iPhone 2.0.1 breaking some carrier unlocks
By Nilay Patel 
posted Aug 5th 2008 2:19PM
posted Aug 5th 2008 2:19PM
Uh-oh, it look like it's not just the underground unlockers who're having problems with the iPhone 2.0.1 update's revisions to the 3G's baseband -- Vodafone customers who've paid to have their handsets unlocked are starting to report failures to connect to iTunes followed by the appearance of an "0xE8000001" error code. There are also reports from a handful of other carriers, but Voda's selling Steve's baby in 10 countries, so most of the complaints are from its customers. Other than that, there are some isolated reports of brickage, but we've mostly heard good things about 2.0.1, and our iPhones are definitely feeling a little better -- how about you?[Via TUAW]
Carriers in attempt to protect revenue shocker! You read it here first!
Since upgrading my 3g, bluetooth is acting funny, and I can't get my email anymore! Anyone else having that problem?
Well, i'm pretty sure those carriers have an agreement with apple to allow them to unlock the phone... This isn't some group of bandits in the night - it's Vodaphone, and when apple tries to screw a large company out of providing a legitimate service to its customers (unlocking lets them save money when roaming, and in Europe that's a big deal), it is really weak.
I'm not a hater though, from the description it sounds like it was on accident. Still... i wish they would just let people do what they want with the damn things!
-Taylor
This is a side note not pertaining to the story above: I read yesterday of a workaround of sending MMS from an iphone. You still can't receive but were have ways there lol
here is the link for the info
http://www.appleiphoneschool.com/2008/08/04/picture-messaging-mms-workaround/
@Mars
Yeah, but that can be a pain in the ass... I tried that with tmobile last week with a friend and after sending like 10 messages with different settings, i couldn't get it to work. :-/
-Taylor
vodafone
why do people seem to change their brand name...
yeah, I "read it here FIRST"... thanks...
@Mark is right.
It's Vodafone with an f, not Vodaphone with a ph. (Heh even my Firefox spell check knows it's wrong.)
Yeah it's only a trademark but the misspelling always annoys me.
@Mark: exactly. Specially English speaking people continuously spell it VodaPHone instead of VodaFone. The two mayor languages that write "phone" with "PH" instead of with an "F" are English and French. The rest use "F" (examples: German, Italian, Swedish, Dutch, Danish, Czech, Slavic languages like Croatian, Slovenian, etc, Norwegian, Spanish, Polish...). As always, the weird ones are the English and French ones :-P (May the bashing begging!).
PD: Interesting though that VoDaFone (Voice Data Fone), being a company from the UK, actually took the Universal way of writing it instead of the Anglo-Saxon way.
"Specially English speaking people"
Specially??? Seriously???
Vodafone? Aren't they Softbank now?
I updated my first-gen handset this morning, and no problems so far. Dialing via the keypad is snappy, again.
Yeahp. I had a scare when it sat at the 'picture of a silver apple' screen for about ten minutes. Had to do the 'hold home and lock button' until it reset, fearing it would be a brick afterward... Turned it back on, plugged it in when prompted, and it works fine.
Contacts is MUCH faster, not that I use that 'button' anyway.
I'm happy.
FYI I was one of the fools that installed the 'early' 2.0 software when it was found a day early.
Yep, I did the same thing :) But once word got out about the goofup, I just grabbed the correct installer file and repeated the process, all was well.
Why isn't "vodaFAIL" (in impact font, of course) pictured on that phone?
Sweet job breaking the unlocks in the US, Apple! You sure did show those dastardly people who want to use the phone they bought with their own money on a different carrier.
It's too bad you also screwed over the legit unlocks in other countries. Well done.
Witty and Original!
No one made them install the update. Anyone with an unlocked or jailbroken phone that installs updates without waiting a few days to find out their effect is to blame for their actions.
@Josh
What is Steve Jobs paying his testers for? If the users are expected to test it themselves there should be a *Beta* attached to the release of the firmware.
@Sean - you, sir/maam, are what's wrong with society today. You are under the mistaken assumption that it is Apple's obligation to allow you to use their phone on whatever whack-ass network you choose. At the same time, you expect them to also maintain the extraordinary level of service they provide through AT&T.
