So there’s good news and there’s bad news.

The good: I am making progress on my “To Buy” list and am now a proud owner of an iPhone. (Finally! Took me long enough.)

The bad : In an overenthusiastic attempt to Hello Kitty-fy everything…

(seriously, it’s a little obscene,  I know. And I’m not even going to post my SMS pink and purple text bubbles with mini HK’s modded with WinSCP. So far, I’ve got:

Current Theme:

Current Wallpaper:

Current Case:

For all this overwhelming cuteness, the jailbreak process required for customization has kicked my phone into a mystifying Recovery Mode Loop.

This means, every time I power off, I get this screen prompting me to update / restore to OS 3.1.3 and kiss the jailbroken status goodbye:

Normally, it’s not such a big deal. I know how to troubleshoot via google, the truth must be out there. It has to be, there’s a wealth of information available at my finger tips. I’ve got a brain, I know how to use it. Easy as pie.

Apparently, pie is not that easy.

Attempt #1

Hold down Home button, with Power button for 10 seconds (exactly), wait for sound A and then release Button Power, while still holding down Button Home, then release, power on, wait for sound blah blah blah….

There’s like a million variations of this “fix” in countless forums and none of them worked. I should know, I tried them all.

Attempt #2

Run iRecovery to manually do something or another…who knows, as if I’m tech savvy enough to get into all the nitty gritty details. I can only follow directions. Download this? Ok. Install that? Why not. Potential lurking trojan viruses embedded in my system transmitting sensitive (and embarrassing) information about my private life makes me cringe. *sigh*

Download program, install app (that unfortunately disabled all my USB ports, 15 mins to fix that), open Terminal / Console (which I had no idea how to do, so there went another 15 mins in GoogleLand), run program (didn’t work, turns out you actually have know how to use the Console for this step), learn how to use the Console, enter commands, and exit.

And…voila! It still didn’t work.

Dammit.

Attempt #3

Run Black Ra1n once more as a last ditch effort before I restore to OS 3.1.3 and bid a tearful adieu to Hello Kitty.

Surprise, surprise, I see my Kitty Friend with her charming little candy cart upon start up. It worked!

Although the problem still exists (I can’t power off without getting deported to Recovery Mode), at least for now it’s usable with a simple Black Ra1n reboot. Defective, but usable. If anyone knows the remedy to this problematic inconvenience, please send it my way.

I hope Hello Kitty appreciates all that I do for her.