iOS6 tethered jailbreak and the issues

To those jailbreakers out there, if you are thinking of jailbreaking your A4 device using iOS6 + tethered jailbreak - PLEASE, THINK AGAIN!!!

The reason I said so is because I have encountered too many problems with JB this time and each time you encountered this problem, it will reboot. So you need to boot it tethered again. Which is quite a pain in the @$$....Mind you, I have been JB my phone (3GS) since its first launched so I pretty much know what I'm doing. Except this time there's too much effort that I think it overweighs the enjoyment of JB.

Anyway...to those who interested to JB your A4 devices on iOS6, you can find the instructions here:

http://www.redmondpie.com/jailbreak-ios-6-iphone-and-ipod-touch-a4-based-only-using-redsn0w-tutorial/

So now let me tell you what kind of issues that I was having.

FIRST ISSUE: something happened that I need to restore my phone and erase my JB.
1. My first attempt to JB was successful w/out any issues. However, something happened (I can't recall) that triggered my phone to be restored. Yup, restore is the only option...d@mn.

SECOND ISSUE: SSH was not installed properly during JB process.
2. Since I need to restore my phone, my first time JB is gone. So I gotta do 2nd JB after restore. And if you do not know, this JB version (redsn0w 0.9.13 dev4) does  not install Cydia automatically. You have to do it separately on your own via SSH. So I did what I did during my first JB. Unfortunately, I got below error message:

Connection refused upon SSH connection

With some readings on how to resolve this issue, it is clear to me that the SSH was not installed properly during this 2nd JB. If it is, I should not be having this issue as what had happened during my 1st JB.

THIRD ISSUE: Unable to connect through SSH...due to some RSA key?

3. So, 3rd JB now. That is the only way to get the SSH to be installed properly. So I did a 3rd JB and reach to the point to install Cydia. Yet, another error message...

RSA key incorrect???

OK, I admit that the above error is something new and beyond my understanding. But again, with some hard works and A LOT of readings, I managed to solve it. Refer this post for the solution: "Solving "Warning: Remote Host Identification Has Changed!"".

FOURTH ISSUE: Stuck at the Apple logo valley of death...unstable JB?

4. So everything was good for the JB process. Today, I downloaded SBSettings from Cydia and installed it. Finish installing, the phone was rebooting. And now....it stuck at the Apple logo valley of death ~sigh.... Some says that you need to enter DFU mode and then restore your phone. What, again? Another JB? But hold on fellas...hard reset would do. See this instructions if you are not sure how to perform hard reset: http://www.wikihow.com/Hard-Reset-an-iPhone

FIFTH ISSUE: Installous does not load human verification page...only white blank page.

5. Last but not least...I have been using Installous and somehow it does not show up the human verification page. What I got is only a blank white page. I have so far yet to manage to overcome this. Should you know what to do.....kindly share =)

Conclusion:

All in all, I would say if you are using jailbroken iOS5 device right now and thinking to upgrade to jailbroken iOS6, maybe you need to think again as my opinion is that, the hassles that you need to go through outweighs its benefit. And did I mention about not many Cydia apps are iOS6 compatible yet? So if I were you, the best bet right now is to sit back, relax, and wait for few more weeks for an untethered JB to be released and to let those developers to fine tune their apps for iOS6.

Solving "Warning: Remote Host Identification Has Changed!"

If you are using Terminal, and are trying to connect to your i-device via SSH, and you are stuck with below error:

Don't panic! It is possible, but nobody is doing something nasty...except YOU!

How to solve this?

It is pretty simple, you just need to get to /Users/[username]/.ssh/known_hosts and empty the RSA key value in the file -- in other words, empty the known_hosts file. Below is step-by-step instructions on how to do so:

1. Open your "Finder" window.

2. Locate the "~/.ssh/" folder
    In your "Finder" window --> select "Go" --> select "Go to folder..."

3. Key in "~/.ssh" into the field. Hit "Go" to continue.

4. Now you are in "/Users/[username]/.ssh/" folder. Open file "known_hosts" by double clicking it (or) use "Open with..." and choose "TextEdit".

5. Empty the file by deleting eveything in it -- "Select All" --> hit "delete" button.
    My file only has one IP address. That is the device that I want to connect to. IF you have more than 1 IP address, try delete the portion of the IP address that belongs to the device that you want to connect to and leave others intact.

6. Hit "File" --> "Save" (or) "Alt+S" and you are good to go...


Hope this helps. Let me know if there is any caveat to this...

Apple MacBook Pro vs Air

Hmmm...sejak aku bertekad utk buat blog ni, makin berkobar pulak semangat nak membeli MacBook. Tapi persoalannya yg mana yg lagi berbaloi? Pro atau Air? MacBook ni bukan calang2 harganya. Karang silap buat percaturan menyesal. Malaysia bukan macam US. US kalau beli tak suka boleh nak return. Sini haram...

Anyway first thing yang aku buat adalah decide nak beli dekat mana - Malaysia vs US? And to my surprise (aku pun dah lama tak usha2 perkembangan Apple), harga dekat Malaysia and US is actually almost the same. Beza pun Malaysia mahal tak lebih 10 hinggit. Tapi ni considering harga base US tak termasuk GST diorang. Kalau masuk GST kat US tu (which is maybe around 5%), definitely beli dekat Malaysia lagi murah. Then campo shipping lagi?!??! Hah, kalau tak percaya sila refer screenshot bawah ni (currency conversion tu buat la sendiri ye). Time2 macam ni la baru rasa best pulak dok Malaysia ni ehehe...

Apple Store US

Apple Store Malaysia

Ok...let's see who's the winner for the battle between MacBook Pro vs Air. In terms of technical specification, MacBook Pro is winning hands down. For the same amount of money that you pay, you are definitely getting better spec out of Pro - better processor speed, larger screen, optical drive, bigger HDD capacity albeit SATA. For Air to compete or at least to get par with what Pro is offering, you need to fork out another USD100 or USD400...even that, the highest specification of Air still can't beat Pro on paper in terms of processor speed, HDD capacity, and optical drive. But lucky enough both Air and Pro has the same graphic card. Comparison as below...

Now if you are looking best bang for your bucks, the answer will definitely be Pro. Spend less and get more. But Air offers something that is irresistible - which is, it offers an advancement in technology. Solid state disk (SSD) and its form factor as small and as light as that is definitely undeniably attractive. That is why this entry exist in the first place.

So the big question here will be --> what are you looking for in a laptop? My purpose for owning a laptop is to complement my 6 years old iMac (or rather my iMac will be the complementary). That means primarily used for blogging, facebook, surfing, online banking, youtube - hmm mostly internet (nothing that Air cannot handle) and most probably some amateur video editing and graphic designing. This is what keeps me from buying Air and contemplating on Pro - those extra GB and faster processor speed will be really helpful.

But if you are just looking to buy a secondary computer to be used when you are on the go, travelling, balik kampung etc...then Air would be sufficient. But since I need it for some heavy work, I am more inclined to Pro...and trying to convince myself the form factor of Air is not as attractive as it looks :P

Btw...words of caution - my gut feeling is that it will be way way more difficult to upgrade or service your Air should something happens vs Pro. I have no experience in using SSD, so not sure how long the lifespan is. But my last iBook's HDD died on me and thank God it could be replaced. This seems something impossible for Air...but who knows? I have never really looked into this area yet. And my iMac is having issue with graphic card overheat - due to its form factor. So this is another thing that put me in the dilemma...

Anyway...I guess now it's time to start reading on what are the issues and experiences by others on both  platform. Will update if I find something interesting.