It's THEIR product, THEY engineered it, and THEY can choose to make it available (or not) in any fashion they choose. You don't like that? Hey - here's a thought - DON'T BUY IT.
Sheesh. Quit whining and go to another forum and bitch about DRM or something.
@Frank Furter
Also, balls.
Do any of you understand that some carriers in other countries have a deal with Apple to sell unlocked iPhones? Even AT&T could choose to sell their iPhones unlocked, but they don't want to.
Josh / Frank:
These are legit unlock users who have payed a premium;
and Apple is pushing this as bug fix auto update.
Its Apple's responsbility to make sure things work as they supposed to.
In addition I always find the term "unlocked phone" is an strange word in the world of GSM/WCDMA phones, as the subscriber information us designed to be carry by the SIM / USIM card and be able to use service on any GSM / WCDMA phone with the right band.
In other words, it should be just a "normal" phone or a locked phone, instead of "unlocked" phone.
However the U.S. Market is sadly exactly right using the "unlock" expression with locked phones as the norms.
It's faster than a fat kid in a cake eating contest!
No complaints here...
Fat kids eating cake as fast as they can are still slower than most other things in this world.
So I guess the analogy fits.
After a short bricking, I was able to get mine restored in 2.0.1. Hmmm...
it fixed my keyboard lag and text message lag as well
I bet it didn't.
Try going into the contacts application and scrolling.
.
.
.
see ?
so...jobs is gonna apologize for this too and say that it was a big mistake???
Aww, well if he apologizes then clearly all is well. We don't need any _actual_ change like, you know, firmware updates/bugfixes that _actually_ fix bugs.
I'm sure a simple "I'm sorry, we screwed up" will really assuage the pain of thousands out there who are perpetually being tossed apple's crappily tested software.
Nilay,
Your phones aren't feeling better, it's called a placebo effect.
The lagginess, the unresponsiveness, the crashing, the locking up, the incompatibility with 3rd party apps is still all there in spades.
Yawn. Try again when you have something worthwhile to say.
Upgraded mine this morning.
PRO:
MUCH better SMS performance. Overall, snappiness too. So far so good.
CON:
No MMS
No Video recording
No Flash
No Copy/Paste
Excactly why I didn't upgrade, wouldn't lose all that stuff ;)
Yes, because a software update would add flash.
Freakin idiot.
Yeah, a .01 update is going to add all that. Um, ok.
Now, 2.1 might add some of these things. That would make more sense. But don't hold your breath.
NO MMS, NO VIDEO RECORDING?? And this thing is the "technology's state of art"?
My old cell could do this and a lot of other things, and it cost's under 1/10 of the IBone!!
Wake up, Apple fan-boys
Commander P5, you are vastly outnumbered by literally millions of "fanboys" who took a hard look at everything the iPhone offers and decided the missing features were FAR outweighed by the advantages. Have you ever spent some quality time with an iPhone? Or do you just come into these threads to bash us all for the fun of it?
@Bill: He is hopeless he thinks the iPhone is a bone?!
I bought an iPhone 3G, well knowing it was missing some features, like MMS, turn-by-turn GPS, a proper Danish carrier (yes it is a feature here), higher HSPDA speed. BUT the awesome design (both aesthetic and the whole multi-touch idea), great capacity and fantastic software, it all comes together.
Of course iPhone is not the answer for everything, but in that case it is just great Nokia, HTC, Sony Ericsson, Samsung etc. exist.
Yes the iPhone is missing some features. But what it does do, it does extremely well. The entire platform, the interface and the different way of thinking. The literally have discussions on how to do things totally different than any other handset maker. The OS interaction is THE best I have ever seen and I've used Blackberry, Palm, Motorola, Nokia and HTC handsets. Nothing comes close to it, STILL.
I don't know about the video, but I think they purposely leave MMS out, like they have something against MMS. They stay mum about MMS yet come out and say that copy/paste isn't a high priority, yet don't even acknowledge MMS and Video Recording. Other issues they publicly talked about. Like on the 1st gen, they said that 3G used too much power. Then they added 3G & GPS and then came out about Turn by Turn navigation. They even came out about Copy & Paste. Obviously the features they stay mum about are even lower on their list.
@Bill & Jakob Henner
So in other words, "Oooo Shiny! I must have it!"
