Develop Bugs

Phone back on and off??????

ok recently when im using my evo, and i do some multitasking, the freaking phone keeps turning off and restarts itself, at the beggining i thought ok maybe it frost or something, but now every other day im using it and im in the internet and facebook and other apps, it freezes for a bit and restarts itself. which is annnnoyyyying me cuz i loose everything i was doinggggg....ANY SOLUTIONS WHATS THE PROBLEM, IS IT THE PHONE???

Are u rooted.... if u are have u tried other roms with multiple wipes before the flash? Also my old evo did that after i rooted it and i could not find a fix but luckily i broke the screen an got a new one that dosent have that issue!
i forgot to ask are u saying a full reboot or just to the boot screen?

My first guess would be that you deleted something that the system needs to run. I believe you cannot delete friendstream, calender, etc some stupid apps that you might believe are completely useless but somehow HTC integrated them into the system as necessary system files.
Also did you fiddle with your SetCPU or kernals? Using setcpu to alter your CPU frequency can result in system crashes and different kernals have different set vcores. If the vcore is too low for your chip it does not have enough juice to operate properly and therefore crashes.
If you are stock then I'm not sure what it could be...

no this phone is not rooted (itz cuz i dont know how too lol), and its exactly how it came when i first got it,
the only things im running is
launcher pro plus as my default launcher. and just normal widgets like fancy widget and custom icons nothing major.
everything works perfect, but it keeps restart itself after a do alot of multitasking, cuz usually a app will get the "Force close" when its not working but for me it just freezes and restart itself , it goes to the "Sprint logo & 4g start up" just like how it would do when you first start your phone, the only thing is doesnt do is that it doesnt shot the HTC EVO 4G IN THE BEGGINING, JUST THE SPRINT AND 4G LOGO, than everything reloads itself on the screen.

and it was like this before u switched to the new launcher?

Interesting... Have you scanned your phone for any malware? Perhaps there is something there that should not be.
Here is what I would do:
Factory reset and run the phone stock without any apps for a day. If you still have issues - switch phones ASAP.
If you do not have issues after the reset, start installing one app at a time till you find the one that is buggy.
Hope this helps.

lgevo said:
and it was like this before u switched to the new launcher?
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yes, i install and uninstall the launcher and did a factory reset to the phone and it still the same way.. just seeing if other ppl have had this problem, if its the phone itself or the sprint service connection.

I'm really surprised your phone is not rooted. I was going to guess you were OC'd just a little too high. My Dad had similar problems with his unrooted EVO before the 2.2 update. I never narrowed it down but I think it was a problem with Beautiful Widgets. I loaded a bunch of non-root apps on his phone (LP, handcent, BW, etc.), trying to set him up, and he was plagued with reboots so he wiped it all and went back to 100% stock. I still can't convince him to root.

aalopez10 said:
yes, i install and uninstall the launcher and did a factory reset to the phone and it still the same way.. just seeing if other ppl have had this problem, if its the phone itself or the sprint service connection.
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Its a combination of things really.
1) HTC is not known for having the best build quality. Motorola, for example, is light years ahead.
2) The Android marketplace is not regulated like the Appstore. You will frequently get force closed apps because 1) Apps are regulated by the devs, not Google and 2) there is just a huge abundance of Android phones with many differences between them.
Your phone should not be resetting itself. A force close is different than a reboot. I would call HTC/Sprint and ask for a different phone. Might want to add the fact that none of your friends Evos do this so it is singled out to yours specifically.

thanks, i might just do that but all sprint ever freaking does is that they gonna do a reset of the phone and i already did that, I KNOW WHAT IM DOING WITH MY PHONE,
and it would be nice to learn how to root, cuz i been thinking of doing for a whileeee after 2.2 update...and see if i can fix this problem.

aalopez10 said:
thanks, i might just do that but all sprint ever freaking does is that they gonna do a reset of the phone and i already did that, I KNOW WHAT IM DOING WITH MY PHONE,
and it would be nice to learn how to root, cuz i been thinking of doing for a whileeee after 2.2 update...and see if i can fix this problem.
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My 2 cents:
Don't root with a problem already present. 99% of the members here will not be able to help you with any of the issues you might run into. Only the developers will be able to help with real issues. That being said, since you already have a problem the worst thing you can do is void your warranty by rooting.

