I upgraded an Apple iPhone 3GS today to iOS4. It took about 3 hours with a bit of time spent messing with USB.

The platform was Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) with VirtualBox 3.2.4 running Windows 7.

It actually might be a stretch to call the process an upgrade.

The first thing that happened after iTunes did a sync and started the process was the phone restarted and went into “recovery mode”. This is when a logo of iTunes and a USB cable appear.

Advertising iTunes, even when you are down? This made me nostalgic for the sad mac.

Which is more helpful? You be the judge.

So, it turns out that an iPhone in recovery mode must reconnect to the same iTunes that started the “upgrade”. That is because a new OS is not just an upgrade — the phone is wiped (although I have not yet done forensics to look for residue) and then restarted before the new OS is installed.

The problem with VirtualBox on Ubuntu at this critical point is that an iPhone in recovery mode may not appear to a guest. It appeared in the list of USB devices but was greyed out and Ubuntu was not able to mount it either.

Privileges necessary to mount a “recovery mode phone” are higher than a normally operating phone. This could be related to the /dev/bus/usb directories. The character special file (e.g. /dev/bus/usb/008/001) has 664 (crw-rw-r–) permissions and is owned by root:vboxusers. The fact that it works fine before the phone goes to recovery mode must have to do with how usbmuxd and libgpod operate.

To avoid this snafu you must verify correct permissions are set for VirtualBox. In a terminal edit /etc/group so your username is in vboxusers:

vboxusers:x:groupnumber:username1,username2

Here’s the graphical version to do the same thing:

Click on System –> Administration –> Users and Groups

Then click on the Manage Groups button

Scroll down to the vboxusers group. Select it and then click the Properties button.

Click the box next to the username to add to the group.

It also is recommended to add a USB filter in the settings for the guest OS. Set the Vendor ID to 05ac

With those settings in place the iPhone will be detected and iTunes will push the new iOS4 to it. Once it restarts it will ask you if you would like to recover your data.

My experience so far is that calls still drop often and battery life is poor. The upside is that email can be threaded and supposedly it is encrypted for real this time. More on that later.

The Times reports that botched circumcisions performed on young boys in the Pondoland area of South Africa by unregistered “traditional” doctors have continued to cause complications that lead to death. The province law says only boys older than 17 can be circumcised but younger boys are exposed to risk.

Since the start of the winter circumcision season, boys had been brought into health facilities in “terrible condition”, most were dehydrated and some faced gangrene setting into their wounds.

Gangrene, let alone dehydration, should be giant clues here. In other words, the causes of death after surgery seem to be known and preventable.

Better regulation of the medical practices comes to mind as a step. I say better because it actually could be the strict enforcement of the post-17 law that leads to young boys circumcised without simple and effective medical procedures.

Circumcision of newborns that are already in a clean and healthy environment would remove the demand for the practice later. Education and training might also be a crucial area, especially when you consider who is allowed (hired?) to perform surgery, and the reference to tradition:

A 14-year-old boy was arrested in the Ngqeleni area of Transkei after performing illegal circumcisions on six youths, says the Eastern Cape health department.

[…]

“This really calls for community members, traditionalists, to re-look at this thing, because it’s no longer a customary ritual, it’s something else: boys just doing as they wish.”

I agree. I doubt tradition or custom is really what is at stake here. Since demand for circumcision is high, why not provide it earlier with a safe environment and remove the risk of these illegal and dangerous procedures later? The articles do not say.

An unauthorized man was able to enter the locker room of the English team. FIFA has responded with a public announcement about “tightening” security: