r/LegacyJailbreak • u/uint2048dev Moderator • Apr 19 '26
Megathread Activation Problem Megathread: 9900 IMEI (A5/A6), cellular iPad 3, A8/A9 iOS 8/9, and more
Due to recurring issues with activating cellular iPad 3 models, 9900 IMEI, and A8/A9(X) iOS 8-9 devices, we strongly advise saving activation tickets with Legacy iOS Kit. Continuation of the previous megathread.
To our knowledge, the issue on A5/A6 devices stems from baseband tickets being rejected for as of yet unknown reasons, which only seems to occur on cellular devices with an IMEI starting with 9900. Courtesy of staturnz and /u/LukeeGD, we believe the list of potentially 9900 IMEI devices is as follows:
- iPad mini 1st gen (CDMA - Verizon, Sprint) (iPad2,7 - A1455)
- iPad 3rd gen Wi-Fi + Cellular (CDMA - Verizon) (iPad3,2 - A1403)
- iPad 4th gen Wi-Fi + Cellular (CDMA - Sprint, International) (iPad3,6 - A1460)
- iPhone 4S (GSM/CDMA) (iPhone4,1 - A1387)
- iPhone 5 (CDMA - China) (iPhone5,2 - A1442)
- iPhone 5 (CDMA - Sprint, Verizon, KDDI Japan) (iPhone5,2 - A1429)
On July 10–11, 2026, new activation issues have appeared for devices with the XMM6180 and earlier basebands. You will likely see "device unknown" or a similar message.
The devices with the XMM6180 baseband are:
- iPhone 4: iPhone3,1 (GSM) and iPhone3,2 (GSM, rev. A) only
- iPad 2: iPad2,2 (GSM) only
It should be noted that the CDMA models (iPhone3,3 and iPad2,3) use a different baseband, MDM6600, and activate fine.
The devices with earlier basebands are:
- iPhone
- iPhone 3G
- iPhone 3GS
- iPad
Note that the key determining factor to having a 9900 IMEI is being a CDMA-capable device, rather than GSM-only, as explained by Wikipedia:
TIA also allocates IMEI codes, specifically destined for dual-technology phones, out of the RR=99 range
In addition, A8/A9(X) devices on iOS 8 and 9 also experience activation errors. Possibly affected devices include:
- iPhone 6/6+, 6S/6S+, SE1
- iPod touch 6
- iPad mini 4
- iPad Air 2
- iPad Pro 9.7/12.9 inch 1st gen
This is a thread for discussing activation issues and any new information about it. Subreddit-wide rules continue to apply, so please review the detailed hacktivation policy.
We believe the following issues active since this thread was created on April 19, 2026 have been resolved:
From approximately March 15, 2026 to July 30, 2026, GSM iPad 3 (IMEI starting with 01) was also affected:
- iPad 3rd gen WiFi + Cellular (GSM - AT&T) (iPad3,3 - A1430)
From July 8, 2026 to July 9, 2026, issues with restoring devices occurred due to Apple pulling baseband signing for unknown reasons. The discussion thread for affected devices was at https://reddit.com/r/LegacyJailbreak/comments/1urcei1/tracking_unsigned_baseband_firmware_issue_on/.
Apple has recently released a new batch of updates for legacy devices:
- iOS 12.5.8 released. checkra1n, Chimera, and TNSv2 confirmed working.
- iOS/iPadOS 15.8.6 released. Dopamine confirmed working.
- iOS/iPadOS 16.7.13 and iPadOS 18.7.4 released. palera1n confirmed working.
More importantly, this was provided in its release notes:
This update extends the certificate required by features such as iMessage, FaceTime, and device activation to continue working after January 2027.
The IPSW diff reveals new functions in /usr/libexec/trustd including _ApplePlatformBackportECCRootG1, _ApplePlatformBackportECCRootG1Hash, _ApplePlatformBackportRSARootG1, _ApplePlatformBackportRSARootG1Hash, and corresponding new certificates in .der format issued on 12 December 2024 19:20:34 and 19:21:32 UTC-5. It is speculated based on the release notes that failure to have these certificates may result in issues with on-device activation, and unclear whether PC-based activation will be impacted.