...no hands-free bluetooth calling.
Veraxus,
What are you talking about? It does so have hands free bluetooth dialing. I have it paired to my car and it dials and answers calls just fine.
I just want Pwnage Tool to be updated. Or even ZiPhone?
Why not write an app to do what you want and submit it to apple? Make a few bucks and get the functionality you want. Most of the stuff available on installer.app (with the exception of ssh client, openssh, voip, ect..) is already available in the app store. Most for free. Nothing stopping someone from writting a ssh client either. There is already a telnet client available in the app store.
Josh, because the only apps I want developers can't make - sms notify (vibrate until reading the sms), email and sms icons in by the battery, etc.
Can't tell the difference. Exchange (contacts and calendar, specifically) support still sucks balls, I'm still unhappy.
My exchange push works great. I often get a email on my phone before it even pops into outlook. Contacts and calendars also sync and update right away. What is it exactly that is not working for you?
I have Vodafone, I had this error but no problems, it works like usual.
Now i'm in Australia and i bought mine unlocked from Optus. Should i update to 2.0.1 or wait, i really like the general enhancement that 2.0.1 offers.
It's either slow phone, or no phone. Don't update. Just wait it out. Apple are disappointing lately....
Don't update yet. Apple will likly release an update for international phoens that either does no include the new baseband or allows for unlocking.
FWIW, I'm in Australia with an iphone I unlocked from Telstra running on 3 and I've had no problems with 2.0.1. Head on over to the mactalk forum:
http://forums.mactalk.com.au/56/55259-iphone-software-2-0-1-out.html
or whirlpool:
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/1027413.html
to get some comments on experience with optus.
I am upgrading mine as I type this. Thanks for the heads up! I'm a new apple user and am looking at buying a new notebook computer this month, should I wait to see what Apple has to offer next month (or so)? I've never owned a Mac before, but I understand they are updating their notebook line soon, so I'm interested to see what Macs are all about but I have a few reservations.
1) Are they compatible with games? Specifically Civ IV. That's pretty much the only game I play or the only "must-have" game I have.
2) How are they with security, as in do they still have viral issues like Windows? I've heard that Macs do not have the infection problem that PC's have, is that true?
3) Cost. Are they comparable in specs/performance/price with PCs? I've been leaning towards the Gateway 7811px, would a Macbook Pro be comparable?
I ask these questions here because I've seen some pretty smart comments on here before and there are a lot of Mac users. Also, is there any word when the new Macbook Pros (etc) will be released, if at all? thanks for your input and help!
This is not a forum nor a good place for discussions. Visit a forum where answers to your questions can be given freely and easily and a conversation can develop if needed.
I would suggest http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/
Dudemandude:
1) I think there is a Mac version fo Civ IV. If not you can always use bootcamp to boot into Windows and play any game you want.
2) Malware is close to non-existant on Macs. As they become more popular this will change, but OS X is based on one of the most secure OS's out there : BSD.
3) You can't strip down a mac to a barebones system. They all come with a healthy dose of what passes as "upgrades" on Dells or HPs. When you spec out a Dell or HP to match what model of Mac you are looking at, the prices are usually similar. Sometimes better.
However it is generally a bad idea to choose one of the upgraded RAM options from Apple. That is one area where they usually rape you. Buy your Mac, then get some RAM from a third party and install it yourself.
Wow, thanks for your advice Gotung!! Exactly the sort of advice I was looking for! And I did find Civ IV for Mac! I will definitely hold off my purchase for a month or two, wait and see what Apple has to offer. My Vaio will hold up fine until then :)
Thanks again for your help Gotung! I appreciate and welcome anyone's advice! Thanks!
1) Macs are compatible with far less games than Windows PC's, unless you use BootCamp. But if you are going to use Windows on a Mac, why pay the higher Mac pricetag?
2) Macs have the same inherent ability to be infected with virii just like Windows; the only reason that rumor persists is because if Apple's far smaller market share. What self respecting programmer is going to write a virus aimed at less than 10% of the world's computers?
3) They are not comparable. Look at the MBP versus a tricked out Alienware Area 51. You get the same performance computer from Alienware for about $500 cheaper last time I checked... And yes, I'm aware Alienware are overpriced pieces of crap- That just helps prove my point more though.
