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brianfrescas

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 7, 2016
3
1
I'm on iOS 8.3 at the moment and I would like to restore my phone, but keep the same firmware, 8.3. Is there any way I can do this? I would really like to wipe everything clean and start fresh, but keep my current jailbreak at 8.3 if possible.

Alternatively, if there is a more current iOS I can update to and still jailbreak, if anyone could point me in the right direction it would be appreciated. I haven't looked much into iOS 9 jailbreaks so I don't know if I should just restore and update to 9.2, or wait. Thanks.
 

HankHowdy

macrumors 68040
Dec 2, 2012
3,501
392
Victorville CA
I'm on iOS 8.3 at the moment and I would like to restore my phone, but keep the same firmware, 8.3. Is there any way I can do this? I would really like to wipe everything clean and start fresh, but keep my current jailbreak at 8.3 if possible.

Alternatively, if there is a more current iOS I can update to and still jailbreak, if anyone could point me in the right direction it would be appreciated. I haven't looked much into iOS 9 jailbreaks so I don't know if I should just restore and update to 9.2, or wait. Thanks.


There isn't a way to restore to the same firmware when it's no longer signed.

What you can do it jailbreak it on 8.3 and use Cydia Impactor to restore the phone. It's the same as restoring with iTunes, since it wipes the phone and installs a fresh version of 8.3 via OTA. This will also remove the jailbreak. You can jailbreak again if you want.

I have done this before when I was on iOS 8. Worked great.
 
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StarkCity

macrumors 6502a
Sep 11, 2013
560
477
California
No, it isn't possible to retain your jailbreak and restore to a version no longer being signed. It will force you to the current version. So stay jailbroken on 8.3.... For sure. I'm not positive on all methods, but there are various ways to 'clean up' the device and remain jailbroken with various tweaks like iCleaner..... iLex RAT used to do what you want.... But I don't think it updated past iOS 7 .... Stay there until the new JB man .... It's coming soon
 

HankHowdy

macrumors 68040
Dec 2, 2012
3,501
392
Victorville CA
No, it isn't possible to retain your jailbreak and restore to a version no longer being signed. It will force you to the current version. So stay jailbroken on 8.3.... For sure. I'm not positive on all methods, but there are various ways to 'clean up' the device and remain jailbroken with various tweaks like iCleaner..... iLex RAT used to do what you want.... But I don't think it updated past iOS 7 .... Stay there until the new JB man .... It's coming soon

With Cydia Impactor you can restore to your current iOS 8 version and jailbreak again.

Great tool. It's not working on iOS 9 too great yet.
 
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StarkCity

macrumors 6502a
Sep 11, 2013
560
477
California
With Cydia Impactor you can restore to your current iOS 8 version and jailbreak again.

Great tool. It's not working on iOS 9 too great yet.

I didn't mention it because I didn't think it worked for anyone back on 8.3..... That, and I used it twice and it bricked my 5s into having to restore it and lose my jailbreak on my 5s
 

HankHowdy

macrumors 68040
Dec 2, 2012
3,501
392
Victorville CA
I didn't mention it because I didn't think it worked for anyone back on 8.3..... That, and I used it twice and it bricked my 5s into having to restore it and lose my jailbreak on my 5s


Strange, Cydia Impactor has a decent track record on iOS 8 devices that were not updated OTA.

On iOS 9 it's very iffy.
 

StarkCity

macrumors 6502a
Sep 11, 2013
560
477
California
With Cydia Impactor you can restore to your current iOS 8 version and jailbreak again.

Great tool. It's not working on iOS 9 too great yet.

Agreed, after looking it up it does claim 8.1+ so that's your best bet. I had bad luck with it though.... Probably because my dumb ass used it while on iOS 9 without even reading the first few lines in the description until now.

Edit: I used it before it worked on 9, apparently
 

HankHowdy

macrumors 68040
Dec 2, 2012
3,501
392
Victorville CA
Agreed, after looking it up it does claim 8.1+ so that's your best bet. I had bad luck with it though.... Probably because my dumb ass used it while on iOS 9 without even reading the first few lines in the description until now.


I did the same thing, I used a beta version for iOS 9 and I lost my jailbreak on my old 5S. I picked up a 6S Plus couple weeks ago and it came with 9.1, so I'm still waiting.
 
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brianfrescas

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 7, 2016
3
1
Alright, bummer. Sounds like I should stay put, thanks for the replies.

