SHSH blobs or ECID SHSH is a unique digital signature that Apple assigns to each iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.
Whenever you connect your iPhone 3GS or iPod Touch 2G/3G or iPad to iTunes to restore or update iPhone OS firmware, the ECID is sent to Apple servers for authentication and iTunes will proceed to restore the device only if the ECID authentication is complete.
However, when a user installs the new iPhone OS firmware, the digital signature associated with the earlier firmware is erased. This makes it difficult to restore the iDevice to its earlier firmware.
Saurik, the creator of Cydia has setup a server, which basically mimics Apple’s verification server so that you can downgrade or restore back to the older firmware by making use of the SHSH blobs.
If you have jailbroken your iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch 2G/3G or iPad then this is important because you might want to restore your iPhone to an older firmware if the newer version includes patches that plug the loopholes used to jailbreak the iPhone OS. As you might know, it took the iPhone hacking community, more than two months to release the software tools to jailbreak iPhone OS 3.1.3. So MuscleNerd of the iPhone Dev Team has strongly recommended users to take a backup SHSH blob to future proof it for jailbreaking.
This tutorial will take you through the step by step instructions to backup your ECID SHSH or SHSH blobs of your iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch 2G/3G and iPad. This tutorial is only for iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch 2G/3G or iPad users who own a Mac. If you are a Windows user, you can checkout our step-by-step guide for Windows users.
Step 1: Click here to download the latest version of the Firmware Umbrella application to your Mac.
Step 2: Double click on the downloaded zip file to extract the file.
Step 3: On your Mac, navigate to Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal to launch the Terminal window.
Step 4: In the command prompt, enter the following text and hit Enter :
sudo /Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit /etc/hosts
Step 5: You may be prompted for a password. Enter your administrative password. This will launch the TextEdit application.
Step 6: Look out for a line that contains gs.apple.com. If you find one, remove it and save the file
Step 7: Double click on the Firmware Umbrella folder on the desktop and launch the Umbrella.dmg file. From the mounted file, click and drag the Umbrella application to your Mac desktop
Step 8: Double click and launch the Umbrella application from your Mac desktop.
Step 9 : You will now be prompted to input your ECID, device version and to select a SHSH repository
a. If you do not know your device ECID, put your iPhone into recovery mode. From the Apple menu, select 'About This Mac' -> More Info -> USB (Hardware menu). On the right side pane, select 'Apple Mobile Device (Recovery Mode)'and copy your ECID from the 'Serial Number' field.
b. In the SHSH repository, select 'Saurik-Cydia' from the dropdown menu. This will check Cydia for SHSH and in case it doesn't exist, it will be stored there. Alternately, you may also select 'Apple' to query Apple for your SHSH.
Step 10 : Click on 'Submit' button. Once Firmware Umbrella has completed processing the data, you will be displayed a 'SHSH Saved!' message as seen below.
Step 11 : A .shsh file is now created in the Firmware Umbrella folder on the desktop. Save this file for future use.
The process to backup your SHSH blob on your Mac computer is complete. We hope you found this useful. Let us know how it goes in the comments.
[via iClarified]
just letting u know that they do restrict ecid for the iPhone 3G because I tried downgrading from 3.1.3 to 3.1.2 and the old traditional way (aka downloading whatevr firmware u want, then alt + restore in itunes) doesn't work. I had to modify my hosts file with a few commands and then retry with iTunes. Worked fine. However, I can't get umbrella to work with my iPhone 3G. It recognizes it, has the ecid and my type of phone, but I just can't find the saved file on my mac anywhere.
for iPhone 3G users check out this guide first,
http://modmyi.com/forums/3g-s-downgrading/699990-downgrading-3-1-3-3-1-2-fixing-no-service-issue.html
then when you come to the editing host file part of the tutorial, click here:
http://decoding.wordpress.com/2009/04/06/how-to-edit-the-hosts-file-in-mac-os-x-leopard/
finish the rest of the tutorial on the first link then ur golden!
Everything seemed to go fine, but now I can't find the .shsh file it saved. Anyone know why?
my 3g is on 3.1.2 but had been restored to 3.1.3, i get the message – could not get your ecid shsh for that model/version:sorry
I have the same problem…everything goes fine and I see the notification that my shsh has been saved, but I cannot find it anywhere on my Mac. Can anyone help?
you can fid your shsh where Umbrella software is if you cant then its not saved
this worked with the exception of the password not working but worked fine once i reset the password with the install disk.
Thanks
when i started umbrella didn't ask for ecid or SHSH repository.
like is supposed to happen as written in step 9
can any one help reach that point of SHSH repository
i gave my wife my old iphone 3gs but is running on 4.0 if you have a way to downgrade it bc i try the doing it the way you try and nothing… if you could help me please email me at djmessie1@hotmail.com
I found the instructions to be to complicated for the average user. In fact, some of the items written in your instructions did not appear when I tried to enter information in the Terminal app. You need to make the instructions simpler for computer dummies such as myself.
A) Click the 'Advanced Options' checkbox to see the additional fields (like ECID).
B) Once the file is saved, the log window at the bottom will have a link. Click the link to open the Finder window where your file was saved.
Do we need to do this if we have the SHSH saved by Cydia?
i have a iPhone 3Gs new bootrom, jailbroke it with Spirit, had it unlocked for Tmoblie for a week then decided to updata with 4.0.. didn't know about saving SHSH, so i cant jailbreak it anymore or do i have to sell it cause i have Tmobile. ….HELP.
Hey rayp35, I am in the same situation. Did you find any information about that? I bought my phone off eBay and its a 3Gs, new bootrom and the seller updated it to iOS 4.0, so now I can't jailbreak. Let me know if you find anything.
Same situation as Viren.
The solution is to save the SHSH of th IOS 4.0 and wait for the new JB tool from the Dev Team.
Props,
D413.
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