Unlocking US iPhone With HK Software?
Aug 16, 2009 | 10:26 pm
#1
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Unlocking US iPhone With HK Software?
Since the iPhone is sold unlocked in Hong Kong, I'm wondering if it's technically possible to get a US iPhone and then 'reflash it' with the HK software, thus unlocking it without the clumsiness of jail breaking and such.
If so, I wonder how to get my hands on a copy of the HK ROM/software for the iPhone
If so, I wonder how to get my hands on a copy of the HK ROM/software for the iPhone
Aug 16, 2009 | 11:03 pm
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Aug 17, 2009 | 2:20 am
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The unlock is not based on software at all - all the iphones in the world have the same software set, as far as I'm aware. There is no separate software for any particular region.
It's done based on IMEI numbers that are sold in the "unlocked" countries and entered into a database as being "unlocked". I don't think there's a way of hacking that system...
It's done based on IMEI numbers that are sold in the "unlocked" countries and entered into a database as being "unlocked". I don't think there's a way of hacking that system...
Aug 17, 2009 | 7:34 am
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Since the iPhone is sold unlocked in Hong Kong, I'm wondering if it's technically possible to get a US iPhone and then 'reflash it' with the HK software, thus unlocking it without the clumsiness of jail breaking and such.
If so, I wonder how to get my hands on a copy of the HK ROM/software for the iPhone
If so, I wonder how to get my hands on a copy of the HK ROM/software for the iPhone
The unlocking scene is immensely complicated, and the developers behind unlocking solutions put a ton of effort into exploiting any tiny hole they can find.
Also, there is no such thing as "HK Software", the iPhone firmware is not like firmware on other phones, and there is no localized version that is unlocked.
There are ways to unlock the iPhone, just head to Google and pick the links from the iPhone Dev team.
Aug 17, 2009 | 9:04 am
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I found the technical reason on Howard Forums - http://theiphonewiki.com/wiki/index....nlocked_Phones
So apparently Apple has a hidden data sector on the phone with an encrypted flag that handles the carrier lock/unlock. I'm surprised someone hasn't paid an Apple engineer to sneak out the crack for the encryption so a fix can be posted.
So apparently Apple has a hidden data sector on the phone with an encrypted flag that handles the carrier lock/unlock. I'm surprised someone hasn't paid an Apple engineer to sneak out the crack for the encryption so a fix can be posted.
Aug 17, 2009 | 10:21 pm
#8
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Those dev team folks are very clever, Stephen. Thanks for posting that link.
-David
Aug 18, 2009 | 11:38 am
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Aug 18, 2009 | 11:44 am
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Aug 18, 2009 | 11:55 am
#11
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Unusual battery depletion is almost always caused by people choosing to Restore from backup instead of Setup as new iPhone when iTunes asks you. This isnt caused by either the jailbreak or the unlock, but its a common 3.0 snafu. The fix is to just re-run the official 3.0 restore and choose Setup as new this time. Your music and apps and all that will still be synced, but youll get rid of any conflicting wifi, bluetooth, or carrier settings. Then just re-run redsn0w and install ultrasn0w.
Aug 18, 2009 | 12:18 pm
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