Carrier IQ - Asus Padfone X and S

So as I've stated in one of the update threads, I've been getting terrible battery life since the recent update. After getting fed up with my battery draining at 6% an hour with the screen off with Ultra-Powersaving enabled (combine this with when I'm actually using the phone and I couldn't even go 6 hours without having to charge the phone) I finally decided to install BetterBatteryStats. After about a 3 hour test window yesterday of which about 1 hour 25 mins was screen on and the rest screen off, battery was at 42%, and there were 700+ wakelocks from "com.carrieriq.iqagent.Wakelock", which according to BBS accounted for 30+ minutes of the CPU being awake (which was more than triple the time of the notorious NlpCollectorWakelock that was also present).
After some searching, as I had no idea what Carrier IQ was, I discovered it is a piece of pre-installed software by the carrier that is supposedly used to collect diagnostics data for the carrier, but most likely has the ability to collect much more than that, and critcally, has no opt-out. It has been described in the past as a rootkit, and has been the source of much controversy back when it was discovered to be able to log keystrokes in 2011, which resulted in many device manufacturers and carriers ceasing using it, and even taking legal action against the company. Apparently ASUS and/or AT&T was not one of those companies.
After learning about this, I sought to confirm my device had this software installed. I was able to confirm by downloading Lookout's Carrier IQ Detector from the play store. According to Lookout's app my Padfone X does have Carrier IQ installed.
I am posting this to:
1. Inform all of you that your device may also have this pre-installed rootkit
2. Find out of anyone knows of or can find an up to date way to remove it if possible, as most of the apps that the articles link are from 2011 and were buggy even then
3. See if anyone can verify my concerns as all this research was done in a small amount of time on my phone
Side note: This is possibly the final straw for me. Between the hardware and software problems, and now if I am correct about this, I am thoroughly regretting getting this device.
Disclaimer: All the research I did was done in what little free time I have at work on my phone. Most of the articles consulted are from 2011,and may reflect the opinion of the software at the time. For all I know Carrier IQ could be more privacy conscious now, but personally I don't want this software on my phone.
Screenshots of BBS and the Lookout app are attached.

I no longer have this device but your research does reflect the 2011 versions of CarrierIQ. I didn't know it was still around at all, so no clue.

I found the same thing about a month ago i am very pissed at at&t, Infringing on their customer's privacy but that is another rant. I think i have found a way to stop iq carrier, testing with the same apps that confirmed it is on my padfone. It is a pain and with my genius there is probably an easier way but here is what i have done.
Needless to say this will void your warranty! I am not responsible for any bricking or dam age that may occur!
Also be warned if your battery dies or you restart your phone you will get a continual pop-up saying unfortunately android system has crashed. It is a pain but you can get back and rename the file as described below and everything will run fine, it just takes fast fingers.
Required.
Root via towel root 1
Root explorer
After rooting use root explorer go to system/lib/libiq_client.so, press and hold a menu will open remove the letter o from so.
The line below that is libiq_service.so again remove the letter o from .so.
I had originally renamed .so to .bak but when i restarted my phone the renaming process was time consuming .

More removal
Picked up a PFX from ebay for cheap recently, and was disappointed to find out that CarrierIQ is still a thing.
I installed the Voodoo CarrierIQ detector to get an idea how bad it was: score of 270 with CIQ active. 200 of that from a running system process, the other 70 from two lib files in /system/lib (libiq_service.so and libiq_client.so)
I googled around and came across some de-CIQ instructions for the AT&T LG G3 here.
Most of the guide applies, but a few things are different. For example, there doesn't seem to be a "LADDM.apk" on the PFX, but it might simply have a different name. If it does, I dunno what it is.
Anyway, here's what I did to get my Voodoo score from 270/active to 70/inactive.
NOTE: I currently do not have my PFX activated on a mobile carrier (wanted to get it all setup first), so there's a chance that one of the below changes might mess with the phone radios, but I highly doubt it.
1. Install the usual mod tools: Towelroot, supersu, busybox, twrp recovery, make a nandroid backup, etc. Guides for these can be found in the other PFX topics.
2. Download "3C Toolbox" from the Play Store. (app used to go by the name Android Toolbox)
3. Open it, give it root permissions, and select "do not show this message again" so it won't pop up every time you go to a different screen.
4. Open up the Application Manager on the second screen (swipe from left once)
5. Near the top of the screen, right above the free space, swipe the tabs to the left and select Apps.
6. Near the bottom of the screen, above the ad, there's a blue button that says "User", press it once so it switches to red and "System".
7. Long-press on Android System > Open (top-left) > Details.
8. Similar to #5, there's tabs near the top of the screen: Details, Activities, Providers, etc.
9. Under the Activities, Receivers, and Services tabs, uncheck anything that starts with "com.carrieriq".
10. Exit and reboot the PFX.
11. Start up Voodoo CarrierIQ Detector. Score is now 70! ("CarrierIQ elements found - however it seems inactive").
In regards to the libs in /system/lib, if I rename libiq_service.so to something else and reboot, the phone still behaves normally, but if I try to rename libiq_client.so and reboot, I get constant popups saying that com.android.phone has crashed.
So, technically it's not fully removed, but it's a step in the right direction!

