[News] Special Version of iTunes to Unbrick 3G iPhones Leaked

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Apple News | Special Version of iTunes to Unbrick 3G iPhones Leaked
Monday, 30th June 2008, 11:06 am

A special version of iTunes required by cellular carriers to unbrick 3G iPhones has been leaked online.

Bricked: Default state of the iPhone, only emergency calls allowed.
Unbrick: Enabling the phone for services.

The entire setup process for installing the software was leaked onto iPhoneinCanada.ca.

Read More

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Requirement 1) Download/Install 'Store only version' of iTunes
* In order to unbrick the iPhone in store (which is a requirement of the iPhone Sales Process), you must have iTunes version 7.6.3b4. Installed on your computer. This version has a special 'Activation Only Mode' that must be enabled and used in store.
* The iTunes version that is currently available on the Apple website is version 7.6.2. This version does NOT have the activation only mode and as such please action the following steps to complete the installation of version 7.6.3b4:

1) Download and install 7.6.3b4 from the following link. Do not attempt to use any other version of iTunes as V7.6.3b4 is a specific activation only module designed for in-store use.
https://attache.apple.com/AttacheWeb...QNmUHPjRZRI%3D

2) When you enter the link above you will be asked if you want to 'open' or 'save' the file. Select 'Open'. The file is 102mb and may take 5 to 15 minutes to download, depending on your connection speed.

3) Once downloaded you will see a window containing two files. One file is for a Mac and the other is for Windows. Please double-click the Windows.exe file.

4) A small 'warning' window will pop-up that advises you to extract all files –Please do so.

5) An 'Extraction Wizard' will start. Click 'Next'.

6) You will be asked where you want the files to be extracted to. The default location (a temporary file) is ok, so select 'next'. You will then be advised that the extraction has finished. Click 'Finish'.

7) A new window will appear with the extracted files in (both Mac and Windows). Double click on the Windows.exe file. You may be presented with a Windows security warning. If so, select 'Run' as the files are safe. There may be a delay before the next step starts.

8) Pop-up windows and instructions will guide you through the rest of the installation process. You must close MS Outlook (if it's open) before completing the installation.

9) During the installation process you will be asked if you would like an iTunes shortcut on your desktop – Please do so.

10) You may be asked to restart your computer – Please do so if asked.

11) Once you have restarted you will see an iTunes shortcut on your desktop.

12) The download process is complete – you must now follow the following steps to complete the process.
* You MUST now enable the 'Activation only Module' within iTunes.

13) Create a shortcut on your desktop by right clicking on a blank space on your desktop and selecting 'new' and then 'shortcut'.

14) A 'Create a shortcut' wizard window will appear. In the box within the window marked 'Type the location of the item', please type or copy and paste the following bolded text in this EXACT format.

15) Please ensure you use the whole of this text with all punctuation/grammar exactly as specified:
"C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunes.exe" /StoreActivationMode 1

16) Click 'Next'. You will be asked to enter a name for the shortcut. use:
iTunes Activation Module

17) Click 'Finish'. You will now see a new iTunes shortcut on your desktop with this name.

18) This shortcut is the Activation Module and should be used to unbrick the iPhone. When you first start this version of iTunes there will be a terms and conditions agreement that you will need to "accept' in order to proceed.

Note: Unbricking the iPhone should only be completed after activating the iPhone on Sales Central. Full instructions on how and when to activate and unbrick will be provided in a training job aid on fast track and sales central. You will be informed when this Job Aid is available.