1) Not too well, if stuff gets ported you're lucky. In Bootcamp-Windows dont expect high hardware results
2) Vista was safer than OSX for it's first year of deployment; Just cause OSX "is based on Unix" doesnt make it any more safe. As Linux (Ubuntu) also gains larger and larger support, they become more valid targets for malware. Before, why should a hacker waste time porting malware for a tiny percentage of target systems? As OSX/Linux market share grows, so do the vulnerabilities. And I didnt even start mentioning quicktime as a major vulnerability source...
3) No. Macs have always had that little "design extra" (like the Sony VAIO line does in the PC range) many ppl.
Overall, Apple has a history of choke-holding users by hardware and software licensing. Just watch whatever they do to Cloners. Iphone sale has been the first sinful event where a manufacturer tied a potential customer to a carrier - just imagine the Nokia and other big ones doing the same with their highend phones... What a brave new world of shitty consumer options....
But they look so cute! So stylish! Ooooh!
Cid, Thanks for your advice and input as well! I can definitely see how Apple is all about controlling their users options. The iphone was my first experience with Apples practices, and I have to say I'm very happy with the phone just not the options with it, I'd prefer a different carrier myself.
My verdict is still out of course on what I'll buy, I do like the sound of that Gateway 7811px, but I have some hesitation being that it's Gateway, and I have had experience with them. I read a lot about Apple on Engadget so I was hoping for a fan (or not) to tell me why I should buy a Mac over a PC. Are there really any benefits or is it all just brand recognition and/or loyalty?
I also read up that bootcamp isn't the best method of running software, that it's not as stable and that it really taxes resources. I'm not sure if that's true or not, but it's something to consider and further research.
I'm really up in the air over the issue, can't seem to find any specific reason that warrants one over the other yet.
One other question is compatibility, will my external hard drives and dvd burners work with a Mac?
Thanks again for taking the time out of your day to respond to my questions!!
Cid is a moron, and Gotung has it exactly right.
Cid:
1) What exactly does "don't expect high hardware results" mean? I run Vista in Boot Camp on my Mac and it's easily as powerful in Windows as any similarly speced PC. That's because Boot Camp lets you run Windows NATIVELY. Not through emulation. Your argument is null and void.
2) Vista has thousands of viruses, all kinds of malware etc., the Mac has zero. Now tell me again which one is safer? Again your argument is null and void because the proof is right there in front of your face. Macs = zero viruses, Windows = thousands of viruses. And I dare you to try to get a virus on a Mac without sitting in front of one with a local admin password, because that's the only way it can be done. You think Quicktime is a major vulnerability? Explain to me how you would use it to infect a Mac over the internet, this should be interesting.
3) Yes they are comparable when you bring the PCs up to feature parity. Macs ship with a ton of features that are usually extras on PCs. When you build PCs to match the same features, the prices even out.
Your "choke holding" diatribe is vague and completely pointless. You act like people can't develop apps for the Mac or something, while you conveniently ignore the hundreds of thousands of 3rd party apps for the Mac. As to why you can only get an iPhone through AT&T, it's because the other carriers didn't want to sell the iPhone after Apple shopped them around. You want somebody to blame for that, blame the other carriers. Not Apple. In conclusion, get a damn clue, you mouth breather.
Dudemandude: If your burners and external hard drives use standard USB or Firewire, they will work fine. OS X can even read FAT32 and NTFS filesystems natively. Boot Camp works fine, I use it myself.
Not exactly true zak.
Leopard has a few viruses, not as many as Vista, to be sure, but not zero. I love when you make fun of people and chide about how they don't prove their statements, and yet you don't prove yours either.
For proof, google "list of mac leopard virus" and there are plenty of links to virus lists.
Another Apple hater....go home.
all that has to be done now is for apple to work on a new iphone that has flash player.....copy and paste....flash on the camera itself....video....more megapixels on the camera and we would have a perfect phone in my opinion....i love my iphone 3g and it dominates any other phone out there hands down....some dont agree but there are always haters....its a great phone.....should apple and at&t had more available at release?.... yes......are we all still gonna buy them?....yes
also can someone please create an app that makes my iphone a digital scale in my pocket? that would be awesome and id gladly pay 9.99 for that over monkey ball
thanks
Oddly, Im with O2 in the UK on the basic contract and I did the update and mine bricked. Its odd as it wasnt unlocked, it was contract to O2. I hope they release a fix soon, i miss my iphone.