Related

[Q] Question about security

I can't seem to find anything that touches on this, so I thought I'd go ahead and ask.
My girlfriend (who is in another state at the moment for a couple months) is concerned someone has 'hacked' her phone.
As much as I know right now, she had her phone sitting on her desk and it came on, out of sleep, bypassing her pattern lock and started automatically downloading and updating her Maps app. She does not have her phone rooted or modded in anyway, just some additional apps (none that deal with app management) and as far as I know (I have a Samsung Vibrant) there are no 'automatically update' option in any of the menus.
Anyone have any idea? I know this is very little information, but it's all I can grab right now and I had a few minutes.
Thanks in advance for any responses!
jwrichards1982 said:
I can't seem to find anything that touches on this, so I thought I'd go ahead and ask.
My girlfriend (who is in another state at the moment for a couple months) is concerned someone has 'hacked' her phone.
As much as I know right now, she had her phone sitting on her desk and it came on, out of sleep, bypassing her pattern lock and started automatically downloading and updating her Maps app. She does not have her phone rooted or modded in anyway, just some additional apps (none that deal with app management) and as far as I know (I have a Samsung Vibrant) there are no 'automatically update' option in any of the menus.
Anyone have any idea? I know this is very little information, but it's all I can grab right now and I had a few minutes.
Thanks in advance for any responses!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to be sure, she has an Eris, correct? I only ask because if her Android Phone (since it's not rooted) is not an Eris then it could have Android OS 2.2 (Froyo), and the Android Market for Froyo does have an option (she would've had to toggle it on somehow) to autoupdate individual apps.
If she definitely has a unrooted Eris and therefore running 2.1, it may still be possible that she installed the Market from 2.2 (there are various sources to do so), although it doesn't sound likely from your description. She would be aware if she did that, too.
I would double check to make sure she has the phone set to only install apps through the Market:
Long-press Menu
Settings
Applications
Make sure that "Unknown sources" is unchecked.
I don't know if it would still be possible for a malicious app to be installed with it unchecked, but it should definitely reduce the probability.
I've seen weird things happen on all sorts of electronics/computers/phones so unless something else suspicious happened, or she has good reason to believe someone did something to her phone in person that would allow them to do things to it remotely, then I wouldn't sweat it yet.
I originally used security software on my phone, but I haven't for a long time.
If she wants to be certain nothing has invaded her phone, then she could do a factory reset:
Long-press Menu
Settings
Privacy
Factory data reset
This will erase everything that didn't come with her phone. Without root access, noone could've done anything permanent to it.
When she boots the phone after the reset, and puts her Google email and password in, Google will automatically restore her Contacts and Calendar (takes several minutes if a lot of data), but she would have to either manually reinstall and reconfigure her apps, or use a backup program like Titanium Backup, or My Backup Pro. MBP is much slower but recent versions have gotten faster and overall I've had better success with it than TB, but many people swear by TB so it just depends.
Good luck.

[Q] Proud owner since March! Should I cave & root?

Hello guys and thanks for reading this. I'd like to require your knowledge and collect your expériences, opinions about wether or not I should root.
1 / So here's the deal, what I wish for is a device with which :
-I could prevent selected apps from launching in the background by themselves (see attached picture - i never asked for any of those to launch - seriously the phone was on for only 5 minutes or so) in a one time configuration process. For example, I'd block Facebook but let Messenger do its thing freely.
-I could completely uninstall the following apps : Hangouts, Google+, Gmail, News & Weather, Chrome, Play books, Play Music... Basically everything Google except Maps, YouTube & The Play store..
2 / I Wonder, if it's possible to accomplish (some of) those things by rooting but without flashing another rom. What I mean is, can we change the governor, install super SU, other tweaking solutions... but at the same time keep the stock rom as it is whith all the apps installed as they are... and simply applying tweaks on top of it?
3 / Also, never have I once went back to factory settings, since day one, and I can feel that some apps take a bit longer to load. When receiving the SENSE 5 / 4.2.2 update, I could definitely sense a big boost in responsiveness in the OS but it now feels like before the update. Maybe it's due to those background processes, starting and ending by themselves? Or because the internal memory chip is beginning to die (I did use the phone like an animal in its early days by doing things like downloading torrents and unzipping files between 500mb-5gb) and still do sometimes. And I rarely uninstall apps. I have like 200 (every shortcuts included - like settings, help,... so basically 170 apps maybe?) and i need them at least every once in a while, so I'm the preventive type, not a hoarder.
Here are 2 attached pictures :
-the first one showing you those unwanted background processes.
-the second showing you the storage status
Enough with the background, what are your thoughts?
Thanks in advance.
true2you said:
Hello guys and thanks for reading this. I'd like to require your knowledge and collect your expériences, opinions about wether or not I should root.
1 / So here's the deal, what I wish for is a device with which :
-I could prevent selected apps from launching in the background by themselves (see attached picture - i never asked for any of those to launch - seriously the phone was on for only 5 minutes or so) in a one time configuration process. For example, I'd block Facebook but let Messenger do its thing freely.
-I could completely uninstall the following apps : Hangouts, Google+, Gmail, News & Weather, Chrome, Play books, Play Music... Basically everything Google except Maps, YouTube & The Play store..
2 / I Wonder, if it's possible to accomplish (some of) those things by rooting but without flashing another rom. What I mean is, can we change the governor, install super SU, other tweaking solutions... but at the same time keep the stock rom as it is whith all the apps installed as they are... and simply applying tweaks on top of it?
3 / Also, never have I once went back to factory settings, since day one, and I can feel that some apps take a bit longer to load. When receiving the SENSE 5 / 4.2.2 update, I could definitely sense a big boost in responsiveness in the OS but it now feels like before the update. Maybe it's due to those background processes, starting and ending by themselves? Or because the internal memory chip is beginning to die (I did use the phone like an animal in its early days by doing things like downloading torrents and unzipping files between 500mb-5gb) and still do sometimes. And I rarely uninstall apps. I have like 200 (every shortcuts included - like settings, help,... so basically 170 apps maybe?) and i need them at least every once in a while, so I'm the preventive type, not a hoarder.
Here are 2 attached pictures :
-the first one showing you those unwanted background processes.
-the second showing you the storage status
Enough with the background, what are your thoughts?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it's a challenge then "I'm a proud owner since January " Well , welcome aboard the sailing ship of the HOX+
Well for starters, everything you said can be acheived by root WITHOUT installing a custom ROM. That actually answers all your questions, HOWEVER, keep in mind, that the first stage of rooting , will require you to WIPE all your data during the stage of unlocking the bootloader. So , your music , apps,pics all will be wiped, and you won't be able to backup your apps the first time. So I hope it's still worth it .
For starters read this guide I wrote : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=46057784 about the difference between different stages, if you can't understand the forum is full of other threads that explain the same thing.
Moving on,
The list of apps you will need is as following:
1-Super SU or SU whatever is a necessary ofcourse.
2-Xposed framework (google it, its not on the play store) Function:
Its a program that you will need to install other tweaks to your phone. Its basically a manager for those tweaks incase you want to turn one off.
Thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1574401
3-Xposed Framework > Downloads > "BootManager"
Its a module (thats the term for those "tweaks") that allows you to setup the programs that you dont want to boot. Sadly It doesn't have a full list of apps, but its useful nonetheless.
3'-Greenify:
The reason I named it 3' was because its an alternative for BootManager. Greenify hibernates the apps , making them not run in the background, but when you open the app it wakes up, so its not similar to "disable" function since you can still open the app to work on it.
4-Titanium Backup
Now thats a program I must install everytime I switch roms, if you read the thread you will know whats it's use, but let me sum it up. You backup all your apps and progress and when you switch roms (since everything is wiped again) it restores everything back.
ALSO: It allows you to totally uninstall all the apps even stock ones, but TAKE care not to uninstall anything messy, advice: backup everything before you uninstall.
5-Xposed Framework > Downloads > "Sense5 Toolbox" :
It allows you to make tweaks for the stock rom, rearrange quick settings, add new ones, change lock screen ..etc. Really worth it.
6-Xposed Framework > Downloads > "Recent apps RAM":
When you open up the recent apps lists, there will be a bar at the top displaying the ram used and free ram. When you see that less than 100mb left, then thats when you know the phone will lag. Just clear all the apps and it should be fine
7-Xposed Framework > Downloads > "Recent Apps kill all Button":
The only thing missing in sense is the ability to kill all apps without manually swiping up on each app in the most recent list. That enables a button for that.
IMO: Rooting was the best move I have ever made, and since we have S-ON, then you can't really brick your phone. So life is good.
Anyway, I hope I helped and that you will live a long life with that HOX+
Many days later, thaaaaaaank youuuuuuu!
So I read your thread on the link you proved provided (again thanks), read and seen videos and tutorials about titanium backup, and also read about - and tried Xposed + sense5 toolbox without rooting just to get a glimpse - and it's both easy to use and ergonomic. Of course I couldn't get any benefits of it yet since still not rooted, but hey, you've pretty much served me all the steps on a golden plate.
Also, as a warming up session, I did a factory reset and neck, I backed up everything before doing so and all I lost was my games data + 1 or 2 phone numbers + my text messages. Overall not a big deal + reinstalling everything took nothing more than a couple of downloading hours.
What's left for me is to test out greenify and the other module (boot something) or any other alternative, I'll figure it out you've already done more than enough.
As for the main task, rooting and getting super user access, again I now have enough info thanks to you + the stickies + the whole one x+ section.
I am so grateful for your time. After years with windows mobile and window phone 7 (and 8 months of unrooted use of my hox+, this is new to me and now it seems nothing but easy.
Sent from my HTC One X+ using xda premium

Remove System Apps

Hi Guys
I have a quick question - How do i remove system apps on the Tab S3.
Everytime i go to remove and app thru Tit Backup - It restores it after reboot.
Rooted with SuperSU - Id like to uninstall Knox etc but cant?
I had this on the S8 - Is this to do with the Kernel needing to be permissive? Any help would be welcome.
fkofilee said:
Hi Guys
I have a quick question - How do i remove system apps on the Tab S3.
Everytime i go to remove and app thru Tit Backup - It restores it after reboot.
Rooted with SuperSU - Id like to uninstall Knox etc but cant?
I had this on the S8 - Is this to do with the Kernel needing to be permissive? Any help would be welcome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you have no R/W access to the system. Did you flash the no-verity-opt-encrypt patch when rooting? Download root essentials from the play store. There you have the option to mount system R/W. After enabling that removing the system apps should work.
Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-T825 met Tapatalk
Thanks... Completely slipped my mind about the RW access
I'll give it a go
Nope didnt work - Trying to delete anything of the system partition doesnt go anywhere
Solution I found for my Galaxy S7 was to use /system/app mover available from F-Droid.Org
Move apps first to be User apps, reboot and you can uninstall them.
Judging by the number of Thanks on this thread, I can see that problems with apps have been an issue with rooted Tab S3s for quite some time.
The problems I am having are actually the reverse, however; whenever I delete system apps my device becomes all but soft-bricked (Android strips me of many user privileges).
Makes me sick for a device I paid $500 for and own.
Now this is for a recent root "professionally" performed just the other day by OneClickRoot using Magisk.
Having said that, I would suggest that anyone having difficulty removing apps really doesn't want to experience the consequences of what happens when you do.
So far OneClickRoot has been MIA as far as providing assistance for an improperly performed root that voided my warranty and which I cannot use.
But what they do not know (yet) is that I screen recorded the sessions while they had remote access to my PC and were rooting my device. I haven't yet investigated whether there are newer files they could have used, but I do know that I was prompted to update Magisk on my device almost immediately afterward.
It does seem clear that Android came out with some kind of a patch that thwarted the plan. And it was seriously harrowing.
Anyway, with the guidance of the screen recordings I was able to do some experimenting with app removal and unroot/reroot at my leisure.
It didn't take much in the way of app removal to throw the system into a state of angst like I've never seen (I rooted my Galaxy S3 phone a long time ago on my own and it went peacefully and without incident). I never once touched [removed] a single core system file on this S3 tablet (of course, that may be understating it; apps like Chrome could be considered to contain core system files - after all, it is an Android). I also did not remove Google Play Services or Google Play because I kinda had a hunch.
Incidentally, I used ES File Explorer to remove the apps. A decent reputation with Google. Downloaded with Yalp Store. (After removing the apps, some time later I went back to the root section of ES and got a notification that said "Sorry. That feature is not available on this device.")
At the moment I am back in re-rooted state and experimenting with an app disabler/freezer. So far so good. It's interesting to see what I haven't been able to disable - Chrome being one of them. The others (Music, Movies, Maps, Hangouts, OneDrive, etc. were disabled without incident). I'm wondering if this experiment is demonstrating which apps I can safely remove with the root.
Oh, I disabled Google Text-to-Speech and once in a while I get a feeble notification alerting me that it has stopped which is fine by me. I'm sick of them stalking me all over the Internet let alone logging my every keystroke.
Anyway, that's my story and the current forecast where uprooting is concerned.
I looked at oneClickRoot. It wants access to all your accounts. Why does it need that? That scares me. I also don't see how it would root your device without tripping Knox. Maybe it doesn't, I don't know.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
jd1639 said:
I looked at oneClickRoot. It wants access to all your accounts. Why does it need that? That scares me. I also don't see how it would root your device without tripping Knox. Maybe it doesn't, I don't know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
JD, sometimes roots trip Knox and sometimes they don't. They didn't advise me of that either way.
I'm not sure why they want access to all your accounts. Maybe it's just because a root requires total access to your device.
There's nothing you don't see while they are performing the root so I don't think it's much to be concerned about.
Picking up where I left off with my original post, I soon discovered Terminal Debloater developed by Magisk (a means of removing apps systemless-ly!).
OneClickRoot didn't advise me of that method (and still hasn't gotten back with me, incidentally). Of course, they do make money selling extended support packages (and it's worth noting that they didn't flash TWRP to my device either).
I thought if Terminal Debloater didn't do it nothing would. And it didn't work, even though I didn't uninstall Google, Google Play Services or Google Play.
I mean, it got rid of the apps just like ES File Explorer did, but my device once again became nearly unusable (unable to open Google Play Store or Amazon Appstore among other features of my device). But systemless-ly? Not so sure about that.
Resetting the device remedied the problem(s) and reinstalled everything without requiring a re-root (minus 3rd party apps that I already had installed, of course). I had forgotten about the previous backup that I had performed with Titanium Backup but it was like 4am and I was getting foggy, you know - there have been a lot of late nights lately. My device was still rooted after the reset and I was able to reinstall Magisk Manager with an .apk (Google Play Store banished it). Maybe that's what they meant by systemless uninstall - the relative ease of reinstall.
So I think that after all of this experimentation it is fair to say that unless you have goals other than uninstalling meaningless stuff like that withTV app it isn't going to work out. And for an app freezer/disabler to work properly you need a root. And an app/freezer disabler won't disable them all. I still have a lot of Google apps it won't disable like Gmail, Chrome, Photos, Movies & TV and Google Play Music (although I realize most people aren't interested in disabling Google apps). I could probably safely remove YouTube, Maps and Drive (I was only able to partially able freeze the former but I was able to fully freeze the latter). There are others I could probably uninstall too - OneDrive, other Microsoft apps, Weather, etc. - it would just seem pointless though since they are already frozen. So maybe freezing is a good enough reason to root for those who only want minimal removal of apps and still want Google where the sun doesn't shine.
Anything that can be frozen can probably be safely removed with the root but I haven't experimented with that. It might require a 4th reset and/or reroot. But you will never have total freedom to do what you want.
As far as OneClickRoot, it is fortunate that I paid with PayPal because I am going to file a claim based on many factors. They asked me why I was rooting my device and I told them I was going to remove apps. They didn't advise me on that either way. They didn't tell me that the root would trip Knox. It says on their Galaxy Tab S3 page, "After the rooting process is completed and done, you may start installing carrier-blocked applications" "you may positively eliminate preinstalled crapware" and "Remember that after rooting, you are the administrator of your own phone so have the freedom to do anything you want with your phone." If they made the mistake of referring to a phone on their tablet page then that's their bad. I do not yet qualify to post links on this forum, but you can find the page by using DuckDuckGo to search "Galaxy S3 Tab OneClickRoot" and it's the first search result).
