hi all, thanks to everyone here for their helpful comments, especially slavakulikoff, i'm now enjoying 6.1.2 with ultrasn0w unlock, everything seems to be working great!

for anyone else like me who wants to update iphone 3GS to iOS 6.1.2, while preserving baseband for unlock, and couldn't use sn0wbreeze for some reason, i can confirm that it's also possible using only redsn0w and evasi0n, and therefore, also possible on a mac. only two hands are required :-)

please note that the only currently recommended method is to use sn0wbreeze. this is just for your information.

also, i did this only on my 3GS, and i have an official sim to use for activation. i can't say if it would work on any other model or not. don't blame me if you screw up your phone.

first:
- back up your phone. then, make a backup of the backup. really.
- for iphone 3GS, make sure baseband 05.13.04 is installed. search for tutorials if necessary.

then:
- download iOS 6.1.2 *and* 6.0 IPSW files.
- open redsn0w 0.9.15b3, and choose Extras - Custom IPSW, select iOS 6.1.2 IPSW file.
- answer "yes" to "use redsn0w's restore instead". proceed with restore.
- after restore, phone is in recovery mode (icon of usb cable and itunes).
- choose Extras - Select IPSW, select iOS 6.0 IPSW file. you should see "successfully identified".
- choose Extras - Recovery fix
- at the "prepare to enter DFU mode" screen, it's not necessary (or possible) to turn the phone off. do not press the Next button.
- hold down both the power and home keys for about ten seconds. important: as soon as you see the screen go black and the phone starts to reboot, let go of both buttons for a brief moment, then press them both again.
- continue to hold down both buttons for another ten seconds or so, until you see the recovery mode screen disappear again. then let go of the power button, and continue to hold the home button for about 30 seconds. if successful, redsn0w will automatically proceed to the next page with the recovery fix.
- connect phone to itunes and allow it to activate, then quit itunes. do not choose either "set up as new" or "restore from backup". just quit.
- download and follow directions for evasi0n jailbreak
- restore from backup in iTunes
- install ultrasn0w 1.2.8 from cydia for unlock
- enjoy!

p.s., for those without an official sim card, it may also be possible to use redsn0w to hacktivate. follow above directions, but instead of Recovery fix, choose Jailbreak, and do not install Cydia. i didn't try this, but i think it should work??

because IMEI unlock for Fido phone costs $140, is why...

ok, thanks - maybe i'll give it a try. i could put my trackpad on the floor and use my toes :-) cheers...

would you have to point it at 6.0 firmware first?

i understand that only sn0wbreeze is recommended for no-BB restore for 6.1, and that redsn0w is not updated yet to support it.

nevertheless, i was able to use redsn0w's built-in restore with baseband protection with the 6.1 firmware, it went through the process but was left in recovery mode (as it said it would be).

i only suggested something to try out, as an experiment, for someone who gets errors and no success with sn0wbreeze. probably it won't work i guess... but trying and failing is also part of the fun and education of jailbreaking, that some people enjoy! :-)

as i said, i do *not* recommend it as a solution, and i haven't actually done it myself. so take it with a grain of salt...

what everyone is telling you is to use sn0wbreeze, and only sn0wbreeze. do not use redsn0w for anything. do not even open redsn0w. use simple mode in sn0wbreeze, use sn0wbreeze (iREB) to go into pwned dfu mode, then use itunes shift-restore. did you try that?

if you did, and you got restore errors from itunes, if it makes you feel any better, you're not the only one having these problems... i also tried to use sn0wbreeze, putting it in pwned dfu mode to restore the custom fw, but got errors from itunes during restore. unfortunately this forum isn't the best place to ask for help with sn0wbreeze though, i mean, the people are super helpful but their product is redsn0w, not sn0wbreeze.

then i also tried to use redsn0w to go into pwned dfu, to restore sn0wbreeze's custom ipsw, but also got errors during itunes restore. in the end i gave up and restored back to 5.1.1 with redsn0w, and that was no problem, but a lot of time wasted...

so, sorry, don't know what to suggest, if you (and i) are doing something wrong, it's not something obvious. i've some experience with jailbreaking and i think i followed all the directions and got it properly into pwned dfu mode and so on. during the itunes restore, i saw the sn0wbreeze "snowflake" on the screen, so it must have been correct.

something i thought about trying when i have more time, is to do stock 6.1 firmware restore with redsn0w, using redsn0w's built-in restore feature with baseband protection. actually i tried that already and it seemed to work, but it leaves the phone in recovery mode, and if you try to use recovery fix, redsn0w says this version of ios is not recognized. but i think you could maybe then point redsn0w at the 6.0 firmware, and do recovery fix, that i didn't try yet.

if it works, you should then be on stock 6.1 with preserved baseband, and be able to jailbreak with evasi0n. (but note if you don't have access to an official sim, you'd need to search for a method to hacktivate...)

i don't really recommend doing this, but if you're desperate and/or enjoy experimenting with your phone, you could give it a try.

good luck!

slavakulikoff and dhlizard already told you: you can unlock your phone with ultrasn0w. but you have to downgrade baseband to 5.13.04 because 5.16.08 is not supported and never will be.

use redsn0w, first put on ipad baseband (6.15.00), then downgrade to 5.13.04. that's just the way it works. your phone will not be bricked. but it's better to buy IMEI unlock, if you can.

ok, so you're saying redsn0w can do built-in restore to 6.1 with baseband preservation, and then jailbreak 6.1 by pointing to 6.0 ipsw? but then how do i get to the untethered jailbreak? i can run evasi0n on top of redsn0w jailbreak? or install evasi0n from cydia?

it took me half the day just to go back to 5.1.1 and restore all my cydia tweaks, hoping to avoid doing that again! maybe better that i just wait for new redsn0w? thanks...

actually i'm just interested in slavakulikoff's comment that he knows redsn0w can do a 6.1 update with preserving baseband, everything else i heard said it's not possible, so i'd like to know the method...

rpieramai, thanks for your suggestions to use sn0wbreeze, but i already tried them all. iTunes fails to restore sn0wbreeze's custom IPSW (error 1601 or 21), while restoring with redsn0w leaves the phone in recovery mode and can't fix it.

wait, maybe i'm supposed to just go ahead with the evasi0n jailbreak after baseband-protected 6.1 restore from redsn0w, even though it's in recovery mode? i don't think i tried that...

@slavakulikoff, i'm confused by this, you know for sure it works?? - when i tried to make a custom 6.1 FW, redsn0w just gave this error:

"Come back soon - redsn0w will be updated for "Custom" IPSW support of FW 6.x in the near future!"

...and when i tried to do it with redsn0w's built-in restore, it seemed to work, but left the phone stuck in recovery mode (like it said it would), but then the recovery fix doesn't work because it says it doesn't work with this version...

is there really a way to do it with redsn0w? i don't need hacktivation, and i just can't seem to get sn0wbreeze to work at all...