutoSHSH from here and follow the steps by step guide here.

Update 2: AutoSHSH RC2 is out now. Download it from here.

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