I paid them $60 total to root my device; the first time I thought I removed too many apps and that it was my fault so I paid them an additional $20 to re-root it. Turns out it really wasn't my fault at all because with the 2nd root I uninstalled even fewer apps than the first time (and like I said before, never any core system apps or even any major android apps like Google Play Services). I figured out how to unroot it on my own (with firmware files from SamMobile and flashed with Odin) and then screen recorded the 2nd root.
At the end of the day I'm not sure it's really worth it to root just to remove a few apps and void your warranty if you're still covered (I have only owned my device for just over a week).
But then, not everyone has the same objectives I do. I am completely crazy serious when it comes to my privacy. One might ask why I even purchased this device and it's because it affords customizations that Apple doesn't (or so I thought). But I can still run Linux. And, of course, I have no intent of setting up a Samsung account or a real Google account. I bought a cheap sim card from TracFone to use with my old S3 phone to set up a fake Google account (because of course you have to have a phone to register a Google account). My TracFone account is under a fake name, my phone number has a Chicago area code (I live across the country), my Google account will be under a fake name and I use a paid VPN on my device(s) using a Chicago IP address. They deserve it.
All just so I can get a few paid - but important - apps. If it weren't for that, Google account be damned. I sold my black little soul to Amazon a long time ago but their selections are limited.
---------- Post added at 09:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:48 PM ----------
Oh, and for those who aren't rooted and simply want to uninstall system apps for more space, you can force 3rd party apps to SD by enabling that feature in Developer Options.
Go to Settings > About tablet > Model number > Software information
Click on Build number 7 times. That will activate Developer Options which you will then find at the bottom of the column on the left side.
Click on Developer Options and scroll way down to Force Allow Apps on External.
Then scroll up to Running Services and observe what's going on behind the scenes. Especially if you have denied (and even frozen) location permissions, deactivated bluetooth, limited background processes to "none" and deactivated automatic updates. They will grab at ANYTHING - your bluetooth, phone, etc. You can stop the processes but they still keep coming back. It's fun to give them an occasional punt anyway.
I did manage to finally disable blutooth but that *had* to be frozen. Disabling in settings wasn't good enough. Google Location Service cannot be stopped ever.
I should set up the fake Google account on my S3 phone with the Chicago IP address and then play Ingress in my real neighborhood just to taunt them.
Blue team!!!!
You do know there is a root method by ashyx in the development section, right. Also, I'd just freeze apps with tibu. That way if your system starts to freeze you can just unfreeze them.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
jd1639 said:
You do know there is a root method by ashyx in the development section, right. Also, I'd just freeze apps with tibu. That way if your system starts to freeze you can just unfreeze them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi JD.
No, I didn't know about ashyx. Thanks for that though. I might end up looking into it. I'm wondering if a root is just a root, though? There are a couple of apps that have given me errors that said "Your SU binary is functional but might not work reliably on some Android 4.3+ ROMs. If you encounter any issues in TB, please try SuperSU instead." I got that error from Titanium Backup today and I think also from Malwarebytes the other day.
So I'm wondering if uninstalling Magisk and installing SuperSU instead might make a difference.
I reallly have no clue. I'm going to try it though. As a last resort I will probably try re-rooting. Have you used ashyx? If so, were you able to remove apps without a hassle?
Also, is that your Porsche? Nice . . . . . if you're in Minnesota, bet you can't wait until June lol.
I'm from the Midwest orignally - I guess it was kind of a rough winter, no? I know last winter was.
You'll get the same message with supersu as magisk in TB. It's not an issue. And, yes, I use @ashyx method for root. It's worked for all firmwares so far, but I'm almost sure it won't (twrp) if Samsung ever gives us Oreo. But I have confidence in ashyx that he'll modify it so it will, he's the man!
jd1639 said:
You'll get the same message with supersu as magisk in TB. It's not an issue. And, yes, I use @ashyx method for root. It's worked for all firmwares so far, but I'm almost sure it won't (twrp) if Samsung ever gives us Oreo. But I have confidence in ashyx that he'll modify it so it will, he's the man!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi JD. Long time no see. Or so it seems.
My head has actually been far removed from the Tab this past week. I actually had my S7 rooted just a couple of days before the Tab and so I have been juggling both devices. I think I'm about to pop a blood vessel. I honestly would have rooted them myself but there was just too much scattered information and since I was dealing with two devices I had OCR do it.
But anyway, I haven't been much invested in the Tab over the past several days. I broke a few too many green antennae again and bricked my S7 for the third time. Whenever I have fresh firmware flashed to my device I get those uninstall apps and become possessed. At least I can reinstall the firmware and re-root on my own now.
Things sure have changed since the S3 (phone) and the Galaxy Tab Pro (which was introduced before app permissions became an option). I never did root that device. I guess that's about 4 years old now.
I do believe my S7 was rooted with the ashyx method. I saw a file or something somewhere. It is easier to remove system files on that device but more complicated as there are so many more of them being a phone and all.
As far as Oreo . . . . .ugh. Something about the potential for crush injuries doesn't seem really appealing. I can imagine the "system" is only going to become more oppressive and Google more invasive. Right now I'm still trying to figure out wtf Nougat is.
Besides, Nougat will be a good OS for a long, long time. The OS on my S3 phone [Lollipop?] is still adequate. And developers are still trying to perfect apps for rooted Nougat OS's. A lot of stuff is still buggy.
I'm not *quite* as fanatical about privacy on my S7 since my phone number was tied to my Google account long before I decided to stop being lazy about privacy issues. But once I get the paid apps I need I immediately freeze Google Play Services and Google Play Store. And before I use the store I remove my SD card before they can rape my app settings and data. And, of course, I pay for a Google Play gift card with cash. It's extremely difficult going to these extremes but I am still new at it on my devices so it will just take time to adjust. I went through the same grief with my PCs but it's all good now. My banks and creditors no longer hassle me when I use private browsing and a VPN when I log in. Google will never give in though. Ever. And that really is something scary.
I actually did acquire Windows 10 Enterprise for both of my PCs after many fruitless and failed attempts at tweaking my registry. Now I have full access to Group Policy Editor and live in relative privacy [and peace] where Microsoft is concerned. Wish android had a Group Policy Editor.
Anyway, as far as where I left off with app uninstalls on my Tab, I had only just flashed the stock firmware on that before I bricked my S7 so there are still what I call "secondary" Google apps like Maps, Gmail, Movies & TV, etc. Those are frozen, however. It still might be a couple of days before I get to uninstalling those but I will update. I have no life. I need to come up for air lol. It is important to me to post about this experience; I guess I feel somewhat like an activist in a sense. Google just runs roughshod over everything and everyone like they OWN, you know? And they don't. They don't own me, or you, or our devices. And so this is for people - not "advertising IDs" - who feel similarly and don't want Google invading their devices and private information.
