How to install MobileTerminal 426 (ios4 compatible) to your iPhone

by on August 1, 2010 in Jailbreak, Jailbreak apps

After jailbreaking my iPhone 4 today and immediately installing my usual recommended items from Cydia: SBSettings, WinterBoard, OpenSSH, MobileTerminal, FiveIconDock… Then I immediately went to change my SSH passwords with Mobile Terminal. I was surprised to find that MobileTerminal gave me a flash of terminal, and immediately sent me back to the springboard. So after an hour or so of searching and some messing around with differing opinions on how to change your password, I finally got MobileTerminal to work. At which point I decided to share how I finally accomplished this, in case anyone else is struggling.
Mobile Photo Aug 4 2010 12 33 11 PM 200x300 How to install MobileTerminal 426 (ios4 compatible) to your iPhone
The first thing you want to do after jailbreaking is go to Cydia on your phone and click ‘Manage’ on the bottom panel. Then right under your reception bars is a ‘settings’ button, click that. Click ‘Developer’. Now click on ‘Search’ on the bottom panel. Search for ‘Core Utilities’. Make sure you have both core utilities installed: “Core Utilities” and “Core Utilities (/bin)”.

On your computer go here and get the .deb file for MobileTerminal.

Using your SSH program, (I use WinSCP) SSH to your device. Go to your “var/root/Media” folder. Inside the Media folder create a “Cydia” folder (folders are case sensitive). Now inside your Cydia folder make a “AutoInstall” folder. Now you should have “var/root/Media/Cydia/AutoInstall”. Inside the AutoInstall folder, transfer the .deb file you downloaded in the last step.

Reboot your device. Reboot your device, AGAIN.

Now return to Cydia, and go through the first step: Manage; Settings; This time change back to user so you don’t forget to later. Exit Cydia.

Open MobileTerminal, which should now be on your springboard.

Screen says: Your input

(your iphone name):~ mobile$ passwd
Changing password for mobile.
Old password: alpine
New password: (your password)
Retype new password: (yourpassword)
(your iphone name):~ mobile$ login root
password: alpine
(your iphone name):~ root# passwd
Changing password for root.
Old password: alpine
New password: (your password)
Retype new password: (yourpassword)

Congratulations, your passwords for both users mobile and root have been changed! Make a note of your passwords or you will not be able to SSH onto your device.

Editors note: We also have a tutorial on how to change the default SSH password on iPhone here. Phorz has done a nice job explaining this for iPhone 4.

*Edit by Phorz on 08.04.2010  Update .deb link in article.  Update image in article.


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About phorz

Phorz is a technology enthusiast. He loves to have the latest devices, when finances allow. Being a new parent, and recently taking up vlogging, he runs on very little sleep and a lot of coffee. Current gadgets he loves include iPhone 4 and Canon Vixia HD camcorder.
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    • Mindy

      Question: If I have not installed OpenSSh, does that mean that my phone does not have the ability to go into the file system?

      Do I still need to change passwords? Is there an option to turn SSH on/off, without installing any other apps (after I jailbroke it)?

      Thanks for the help.

    • http://www.topiphoneresource.info karthik

      You don’t have to worry about changing passwords unless you don’t have ssh enabled with apps (mainly OpenSSH). If you install it, you can toggle SSH on/off right from an app called SBSettings. In fact, that is one of the first apps everyone falls in love with.

    • http://www.phorz.me phorz

      Mindy, if you do not install OpenSSH, then you cannot use a program to get to your iPhone files from your computer. In which case, you would not need to change your passwords. There is no way to turn off SSH without ‘another’ program after jailbreaking, but you can use SBSettings to turn it off.
      However, even though you can just turn it off like karthik said, if you don’t turn it off in the SBSettings : Toggle function, when you reboot it will be on again.

    • blindassassin

      um what file is the deb file cuz none of them are .deb and it wont let me put in the full folder

    • Jordan

      okay i dloaded the .zip file in the link but what do i do with it? (I extracted the files and copied the folder to the destination above and rebooted twice and changed user and it still closed back up) Do I have to find a .deb file in the folder? Do I leave the file zipped or what? Please go into more detail that would be great! Thanks very easy tut except for the .deb part lol
      THX

    • Jordan

      Also once this is completed will some of the other Cydia apps I have dloaded stop closing once opened? Apps like SwapTunes MxTube and Finder also do this on my iPod is it going to be like this until they are updated to the 4.0 ios? Sorry if I sound like a noob, but I seriously just jailbroke my iPod yesterday and I have made it this far!

