Lost WM User

n99hockey · 06-22-2009, 02:12 PM

Hey all, first off let me say that I am a WM guy (a mod over at everythingwm.com) and know NOTHING of the iPhone. So here we go...

My dad was given a 1st Generation iPhone, we have Verizon, but all he wants to use it for is wifi and itunes only.

We figured that you can just turn on the wifi with out a sim card in and it would work, or hook it up to itunes and rock out, but the phone is telling him to 'insert sim card and sim pin to unlock.'

Since he doesnt have ATT he doesnt plan on switching to just use it as a media player since it was just given to him by my cousin.

Any help or suggestions would be great!

Thanks alot.

styfle · 06-22-2009, 02:50 PM

It should still work. It sounds like it wasnt activated so it's not letting you use it without a SIM. You can unlock it and it will stop bugging you. You can follow instructions here (if you are on a mac) http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=4255
Basically, it creates a custom firmware that lets you do whatever you want, including "activate" the phone.

n99hockey · 06-22-2009, 02:59 PM

Originally Posted by styfle

It should still work. It sounds like it wasnt activated so it's not letting you use it without a SIM. You can unlock it and it will stop bugging you. You can follow instructions here (if you are on a mac) http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=4255
Basically, it creates a custom firmware that lets you do whatever you want, including "activate" the phone.

Thanks for the response. I feel like it has been activated, since it was my cousins at one point, I highly doubt it was just sitting around his house.

In any event, should it NOT have be activated my dad doesnt have a mac or access to one, is there anything else he should look for? Any other way to activate it without an ATT account? I know a few ATT people, could they pop there sim in and activate it then remove the sim and have it be good to go without screwing up there account?

Thanks again!

macgirl · 06-22-2009, 03:09 PM

If your cousin upgraded directly to the iPhone 3G, this would have automatically de-activated the first-generation iPhone. AT&T was sneaky like that, hoping that you would sell the iPhone or pass it on to a family member who would become a new subscriber.

You don't need a SIM card at all to unlock it, but unlocking instructions could change slightly depending on the firmware it's running. You can check the firmware version using this tutorial. Tell us what firmware it's running and we can point you to a PC tutorial on how to unlock and activate it.

n99hockey · 06-22-2009, 03:26 PM

Originally Posted by macgirl

If your cousin upgraded directly to the iPhone 3G, this would have automatically de-activated the first-generation iPhone. AT&T was sneaky like that, hoping that you would sell the iPhone or pass it on to a family member who would become a new subscriber.

You don't need a SIM card at all to unlock it, but unlocking instructions could change slightly depending on the firmware it's running. You can check the firmware version using this tutorial. Tell us what firmware it's running and we can point you to a PC tutorial on how to unlock and activate it.

Thanks for the link, but I told him how to get the firmware number and he said that when he turns on the phone it will only allow him to make emergency calls. Thats it, cant do anything else. I dont know if this is true or not, but Apple told him to get a 'Blank' ATT sim card and put it in and it should then work. Is that even possible?

This is probably more difficult than it has to be since this is 3rd hand to you guys.

After work I am going to try and get the phone from him and mess with it, please keep the suggestions coming I appreciate it.

n99hockey · 06-22-2009, 08:30 PM

ok so i have the phone in hand...

when i turn it on it shows a itunes icon and a plug (basically telling me to connect to itunes) and at the bottom it says slide to make an emergency call

so i connect the phone to itunes and it brings up the iphone screen and tells me i need to activate with att

currently there is a blank att sim card...how can i get around this so my dad can just use it as an itouch

thanks!

n99hockey · 06-23-2009, 11:14 AM

bump......

macgirl · 06-23-2009, 01:11 PM

Okay, I just found a way you can find out what firmware is on the iPhone through this post at Macrumors.

Select the emergency call option and enter *3001#12345#* and then press Call. Tell us what you see after this.

n99hockey · 06-23-2009, 01:18 PM

Originally Posted by macgirl

Okay, I just found a way you can find out what firmware is on the iPhone through this post at Macrumors.

Select the emergency call option and enter *3001#12345#* and then press Call. Tell us what you see after this.

nothing happens....

macgirl · 06-23-2009, 01:28 PM

Originally Posted by n99hockey

nothing happens....

I'm not trying to be insulting, but are you positive you entered the sequence correctly, including the * and # symbols?

If it definitely doesn't, then according to this HoFo wiki article, it must be past the 1.x.x firmware, meaning it's on 2.x.x. If that's the case, there's a good Jailbreaking/unlocking/activating for PC users guide at iClarified here. You do NOT need a SIM card to do this. Before you try this, however, you might want to ask your cousin if he remembers the last time he updated the firmware on the iPhone as a last check. If he remembers firmware starting with a 2, this will work for you.

I've done all my jailbreaking and unlocking on Macs, so I'll let other PC users here help you out if you have problems...