Umm . . . . I know there are a lot of individuals who want to root their Tab S3s and I may at some point post instructions on how to do that using Magisk (it really is simple) but right now I just feel that it would be unethical to do so until I can figure out which apps are truly safe to remove without bricking. And, of course, I can post instructions on how to flash the stock firmware as well.
Thanks for the info about the messages, btw. Still trying to figure out how to disable those. There has to be an .obb tweak somewhere for that. As I recall, the primary reason I rooted my S3 (phone) to begin with was to disable the shutter sound on my camera! And that required an .obb tweak. For the life of me I can't remember what app I used to accomplish that.
---------- Post added at 05:36 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:16 AM ----------
When I get a message telling me that something I don't want has stopped working, it would at least be nice to see a bow on top of that bubble with some streamers and balloons in the background.
:laugh:
The Battle Of Jorte.
The night before last I was making some tweaks to my S7. I had just finished up purchasing some apps I needed from the Play Store and had refrozen that app and Google Play Services. Some time before I had previously installed a day-planning type app called Jorte.
All of a sudden I started getting notifications in my notification area that said "Jorte will not run unless you enable Google Play Services." I tolerated this for a while and then finally thought, "Ok, well, I'll just uninstall Jorte and that will put an end to that." (I didn't really want Jorte anymore - I had installed it along with a couple of other day-planning apps I was making comparisons with and had decided on a different one - one that wasn't "dependent" on Google Play Services.)
So I uninstalled Jorte and realized that there was another app that I forgot to purchase. When I went back into Application Manager to reactivate Google Play Services and Google Play Store they were gone! Well! I wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing. I opened my App disabler app and sure enough - they were still installed on my phone, just hidden. How trite! How petty! I was furious.
I decided at that point that I had all the paid apps I needed.
One would THINK that an ETHICAL company without nefarious intentions would take the position that if an individual isn't using their services that they would be more than HAPPY that they be disabled especially if they are "FREE". After all, why waste resources?? To whose benefit is it to leave Google Play Services running in the background when it isn't needed?
I did something then that hadn't yet dawned on me. I have an app disabler that allows one to disable all of the services associated with that app (specifically Google Play Services). Uninstalling "GPS" bricked my device before so that wasn't an option. So I went offline and disabled my mobile data (also something I hadn't done before) and went into the app disabler (which I will not name [yet]) and started disabling everything with the word "sync", "collection", forwarding", "uploading", "geolocation", "account", "transfer", "advertiser", "notification", "analytics", "indexing", "listener", "secret", "logger", "metadata", "reporter", "credentials", "metrics", "watcher", "sharing", "monitor", "phenotype?!", "detection", "stats", "supervision", "VACUUM". . . .amongst several others. (Are you guys getting alarmed yet?.) Out of 276 services I disabled 105. I had to disable them one by one because the app would stop each and every time.
I also disabled 4 out of 6 services belonging to Google Services Framework (which were all that the app disabler were able to freeze).
All of these actions effectively disabled Google from running on my device as observed from Running Services in Developer Options (that, of course, combined with disabling/uninstalling Samsung apps and associated services). Staying offline and disabling mobile data prevented my actions during this process from being reported (and interfered with).
So far over the past couple of days all has been quiet. No more '"________ will not run without Google Play Services" or "________ has stopped" notifications, no more Google running in the background and helping itself to my data like a smorgasbord.
I attempted to apply these same settings to my Tab S3 and it didn't fly. I had to disable ALL of the subservices associated with Google Play Services and I also uninstalled Google Services Framework entirely.
That debacle is for a different post.
I want to add that most any app can be uninstalled on the Tab S3 once the disabling of Samsung, Google Play Services and Google Play is achieved. Prior to this, for whatever reason I had a great deal of difficulty uninstalling Chrome and Google Play Music. If you think really, really hard in advance about all of the paid apps that you want that are critical to your root and whatever other paid apps you want, you can install them and ditch Google Play Services. They got their money and earned what they deserved. There is no reason to keep Google services continuously running in the background. You can get top notch apps that don't depend on them. I have My Backup Pro, Servicely, SD Maid, an APK extractor, a couple of really good disablers/uninstallers, ES File Explorer, Root Explorer, etc. Really consider your privacy - your data is important. Would you let a stranger rifle through drawers at your house? Even if Google has been collecting your data for years, all hope is not lost. You have many years ahead of you. Most of the data they have collected becomes obsolete over time and they don't need to keep collecting it. There are many, many apps that are not dependent on Google Play Services. There's an app called F-Droid that has an .apk installation file that can be directly downloaded from the Internet and which offers LOTS of great apps. They have an app called Yalp Store that shows you which apps Google Play Store offers that don't depend on Google Play Services and you can filter those results. You can even download and install them manually. The developers of F-Droid are privacy-conscious and all of the apps that they offer are geared with that in mind.
I paid a lot of money for my devices - what, $1300 overall? The manufacturers are not entitled to more than that, especially if I have paid for additional apps. I do have a dummy YouTube account - I consider it free cloud storage for my videos in exchange for the the data they have stolen from me over the years (I've got some cool videos, too - I'd link to my channel but it would blow my cover).
To achieve all of this you will need to start fresh - uninstall your apps, remove your SD card, clean your device really well, wipe your device and close your Samsung account. You don't need a Samsung account to run your device. You can decline both Samsung and Google services at setup but all of those choices are meaningless because they take what they want anyway.
There may be a few sacrifices that may be a dealbreaker to some such as Facebook, but there are a few apps that work around that limitation such as Tinfoil for Facebook. You may also be able to log into Facebook using a privacy web browser. I have Firefox on my devices using a VPN, Privacy Browsing and multiple privacy plugins and it works just fine for every website I have visited (I can't speak for Facebook, though, because I don't use it (not for privacy reasons, though - I have unresolved mixed feelings about it). It should be fine to use with a web browser although some websites do badger you to use their app. You can try it though before uninstalling the Facebook app and see how it goes. Granted it won't be as convenient but you can bookmark it and still have access. Twitter is dependent on Google Play. As I was writing this paragraph I just found a highly rated app called Metal for Facebook & Twitter which isn't dependent on Google and which allows you to access both of them. No ads, gets you notifications from Facebook, supports Orbot/Tor, etc. Sounds excellent.
So there's some stuff to consider.
Between both of my devices I had become really mentally/emotionally stressed and exhausted and had a short but intense cry yesterday. I would have benefited from a longer one.
Last night I woke up to discover that Google had added another hundred or so services to the Google Play Services app on my S7 which brought the number up to 300+. (As an aside, the same thing happened on my Tab S3 several days ago.) I'm not sure if I had wi-fi or mobile data turned on when it happened or both - I had been turning them both on and off intermittently throughout the day. All I can think is that Verizon must have been sharing data. It happened on the S3 for a different reason and I caught that while it was happening.
