SemiRestore9 vs. iLEX RAT: Restore without Losing Jailbreak

Two of the scariest scenarios I’ve ever encountered:

• Tons of outdated Cydia tweaks started acting up
• Unexpected errors that are not possible to troubleshoot

Usually, they put me in the worst position. I couldn’t think of anything but to unjailbreak my device. Luckily, there are two amazing tools can put us through this process like nothing happened.

Thank Saurik’s Cydia Impactor tweak, both iPhone, and iPad users can reset their device while still maintaining the same firmware version. As a result, they can continue to re-jailbreak whenever they wish to.

But why do that when you can now fix the issues all at once without having to lose the Jailbreak?

In this article, I’ll be showing you iLex RAT and Semi-Restore, which help to remove all your headache and mistakes you’ve made in Cydia.

Semi-Restore

Released by CoolStar, the creator behind many popular tweaks like ClassicLockScreen and BetterPowerDown, Semi-Restore aims to make the process of unjailbreaking an iPhone or iPad easier. Not to mention, the device will stay on the same iOS version and keep the jailbreak as well.

When using Semi-Restore, it’s expected to perform the following actions:

• Erase all data and settings
• Uninstall every single Jailbreak tweaks
• Fix issues with Activation, iMessage, and SafeMode
• Reinstall Cydia
• and more

Before we start, please note the following:

• SemiRestore supports Windows Vista 64 bit or higher
• SemiRestore supports 64 Bit Linux (Ubuntu 14.04 or a higher equivilent distro).
• SemiRestore works on OS X 10.11 but may work on 10.9 and 10.10.
• Windows users must have iTunes 12 (not the one for older video cards), and .NET 4.0 or higher installed.
• Linux users must have libimobiledevice, GTK 3, libusbmuxd-tools, and openssl installed (which should be by default).

How to Restore an iPhone Without Losing Jailbreak

1. Download Semi-Restore for iOS 5-9.x here
2. Extract the Semi-Restore file after you downloaded
3. Right click the Semi-Restore executable and select Run as Administrator from the popup menu
4. Semi-Restore will pop up, and it should look something like this
5. Connect your device to a computer and click the SemiRestore button
6. Please wait a few minutes for Semi-Restore to restore your iPhone without losing jailbreak

Once Semi-Restore has completed, you will be informed that the process was successful. That’s it. You just wipe your iOS device using Semi-Restore no jailbreak lost.

Enjoy! Big thanks go to CoolStar for his development.

iLex RAT

Several users have reported that iLex RAT is known for messing up the device instead of fixing it. However, I’ve used it before, and it worked great on my device. If Semi-Restore doesn’t support your firmware, please try iLex RAT.

What does this tool do?

iLex RAT is quite similar to Cydia Impactor; you can install and use it directly on your iPhone and iPad. But the good thing is that it won’t delete the existence Jailbreak on your device.

How do I get started?

Fairly easy and simple, take a look at the instructions below.

1. Go to Cydia > Search > Install iFile (the free version)
2. Download the latest version of iLex RAT from here (also see this)
3. Wait until the download is complete, now tap on “Open in iFile…”
4. Once iFile opens, choose the Installer
5. Respring your device

There is also another method which will require you to download and install more than one tweaks and utilities on the computer.

Requirements: SSH Client (iFunbox, DiskAid or iPhone Browser for Windows/Cyberduck for MacOS)

Download DiskAid (recommended) for Windows, or Cyberduck for MacOS

Extract iLexRat.deb  file to your desktop

Run DiskAid/iFunbox and connect your iOS (iPhone, iPod or iPad)

DiskAid/iFunbox will show your device contents, Now navigate to var/root/Media/

Create the folder Cydia/AutoInstall (if not already created)

Move iLexRat.deb  file from your desktop to var/root/Media/Cydia/AutoInstall

Reboot your iOS

I’d like to keep it short and straightforward, so the above tutorial should work better.

As you can see, both Semi-Restore and iLex RAT are useful for beginners when it comes to restoring their iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad without having to lose their Cydia app and Jailbreak. Let us know how it goes for you.