I haven't noticed any real significant change... maybe a little faster. Minimal improvement to OS functions. Maybe more or a firmware improvement than software?
why are you gay?
A similar story was one jsut earlier today, shame on you Nilay!!! Come on guys, don't be slipping on stories... *rolls eyes*
See: http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/05/firmware-2-01-breaks-pwnagetool-could-render-3g-iphone-un-unloc/
Is anyone still having problems with GPS not working after awhile, and having to turn off 3G and turn it back on, or reset the iPhone entirely?
There are a couple of problems with the Exchange email support on the iPhone. Yes, the push works, and calendars update, but:
You can't search on the email
You don't have column headings that let you resort the email list (by sender, or date, etc) as you do in Outlook
There is a big problem with the "all day events." All day events show up at the top of the calendar when you select the "Day" view, and timed appointments show up below them. However, they must expect you to have only a few "all day" events. My firm is a law firm, they have lots of "Last day to file xxxx" events which show up as an "all day" event. The app allows those all day events to push the timed appointments right off the bottom of the screen and then it DOES NOT SCROLL. If you choose day view and you have too many all day events, you cannot see the entire list and cannot see ANY of your scheduled appointments.
The mail app needs improvements.
I love apple! Please pass the kool-aid!
Judging by your screen name, I would say that you are an avid Mac user and Jobs supporter. Am I right? (I tried to put as much sarcasm in my comment as you did in yours. I hope it worked.) But really though, if you want people to even consider the words that you are saying, maybe you should get a grown-up screen name instead of a 5-year-old-throwing-a-tantrum screen name.
@Ramin
He probably was at home when writing this. You forget, this is the Internet. *cough* dumbass *cough* Oh wait, I forgot! That doesn't work on a computer either....
After 3 days of hassle, I finally got my 1st generation iPhone working on T-Mobile. Had to trash AT&T after all the ridiculous bills and fees. If I update to 2.01, will I have to rebuild the update file with Pwnage Tool again, or do I just update with iTunes? Thanks for the advice. =)
Apple's firmware update bricks Apple's unlock, too? May I be the first to say HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Evidently they learned nothing from the hackers.
thank god i'm still on 1.1.4 :P , still waiting for installer 4.0 :D:D
@Josh
These are legit unlock users who have payed a premium;
and Apple is pushing this as bug fix auto update.
Its Apple's responsbility to make sure things work as they supposed to.
In addition I always find the term "unlocked phone" is an strange word in the world of GSM/WCDMA phones, as the subscriber information us designed to be carry by the SIM / USIM card and be able to use service on any GSM / WCDMA phone with the right band.
In other words, it should be just a "normal" phone or a locked phone, instead of "unlocked" phone.
However the U.S. Market is sadly exactly right using the "unlock" expression with locked phones as the norms.
Why can't everybody just accept things. If you live in America and have T-Mobile, you can't have an iPhone unless you switch! Instead of using all this buggy unofficial software to unlock your iPhone.
i have tmobile and my iphone runs fine - spare me the righteousness
This story is about people in other countries who got their phones *officially* unlocked by Vodafone. It's Apple's official software that's buggy in this case.
You mean Vodafone. But yeah no complaints here so far.
How 'bout them apples?
ho ho ho ho LALALALALALA
After having some problems with duplicate apps appearing in iTunes (not sure if this is a firmware or itunes problem), the 2.0.1 firmware seems to have resolved most of my issues. Although, it'll take a couple days of constant use to confirm the stability of the new firmware, but right now, I'm pretty satisfied.
The things I've noticed immediately:
- SMS lag seems to have been resolved
- Safari really does seem snappier...
- Flipping between pages on the home screen seems faster...
- The contacts application is faster....
Mines is working just fine! Love it. I am sure the Dev team will break this soon, as with all the other updates.
Ipod 2.0.1 software is out and it FUX0R3d my GMAIL IMAP ability. It will not resolve/connect via SSL!
Nice job Apple, you assclowns!
I'm confused.
I thought that the iPhone was already snappy, that it was already perfect?