I thought that I was using Verizon simply for a signal. I don't use their cloud and I don't sync any data to their servers in any other manner. Come to discover there were a couple of settings I overlooked.
Google and Verizon are in bed together - I did discover that much. I really did want to maintain a location with Verizon so I could at least locate my device if I were ever to lose it; they charge enough and I can be incredibly absentminded at times, like using the calculator on my phone while shopping, lying it down on a shelf when picking something up and walking away. But when I went to Verizon's website to see if they offered such a service I was redirected straight to Google. They're kidding, right?
Google is so unbelievably insidious. You really don't know until you try to escape.
I'm a quiet, introverted person - all I want is my privacy, my freakin' Kindle app and a few simple others. And I WOULD get a Kindle, but even the best one only records video in 720p! But no - 4k or no 4k, I'm not about to curl up in a hollow log with a Kindle.
The S3 has been turned off for the past couple of days; both devices present challenges of their own. The S7 is worse I think with Verizon in the mix. My S7 has turned out to be the guinea pig it seems.
I know how to re-root the S7 if I brick it again but I'll spare myself the hassle. I paid One Click Root for the 6-month extended support package and I'll make them work for it. They pretty much dissed me on the S3 so they deserve it.
Right now the S7 is stable (and functional) again - I was up for hours last night after my ghastly, half-conscious discovery disabling another hundred Google Play subservices. Right now I'm backing up to My Backup Pro's cloud and after that I think I'm going to go offline and uninstall The Framework and Google Play Services. Surely Google can't coerce Verizon to cut off data services to a loyal customer.
A few updates and and an apology. . . .but not in that order. Ummm. . . .I realize that this whole Google privacy thing is a touchy subject and I'm really sorry for having brought it up here (kind of, you know?). I mean, in the sense that this is a really helpful place for what it is and I do understand something about getting knocked back in Google search rankings. I'd really hate to see something like that happen.
So this will be my last post on this topic.
This whole endeavor has really been a nightmare - a real war and I have lost tons of sleep. I'm amazed that I haven't hard-bricked my devices. One day I re-rooted my S3 three times. Yesterday I re-rooted my S7 twice. There is no compromising with Google. None. I thought that I could whittle it down to just not using any of their apps, you know? What other business do they have running data collection or location services on my device? I don't have a connected Samsung or Google account, I declined app usage data, location services and diagnostic usage at setup. I disabled all of those plus everything else that could be disabled in settings and everything possible in permissions. Yet settings keep being switched back on which is the whole reason I rooted my devices. THEN after I root, I install these 3rd party freezing apps and watch Google behind the scenes with their 380 hidden services going to town collecting all sorts of data - Bluetooth, radios, geofencing, storage. . . .it's absolutely unreal. They hide and disable apps I paid to 3rd parties on independent websites. . . .I just don't even know where to begin. I started getting screenshots of all of this and they started deleting and disabling those.
Anyway, I don't know how much longer I have now to return my S3 to Amazon but it might be going back in a pine box. It's defective. I mean, seriously. The permissions keep turning themselves off. Inherently defective perhaps, but defective nonetheless. I've had the S7 since November so I don't know what Verizon can do for me but I think California has some laws.
Anyway, I'm in the midst of preparing some killer videos on rooting and flashing stock firmware to both the Tab S3 and S7 and I will come back and post YouTube links to those when they're done. They will no doubt be immediately removed unless Google finds them lucrative enough to keep, and if they are removed I will PAY Vimeo to host (and protect) them.
Oh - heh - before I forget: YES, you CAN remove every single Google app from your S3 EXCEPT for Chrome. It's part of the infrastructure, man. You will brick your device every time you try to remove it. But remember this - and this is CRUCIAL - install an app freezer (better yet, two), then turn off wi-fi making sure to disable auto-reconnect because everything you do is transmitted and they will brick you. You don't want to clue them into anything. Then use your best judgement to freeze and disable every possible permission before you start Also reboot after every app uninstall (or two). It takes a lonnnng time depending on how many you remove but trust me on this. If you intend to maintain a Google account you should be all good.
I acually use TITANIUM BACKUP
for freezing , u freezing & uninstalling system application's:good:
JackieBlue said:
A few updates and and an apology. . . .but not in that order. Ummm. . . .I realize that this whole Google privacy thing is a touchy subject and I'm really sorry for having brought it up here (kind of, you know?). I mean, in the sense that this is a really helpful place for what it is and I do understand something about getting knocked back in Google search rankings. I'd really hate to see something like that happen.
So this will be my last post on this topic.
This whole endeavor has really been a nightmare - a real war and I have lost tons of sleep. I'm amazed that I haven't hard-bricked my devices. One day I re-rooted my S3 three times. Yesterday I re-rooted my S7 twice. There is no compromising with Google. None. I thought that I could whittle it down to just not using any of their apps, you know? What other business do they have running data collection or location services on my device? I don't have a connected Samsung or Google account, I declined app usage data, location services and diagnostic usage at setup. I disabled all of those plus everything else that could be disabled in settings and everything possible in permissions. Yet settings keep being switched back on which is the whole reason I rooted my devices. THEN after I root, I install these 3rd party freezing apps and watch Google behind the scenes with their 380 hidden services going to town collecting all sorts of data - Bluetooth, radios, geofencing, storage. . . .it's absolutely unreal. They hide and disable apps I paid to 3rd parties on independent websites. . . .I just don't even know where to begin. I started getting screenshots of all of this and they started deleting and disabling those.
Anyway, I don't know how much longer I have now to return my S3 to Amazon but it might be going back in a pine box. It's defective. I mean, seriously. The permissions keep turning themselves off. Inherently defective perhaps, but defective nonetheless. I've had the S7 since November so I don't know what Verizon can do for me but I think California has some laws.
Anyway, I'm in the midst of preparing some killer videos on rooting and flashing stock firmware to both the Tab S3 and S7 and I will come back and post YouTube links to those when they're done. They will no doubt be immediately removed unless Google finds them lucrative enough to keep, and if they are removed I will PAY Vimeo to host (and protect) them.
Oh - heh - before I forget: YES, you CAN remove every single Google app from your S3 EXCEPT for Chrome. It's part of the infrastructure, man. You will brick your device every time you try to remove it. But remember this - and this is CRUCIAL - install an app freezer (better yet, two), then turn off wi-fi making sure to disable auto-reconnect because everything you do is transmitted and they will brick you. You don't want to clue them into anything. Then use your best judgement to freeze and disable every possible permission before you start Also reboot after every app uninstall (or two). It takes a lonnnng time depending on how many you remove but trust me on this. If you intend to maintain a Google account you should be all good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Watch out the Russians are coming too.

