[HOW TO] - Jailbreak iPad 2 (or iPhone 4S) Using Absinthe [iOS 5.0.1 / iOS 5]

Step 1: Download Absinthe from this link and save the application in a folder named "Absinthe" on your desktop.

Step 2: Double click the Absinthe zip file and extract the application to the Absinthe folder. Navigate back to the Absinthe folder and launch the Absinthe application.

Step 3: After launching Absinthe, click on the Jailbreak button.

After clicking on the Jailbreak button the tool will give a progress update on the various stages of the jailbreak process such as:

"Beginning jailbreak" (note this can really take sometime - in our case this step took more than 10 minutes on our iPad 2, though it was lot quicker on iPhone 4S). NOTE: If you want faster way and don't want to wait that long, you can try this method, check ---> HERE)

"Sending initial data" at this time you will notice that "Restoring in Progress" message on your iPad 2 (this can also take a long time - in our case this step took more than 15 mins)

"Waiting for reboot"

"Waiting for device to finish rebooting" as your iPad 2 is rebooting.

"Preparing jailbreak data"

"Sending payload data" (this can also take a long time - in our case this step took more than 15 mins)

Step 4: In the end you'll be prompted with the message informing you that the jailbreak is "Almost done - just unlock the screen if necessary, then tap "Jailbreak" icon to finish.

Step 5: Unlock your iPad. The icon you should look for is the Absinthe icon and not "Jailbreak", it may not be on the first home screen page so you're better off just searching for it using Spotlight.

Step 6: Launch the Absinthe app. It should load the greenpois0n site and reboot your iPad 2. After it is rebooted, you should see the Cydia icon.

That's it, your iPad 2 is successfully jailbroken.

Troubleshooting tips:

Here are some troubleshooting tips if you hit an issue while jailbreaking your iPad 2 with Absinthe:

1. A number of readers have reported that they're getting "Error establishing a database connection"error message while loading the site or are seeing a white screen when they launch the Absinthe app. If you get that error message or white screen, the following trick seems to work:

• Launch the Settings app
• Then tap on General, followed by Network and then tap on VPN, here you will get "A configuration error occurred" message.
• However after a minute, your iPad 2 will reboot and you should be able to see Cydia icon your iPad 2's home screen.

2. If it still doesn't help, just reboot your iPad 2 and start the process all over again. It may also be a good idea to disable your passcode when you try again as the tool gives a warning request that jailbreaking is most likely to fail if passcode is enabled (don't forget to enable it though after your iPad 2 is successfully jailbroken).

3. Ensure you've updated iTunes to the latest version (iTunes 10.5.3).

4. If you think it is taking a long time (or get the feeling that Absinthe isn't doing anything) then be patient. Check out the timings mentioned by us above for some of the steps.

5. If tips 1 and 2 don't help then iPhone Dev team has advised restoring your iPad 2 (which is not ideal). But our advise would be to try again after sometime as it could be very well due to the load on the servers.

If you're still having issues head over to IRC, pod2g and the Chronic Dev team are providing support on #greenpois0n on irc.chronic-dev.org. Please don't forget to drop us a line in the comments to tell us how your issue was fixed for your benefit of your fellow readers.

After the jailbreaking process is complete, do not forget to checkout our article on tips to keep your iPad secure.

If you're new to the jailbreaking world and wondering what to do after jailbreaking your iPad, checkout our jailbreak apps category page to find out the apps you can install on your iPad using the Cydia app. Please note that some of the jailbreak apps and tweaks are still not compatible with iOS 5/iOS 5.0.1 so please be cautious while installing them.

Updated 1:

Added the time it can take for the some of the time consuming stages and also some more troubleshooting tips.

Update 2:

Chronic Dev team has updated Absinthe to address load issue, so we've updated the download link with the latest version.

Hope this helped. Please don't forget to let us know how it goes in the comments and drop us a line if you hit any issues and don't forget to give a donation to the jailbreak dream team for all their hard work.

[SOURCE: iPhoneHacks]