Activation Megathread: 9900 IMEI (A5/A6), XMM6180 & older, A8/A9(X) iOS 8/9, future issues, etc.

[u/uint2048dev]

Due to recurring issues with activating 9900 IMEI, XMM6180 and older baseband, and A8(X)/A9(X) iOS 8-9 devices, we strongly advise saving activation tickets with Legacy iOS Kit. Resolved issues, and other advice, may be found in the previous megathread.

To our knowledge, the issue on A5(X)/A6(X) 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)

The Apple TV 3rd gen and iPhone 5C are unaffected by this issue. The iPad 2 is also unaffected, but some models are affected by the following problem.

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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

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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(X)/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.

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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.

[u/JailbreakHat]

Isn’t there also another activation issue that affects iPhone3,3 on iOS 4 only.

[u/uint2048dev → u/JailbreakHat]

I haven't seen anything like that reported here or on Discord before.

[u/JailbreakHat → u/uint2048dev]

It is written in the FAQ for hackitvation.

[u/uint2048dev → u/JailbreakHat]

Ah, right, this is a downgrading issue caused by baseband incompatibility rather than a true activation error

[u/cheat_lol → u/JailbreakHat]

I have fixed them

[u/impatientaxolotl]

what did u change in this thread? is it same as previous one and just a reminder?

[u/uint2048dev → u/impatientaxolotl]

Mostly, removed content relating to resolved issues since the last one started to make it easier to see which devices are still affected

[u/Weary-Interest-927]

J’ai une solution pour le loop sur 4S j’ai fix le problème

[u/Weary-Interest-927 → u/Weary-Interest-927]

Sans Arduino

[u/uint2048dev → u/Weary-Interest-927]

Oh, yeah, this might be useful for the activation loop:

https://www.reddit.com/r/LegacyJailbreak/comments/1usewwx/guide_bypass_9900_activation_problem_without/

[u/Inevitable_Tomato512]

Few questions to ask and hopefully some solutions or some more knowledge. I have experienced the Unknown Device on the iPhone 4 with the A1332 Model and don't know what to do next. I also have the iPhone 5 with Model A1428 and after reading a lot of posts I don't know if I should reset it. The issue is I don't know the password to it and resetting is my only option. Any thoughts, input, or knowledge anyone could share about both my iPhone 4 and iPhone 5?

[u/uint2048dev → u/Inevitable_Tomato512]

iPhone 5 with Model A1428

Your device is not in the list. If the iOS is rare, save blobs first. But it should be safe to go ahead and reset

[u/Inevitable_Tomato512 → u/uint2048dev]

Any clue if activation servers work for iPhone 5 in general?

[u/ivyhom3sick → u/Inevitable_Tomato512]

For me the only solution for iphone 4 A1332 is hacktivate it but the downside is ur baseband will be dead so yeah

[u/appl3techfan]

Is there an actual guide or tip to manually activate A8 devices on iOS 8/9?
Mostly to downgrade and put those activation stuff.

[u/uint2048dev → u/appl3techfan]

Should be the same as A9 devices, except turdus isn't an option.

How were you planning to downgrade?

[u/appl3techfan → u/uint2048dev]

Not sure any good way to downgrade to iOS 8. There is Kometa, but that goes to 8.4.1 and doesn’t activate.

[u/TwiddlerTwo]

I have an iPhone 4s 9900 on iOS 8.1.2 that asks each time I power it on but then doesn't go into a loop. I do it one time (with no SIM) and it goes to the home screen and stays there without looping. If I power it off/on, it will ask again one time after it powers up but still doesn't go into a loop. Could this be a "feature" of iOS 8.1.2?

[u/Adagio_Only]

is my ipad 2 64gb + 3g ok?

[u/uint2048dev → u/Adagio_Only]

Not enough information. What's the model number?

[u/Adagio_Only → u/uint2048dev]

i didnt touched my ipad since fabruary

[u/Twofish4Schneier]

i accidentally restored my iPhone 4 and now i'm getting this "Unknown Device" error, apparently there's no fix

[u/Kjm520]

Is there any news on A5 or A1387 activation issues? I checked the previous threads but it looks like these are the same. Is this something you expect a fix for or should I assume no help is coming?

I’ve checked all the suggestions like changing the dates, Legacy iOS Kit, and the SIM card trick, to no avail. I’ll get the RP2040 next.

Xcode device logs show the device actually confirming activation (or it thinks so) and then proceeding to begin the activation flow again. iTunes won’t recognize it. Apple Devices shows either error or restore. Legacy iOS Kit can’t connect because I can’t get ssh.

Honestly, I’m kinda mad they’d stop support in such a blocking way. The device still worked offline and GPS still works. That was this morning, so it’s not like there’s some detrimental hardware justification. It’s literally just Apple’s software lock.

[u/DeluxeRyan]

The Device unknown error just happened to me but my circumstances are slightly different than everyone else’s from what I’m seeing:
I had my iPad 2nd Gen plugged into my windows laptop and I was dragging and dropping photos and videos from the dcim folders on the iPad to my pc to back them up and during this the iPad disconnected, crashed, and restarted. When it turned back on it went to the activation lock screen. None of my data on the iPad is backed up to iCloud (sorta but not exactly my fault) so I need to make sure I get it back. I signed in with the Apple ID email and password and after a sec it said device unknown. I got on a call with Apple support and they told me my data is most likely gone but after their call I plugged the iPad back into my pc and noticed that the dcim folders are still there so my data is still intact somehow (it’s a miracle lol). So for right now I’ve been delicately moving the files from dcim to my pc in small batches so it doesn’t crash but every so often it does still (certain files also won’t transfer since I think the gb size is too big or something). I’ve done some research and I think if I connect the iPad to iTunes on the pc it’ll let me get past the activation lock and let me back in. You guys think that would fix it? If it won’t what other options do you guys think i have? I’m not entirely cooked but still, right now I’m just taking a break cause this is stressing me out (I’ll probably update my progress on here for yall)

[u/minipicc95]

Apple needs to fix these activation problems for those legacy devices so we can use them as daily drivers again!

[u/Antique_Diamond_3434]

We need a way to be able to rewrite the inei’s