[Question] "Alternative" Ways to Sideload Apps (Vodafone Smart A9/VFD 120)

Hello!
I've recently purchased what I thought was a feature phone with long battery life, the Vodafone Smart A9 (VFD 120) for the purpose of putting my "home" SIM card in while I travel. Surprisingly, this phone actually runs Android! Albeit a very locked down version of Android without Google Play Services. In hindsight I probably should've purchased a different cheap phone and turned off data and location to get a similarly long battery life, at the time the price of $49NZD ($32USD) didn't seem like a bad idea. For the sake of interest I decided to try and sideload an application onto this phone, it seems like a decent companion to take hiking as I lost my last phone off the side of a mountain.
I've tried a few things to sideload an app or gain some sort of privileged access to the phone. I haven't really been up to date with the Android Hacking/Dev scene in a good while as my personal need to root has diminished greatly in the last few years.
Things I've tried:
Enable ADB in Developer Mode by pressing Build Version a bunch of times. Unfortunately pressing Build Version does nothing.
Look for settings to enable applications from other sources. This doesn't exist in the security settings.
Tried installing an app from the file manager. This doesn't work either.
Boot into recovery to do "anything". The phone shows up in ADB as "Unauthorised". There aren't any settings except a bunch of hardware tests and factory reset.
The device only has OTA updates but I imagine that even if I grab the file and spoof the download URL with a modified ROM, it wouldn't pass a hash/signature check.
Is there anything else I could realistically try? I'd just like to know if I've missed anything glaringly obvious.
Thanks for taking a look at my post!
phone is now 13nzd from harvy norman did you ever work out a way to load apps
If Android device is Wi-Fi enabled and has browser installed, you at any time can install an app from one of the several existing app markets: Google Play Store isn't the only one though it's highly recommended to use it due to security reasons.
Hi I was wondering if You could tell me how to boot into Recovery mode for this phone.

