SemiRestore – restore to a fresh version of iOS without losing your jailbreak!

SemiRestore – restore to a fresh version of 

iOS without losing your jailbreak!

Most people in the jailbreak community have come across this before – you’re messing around with your iDevice and cluelessly install some buggy tweak from Cydia, landing your device in an unusable state. Apple has recently released a new un-jailbreakable firmware (6.1.3, 6.1.4)  and if you do happen to mess up your device, MobileSubstrate is basically your only hope to get your device back to working order. If you are a jailbreak addict, you will know that MobileSubstrate can’t always save you, and you are forced to restore to an un-jailbreakable firmware and oh no! Life ‘seems’ hopeless and worthless without your jailbreak.

But CoolStar from HASHBang productions must be all too familiar with this situation and has been working on a new solution to (semi)restore your device without losing your jailbreak. Presenting, SemiRestore! SemiRestore allows you to fix your device in a respring loop or in a unusable state, without losing your jailbreak. CoolStar has been working on a SSH version of SemiRestore as well as a OS X/Windows/Linux version on which you may connect your device up via USB to semi-restore. SemiRestore effectively restores your device essentially like how iTunes does but preserves your jailbreak on your current iOS version. After the restore, you can easily sync back all your data from iTunes and of course, install your most treasured packages from Cydia to once again enjoy the jailbreaking experience.

Some frequently asked questions from the website are below.

Can I use this to go from firmware x to firmware y?

No, this only allows you to go to a fresh version of your current firmware.

Do I need SHSH blobs or APTickets for this semi-restore?

No, since this is not a full restore and is at the userland level, this doesn't require blobs.

I have a question regarding the jailbreak process or jailbreaking in general.

Please go to the Jailbreak QA dedicated website or try /r/jailbreak on Reddit.

SemiRestore requires:

- iOS 5.0-6.12

- a jailbroken device with OpenSSH and APT 0.7 Strct

SemiRestore does:

- restore the version of iOS (supports 5.0-6.1.2)

 on your device

- fix your unusable device

- save your life

SemiRestore does not:

- unlock your device

- jailbreak your device

SemiRestore has already proven to me that it does do the job after being stuck in a respring loop and successfully restoring my device whilst keeping my jailbreak (phew).