    • Jordan

      okay found a dload of the deb file and it works! My other apps still close but that is because of they are not up to date with ios4.0 right?

    • Adam

      Err, am I being stupid by saying that there is no .deb file at that location, just a .zip file with the whole Mobile Terminal app in it. Which doesn’t contain a .deb file. Exactly what should I be putting in that folder from the download?

    • Adam

      Jordon – care to post a link to the .deb file?

    • Adam

      Actually I did it without the .deb file.

      Just download the .zip file linked above.

      Install OpenSSH and MobileTerminal from Cydia.

      Connect to your iPhone using a SSH client
      (don’t make the mistake I did by using any old program that gives access to the file system, like iPhone Explorer, as this will not write the file permissions correctly. I eventually used WinSCP. Oh and make sure you change the protocol from SFTP to SCP – spend hours on that mistake)

      Copy the unzipped contents of the downloaded .zip file into the Terminal.app folder and overwrite any same named files. Do not delete any files that are in there, just over copy the new ones.

      Respring or reboot your iPhone and off you go.

    • http://www.phorz.me phorz

      Sorry for the confusion guys. I have updated the link in the post to the .deb I used. I had a mix up when transferring the article from my word processor to the page. Also updated the image to one of 426.

    • http://www.phorz.me phorz

      The issues with the other apps you mention are going to have to be addressed by the app writers for those apps. This will not fix anything other than mobile terminal.

    • http://www.phorz.me phorz

      Since I changed the link in the article, if you want to do it this way.
      1. You must first download the old version of mobile terminal from Cydia.
      2. here is the link to the .zip: http://code.google.com/p/mobileterminal/downloads/detail?name=Terminal-426-unstable.zip&can=2&q=
      3. The folder Terminal.app is located: root/Applications

    • Andy

      I want to extend my gratitude to this very concise and clear instructions on “”how 2 install a working terminal version. You saved my day.THANK U, THANK U again. Even as an end user w/ no deep knowledge of development tools I suceeded and I would never have done so w/o U input! TX!!!

    • John

      Put the deb file in the folder as specified. terminal works and is all dandy, but this has caused all the applications and such’s names turn grey. anyone know how to fix this?

    • John

      Unfortunately the culprit was winterboard. Fixed.

    • Dave

      so… when I open the MobileTerminal app, it shows that I’m logged in as a user named ‘mobile’, does anyone know the default password for this user? I have a feeling changing this password may prevent the iPhone from booting, so I don’t want to change it, I guess I’m more concerned with having OpenSSH installed and everyone *else* knowing it, thus being able to connect to my phone

    • FoxboroScott

      Worked perfectly on my 3gs with IOS 4. Thank you!

    • Adam

      @Dave This password is also “alpine” and everything still works if you change this. If you’re installing SSH you must change both the mobile and the root passwords, or in theory anyone can take over your phone.

    • http://plzkthxbai.com Jason Wagner

      Thanks!! I was having trouble getting MobileTerminal to work on my iPhone 4 and this package did the trick.

    • Paul

      So I’ve done this step by step very carefully and Mobile Terminal still closes as soon as it opens. Any suggestions? Do I need to remove the old Terminal before doing this?

    • http://www.modcontrol.com/Board/mobile-modcontrol-com/22636-pflicht-fuer-gejailbreakte-iphones-root-mobile-passwort-aendern-2.html#post128109 Anonymous

      [...] [...]

    • Joe

      Clear instructions? I have no idea what this WinSCP is, what SSH is, any of that stuff. I have Mobile Terminal installed and it’s not working, just as the writer described, but I have no clue how to do any of what he suggests. What is the name of the Cydia app I should search for in order to do what he’s describing?

    • Trauma

      I followed all of the instructions as is, upon rebooting twice i found no mobile terminal installed on my springboard.
      I then returned to SSH to find the .deb was gone from the autoinstall file.

      I tried the steps again and upon rebooting I was kicked into safe mode.
      The .deb file was again gone.

