I am posting this based on 5 days of frustration I have personally experienced after the 5.2.1 release, and thanks to this community’s help, was successfully able to jailbreak my atv2 after I accidentally upgraded to 5.2.1. UPDATE: Confirmed works with latest 5.3 release from other users, however the current Seas0nPass (not the one in this post) will JB 5.3 to a tethered JB. However this is still valid if you desire a release with less overhead.
Want to give special thanks to dknIght who stuck with me, as well as AppleTVGuru, and probably several others who provided them this info prior.
If the moderator wishes to remove this post. Understand.
Before you chose this route, best to check AppleTVGuru’s post to see if you have untethered shsh blobs shared by chance on the Cydia or iFaith servers. To know if it’s a tethered or untethered release, you can read it on the firecore sticky here:
http://forum.firecore.com/topic/3418
The method in the post below is better because you’ll most likely have a newer version of iOS, and you can have an untethered boot.
http://forum.firecore.com/topic/10083
Highly recommend if you can get this to work with the above post, you stop here.
If this doesn’t work, or you jailbroke your ATV2 before using a tethered boot (Like I did) and it no longer works. This method should work for you.
Again this is a last resort, if you absolutely want a JB ATV2 you’ll have prior firmware version and always have to tethered boot (at least until a new seasonpass is released).
As always, nothing is guaranteed, so use this at your own risk.
What you need:
- iTunes 10.x - can download from apple's site. I used 10.7 x64. (Confirmed works with iTunes 11.0.2 - courtesy tnvolunteer)
- pre-signed IPSW for release 4.4.2 at this link: http://www.slingfile.com/file/Qic3UqCGBW (courtesy dknIght)
- iFaith v1.5.5 - can download from iH8sn0w's site (Edit: v1.5.6 should also work, or worse case download iREB from the same site)
- Seas0nPass version (v 0.3.52.49xx ) here in this thread - called seasonpass444 http://forum.firecore.com/topic/7279
Steps:
- Download all the required programs above. The presigned 4.4.2 ipsw will take awhile, unless you have "premium" with slingfile. So requires some time. (Don't forget to extract the 4.4.2 ipsw from the rar file somewhere easy to find for later.)
- Open the version of Seas0nPass, and RIGHT click the "create IPSW", and select the 4.4.2 release. Let it run and repack the IPSW. (UPDATE: Apparently letting Seas0nPass finish and iTunes error out is necessary to assure the tethered boot selection is available. As it causes no harm in the procedure - changing it to reflect this. Credit: cullenj76) Let it run and finish with an iTunes error of 3194, then you exit out of iTunes, and close Seas0nPass as well. All we needed here was to completely generate the 4.4.2 ipsw through Seas0nPass so it will generate the files necessary for the tethered boot later. NOTE: this will not work with current Seas0nPass versions, it's critical that you download this version. Current versions of SP will ask to plug in the ATV2 before it starts creating the ipsw. This way it creates it without even needing to plug in your ATV2.
- Start iFaith, and selected pwned DFU mode
- Connect your ATV2, and allow it to use iREB to put it into a DFU state for iTunes
- Once iTunes launches (you can also launches manually), hit and hold shift while you hit "restore"
- Select the signed 4.4.2 ipsw you downloaded above - called 00000XXXXXXXXXX_iFaith_Apple_TV_2-4.4.2 (9A336a)_signed.ipsw or similar. NOTE: Do NOT pick the IPSW that Seas0nPass generated in step 2, only dknlght's version.
- iTunes will restore the firmware onto the device. (NOTE: You may find that you need to attempt this more than once, and if you do, disconnect, close everything and start over again from step 3)
- iTunes will most likely finish with a Error: 1600. This is ok. Be sure however that the firmware did install, and you reached the final validation phase. If not, try it again. The error does not mean it will not work.
- Disconnect ATV2 from the USB cable. Close everything.
- Open the version of Seas0nPass, and RIGHT click the "tethered boot", and select the 4.4.2 release. Follow the instructions on the main firecore page here for tethered install: http://support.firecore.com/entries/387605-Jailbreaking-101-Seas0nPass
- You should now have a full jailbroken ATV2 running 4.4.2!
Overall make take several attemps at either the iTunes restore step or the Seas0nPass tethered boot, but if you are persistent, you can make it work.
Will say again, no guarantees, but it did work for me even after being upgraded to 5.2.1. Also cannot confirm this for Mac, since unaware of an equivalent for iFaith or sn0wbreeze to put into pwned DFU mode.
FAQ
Q: I did everything and I can’t get the tethered boot to work, the apple tv keeps flashing. What did I do wrong?
A: You didn’t do the tethered boot correctly is the issue.
If you followed the firecore instructions and it didn’t work, most likely the ATV2 is already in DFU mode when you plug in the USB. So here’s an alternate way.
