How To Unlock iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS iOS 5 Firmware? Preserve Baseband First

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We have already told you how to jailbreak iOS 5 firmware which was finally released yesterday, and now most of our readers are asking how to unlock iOS 5 firmware. Well before you can unlock iOS 5, you need to preserve baseband and then upgrade to iOS 5.

Today the iPhone Dev Team released redsn0w 0.9.9b5 for Mac and a Windows version will be released later in the evening. This new redsn0w update comes with one essential feature that was previously only exclusive to the pwnagetool jailbreak tool for Mac. The baseband preservation feature allows you to preserve baseband before upgrading to a newer firmware that can cause you to lose software unlock on your iPhone.

As of now, the iPhone Dev Team has not released a new ultrasn0w update with compatibility for iOS 5, however yesterday MuscleNerd said that the update will be coming soon. Most of you are anxious get iOS 5 on your iOS devices, however if you rely on a software unlock for your iPhone, upgrading to it will upgrade your baseband and you will lose the unlock. So if you want to know how to unlock iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS on iOS 5, you first have to get your device ready for it, and to do that you first have to upgrade your device to iOS 5 without upgrading the baseband.

How To Preserve Baseband For iOS 5 Unlock:

Step 1: Download iOS 5 firmware for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch

Step 2: Download iTunes 10.5 final for Windows and Mac

Step 3: Download redsn0w 0.9.9b5 for Mac (windows version coming soon)

Step 4: Launch redsn0w and click on Extras followed by Custom IPSW. The select the iOS 5 IPSW that you previously downloaded

Step 5: Redsn0w now begins building custom firmware. Once it finishes, click on Pwned DFU in redsn0w.

Step 6: Follow the steps to put your device in DFU mode and from there, redsn0w takes over automatically and puts your device in Pwned DFU mode.

  • Press Power button for three seconds
  • Press and hold Home + Power button for 10 seconds
  • Release Power button but keep holding Home button for up to 10 seconds

Once your device is in Pwned DFU mode, the screen should be totally blank, exit redsn0w and launch iTunes. It will automatically detect and prompt you that your device is in recovery mode.

Step 7: Press and hold the alt key then click on Restore. Now select the custom firmware that was made earlier in this tutorial. Remember, you have to select the NO_BB iOS 5 firmware file and the not the stock one because that would just upgrade your baseband.

Step 8: After selecting the correct NO_BB iOS 5 firmware file, click on Ok and iTunes will begin restoring iOS 5 on your device. The process is automated from here on out so just sit back and relax.

When the process is finished, your device will be running iOS 5 firmware with unlockable baseband preserved. Do keep in mind that this procedure won't jailbreak iOS 5 firmware on your device, it will just preserve the baseband. If you want to learn how to jailbreak iOS 5 firmware, simply follow this guide. You'll need the jailbreak for iOS 5 unlock.

As soon as ultrasn0w update is released, we'll post a full tutorial on how to unlock iOS 5 but for now, make sure you follow the procedure mentioned above to preserve unlockable baseband. If you have any questions leave a comment down below and we will help you out.

  • Julia

    i have an iphone 4 (not 4s) with 4.3.5 firmware on it, and have been waiting for the ios5 release. the phone has never been jailbroken or unlocked previously..do i have to preserve my baseband anyhow?

  • Kzhimel

    When Redsnow Will Release For Windows?? Can’t Wait…

  • Zak_attack

    I did all the steps but when i do restore with Itunes using NO_BB it says on itunes “preparing iphone for restore” but nothing happens!What shall i do please help

    • http://www.iphoneism.com Lota Man

      Download latest redsn0w release.
      Sent from my BlackBerry® Smartphone provided by Ufone

      • Zak_attack

        which one would that be?

        • http://www.iphoneism.com Lota Man

          Redsn0w 0.9.9b7. Check our home page for link.
          Sent from my BlackBerry® Smartphone provided by Ufone

  • Zak_attack

    And than it gives an unknown error 1604 after sometime when it could not restore!!

  • Emrys

    Will this procedure also work with iOS 5.0.1?

    • http://www.iphoneism.com Lota Man

      Yes
      Sent from my BlackBerry® Smartphone provided by Ufone

  • Muerte11

    i am trying to unlock a iphone 3gs firmware 5.0.1 baseband 06.15.00-6.4-m3s2. when i go to step 7 i don’t get the option to select the custom firmware after I press Alt and restore. Am I doing something wrong?

    • http://www.iphoneism.com Lota Man

      Pressing alt plus restore in iTunes?
      Sent from my BlackBerry® Smartphone provided by Ufone

      • Muerte11

        yes

        • http://www.iphoneism.com Lota Man

          Is your iPhone 3GS running iOS 5.0.1 with 06.15.00 ?

        • Muerte11

          3gs firmware 5.0.1 baseband 06.15.00-6.4-m3s2

          • http://www.iphoneism.com Lota Man

            Then simply jailbreak it and install ultrasn0w 1.2.5 from Cydia. You don’t need to restore it again.

      • Muerte11

        I have a 3GS. used resn0w to jailbreak. installed ultrasn0w to unlock but I get Searching… when I get my tmobile SIM card in. Added Corona too and still the cannot find tmobiles network. firmware 5.0.1 baseband 06.15.00-6.4-m3s2.
        Any suggestions?

  • Muerte11

    I have a 3GS. used resn0w to jailbreak. installed ultrasn0w to unlock but I get Searching… when I get my tmobile SIM card in. Added Corona too and still the cannot find tmobiles network. firmware 5.0.1 baseband 06.15.00-6.4-m3s2.
    Any suggestions?

  • guest

    when i am updating to ios 5 iam always error 10…can somebody help me?

  • guest

    when i am updating to ios 5 i am always getting error 10! Currently i am on ios 4.1 with 06.15.00 is it possible to update to ios 5?

    • http://www.iphoneism.com Lota Man

      Yes it is possible.
      Sent from my BlackBerry® Smartphone provided by Ufone

      • guest

        can you please tell me how?