Richard’s Corner

Downgrading iPhone Beta 3.0 to 2.2.1

Posted on 10. May, 2009 by Richard in Technology, iPhone OS

I have been using iPhone OS 3.0 Beta for a while, but I recently ran into a situation that forced me to downgrade to 2.2.1. What was the situation you ask? Well, I was in the middle of a required upgrade from beta 4 to beta 5 when an “Unknown Error (10)” occurred. I tried switching my phone into DFU mode and re-installing the update several times, but I ran into the same issue every time. I also attempted to restore my phone to an earlier version of the OS, but the process would always end with an “Unknown Error (1013)”.

After scouring the web for solutions, I finally found one that worked for me.

Here are the steps I followed. It is probably important to note that this process did not work on my Mac. I had to use my Windows PC (Windows XP SP2) in order for this to work.

1. Connect your iPhone to your computer via USB.
2. Download the firmware you want to install and QuickPWN. I personally downloaded 2.2.1 firmware for the iPhone 3G and QuickPwn 2.2.5-2.  You can get both here.
3. Open iTunes
4. Put your phone into DFU mode.  This article explains how to put your phone into DFU mode.
5. In iTunes, click on the “Restore” button while holding the shift key, and select the firmware file you downloaded.
6. Let the restore process run until you receive an “Unknown Error (1013)”.
7. Close iTunes
8. Open QuickPwn.  You should receive a message telling you to hold power and home for 15 seconds. Do it!
9. Turn your iPhone back on by holding power button for 2 seconds.
10. iTunes should now recognize your phone, and it should activate automagically.

Here is a quick rundown of the resources utilized in this post:

• The walk-through I found:
  http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=7304326&postcount=11
• iPhone Firmware and QuickPwn:
  http://www.quickpwn.com/downloads
• Putting your iPhone into DFU mode:
  http://limitededitioniphone.com/how-to-put-the-iphone-into-dfu-mode/