Main reason for wanting to wipe clean, my phone is getting pretty unstable, crashing pretty often. Admittedly I got a little careless with how many tweaks I installed, so I'm not surprised. Most annoyingly, Siri can no longer find my location. I already went through and checked if any tweaks were causing the problem, eventually getting rid of most, but no luck fixing the issue, so I figured I would just restore if possible. But! No major problems, so I'll sit tight for now. Thanks again.
 

StarkCity

macrumors 6502a
Sep 11, 2013
560
477
California
Alright, bummer. Sounds like I should stay put, thanks for the replies.

Main reason for wanting to start fresh is my phone is getting pretty unstable, admittedly I got a little careless with how many tweaks I installed. Most annoyingly, Siri can no longer find my location. Already went through and checked if any tweaks were causing the problem, eventually getting rid of most but no luck, so I figured it would wipe clean if possible. But! nothing major, so I'll sit tight for now. Thanks again.

Yeah, I'd just wait or try iCleaner methods before losing my Jailbreak if it's just little things
 

StarkCity

macrumors 6502a
Sep 11, 2013
560
477
California
I did the same thing, I used a beta version for iOS 9 and I lost my jailbreak on my old 5S. I picked up a 6S Plus couple ago and it came with 9.1, so I'm still waiting.
I did the exact same thing. But mine came on 8.4 while 9.0.2 was still being signed so I scored and jailbroke, within 1 week they stopped signing. I got lucky
 

HankHowdy

macrumors 68040
Dec 2, 2012
3,501
392
Victorville CA
Alright, bummer. Sounds like I should stay put, thanks for the replies.

Main reason for wanting to wipe clean, my phone is getting pretty unstable, crashing pretty often. Admittedly I got a little careless with how many tweaks I installed, so I'm not surprised. Most annoyingly, Siri can no longer find my location. I already went through and checked if any tweaks were causing the problem, eventually getting rid of most, but no luck fixing the issue, so I figured I would just restore if possible. But! No major problems, so I'll sit tight for now. Thanks again.


If you wanna wipe it clean install Cydia Impactor.
 

brianfrescas

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 7, 2016
3
1
If you wanna wipe it clean install Cydia Impactor.

Yeah just noticed that post, missed it a minute ago. I'll try that route.
[doublepost=1452227607][/doublepost]Cool, Cydia Impactor was just what I wanted. Thanks for the help.

For anyone unsure, you can find Cydia Impactor through Cydia, and it's a springboard app once downloaded. Make sure to back up before wiping, and after you can restore all of your non-jailbreak items/settings/contacts/messages etc. from there.

I would actually recommend everyone do this from time to time; seems to be a great way to clean up/reoptimize your phone in the ways iCleaner can't. After wrapping up the whole process, i.e. restoring with Impactor, re-jailbreaking, then downloading the essential tweaks I had prior, my phone is running much more smoothly. I'm very pleased.
 
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Will22

macrumors 65816
Dec 4, 2011
1,349
707
Yeah just noticed that post, missed it a minute ago. I'll try that route.
[doublepost=1452227607][/doublepost]Cool, Cydia Impactor was just what I wanted. Thanks for the help.

For anyone unsure, you can find Cydia Impactor through Cydia, and it's a springboard app once downloaded. Make sure to back up before wiping, and after you can restore all of your non-jailbreak items/settings/contacts/messages etc. from there.

I would actually recommend everyone do this from time to time; seems to be a great way to clean up/reoptimize your phone in the ways iCleaner can't. After wrapping up the whole process, i.e. restoring with Impactor, re-jailbreaking, then downloading the essential tweaks I had prior, my phone is running much more smoothly. I'm very pleased.

Yeah I was just going to reply that Cydia Impactor is fantastic. I have used it 4 times and it has worked perfectly each time, twice on my iP6 on 8.4 and on two other phones that were on 8.3(5s&6)
 

bbrks

macrumors 65816
Dec 17, 2013
1,495
894
Hmmmm, if I may, since no one here said it loud enough......for IOS 8, use Cydia Impactor that can be found on Cydia.
The one on beta repo is intended for IOS 9, but with very low success rate.
 

HankHowdy

macrumors 68040
Dec 2, 2012
3,501
392
Victorville CA
Yeah just noticed that post, missed it a minute ago. I'll try that route.
[doublepost=1452227607][/doublepost]Cool, Cydia Impactor was just what I wanted. Thanks for the help.

