ECID and You (iPt 3G & iPhone3GS sig backup)

Basic questions

How to get an ECID backup

Method 1: Cydia (Recommended)

If you have a device where ECIDs would be of use to you, Cydia should show something like this:

Just tap on the "Make My Life Easier" button and your ECID will be stored on saurik's (creator of Cydia) servers.
The top of Cydia should now say "This device has a pending TSS request", this means that your are not in the clear yet, but will be soon. After a few days, Cydia should look like

this means that your ECID is stored.

Wait, you are not done yet; the ECID is only on saurik servers and not available to you right now.

For Windows: Open

Code:

C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts

It's a system file so open with Notepad run as Administrator if you get any can't save errors
For Mac OS X and *NIX: Open

Code:

/etc/hosts

It is hidden so use "sudo nano /etc/hosts" or manually hide and rehide files from finder

Add the following entry to the bottom of the file:

Code:

74.208.10.249 gs.apple.com

Now, iTunes will talk to saurik's servers and not apple when you downgrade.

Method 2: iREB
Get iREB for Windows and follow the instructions

Method 3a: Local ECID Server for Windows
1. Put your device into recovery mode (it should show the Connect to iTunes picture if done correctly)
2. Grab your ECID using ECID Grabber
3.(Optional) Copy your ECID (it should be 16 numbers long) and paste it into a notepad document as a backup
4. Hold Power and Home at the same time until you are out of Recovery Mode
5. Download Umbrella and unzip it to your Desktop
6. Open umbrella.jar
7. Paste your ECID into the ECID box, select your version number and select ECID Repository; a SHSH file should appear in the Umbrella folder
8.(Optional) Find your SHSH file XXXXXXXXXXXXX-iphone-3.X.shsh and rename it to something easier to remember/ type in such as 3GS3.1.2.shsh

How to setup local ECID SHSH backup server (Do this right before downgrade)

9. go into cmd.exe and enter

Code:

cd Desktop/fw-umbrella-semaphore

10. Double check and make sure there is nothing else using port 80 (TinyTSS uses this)
11.If you installed 32bit Java type:

Code:

tinytss.exe -f 1111111111111-iphone-3.0.shsh

If you installed 64bit Java type:

Code:

tinytss64.exe -f 1111111111111-iphone-3.0.shsh

(replace 1111111111111-iphone-3.0.shsh with your real SHSH file name)
12. Open

Code:

C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts

13. Add a "#" before

Code:

74.208.10.249 gs.apple.com

to comment out Cydia's SHSH server (if you use it)
14. Add

Code:

127.0.0.1 gs.apple.com

to the last line and save
15. Open cmd.exe, and run

Code:

ping gs.apple.com

It should respond:
Pinging gs.apple.com [127.0.0.1] with 32 bytes of data
if it doesn't have the [127.0.0.1] part then repeat steps 12-14 and try again

Method 3b: Local ECID Server for Mac
1. Put your device into Recovery Mode
2. Open System Profiler.app (In Applications -> Utilities)
3. Click USB and select the iPhone from the list, it will show the ECID there.
3b.(Optional) Backup your ECID in a txt file
4. Hold Power and Home Simultaneously until you're out of Recovery
5. Download Umbrella and unzip it to your Desktop
6. Open umbrella.jar
7. Paste your ECID into the ECID box, select your version number and select ECID Repository; a SHSH file should appear in the Umbrella folder
8.(Optional) Find your SHSH file XXXXXXXXXXXXX-iphone-3.X.shsh and rename it to something easier to remember/ type in such as 3GS3.1.2.shsh

How to setup local ECID SHSH backup server (Do this part just before downgrade)

9. go into Terminal.app and enter

Code:

cd Desktop/fw-umbrella-semaphore

10. Double check and make sure there is nothing else using port 80 (TinyTSS uses this)
11. Type in:

Code:

sudo java -jar tinytss.jar -f 1111111111111-iphone-3.0.shsh

(replace 1111111111111-iphone-3.0.shsh with your real SHSH file name) and then enter your password
12. Open

Code:

/etc/hosts

(you can unhide icons or use sudo nano /etc/hosts)
13. Add a "#" before

Code:

74.208.10.249 gs.apple.com

to comment out Cydia's SHSH server (if you use it)
14. Add

Code:

127.0.0.1 gs.apple.com

to the last line and press Ctrl+O then Ctrl+X
15. Open Terminal, and run

Code:

ping gs.apple.com

It should respond:
Pinging gs.apple.com (127.0.0.1) with 56 bytes of data.
if it doesn't have the (127.0.0.1) part then repeat steps 12-14 and try again

Why Method 3 is not recommended
In order to use method 3, you have to have your SHSH backup up on saurik's servers or Apple has to be signing this firmware. Basically, it is more work and gets the same results
How to Downgrade
If you have the ECID SHSH backed up, just Shift+click the Update button on Windows or Option+click the Update button on Mac OS X and select your desired firmware

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Addendum (Axis)

For anyone that still has problems, please read this:

Does this work for iPod Touch 3G 8GB? because nor Cydia or Rock have the "Make life easier" option.

Wasn't there a deadline (which is now past) to have this done by?

nice sticky gunz

was wondering the same thing.

I see...so then I will reiterate the same question others asked..why doesnt my Cydia show me this option? If I chose the "i hate jailbreak go away" option (I dont know why I would..but I do a lot of stupid stuff), is there a way to get it back? I would love to back up my os.

Try to Reinstall Cydia?

Nope reinstalling did nothing, and I even installed Rock thinking maybe it would have that option but no go.

It's ok, I just wont do anything ever that would make me need to restore.