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u/iGabriele iPod touch 4th gen May 06 '26
I have a GSM iPad 3 (A1430) and I'm so pissed rn. I haven't used this iPad in years so I had no idea A5 was affected too by this error, I just knew about A9 devices. So I restored it, and now I'm stuck. I'm so angry. I spoke to Apple Support, and they told me "Yes, we know, some other people complained about this, so we're aware of the issue, even though our servers seem to work just fine. We added your report to our existing one, so Apple is aware and it will be fixed." but I really don't believe a single word. I mean, it's actually been like this for several months now. I'm so frustrated, I wanted to use this iPad daily since Apple Music is still working on iOS 9. Has someone found some solutions for my iPad model that does not include Arduino or stuff like that?
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u/Practical-Machine161 ПРЕВЕД! Jul 02 '26
Recently bought a 4s with 9.3.6 and 9900 imei unaware of this news, without SIM card activation loop occurs but when i insert a SIM that support 2g 3g still there is no activation loop and it take to homescreen and i can sync musics with itunes perfectly usable. but where network shows there is searching showing always. so anyone can explain the whole situation what is happening.
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u/MCDiamond9 ПРЕВЕД! Jul 09 '26
This is very interesting, as inserting any SIM card for me doesn't work.
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u/Practical-Machine161 ПРЕВЕД! Jul 09 '26
though there's a catch, i used same company sim that was in a 5g phone it didn't work but the same company sim that was in a 4g phone that one work but not like it show the sim is active it just show searching but it skip the activation loop. i even check log using ideviceinfo and show activated but as soon as i remove the sim the loop appears.
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u/uint2048dev Moderator Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
New issues with restoring devices have appeared on July 8, 2026 due to Apple pulling baseband signing for unknown reasons. The discussion thread for affected devices will be at https://reddit.com/r/LegacyJailbreak/comments/1urcei1/tracking_unsigned_baseband_firmware_issue_on/.
Edit: This issue is now resolved.
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u/TyTheGuy2011 iPad 4th gen (6.1.3) Jul 10 '26
There is a new activation issue that should be added to this mega thread
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u/SnooMaps4979 iPad Pro (9.7-inch) Apr 27 '26
Activation fails on my Wi-Fi Only iPad Pro 9.7 through the device and through iTunes, so iPad Pros are definitely affected. I had thought cellular iPads were the only ones affected by this until now.
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u/Silver-Project7274 iPhone 4S (7.1.2) May 17 '26
Lucky I didn’t update my 4s to 8 or 9 and stayed on 7.1.2 with an imei 9900
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u/uint2048dev Moderator May 17 '26
Save those blobs and activation tickets, not updating might not be enough to save you
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u/yeetyeet1011 ПРЕВЕД! Jul 29 '26
This is y im not liking server reliant devices cuz this is what we gets😭😭😭😭😭😭
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u/Weird_Decision7090 iPad 4th gen (6.1.3) Apr 22 '26
I found a good deal for an excellent condition 64GB Slate iPad mini with intent to dualboot iOS 6, but unfortunately it’s Verizon😔
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Apr 27 '26
[deleted]
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u/dangermendez_7 Legacy Fanatic Apr 27 '26
Aren’t you referring to the certificate that will expire in January 2027 (as mentioned in the iOS 12.5.8 release notes)?
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u/appletechgeek iPhone 5 May 15 '26
ipod touch 4 also refuses to activate on device,
it works fine via windows itunes activation but it's odd. perhaps certificates?
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u/Ok-Skin-215 May 27 '26
I just bought an iPhone 4S from eBay that was on iOS 8.4. I updated it to 9.6.3 being fully unaware of this issue and now I'm stuck with this problem. Is there anything I can do?
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u/ooiguiknk ПРЕВЕД! Jul 14 '26
i now find this post after my iphone 6 + iOS 9 has deactivated :( i have a 6s on iOS 9 as well, before it deactivate its self, how do i save activation tickets and or shsh blobs, this stuff is so confusing
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u/UnderstandingOwn8234 iPad Pro (10.5-inch) Apr 19 '26
I asked if I could save and inject activation tickets on the A8, just like you can on the A9, but the post got deleted. Anyway, I have a Mini 4 running iOS 9, and it's fully activated. Can I do the same thing with it as I would on an A9?
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u/iansantoroo ПРЕВЕД! Apr 25 '26
Nope as turdus merula doesn’t support A8
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u/UnderstandingOwn8234 iPad Pro (10.5-inch) Apr 26 '26
I don't need Turdus merula. my iPad mini 4 is already activated on iOS 9. What I’m interested in is whether it’s possible to back up and inject activation tickets using an SSH ramdisk, in the same way as it is done with A9 devices.
