geteilt von: https://lemmy.giftedmc.com/post/850522

Hi folks, I’m a tinkerer and like to hack old devices. Currently running postmarketOS on an old oneplus6. Now I want to try to repurpose my old ipad 3 with LTE.

For that purpose I have tried:

  • https://jailbreaks.app/legacy.html -> phoenix (Error: app could not be installed at this time)
  • windows VM (I’m on linux) with usb connect, I can see the ipad in device manager and open the harddrive but neither itunes nor sideloadly will connect to it. impactor also wont recognize the device
  • exchanging the cable for a different (newer) one, also no change
  • resetting the ipad to factory settings to free up space, no change
  • reinstalling itunes, icloud, sideloadly
  • restarting between each step

I’m kind of running out of ideas at this point. I generally have a debug device which I could try and use on the ipad but I struggle to find resources on lower level hardware hacking for the ipad. Let me know if you have any other ideas.

Have a good one!

  • SturgiesYrFase@lemmy.ml
    1·
    1 month ago

    Ouuuuuu! Do let me know if you get that running, I’ve been looking for a way to get Linux on that iPad. It would just be more functional hopefully for certain projects.

    • haui@lemmy.giftedmc.comOP
      2·
      1 month ago

      Thanks for the encouragement. I will update. Can you give me a quick dump what you did with the device so far? in case I learn anything.

      • SturgiesYrFase@lemmy.ml
        2·
        1 month ago

        I honestly didn’t get very far into my research for running Linux on it. Basically when I was looking into it, phoenix was the go-to for jailbreak, it ran well and worked every time with no issues of having the iPad not recognised. Everything I had found had said that unless a major development was made, running anything but iOS on it would never be a possibility. So I never went further than the research via forums stage. I would have tried taking a crack at it myself, but a gnuLinux greybeard I am not.

        • haui@lemmy.giftedmc.comOPEnglish
          2·
          1 month ago

          to be clear. the jailbreak itself wasnt really the problem for me. it was the usb connection to the windows vm that was wonky.

          it cant be done is technically correct btw if we’re speaking on high level. because one needs to read up on how this stuff works line by line since nobody did make the effort to make releases for this stuff afaik.

          so, maybe I’m a greybeard after 3 years of linux. who knows.

          • SturgiesYrFase@lemmy.ml
            1·
            1 month ago

            maybe I’m a greybeard after 3 years of linux. who knows.

            Everyone’s beard grows at a different rate. I’ve been mucking around with Linux for almost 15 years, but mostly surface level. I still need to look more than half the stuff I want to do up.

            the jailbreak itself wasnt really the problem for me.

            Gotcha. Did you ever end up getting the usb to work? I think I mentioned that the usb issues I was having was with a bare metal install of windows, not a VM. So it’s likely that it’s an issue with what’s quickly becoming legacy tech.

            • haui@lemmy.giftedmc.comOPEnglish
              2·
              1 month ago

              i guess you may be right. i have a habit to dig in with hobbies. my little endeavor spans over 50 microservices, containerized, on different machines, bare metal and virtual. i also do it for a living nowadays. :) i do still have to look up stuff though.

              oh, yes i did. the cable thing on the vm was about catching the device while booting for me. i connected it, ran itunes, rebooted the ipad and voila.

                • haui@lemmy.giftedmc.comOPEnglish
                  2·
                  1 month ago

                  thanks mate! now I’m aching to get back to it because I am in bed with covid. next step is to somehow open the bootloader and pzt linux on it. if that turns out to be impossible, which I dont think it will, I’ll try to at least get some good apps on the old thing. btw I bought an identical one with 32 gigs on ebay. arrived yesterday. :)

                  • SturgiesYrFase@lemmy.ml
                    1·
                    1 month ago

                    Ooooof! I’ve had covid a couple times now, it was brutal both times. Though I caught whooping cough in late Feb, and I’d say on balance that was worse.
                    Hope you’re on the mend at least, and you’ve got someone to bring you soup and fluff up the pillows.

                    Definitely keep me posted on your progress with the iPads. Keen to see what you manage to get going on them!