After 3 days, taking one step back and two forward I am happy to report that my iPhone is now running on the T-Mobile network.
I decided to use the software only approach for unlocking the phone (SIM), however the process I used to unlock the basic iPhone functionality was not compatible with this approach. I had to use iTunes 7.3.054 to restore the firmware to its original state, then start again using the new process detailed here. This involved the use of iBrickr. This utility opens up the iPhone's world to a myriad of useful system utilities and small applications, as well as a file explorer.
Once the basic iPhone was unlocked, I moved on to the next step of unlocking the phone by downloading the Unlock.app GUI application, however I could never get it to run so I decided to try the manual approach found here and here. I used the second set of instructions, they seemed a bit clearer, however both use the same approach.
It was very interesting that the developers of this approach used BSD subsystem, this just points to MAC OS' heritage. Once I installed the SSH server, I was able to connect with PuTTY and initiate the process. It took less than 10 minutes.
I am very appreciative to all the detective work by a group of talented individuals. I do have to agree with Chris' comment from my day 2 comments, that Apple did not go out of their way to lock down this device, but it still took some dedicated sleuthing with a HEX editor to make it work.
The installer program used to install utilities is very nice, it allows you to install applications Off The Air and made the whole process that much easier.
BTW; I appreciate the comments and will get back with my thoughts this weekend.
Congrats on unlocking the iphone. But are you ready to unlock it over and over again as I am certain that Apple will relock these phones with the next update. They have to since they have a 5-year exclusivity deal with AT&T in the U.S.
Posted by: Dantv | September 13, 2007 at 03:33 PM