Note: As of July 11 2008, an updated version of iTunes (7.7) will be publicly available from www.apple.ca. It will have the activation only mode built in (like 7.6.3b4) so you will not need to use unique Weblinks to download it. As it is a publicly available version of iTunes it still needs to be configured for store use. Therefore you MUST 'enable' version 7.7 in the same way as you did for version 7.6.3b4 that is detailed above.
1) To update your current version (7.6.3b4) to V7.7 to benefit from software updates; Open iTunes, select 'help' and 'check for updates' or go to www.apple.ca and download iTunes from the 'downloads' section. You do not have to uninstall previous versions first.
2) You MUST still enable the activation only mode, using the shortcut creation method above.
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DAA Converter for Mac OS X

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DAA Converter for Mac OS X
Access DAA disk images on your Mac

Direct Access Archive (DAA) is a disk image format that's currently unsupported on Mac OS X.
DAA Converter is a free utility which allows you to access the contents of a DAA image file by converting it to ISO disk image format; The converted ISO disk image can be mounted as a readable volume on your Mac by double-clicking it.

DAA Converter is a native GUI application which wraps the command-line tool, DAA2ISO, by Luigi Auriemma.
It runs on Mac OS X 10.3 Panther or later.

DAA Converter v1.1 (Version History)


DAA Converter is free software, distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL).
Download DAA Converter's source code.

Upgrade Your iPod's Drive and Firmware for FLAC Playback

Upgrade Your iPod's Drive and Firmware for FLAC Playback

Rockbox is an alternative (open source) firmware that will run on many iPods. One of its cooler features is that it supports several audio codecs such as OGG, AC3 and everyone's favorite lossless codec, FLAC.

What's also interesting about Rockbox--and this is slightly less talked about--is that it handles gapless playback really nicely. Instead of pausing or fading between songs, Rockbox will start the next song immediately after the previous one ended. This is great for playing back audio taken from electronica and live/concert CDs that blend one track straight into the next.

My friend Justin went about upgrading his 4th gen iPod to use Rockbox the other day and he ended up upgrading his iPod's hard disk and battery as well, in order to accommodate playback for all the larger FLAC files he's been encoding. Thankfully, he put together a nice little howto which documents the whole process, including the tinfoiling of his new drive (above photo), which eliminated an EMI issue that he encountered with the new disk.

Resources:

• Upgrading the 4th gen iPod HD & battery for Rockbox, FLAC
• Rockbox: open source jukebox firmware
• FLAC: Free Lossless Audio

How to convert .flac files to .mp3 using OS X

by Ross McKillop on July 15, 2006

You’ve downloaded a show or two from http://bt.etree.org and now you want to convert the .flac files to .mp3 to take with you on your iPod or MP3 player. This tutorial will walk you through the steps to do just that, using OS X. Read on ..

First things first, make sure you’ve downloaded and installed xACT and iTunes, both of which are free.

There are two steps in converting your .flac files to .mp3. The first is to decode the .flac’s into .wav files. After that’s done, you’ll encode the .wav files into .mp3’s.

Decoding .flac files with xACT
Encoding .wav files with iTunes

Decoding .flac files with xACT

1. Launch xACT and select the decode tab



2. Click the add button



3. Navigate to the .flac files you want to decode, select them all, and then click Add files


Click to enlarge

4. Now you’ll need to select the output - I use and suggest .wav. Click Decode when you’re ready


Click to enlarge

5. You’ll be prompted to choose a location to save the output files. Select the same folder where the .flac files are located and then click Choose


Click to enlarge

6. Go put on a pot of coffee. The decoding process only takes a few minutes.



7. When it’s completed you’ll be back at the decode screen but there won’t be any files in the decode list. Feel free to close xACT now.

Encoding .wav files with iTunes

1. Open up iTunes and select iTunes from the top menu, and then Preferences… from the drop-down list



2. Select the Advanced tab from the top menu, and then Importing from the lower menu


Click to enlarge


3. From the Import Using: list, select MP3 Encoder



4. From the Setting: list, select your quality preference. I happen to have a lot of space on my portable MP3 player, so I opt for Higher Quality (192 kbps)



5. It also annoys me to have songs playing while they’re importing, so I disable that feature by removing the check from the box labeled Play songs while importing. This is entirely optional. Click OK to return to iTunes.



