Convert a MiniSIM (used in an iPhone 4s) to a NanoSIM (used in an iPhone 5s)

Recently bought an iPhone 5s as a replacement for my ageing iPhone 4 and was shocked to discover that I needed to fork out 40 swiss for a new SIM. The new phones use what is called a NanoSIM whereas the iPhone 4 use a MiniSIM. The only difference between the two is the size. I knew there had to be a better way and a little Google got me there : https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3861236/iHackintosh%20Nano%20SIM.pdf

This is a template I printed on an A4 paper at 100%. I put my MiniSim on there, taped it using scotch tape and drew the corresponding lines with a permanent pen. I then used a cutter and finished the job using a pair of scissors. Et voilà : a NanoSIM homemade ! I could then activate my new phone without having to wait for the new SIM to arrive (and saved a little in the process).

Skipping songs, scratching and hissing noise in iPod nano / iPod Touch or iPhone

A couple of months ago the songs transferred from  iTunes (I use Windows 7)  to my various Apple devices started skipping, scratching when I listened to them.  I knew  the songs themselves were ok as I could play them fine through iTunes. The symptoms were : songs would skip entire parts, a hissing noise would be heard when the cut occured. The skip would happen at random and would affect some songs but not others. This happened with my iPod nano, my iPod Touch and my iPhone.

At first I thought it was because I stored my library onto my NAS and it somehow became corrupted. So I recreated it. But the problem remained. I wiped out all my devices and retransferred my songs. But the problem remained….

Turned out to be a conflict between ZoneAlarm Extreme Security and iTunes ! As soon as I disabled ZoneAlarm I could transfer the songs and no more hissing/skipping. No need to desinstall ZoneAlarm, just disable it during the transfer and you should be ok. My version of ZoneAlarm Extreme Security is 9.3.037.000.

How to batch clean up iTunes for Windows and remove the songs “not found” (shown with an exclamation mark)

There are a lot of scripts available on a Mac to automate iTunes. One of the best resource is Doug’s Applescripts for iTunes web page: http://dougscripts.com/itunes/index.php but what if you are on Windows ?

There ain’t much but I found this page that contains the cleanup tool I was looking for : http://mysite.verizon.net/teridon/itunesscripts/index.html

Download the script-package and run the itunes_remove_notfound exe script. This will open a command-line window and will perform the clean up. On my NAS there were 3’ooo songs to remove and it took 15 mn.

Jailbreak and Unlock iphone 3G

1. Download itunes 9.x (I tried with version 10.x but it didn’t work) from oldapps web site : http://www.oldapps.com/itunes.php?old_itunes=59?download
2. Wipe it clean and restore firmware 5.11.07 (version 3.1.2 7D11) from here : http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=750 or here : http://www.felixbruns.de/iPod/firmware/
3. Put iPhone in DFU mode, Open iTunes, selecting your iPhone from the list of devices on the left, then hold down the Shift key and click Restore and select firmware downloaded in 2.
4. Insert a valid SIM just to activate the iPhone and then Jailbreak it by going to : http://jailbreakme.com  (Tutorial here :http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=10943&laid=)
5. Once done, unlock it using BlackSnow : iClarified – iPhone – How to Unlock the iPhone 3G, 3GS Using BlackSn0w Comments
6. Change Password for  both Root and Mobile users (see here : http://cydia.saurik.com/password.html)
7. Start using..

One-click jailbreak for iphone and ipod touch

By visiting this site : http://www.jailbreakme.com/ using the safari browser on the iphone and/or ipod touch, they will be jailbroken painlessly

New repository on Cydia : http://cydia.hackulo.us

Check here what it can do : The Best Features Of Installous On Cydia