I'm on Vodacom (SA's Vodafone) on 2.0.0... still anxious of upgrading.
You know, I really want Apple to sell phones unlocked everywhere (but not like HK/AUS/SIN where it's ridiculously priced) -- come on, you already make us (*cough* them *cough*) sign a contract -- who's actually gonna not use the contract and use another carrier for 24 months?
and oh what? iPhone not released in SA yet? Ok fine... *cough* 2.0 unlocked on 1st Gen iPhone *cough*
It seems to work fine for me, but when I first bought my iPhone (a week ago) it asked me to download regional operator settings (Mexico’s Telcel, in my case), and it did fine.
Now after installing 2.0.1, it asks to download these settings again, but is not able to install them, and it pops error 0XE8000001.
I can send and receive calls and messages fine, but I wonder if these settings are 3G related…
Same exact situation happened to me on Optus in Australia. I ignored the error and everything seems to be fine.
Updated mine to 2.0.1 last night... Things seem to work much faster.
I paid 2 x the full price here in NZ of 1129 per handset. This was the smartest way to buy otherwise would shell out up to 6k over two years and I wasnt going to do that. I didn't jailbreak my phone or anything like that. I tried to apply the update yesterday, I got the said error (0xE8000001) and lost all my information. I had to reset it and then the backup wouldnt restore to it so I had to basically set it all up again. Contacts had to be reedited, email had to be set up (not to mention had lost valuable/important emails). Ridiculous. What the hell is going on? It just works they say...
Mine was stuck in recovery mode after the first attempt. I tried to apply the update, it failed with an unexpected error sometime during the update. After that iTuens wanted to restore it from backup because it was stuck in recovery mode. I restored it and itunes wanted to restore it again. Wouldn't do anything else. So I started the restore and then killed the process. iPhone came back jsut fine. Not very much fun however.
I have paid to have the carrier lock removed from my 3G phone. After the update this morning the phone part wouldn't work. I turned airplane mode on, then off and it worked. iTunes still work. Guess it works great for Norwegians who have gone from Netcom to Telenor.
exchange support is still reaalllly poor - as it only sniffs out new email in your inbox -- "what's that?!" says Steve, "you use message rules to send mail into other folders? Inconceivable!"
also.
WHY CANT I CHANGE THE SMS TONE TO SOMETHING I WANT.
also hah. i like it when my iPhone crashes and sometimes do random 'buggy' things like not ring when it's supposed to.. makes that sense of balance in the Microsoft/Apple world seem restored..
My signal strength isn't what it used to be with pre 2.x series. I want to upgrade back to the old ones for all the jailbreak stuff again too but I haven't found the time to mess with it yet. I hope 2.01 fixed that slow laggy input during texting from 2.0.
My carrier here in Portugal is Voda and i have this error message too. My iPhone is new and not jailbreaked...
Voda's technical assistance doesn't know anything....they think it's from Apple's firmware update
Voda here in Portugal told me they think that error came with Apple's update
I have this message but all is fine....i think! hope!
but can it play CRYSIS?!
IFAIL
is it MEANT to? people know what they are getting when they buy the iPhone, and if its not for you, leave it alone, go buy a sidekick, we dont care...some people just want a phone, iPod, and browser.
if everybody drank the kool-aid, we would have no problems:
1 - more customers = increased accountability
2 - everyone has email, nobody needs MMS (or sms, if its push email)
3 - more revenue = more R&D
just like the Zune...."thank you for welcoming me to the social, when will the others arrive?"
i think i may be the only one who has had ZERO problems with the iPhone 3G/MoblieMe roll out...or maybe only people who are currently not enjoying iPhone have the time to bitch about it...fortunately i have no life, so here's another annoying perspective
actually now that i look at his other comments, i figure he had no real thought go into that post, and it didn't deserve a reply...
i also noticed he has Verizon....
*cough* communist *cough*
Hi all,
I only read this now - after upgrading my officially unlocked iPhone 3G.
I HAD NO PROBLEMS AT ALL.
The upgrade is amazing, all the snapp snapp stuff confirmed in mine.
I bought unlocked to not have to worry about this stuff and update as I want, I hope it will keep that way!
By the way, bought in a TIM store in Italy. Using Vodafone in UK.
Cheers!