6. Now select File from the top menu, and then Add to Library… from the drop-down list



7. Navigate to the folder where you saved all of the .wav files from xACT, select that folder, and then click Choose


Click to enlarge

8. iTunes will now import all of the .wav’s into iTunes. Find all of the newly added files (usually at the bottom of your iTunes list, but it depends on how you sort your music) and select them all. Once they’re all highlighted, right-click (ctrl-click for you one-button folks) on any of the selected songs and choose Convert Selection to MP3 from the pop-up menu.



9. Remember that pot of coffee you put on while the .flac files were decoding? Now’s the time to get a cup. While iTunes is encoding your MP3s, a status indicator will appear in the left window (see image below). Depending on how “fast” your mac is (processor speed, memory etc) and how many files you’re encoding, this step can take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour.



10. Once all of the files have been encoded, iTunes will probably beep to get your attention. Before you start listening to your music, now’s a good time to get rid of the .wav files, since they’re no longer needed. You should notice that ever other track in iTunes is highlighted. These are the .wav files - get them out of iTunes by clicking the delete key on your keyboard. If iTunes asks if you want to delete the files as well as remove them from iTunes, feel free to do so (you should still have the source .flac files if you ever need an uncompressed version again)



11. That’s it! You’re done. You can now tag the files in iTunes, transfer them to your iPod etc. If you need to get at the MP3s, they will likely be located in Mac Hard Drive:Users:you:Music:iTunes:iTunes Music:

iPod hacking

installing another OS in iPod
http://www.rockbox.org
http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/IpodPatcher

Fluke - Play FLAC files in iTunes

Fluke - Play FLAC files in iTunes

http://cubicfruit.com/fluke/

How It Works

1. Download and install Fluke.
   Follow the installer steps and punch in your admin password when asked for it.
2. Restart iTunes.
   If you've got iTunes or QuickTime running, restart them.
3. Listen to your FLACs!
   Right-click/Ctrl+click on the FLAC files you want to add to iTunes and choose Open With > Other. Locate Fluke under your Applications and press OK. Or simply drag your FLACs onto Fluke's application icon.
4. Set as default.
   If you would like to use Fluke for all your FLACs by default, in the Open With dialogue mark the "Always Open With" checkbox

Fluke, a Mac approach to listening to FLACs. Download, install and use. No moving files around, dragging libraries or following stupid instructions by someone who thinks he’s funny.

I’ve written out a pretty clear how-to on Fluke’s main page, but to sum it all up, all you really have to do is download and install the thing, and open your FLACs with it. Or just drag them onto Fluke’s icon.

Let me know how you like it, and make sure to leave a comment if it acts up. Not too complicated a program to act up but it is my first effort.

FLAC fix for MAC : xiph.org/quicktime/

http://xiph.org/quicktime/download.html

XiphQT logo

QuickTime Components

navigate :

* news
* about
* downloads
* FAQ
* report problems
* for developers
* contact

Downloads.

The current version is 0.1.8. It is expected to work with the following system configurations:

* Mac OS X (PowerPC and Intel):
o version 10.3.9 or 10.4 and later;
o QuickTime for Mac OS X - version 7 or later;

The latest version of XiphQT for Windows is 0.1.5 and it requires:

* QuickTime for Windows - version 7 or later.

For more details on features and changes see release notes.

Additional information on some minor installation issues that may happen can be found in the XiphQT FAQ.
Xiph QuickTime Components binary packages
Download link Size MD5 checksum
XiphQT 0.1.8 (Mac OS X) 1.0MB d6ea6ad82d5cf6a90bcad0cb49d99f4d
XiphQT 0.1.8 (Mac OS X, only decoders) 602kB 4d572d07d5db535938392e6bc1473360
XiphQT 0.1.5 (Windows) 229kB 697eb065a3e8f5b8f5b3cf5be2afa33f