this post documents my attempt(s) in upgrading my iphone 3g 2.2.1 to the leaked iphone os 3.0 7a341. why the leaked version? because i’m too impatient to wait for the official release on june 17th.

first i read this article on gizmodo:

http://i.gizmodo.com/5284779/iphone-os-30-now-available-in-torrent

i got excited and i went hunting for the torrent, which i found here:

http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4942338/iPhone_OS_3.0_3G_GM_Golden_Master_7A341_%5Bkenfun%5D

(fyi my iphone 3g is jailbroken)

moving on..

first open itunes and plug your iphone to your computer. under summary option+click restore and choose the iPhone1,2_3.0_7A341_Restore.ipsw that you downloaded from the torrent. hit ok and the iphone will restore / upgrade.

ok my first two attempts failed. no need to panic. take a deep breath (or take a panadol) and think.

possible causes:

1. my iphone was jailbroken so there were some incompatible files lurking around

2. i forgot to upgrade to itunes 8.2 *doh*

back to business…

4:40pm - i restored my iphone to factory default so i have a brand new iphone. now downloading itunes 8.2

4:50pm - installing itunes 8.2

4:54pm - itunes installed, restoring from downloaded ipsw file again *fingers crossed*

4:55pm - restoring iphone software…

4:57pm - verifying iphone software… (this is where it failed before.. TWICE!! so i’m praying on my knees as i type this)

5:00pm - restoring iphone firmware (good sign, right right?)

5:03pm - “your iphone has been restored to factory settings.. blah blah blah” - yippee!! *wipessweatoffmyforehead*

5:04pm - iphone rebooted, unlocked my sim pin, and it pops up on itunes

5:05pm - restoring iphone from backup (iphone shows “restore in progress”)

5:06pm - restore completed, iphone restarting again

5:08pm - iphone is syncing, restoring my apps, music, videos, contacts, etc.

i will conclude this here since the sync will take quite a while. everything seems normal and besides the failures in my original attempts the entire process was pretty easy and straightforward. so if you’re a little bit adventurous and you don’t mind missing your cracked apps until an official jailbreak is released, i got your back!

more resources:

http://www.iphoneheat.com/2009/06/download-iphone-os-30-gm-gold-master-7a341/

http://www.xsellize.com/showthread.php?t=43772&highlight=beta

today we moved to baron beach hotel after staying at sunshine for 3 nights. it’s much quieter here although still next to soi 8 but our room overlooks soi 9 so there’s no crazy bars and cheap sluts, just the central festival mall (read: vie’s heaven). i dropped vie off at the salon to perm her hair and i went downstairs and got us some fuji apples, a kilo of mangosteen and a huge yellow thai mango all for 160 baht (less than $5). oh yeah we’re on a 3 day fruit detox. watermelon and bananas at sunshine for breakfast. pineapples, apples and green grapes on the street for lunch. and the ones i just bought are for dinner.

we left talisa’s apartment today and took a bus down to pattaya. we’re staying at the sunshine hotel on soi 8 and i tell you.. it’s a motherfucker of a place (soi 8, not the hotel). the hotel isn’t too bad but it’s pretty standard. vie’s not too pleased. outside the street is full of gogo bars and beer bars, with thai girls every 50 centimeter away.

we saw the alcazar ladyboy cabaret. posted some pics on facebook and some of my friends (even my brother) got fooled, they thought the girls were smokin!! lol..

after the show we grabbed some grub and i took vie back to the hotel. then i went for my naked thai massage. i forgot what the place is called but it’s on 3rd road. there were 5 girls in the room and they all looked sleepy but as soon as i stepped in they put on their best thai smile and offered themselves. i took a quick glance at the “menu” and picked a girl (cutest there was) and we went upstairs. overall i’m not too impressed and i think this whole naked massage thing is a bit overrated. i wasn’t even turned on. maybe i was just at the wrong place and i should’ve gone to one of the more expensive places. but this was the only one i could find at 1am and i was there only to feed my curiosity, not to nail the girl or anything.

on the way back to the hotel i stopped by world wide gogo bar. had a few heinekens and chit-chatted with khe and moo or whetever their names were that night. khe had nice tits and moo danced like a demon (very sexy). it felt funny having two girls on my lap while my girl is sleeping at the hotel.

ok then i went back and withdrew some money from 711. this was when i lost my bank card. maybe i was too sleepy and a bit drunk but i don’t remember leaving my card in the atm. ahh well..

tonight made me realize how much i really love vie. she lets me explore and experiment with my curiosity and she gives me space just enough to desire her and come back to her everytime. she’s the best fiancee i could ever asked for.

as for my thai girl adventure, i think that chapter is now closed.

we checked out of i-residence today and moved to talisa’s apartment on ekkamai rd. it was very simple and straightforward getting there. hopped on the bts to ekkamai, then took a cab to her soi (street). the apartment is very cozy. a bit messy maybe, but cozy. they have another couchsurfer from france staying there so there’s 5 of us. we had lunch at this internet cafe across the street and the green curry there was delicious. 65 baht (less than $2). then i went back to talisa’s apartment to freshen up and take a nap due to my fucking neck pain, and vie went back to the net cafe to do some blogging. woke up around 8 or 9pm i think and ended up chatting with talisa about life when she was supposed to be working (yeah bad me!) and then vie and jaesin called cuz they were hungry. so we went down and fetched them and walked to this nice seafood restaurant on ekkamai rd. talisa’s brister came along after a few minutes and we had a great time eating some weird but yummy thai food.

landed in bangkok today and i was impressed by the airport. feels very industrial. we took a cab to our hotel, i-residence just across the chong nonsi bts station. for $29 a night the hotel is pretty amazing. the room is small but it’s super cozy and homey with a nice bathroom with hot shower, complete toiletries and even a hair dryer (so we can dry our clothes lol). and they have fast internet via an rj45 jack on the wall. what’s most awesome is that 711 is just right there in front of the hotel and the bts station is right across the street. it connects you to the entire city of bangkok, cheap. their rooftop pool is also nice, overlooking the bts station, infinity style. real value for the money.

after a few hours of nap we hit the bts (skytrain) to the siam paragon mall. yeah i hate malls but it wasn’t so excruciating considering it was my first time there and it was priceless to see the expression on vie’s face. i think i love this girl a little much that i can bear shopping malls. hehehh..

i’m most impressed by the bts lines. they also have an mrt line which we haven’t tried yet but overall the city’s infrastructure is probably 100 years ahead of bali. you can get anywhere, anytime until midnight, fast, cheap and safe. and where the bts and mrt don’t take you, there’s always the taxis and the tuk-tuks and the busses.