Jailbroken iPhone Warnings for January 27, 2009

So far, since Jailbreaking my iPhone many moons ago, I have run into very few problems with my choice to do so. I don't miss the original firmware and it turns out I have, not one, but two apps that provide the coveted "cut & paste" function that Apple idiotically left out of their Jesus-phone. Likewise since I unlocked my iPhone back on January 1, 2009. I did have a few bumps finding an alternative data plan from AT&T's, but I'm happy with T-Mobile now and spending about $20 less a month than I was with AT&T is pretty cool. All this said, I've recently come across a couple of problems with the Jailbroken, unlocked iPhone that I think my fellow JBUiPhone-users should know about:

1) iPhone dev-team member MuscleNerd Twittered just today about the possibility of silent update that plugs the hole yellowsn0w unlock uses to get in. MuscleNerd also says: "definitely don't update to 2.2.1_5H11 if you want to retain soft unlock / yellowsn0w :)" So hold off on any updates to your iPhone's firmware until further notice. Check out http://blog.iphone-dev.org for that further notice. Personally, I'll never update the FW on my iPhone just cuz.

But don't assume you are safe to update your Mac's OS if you have a JBUed iPhone:

2) My fellow XO laptop owner friend Donna posted a comment to my last iPhone-related post about an issue where updating your Mac OS after JBing your iPhone may lock-up said Mac. She links to a Gizmodo story that informs us that we should:

Be careful with that latest QuickTime update if you have run any "DFU fix" Automator scripts on your unibody (Late 2008) MacBook or MacBook Pro. Do not upgrade to QuickTime 7.6 until you've repaired the alterations that the script made to your system. UPDATE: I am learning from commenters that this is not just limited to unibody Late '08 MacBooks, but it applies to ALL MacBooks running 10.5.6.

Seems if you've got a Mac running 10.5.6 and want to JB your phone, you may be stuck. Lucky for me, I'm still running 10.5.5 and see no reason to update. I'm also running Quicktime 7.5.5 so I'm covered there, too. In fact, after reading this, I think I'll just stay away from updating iTunes, too.

Thanks for the heads-up, Donna!

3) Finally, I'd like to point something out that I noticed myself just last night. I updated the JB app Backgrounder to the latest version (I think it's svn.r125) and ran into weird trouble. What Backgrounder does is allow apps to run in the background so you can surf the web or read email while you're waiting for a pal on your IM buddylist to reply to your instant message. It's a great app, but after I updated to the latest version last night, I found that I suddenly couldn't open any apps without locking the screen first. So, I'd tap the "email" app icon and it would just gray-out a bit. I'd have to press and hold the power button until it asked if I wanted to power-off. Then I tap "cancel", then hit the home button and unlock the screen and finally, I see the email app. This is the same for any app I try to open. Once I uninstalled Backgrounder, everything runs as it should. Sadly, I don't have Backgrounder anymore and it was a very handy app, to have. :(

So, there you have it! Be warned! Don't update ANYthing (firmware, OS, or even your apps) unless there is obviously a problem with them. I suppose if you really feel compelled to update, do your research first to make sure the updates are safe.

Don't be a good little Apple consumer and eat whatever they put on your plate. Sometimes it's bad for you.

---

Orignal From: Jailbroken iPhone Warnings for January 27, 2009