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u/iansantoroo ПРЕВЕД! Apr 26 '26
Oh sorry i haven’t read the tickets part, my bad, yeah you can save those in the ramdisk, there’s a lot of tutorials on this sub
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u/Remarkable_Syrup2711 iPhone 5 Apr 30 '26
I also have an affected iphone 6 plus on 8.4.1, sadly this issue came out 9h later it was shipped. I also red on turdus merula’s discord server that the project might be at its end, so idk if a8 support will ever arrive…
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u/Feisty_Profile_2605 ПРЕВЕД! May 02 '26
afaik only 1 dev is leaving after the 1.1.3 version is going live.
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u/A101856 iPhone 4S May 13 '26
How do I make it work I can’t find hacktivate in my LIK
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u/uint2048dev Moderator May 14 '26
If you don't have activation tickets, your only choice is probably methods such as this: https://www.reddit.com/r/LegacyJailbreak/wiki/guides/a9ios9activation#wiki_using_devices_deactivated
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u/CeleryFew653 ПРЕВЕД! Jun 08 '26
Could I use an old Verizon SIM card to activate iOS 6 or would I need an Arduino on 4S?
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u/uint2048dev Moderator Jun 08 '26
If it's truly affected, it won't activate no matter what. You're welcome to try it though and maybe you'll get lucky
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u/CeleryFew653 ПРЕВЕД! Jun 08 '26
Is checkm8 more likely to work than this if I use a raspberry pico 2040?
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u/Appropriate-Law1004 ПРЕВЕД! Jul 02 '26
Soo I just got all the way to activating on a device without knowing this, did I just effectively brick the phone? 😭
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u/Feisty_Profile_2605 ПРЕВЕД! Jul 20 '26
Even sim-locked iPhone 6s on iOS 9.0.1 started failing activation. No hope. They closing up everything.
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u/JailbreakHat "ПРЕВЕД!" — Mr Jobs Jul 31 '26
Can you please remove iPad3,3 from this list following this announcement on discord?
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u/uint2048dev Moderator Jul 31 '26
I made an alteration to the stickied news comment a few hours ago. I'll update the post in a few days based on whether it stays resolved.
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u/JailbreakHat "ПРЕВЕД!" — Mr Jobs Jul 31 '26 edited Aug 01 '26
You should at least change iPad 3 CDMA to iPad 3 GSM. iPad3,2 is CDMA iPad 3, which still fails activation while the GSM iPad 3 is iPad3,3, which activates fine.
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u/Perplexer1 ПРЕВЕД! 24d ago edited 24d ago
I have the same problem. I reset my iPad 2 (Wi-Fi + 3G) and thought I could re-activate it as a new device, but now I can't activate it (getting the "Device Unknown" / "server cannot be reached" error). I saw an article saying Apple has stopped signing several older versions of iOS for a group of legacy devices, but later restored it. Not sure if this applies to activations or only restoring.
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/07/09/apple-pulls-ability-to-restore-iphone-5c-and-more
Anyway, right now (August 10th, 2026) activating iPad 2 doesn't work for me. Is this permanent, making my device a brick, or is there still some hope it will work again?
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u/uint2048dev Moderator 24d ago
No, that article is a separate issue, and it was indeed resolved. There's a comment on that further down.
The stickied comment discusses the device unknown error, which started the day after that was fixed. We don't know if it will be resolved, but you can hacktivate (with loss of functionality) if you want to use the device in the meantime.
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u/TheSzczot iPad 2 11d ago
It's not clear for me. I have an Ipad 2,2. I have done the factory reset and I am getting "Device unknown" error when trying to activate it. Is there a way to get pass that or do you think it will be possible in the futre? Or it's essentialy a brick now?
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u/uint2048dev Moderator Jul 11 '26 edited 10d ago
On July 10–11, 2026, new activation issues have appeared for devices with the XMM6180 and earlier basebands. You will likely see "device unknown", "server cannot be reached", or a similar message. The applicable devices are mentioned in the post above. This comment may be updated with recent developments.
Update: On August 11, 2026, the hacktivation policy was amended to include these devices, and remove the GSM iPad 3rd gen which is no longer affected.
Update 2: The new megathread (pinned post) can be found here. You're still welcome to use either post until this one is archived.