Thursday, May 8, 2008

How to add custom ringtones / system sounds to the iPhone

Requirements:

- ziel's iPhoneInterface & jailbreak apps for Windows
- The iPhone software update package
- iTunesMobileDevice.dll
- A custom ringer that you would like to install



Now the package location varies so there's really only one reliable way to get it. Plug in your iPhone, and head into iTunes. Click the "Sync" button first (to be safe) and wait for the sync to finish. Then hit the Restore button. Confirm that you do want to restore (even though you don't) by hitting Restore.

Click through the dialogs but when the update starts downloading, unplug your iPhone. This will make sure your iPhone won't get overwritten.

Wait for the package to finish downloading (you can track it in the Downloads area of iTunes).
Now go to your Start Menu, click Run, and copy this into the Run box:

%USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPhone Software Updates

And hit OK. A file window should pop up containing one file that starts with iPhone. Check whether it ends with ".ipsw" - if it doesn't, you'll have to turn on file extension display by going to the Tools menu -> Folder Options -> View tab -> Uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types". Right-click the iPhone update file and choose "Rename". Give it the name "iPhone.zip" and press Enter, and confirm that you want to change the extension.
Now double-click the file to open its contents. Extract them all to some folder, say "c:\phonedmg". The rest of this article assumes you extracted the files there.

iTunesMobileDevice.dll

This one's easy. Start, run:

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Mobile Device Support\bin

Copy iTunesMobileDevice.dll into c:\phonedmg .

ziel's Jailbreak and iPhoneInterface software

Download the software from directly from ziel's website. Extract the files to c:\phonedmg as well. Move the files from the "win" directory into c:\phonedmg - the "osx" files won't be used here.

A custom ringer
You can use .m4a or .mp3 as your ringtones, but for some reason they must be made through Quicktime. Fortunately iTunes lets you convert any file to .m4a by selecting "Convert to AAC" from its entry in your music library. Then choose "Show in Windows Explorer" once it's been converted. Put these files in c:\phonedmg as well.

Running Jailbreak
Now that you've got everything you need, it's time to get started!

Make sure to close iTunes now. You don't want iTunes' helpful interface interfering with this delicate operation.

Hit your Start menu, choose Run, and type cmd .
Hit OK and a command prompt should show up. Type these commands:
c:
cd \phonedmg
jailbreak


Now Jailbreak should be running. Plug in your iPhone if it wasn't plugged in already.

Jailbreak should tell you that it's sending files to the iPhone, then ask you to hold the POWER and HOME buttons. Do that, but do it in this fashion:

- Press and hold the Power button until your iPhone says "Slide to power off".
- Slide the red slider and let the phone shut down.
- Plug the dock cable back in.
- If the iPhone doesn't turn on by itself, press and release the power button.
- When the Apple logo appears, press and hold both the Power and Home buttons.
- The phone will power off (keep holding the buttons!) and restart.
- Soon it will display a yellow triangle and the message "Connect to iTunes".

At this point Jailbreak will begin performing mysterious operations on your phone. Wait for it to complete and don't touch anything.

You should receive this message at the end:
Enjoy your newfound freedom. Thank the devs at #iphone next time you see them for making this all possible.
p.s. Like most other useful tools, this one may be dangerous if used carelessly

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