Device in Rescue Party Loop (caused by NFC) after GMS Update/Internet Access

I am currently working with a PoE Android Tablet, very similar to the one seen here: https://fccid.io/2ATDF-ASW001/ - It is produced by the same chinese company, but features a newer mainboard (rk3399) and Android 10.
The device is suffering from a quite interesting bug: After about 2 minutes it will reboot into recovery and ask to factory reset. Looking at logcat, it can be seen that this is Android's Rescue Party's last effort after the NFC system service keeps dying.
The manufacturer was not able to reproduce the bug initially - but after some back and forth we found a way to trigger it: As soon as the device has internet access, something happens and the device will either start boot-looping right away or after the next reboot. However, if the device is kept off the internet after a factory reset, the device will work just fine.
Looking at logcat, my first idea was that the issue might be caused by a corrupted/wrong patchram, that is offered via /etc/libnfc-brcm-20797b00.conf. But commenting the FW_PATCH-variable doesn't unfortunately change anything.
So looking further, I focussed on what seems to be the root cause of the NFC system service dying: It fails to remove an AID from the routing table. Unfortunately, logcat does not say which AID this is...
The device is shipping with an almost vanilla AOSP with GMS. Upon providing the device with internet access, one visible change is that the "Tap & Pay"-settings are now defaulting to Google Pay as the default payment app - even though GPay is not even installed on the device. Before, there wasn't even a setting for selecting the preferred app.
I also tried installing another app that could occupy the space of preferred Tap&Pay-app - but selecting it doesn't yield any other result.
My current suspicion is, that the device is updating GMS and then screwing up the NFC initialisation somehow, when some GPay-specific AID is asked to be removed... Unfortunately, I don't see any way to disable this behavior - so this is why I created this thread.
Anyone have an idea, how the device can still update GMS without bricking itself through the NFC-service? Perhaps the libnfc-*.conf-files offer some fine-tuning opportunity I'm overlooking?
The manufacturer doesn't have a solution for this issue and tells me that they are shipping another new device - but I do think it's a pity to throw out the device just because of some software-bug
Since the logcat files are quite big, I've dropped them all in a GitHub-repo: https://github.com/pc-coholic/wa1053t_nfcdebug

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