- Turn on the sound on your PC, make sure it's loud enough so you hear beeps. It makes chimes / noises each time it detects the ATV or it changes states. It's very helpful in this process.
- Unplug everything. Start up Seas0nPass, & RIGHT click "tethered boot", and select 4.4.2 release. (NOTE: MAKE SURE YOU SELECT 4.4.2, if you see 4.4.4 or another release, you created the wrong version in Step 2 in the ORIGINAL instructions, or you are not using the Seas0nPass you should have downloaded in the download section. Start from beginning.)
- Plug in the USB cable into back of the ATV2. Wait approximately 5 seconds... means can be 3 seconds, can be 7 or more. The key here... did you notice a change in speed of the light flashing on the ATV? Did you hear a noise on the PC like a beep or chime? That means you go to the next step.
- Plug in the power to the ATV
- Now this is important. Check your computer. Is Seas0nPass saying "detected ATV in DFU mode" or something similar? Is it ALREADY in the state it needs to do the tethered boot. DO NOT hold the menu + play buttons... it's not necessary. Skip to step #7. If the computer is still "waiting", hasn't beeped, or nothing is happening, go to the next step.
- Do the regular tethered boot process. Hold the menu + play buttons on the silver atv remote. Wait approximately 5 seconds for Seas0nPass to detect the ATV in DFU mode.
- Let Seas0nPass start the tethered boot process. Wait until it says it successfully boot the ATV. DO NOT wait too long after this is completed. So don't walk away from your PC while it's working is a pro-tip.
- Unplug the USB cable from the back of the ATV.
- Plug in the HDMI cable
- Wait while the ATV flashes again, slowly while it finishes the boot. After about 10-20 more seconds, you should see the ATV asking what language you want. If you see this, you are good.
If none of this works, check the post #43 in this thread from sean781 for another way of writing up the same thing above.
If you are still stuck vary the steps above in terms of timing, and when you hear beeps, etc. You will get there and soon learn to “hear” your ATV when it’s ready and good to go.
If you are still stuck after all this, please mention which step you were on, and what exactly was happening so we can help recommend what to do, and perhaps update this FAQ.
Q: I got it to work! However, if reboot or turn-off my ATV2, do I always need to use Seas0nPass to tethered boot the ATV2 again?
A: Yes. The whole point of this post is if you have no alternatives: No SHSH blobs from UNtethered releases, never done a jailbreak before, etc. Tethered boots are a pain, although honestly they are rare once you get them going. You should keep this release as an eternal “last resort” if nothing else works with ATV2.
Once FireCore, or others succeed to jailbreak the ATV2 in firmware 5.2.1 or versions thereafter, you should consider upgrading to those releases if they are UNtethered, meaning you don’t need to use Seas0nPass to boot anymore (check the very first link in this post to see what is tethered vs untethered). Again, apple needs to be signing that release at the moment for it to work. So be sure to check back to the firecore site regularily to know when that is done. I myself will stay on 4.4.2 until another untethered release will come along, then I will upgrade it to no longer bother with tethering.
Q: I get a “atv is not the correct version” from Seas0nPass.
A: You get that error if you are using the newer versions of Seas0nPass because before it generates any IPSW, it asks you to first connect your ATV2 first. If it does that, you are using the wrong version. You need to only use the Seas0nPass from the download section of this post. Make sure you are using that one, Seas0nPass will not require you to connect your ATV2 with this version, and it’s what you want.
Q: I go to the page where dknIght uploaded his ipsw, but I can’t find the link! Which one do I click?
A: No one says it better than daryl2216…
Q: I followed everything and I keep getting iTunes error 3194, what did I do wrong?
A: Remember to pick dknlght’s pre-signed and JB IPSW 4.4.2 that you downloaded from the website and NOT the IPSW that Seas0nPass generates in step 2. You will have 2 IPSWs on your machine for 4.4.2, and in fact if it really causes issues, you can delete the IPSW generated by Seas0nPass as you no longer will need it once you have the tethered boot option in it’s menu.
Q: Do you have this procedure as well for MacOS X?
A: Luckily I can dodge this question as FireCore released a tethered (like this one) beta release for 5.2.1. So go to this link to find out how: http://forum.firecore.com/topic/10239
This may become UNtethered, however time will tell. And the beta is for Mac only. Believe it will go to PC once they get it formally released. However personally I will not go to 5.2.1 unless it becomes untethered. No point for me to go from tethered (4.4.2) to tethered (5.2.1), and believe 4.4.2 has less overhead (read: size) so works well with XMBC and imagine as well with Firecore’s ATV.
Welcome to leave any questions, will help where I can.
(Again thanks to dknIght and AppleTVGuru for their support)