RedSn0w 0.9.14b1: Downgrade iPhone Baseband 06.15.00 To 05.13.04 & Unlock With Ultrasn0w

Recently, Dev-Team’s @MuscleNerd spoke at the Hack in the Box (HITB) conference in Amsterdam about the history of iPhone’s baseband. Yesterday, he also teased those looking for a 06.15.00 baseband downgrade with a tweet saying that the team will be bringing a downgrade option soon and as promised, RedSn0w 0.9.14b1 has been released with the ability to downgrade iPhone 3G / 3GS baseband 06.15.00 to 05.13.04 which can easily be unlocked using the latest ultrasn0w. Best of all, unlockers will retain full GPS capabilities and the ability to use stock IPSWs again.

Below are the details from the official blog post:

The iPhone Dev Team is happy to announce a baseband downgrade option in redsn0w for those who are using the iPad’s 06.15 baseband on the iPhone3G or iPhone3GS.

Typically you’d have the 06.15 baseband if you unlock with ultrasn0w but updated your iPhone baseband past 05.13.04.  With this new capability, you can now downgrade specifically from 06.15 to 05.13.04 (even if you never had 05.13.04 on that device before).  This gives you the best of both worlds: ultrasn0w compatibility and a normal iPhone baseband with full GPS and the ability to use stock IPSWs again.

Here are the steps:

1. Use the “Extras->Select IPSW” button in redsn0w to tell it which firmware version you have installed (new-bootrom 3GS users can usually skip this step but it doesn’t hurt for them to do it too).
2. Do a controlled shutdown of your iPhone (“slide to power off”).  This step is very important to avoid mount problems when the ramdisk is running!
3. Go back to the first screen and click “Jailbreak”.  Enable the “Downgrade from iPad baseband” checkbox, disable Cydia if you already have it installed, and click Next to proceed through the normal DFU ramdisk steps.

After the ramdisk gets launched and you see the Pwnapple running on your iPhone, you’ll eventually get to the “Flashing Baseband” step.  THIS STEP TAKES A VERY LONG TIME to complete and there won’t be any feedback while its running.  Please just let it be for the next 3-8 minutes!  When the ramdisk has done its job it will reboot the phone on its own.

For those who are wondering if you can update your 3G or 3GS to 06.15 solely for the purposes of downgrading to 05.13.04, the answer is “yes” for 3G owners, and “maybe” for 3GS owners.  The iPad baseband is not compatible with 3GS units manufactured week 34 of 2011 or later.  If you have an iPhone3GS and if digits 3-5 of its Serial Number are 134 or later (xx134…), then you should NOT try to install the 06.15 baseband on your 3GS!  It will brick your radio, preventing both the downgrade from working and normal iPhone software from using it as a phone!  Be warned!

Thanks very much to @dilbert4life for graciously loaning us his 3GS at 06.15 (we had no such devices because we always prevent BB updates!)

Update #1: If you’re still using ultrasn0w after going down to 05.13.04, many people have reported that re-installing Mobile Substrate and/or ultrasn0w fixes crashes and “No Signal”.

Here are the official download links

• Download Redsn0w 0.9.14b1 (OS X)
• Download Redsn0w 0.9.14b1 (Windows — run in Administrator Mode)