Help needed restoring/saving JB ipad 4 6.1

[Jakky]

Hey guys

I have an ipad 4 with 6.1 jailbroken with evasi0n. Didn't encounter any problems for the last couple of months that ive been using it.

Unfortunately it seems like i managed to brick it today. I am stuck on the boot screen (dimmed Apple logo). It doesnt appear to be a loop, at least the bright apple logo doesn't appear again even after a couple of minutes, it's just stuck on the dimmed Apple logo which flashes a couple of times before staying there.

Here is what i did before it got bricked:
Ive been experimenting with moving apps to an external USB thumbdrive for a couple of weeks now by moving the app folders to the external device and creating a link back at it's original location within ifile. It has been working very well for me, i even placed all apps installed on the thumbdrive in a folder on the dashboard, which, after respringing, appeared/disappeared depending on whether the thumbdrive was plugged in or not. Today, after not using the thumbdrive for a week or so, i discovered that the folder suddenly did not reappear when plugging the thumbdrive back in. I tried moving things around but could not make the icons of the apps reappear on the dashboard, starting it via the appstore did not work either. I then deleted the apps from the applications folder and from my thumbdrive.

So far, so good. I then wanted to try what happens if i just move the contents of the .app folders to my thumbdrive and link them back, and tried that on the game "magicka". It worked just as good as before but i wasn't sure about the icons disappearing, so i tried a reboot with the thumbdrive plugged in. Since that moment i am stuck in the state described above. I know for sure that rebooting has worked before with the app folders moved & linked, so i'm not sure what the problem is here.

So yeah, i was a bit stupid messing with that stuff, lesson learned, the only thing that i want right now is save my jailbreak.

What i have tried so far:
-Tried rebooting it with & without the thumbdrive attached - did not work
- Tried booting it while holding the volume up button to get into safe mode - did not work
- Tried entering recovery mode while connected to pc with itunes running - worked
- Tried getting it into DFU mode - worked

Questions:
I am kind of confused right now what i could do to either save my jailbreak, or restore it entirely. Is it true that getting a JB ios version back on the device is impossible right now, even though i have my 6.1 shsh blobs saved? So will reinstalling 6.1-6.1.2 be impossible? That would mean that either i have to save my device somehow or i will be losing my jailbreak entirely?

If restoring is not an option, does anyone have any idea on how i could save my device?

 

[Jakky]

Quick update: I fixed it.

I used iExplorer to access my ipad's filesystem while stuck on the boot logo. Didn't know that was possible. I deleted the app folder, rebooted and it worked again.

Phew... lesson learned, no more playing around with that. I'm just happy i was able to fix it, thanks anyways

 

[Mickey330]

Well, glad we could help!

But, seriously, I'm happy to hear that things got sorted for you. I know that scary "oh my gosh, I've messed up my jail break!" feeling...

Marilyn

 

[Jakky]

Yup, that was a bit of a shock. Guess i didn't learn my lesson after all though. Im already experimenting again, it's just way too much fun

One question that came up while fixing my device remains though. Im still a bit confused about the necessity of shsh blobs when reinstalling an old ios version like 6.1/6.1.2. Are shsh blobs necessary for that as soon as a newer, non-jailbreakable version is out, or do you only need them for downgrading from an already installed newer non-jailbreakable version?

 

[Mickey330]

Yup, that was a bit of a shock. Guess i didn't learn my lesson after all though. Im already experimenting again, it's just way too much fun

One question that came up while fixing my device remains though. Im still a bit confused about the necessity of shsh blobs when reinstalling an old ios version like 6.1/6.1.2. Are shsh blobs necessary for that as soon as a newer, non-jailbreakable version is out, or do you only need them for downgrading from an already installed newer non-jailbreakable version?

It depends. For you, SHSH blobs are no good - at this time. We used to be able to use them to downgrade the iOS. But, Apple changed the way blobs work with iOS 5. Now, they are virtually worthless for downgrading (unless you are an iPad 2 owner with blobs from both iOS 4.x and 5.x).

On the iPad 4, you cannot do anything with those blobs; you are "stuck" on your current iOS (unless, of course, you go up). But, we save them in case the jail breaking community can eventually do something with them (like the re-restore they developed for iOS 5).

Honestly? With the release of iLex R.A.T. and the upcoming semi-restore tools, I don't expect we'll ever see a tool developed to use them. So, we really don't need to save blobs. But, given that it's easy enough to do (and they take up so little space) - I'm just gonna keep saving them. YMMV.

Just know that you can not use them, today, to downgrade that iPad 4 to a jailbreakable iOS. Unless you have iLex R.A.T. installed (or SemiRestore gets released) - you mess up that jail break and that's it. So, be careful with your "playing."

Marilyn

 

[Jakky]

Thanks for clearing that up. So that means if i ever wanted a fresh start and decided i want to install 6.1.2 i'd be perfectly fine as long as i never upgraded to 6.1.3+ before, yea?

 

[Mickey330]

Nope. Sorry, but I wasn't clear. Once Apple has closed the signing window for a particular iOS, you can't re-load that iOS; all you can do is restore to the most current iOS. That's what we used to be able to use SHSH blobs for - but since the change Apple made in iOS 5 [and above] blobs no longer work that way. Once any iOS other than the Apple-approved one is off the iPad (or not working correctly) - that's it. You can't save it, re-use it or put it back on. That door has been closed and you MUST use the most current/recent iOS.

So - that's why you want to be careful with that jail break. There is no way to put any other iOS on it other than the one that is currently being signed by Apple (today, that's iOS 6.1.3 - which is unjailbreakable).

The two tools I mentioned allow you to put your iPad back to a freshly jail broken condition (just Cydia and its default packages loaded). I don't know/understand how they work, but they are a jail breaker's only hope if something goes wrong. Cause there is nothing else.

Yeah, I know, it's clear as mud. Hope it DOES help clarify, though...

Marilyn

 

[Jakky]

Ah, that's what i was suspecting. Now i get why ilex R.A.T. and semirestore are such a big deal. Oh well, better be careful then. Right now i'd probably sell my ipad if i lost my JB for good, can't live without it.

Let's hope the evasi0n team is holding something back that they'll use to JB ios 7 when it's out. It might even turn out to be backwards compatible with 6.1.3+ if ios7 turns out to be crap, who knows.

Thanks for all the help.