How to Restore iPhone / iPad Without Losing Jailbreak

With iOS 7 already released, restoring an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch may be risky since you’re likely to lose your iOS 6 jailbreak and be forced to upgrade to iOS 7 (which everyone doubts would see a jailbreak anytime soon). Normally, if you restore a jailbroken Apple device, you lose everything including your jailbreak.

To prevent this, it’s a good idea to restore back to stock keeping your jailbreak intact and iLex R.A.T. does this pretty well. This app lets you clean up your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, erasing all Cydia tweaks and reverting back to stock settings without touching your jailbreak. You can even re-install Cydia with this app if you feel it’s malfunctioning.

If your device is experiencing Safe Mode loop or  boot loop, stuck at Apple logo or going through a drastic battery drain, iLex R.A.T. should be able to fix all these.

How to Install and Use

1. Open Cydia and go Manage > Sources > Edit > Add

2. Add this repo: http://cydia.myrepospace.com/iLEXiNFO

3. Under Sources, go to  iLEXiNFO repository and install iLEX R.A.T.

4. This should install all dependencies needed to run the app

5. Check your Springboard for the new iLEX R.A.T icon

6. Running the app should present two options:

•  iLEX R.A.T.: This removes all Cydia tweaks and dependencies installed after jailbreak but keeps contents, settings, jailbreak and activation

• iLEX Restore: This restores your iDevice back to stock. All content and settings are erased but jailbreak and activation remains intact.

7. Select your desired option and follow the screen prompt to restore your device.
Getting more of iLEX R.A.T. via SSH (Alternative Access)

The graphical user interface works quite well but on some devices, it may not open at all. If you’re stuck in a boot loop, disabling all Cydia tweaks by holding down the volume up key while powering on should grant you access to the device  and allow you to uninstall the particular Cydia tweak or app causing the problem. Also in a situation like this, you can fix the issue by accessing iLEX R.A.T. via SSH.

Also, there are many options when access launch iLex R.A.T. via SSH on Mobile Terminal. After installing the app, run a search for Mobile Terminal, it is available in the Big Boss Repo.

- Simply run this command and hit the “return” key: rat

- From the options, type the number that corresponds with what you would like to do. To clear everything, I suggest 12 but this depends on what you want.

- To continue, you need to select “y” and proceed. After rebooting, you device should be as good as new with jailbreak still intact.
Accessing via an SSH Client on a PC

If, for some reasons, you’re unable to launch Mobile Terminal, you can still do this via an SSH client on your PC. I use iFunbox and it’s available for Windows and Mac.

- Install iFunbox

- Connect you iDevice

- Click the third tab (Quick Toolbox) and launch SSH Terminal (if a dialog appears, press cancel).

- Type the command “rat” and use option 1.