      There are no clear traces of mobile terminal on cydia or my iphone. But has anything been installed within SSH?
      Any traces of a faulty install I should remove?

    • vig

      When I enter passwd into Mobile Terminal, the next line reads ‘another passwd process is running,’ and not ‘changing password for mobile/root’. So I’m not able to change the passwords. Can anyone tell me what is wrong?

    • http://razerdesigns.com X

      This worked perfectly, I can finally use terminal!! xD

      I followed the instructions, downloaded the deb file, used DiskAid, went to the folder as directed since I had it already and copied the deb file in and did the double reboot with sbsettings, and it didn’t crash, epic help OP epic help.

    • http://no faison

      thnx bro it helped alot it solved my problem awesome

    • peter

      Followed the directions but it didn’t work for me, but I just added the repository http://www.podzombie.com/repository to my Cydia sources, and downloaded MobileTerminal 4 from there, and changed the passwords for both mobile and root. Everything worked great that way.

    • jim hanson

      Add this as a source in Cydia:

      http://apt.macosmovil.com/

      Then open the source and install “MobileTerminal iOS4″.

    • Ian

      Nice work. Was struggling with just the same problem! Cheers!

    • http://www.topiphoneresource.info/best-free-iphone-jailbreak-apps/ Jailbreak 101: Must Have Free iPhone Jailbreak Apps | Top iPhone Resource

      [...] managing your web server from your iPhone. The feeling is priceless! :-p If you have trouble with MobileTerminal on iOS 4 check out the link to see how to get the latest [...]

    • ej

      Thank!!! Gracias!!! for this Post…

    • Jeromy

      Thanks Bro… Great post, worked with no issues

    • Anonymous

      Thank You!
      Had the same problem… quick google & this tut popped up. Worked great first time.

    • http://Facebook Kevin

      Its cool

    • Phr0z3n_H3aT

      Thanks! Works like a charm and its so easy to do.

    • http://www.digital-kaos.co.uk/forums/f110/how-change-root-password-your-iphone-jailbroken-only-66235/#post830344 How to Change the Root Password on Your iPhone,(Jailbroken only)

      [...] i had the same problem How to install MobileTerminal 426 (ios4 compatible) to your iPhone | Top iPhone Resource [...]

    • Jason

      thanks! it is very useful

    • Victor

      It is easier to install via Cydia, just add the following repository (Cydia-Manage-Sources-Edit-Add): http://iphoneroot.com/repo

      There is latest MobileTerminal v472 there.

    • apai

      your link downloaded me “rsapi.cgi”, not .deb file

    • somedude

      thanks so much, this actually works !

    • Tanman

      Are there any work-arounds if Cydia won’t work on your phone? I’ve restored and re-jailbroken my 3g three times and I still can’t get Cydia to work. It starts to upon initial opening after jailbreak then goes to laoding data for several minutes and closes back to the springboard. Can’t ssh or terminal into it to force an update to Cydia. Anybody got any clues? I spent about 10 hours over the weekend trying to reslove this issue.

    • BacMozBee

      Thanks and congratulations.
      Was really a helpfull and very clear contribution!

    • http://360percents.com fix

      Download link and installation guide here:
      http://360percents.com/posts/fix-mobile-terminal-in-iphoneipod-touch-ios-4-x/

      Best regards

    • Scruffy, the Janitor

      Clear, easy to follow instructions that worked perfectly. The hardest part was getting WinSCP to connect to my phone. (Maybe I’m working too far from my router/antenna.)

      Many thanks.

    • Rommie

      Thank you so much!

      This article was SO well written!!!

      I tried to watch a youtube of what to do and although the video made sense it was hard to understand him.

      I loved this app when I had my GS and now love it again thanks to you! :)

      Thanks again!!! :)

    • http://forum.tipb.com/jailbreak-unlock-forum/202121-mobile-terminal-will-not-launch.html#post1642741 mobile terminal will not launch – iPhone, iPad, iPod Forums at TiPb.com

      [...] You need an updated copy of mobileterminal, a guide on how to install this can be found here: How to install MobileTerminal 426 (ios4 compatible) to your iPhone | Top iPhone Resource [...]

    • Regi

      Great! mobileterminal Working on iPhone 3GS iOS 4.0 and also on iOS 4.2.1 with this guide.
      Thanks to share!