For anyone unsure, you can find Cydia Impactor through Cydia, and it's a springboard app once downloaded. Make sure to back up before wiping, and after you can restore all of your non-jailbreak items/settings/contacts/messages etc. from there.

I would actually recommend everyone do this from time to time; seems to be a great way to clean up/reoptimize your phone in the ways iCleaner can't. After wrapping up the whole process, i.e. restoring with Impactor, re-jailbreaking, then downloading the essential tweaks I had prior, my phone is running much more smoothly. I'm very pleased.

Glad we could help.
 

HankHowdy

macrumors 68040
Dec 2, 2012
3,501
392
Victorville CA
Hmmmm, if I may, since no one here said it loud enough......for IOS 8, use Cydia Impactor that can be found on Cydia.
The one on beta repo is intended for IOS 9, but with very low success rate.

Yes this is true. The iOS 9 beta version is not too great.
 

bbrks

macrumors 65816
Dec 17, 2013
1,495
894
OK, so....I tried it myself on 5S, 9.0.2....Cydia Impactor from the beta repo, intended for IOS 9 and guess what.....I made it
smile.gif

I turned off Passcode and Find My Phone and hit the button...after about 10 minutes, all the gibberish commands on a white screen went through and then apple showed up and the famous restore bar underneath...the bar was filled in couple of minutes, but from that moment on nothing else happened. I waited for about half an hour, but still nothing....so, I said to myself, nope, this wont work...let me do a proper restore, but before that, I tried with a hard reset.....and boom, a miracle happened...again apple and bar and after a minute or two welcome screen showed up, setup as new.....and bingo....clean 9.0.2 again....perfect. My daughter will be very happy with her new iPhone and jailbreak of course
smile.gif
 
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Will22

macrumors 65816
Dec 4, 2011
1,349
707
OK, so....I tried it myself on 5S, 9.0.2....Cydia Impactor from the beta repo, intended for IOS 9 and guess what.....I made it
smile.gif

I turned off Passcode and Find My Phone and hit the button...after about 10 minutes, all the gibberish commands on a white screen went through and then apple showed up and the famous restore bar underneath...the bar was filled in couple of minutes, but from that moment on nothing else happened. I waited for about half an hour, but still nothing....so, I said to myself, nope, this wont work...let me do a proper restore, but before that, I tried with a hard reset.....and boom, a miracle happened...again apple and bar and after a minute or two welcome screen showed up, setup as new.....and bingo....clean 9.0.2 again....perfect. My daughter will be very happy with her new iPhone and jailbreak of course
smile.gif

This is good to hear.
 

Snide

macrumors 6502a
Apr 12, 2005
905
737
Does anyone know of a way to restore a phone 4 while keeping it on IOS 6.1?
Would like to use it as a dedicated iPod.

I could do a normal iTunes restore (bringing it up to its highest possible firmware of 7.1.2), but from what I've heard the iPhone 4 runs much better on IOS 6.xx...
 

bbrks

macrumors 65816
Dec 17, 2013
1,495
894
Does anyone know of a way to restore a phone 4 while keeping it on IOS 6.1?
Would like to use it as a dedicated iPod.

I could do a normal iTunes restore (bringing it up to its highest possible firmware of 7.1.2), but from what I've heard the iPhone 4 runs much better on IOS 6.xx...

Nothing wrong with 7.1.2 on iphone 4...my daughter was using it for almost a year....OK, a bit slower then on IOS6, but still fully functional. As for staying on 6.1. you need SHSH blobs for 6.1 to be able to restore and stay there, but only if it's jaibroaken...if not, you have no other option but to restore it to 7.1.2.
 
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Snide

macrumors 6502a
Apr 12, 2005
905
737
Nothing wrong with 7.1.2 on iphone 4...my daughter was using it for almost a year....OK, a bit slower then on IOS6, but still fully functional. As for staying on 6.1. you need SHSH blobs for 6.1 to be able to restore and stay there, but only if it's jaibroaken...if not, you have no other option but to restore it to 7.1.2.

The SHSH blobs for every firmware update were indeed saved on this phone, although Cydia hasn't shown them for quite some time (they always appeared at the top of the screen on every JB phone). The Semi-Restore website is still live, and it is supposed to work on OS 5 to IOS 8.4. Has anyone used it successfully?
 
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