Preparing for the Jailbreak

No matter which jailbreak you choose, you?re going to have to download a stock copy of the iOS 4.3.1 firmware file (IPSW). You?ll find direct links for them (for all devices) below:

With the iOS 4.3.1 untethered jailbreak right around the corner (tomorrow is looking very likely for the release, as Sunday is usually ?Funday? for iPhone-Dev Team releases), it?s time to start preparing yourself for it.

In this post, we?ll be telling you all about the upcoming jailbreak, as well as telling you how you can easily prepare yourself for it to save some time for when it?s actually released.

About the Jailbreak

iOS 4.3.1 has been jailbroken for quite some time, but it?s currently tethered. The iOS 4.3.1 jailbreak is by Stefan Esser, aka ?i0n1c?. He found an untethered exploit quite a long time ago, and has recently passed it over to the iPhone-Dev Team for testing. According to @MuscleNerd, the jailbreak is ?solid?. It was then confirmed that the untethered iOS 4.3.1 jailbreak will be implemented into their redsn0w and PwnageTool software.
There are 2 ways of jailbreaking iOS 4.3.1 (untethered): redsn0w, PwnageTool. redsn0w is an ?on-the-fly? jailbreak, meaning the program (available for Windows and Mac OS X) will be able to jailbreak your device without the need for a restore. This is great for quick and painless jailbreaks (if that?s all you?re going for, which 90% of people are). The second method, PwnageTool, is a more advanced type of jailbreak, and does require a restore. It basically takes a stock firmware file (IPSW), jailbreaks it, adds your own customizations (such as boot logos, whether or not you want to hacktivate your device, and pre-installed Cydia sources or packages), and gives you a custom pre-jailbroken IPSW. You can then restore your iDevice to this file in iTunes. Most people will probably find redsn0w sufficient for their jailbreaking needs.
There?s also a Windows equivalent of PwnageTool called ?sn0wbreeze?, and will also most likely be updated for untethered iOS 4.3.1 jailbreaking support.
Here?s where some confusion may lie: Which devices will be supported? All of the usual device will work with the iOS 4.3.1 untethered jailbreak, EXCEPT for the iPad 2. The exploit was apparently patched in iOS 4.3.1, but wasn?t in 4.3. So, if we see an untethered iPad 2 jailbreak, it will most likely be only for iOS 4.3

Directlink?s below

• iPad 1G (4.3.1)
• iPad 2G (WiFi, 4.3)
• iPad 2G (WiFi, 4.3.1)
• iPad 2G (GSM, 4.3)
• iPad 2G (GSM 4.3.1)
• iPad 2G (CDMA, 4.3)
• iPad 2G (CDMA, 4.3.1)
• iPhone 3GS (4.3.1)
• iPhone 4 (4.3.1)
• iPod Touch 3G (4.3.1)
• iPod Touch 4G (4.3.1)

If you?re already jailbroken, it?s best to manually create a list of installed packages in Cydia. Simply open up Notepad (or TextEdit) on your computer, open up Cydia on your iDevice, then go to Manage, then Packages. Type (on your computer) the name of all installed packages (or at least the ones that are important to you). Sure, there are applications that can do things like this for you (and restore them upon a new jailbreak), but I would much rather do it the manual way.
That?s pretty much it. The above is what I usually do when a new jailbreak comes out. Again, there are automated backup utilities available in Cydia, but I find doing it manually is more satisfying.
If you have your own way of doing things, please let everybody know by leaving a comment down below.