werxen said:
My 2 cents:
Don't root with a problem already present. 99% of the members here will not be able to help you with any of the issues you might run into. Only the developers will be able to help with real issues. That being said, since you already have a problem the worst thing you can do is void your warranty by rooting.
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Click to collapse
This is not accurate..
80% of the members here ARE able to help, but 90% of those members will choose not to if you are rude and disrespectful like some other people choose to be.
Rooting your phone may very well fix your problems.
It may not help at all, but many of the roms available are far more stable than stock.
Uninstall all of your non-stock apps and see if the problem persists. If it does not then you know it was a software problem and you can either take the plunge and root and go from there, or reinstall your apps one by one and see when you start having problems again. If you uninstall all non-stock apps and you still have issues then you may have a hardware problem in which case you should try to get your ohone replaced especially if you are still in your 30 days.
Keep in mind that even if you root and technically void your warranty a) your warranty being void is at the discretion of the CS rep you talk to and b) rooting does NOT void your insurance and your insurance covers manufacturing defects at no cost to you.
Try to learn some basic troubleshooting habits and avoid things like: homophobic comments, advising members to kill themselves, excessive swearing, calling people trolls when you are clearly being a troll yourself, and you will get all the advice you ask for.
Unrevoked has been pulled temporarily for some bugfixing so rooting 2.2 is actually not possible right now until they re-release it, or you find a copy of Unrevoked 3 somewhere (which is a bad idea, only use an official copy made available by the Unrevoked team) so take some time to read up, ask questions and understand some of the fundamentals of what you are getting into before you do something like break your wifi and not realize it's an easy fix then come on here and freak out.
Rooting is intimidating before you do it the first few times, but if you follow the guides to the letter and stay calm you'll be just fine. Just don't forget the staying calm part. There isn't much you can do to your phone that is irreversible, it's just a matter of preparing for potential problems and knowing what steps to take to recover from them.
If you are remotely inclined to learn how to root your phone then do it!! But only if you have enough time to devote to what will soon become your new hobby/obsession, it's that much fun

werxen said:
When was the last time you actually gave anything to a thread or these forums? Honestly bro everything I have seen you post is useless and non-technical in every aspect. Not trying to be mean to you but stop trying to help when you don't give good advice. We get it, you have a high post count. Good for you.
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You're an idiot, the only posts of mine you've probably seen are responses to your offensive drivel. I don't care what you think of me, and am not about to provide you with proof that I know my ****. I don't care about post count and the advice I give is sound.
Look in a mirror.

No offense, but why is this still an issue? If OP did a factory reset, which is assumed to bring the phone back to a clean stock, and this problem still persists then the obvious solution would be to get a replacement. Yes, a replacement could take some time to arrive, but if this is a hardware issue, any amount of troubleshooting on the software side wouldn't matter. Then again, maybe you have a faulty micro-sd card and could be simple as swapping for a new one. Anyways, if you did a MSL/factory reset to a clean slate and your phone still intermittenly reboots, go get a new one. Good luck.

mizzos4 said:
No offense, but why is this still an issue? If OP did a factory reset, which is assumed to bring the phone back to a clean stock, and this problem still persists then the obvious solution would be to get a replacement. Yes, a replacement could take some time to arrive, but if this is a hardware issue, any amount of troubleshooting on the software side wouldn't matter. Then again, maybe you have a faulty micro-sd card and could be simple as swapping for a new one. Anyways, if you did a MSL/factory reset to a clean slate and your phone still intermittenly reboots, go get a new one. Good luck.
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Agreed! Refrain from rooting because that will void your warranty.

aalopez10 said:
yes, i install and uninstall the launcher and did a factory reset to the phone and it still the same way.. just seeing if other ppl have had this problem, if its the phone itself or the sprint service connection.
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I think what he meant was weather or not this still happens without installing launcherpro at all, when you're just running the default launcher. Also, does it still happen if you remove/uninstall all of your widgets/apps? If yes, and this still happens with no widgets running, and no apps installed, you may want to talk to Sprint about an exchange.
Sent from my blah blah blah blah

[Q] rooting my htc incredible

I own an HTC INCREDIBLE and I've been told to "root" my phone to get rid of all the bloatware. What is rooting and how do I do it? A lot of my apps and all of my music and all photos are saved to my mem card. There are some HTC apps I would actually like to keep. Also, is there anyway I could get swipe on my phone?

Yep - you can root your phone to get rid of bloatware and allow you to do all sorts of other things, basically, rooting the phone allows you to be the administrator of your phone, whereas now you just have a user account on it ... As for how to root, that's been done a lot of different ways and is explained in a number of places - you should read several how-tos so you'll have an idea of what you're getting yourself into (and whether you want to bother)... The contents of your memory card should be safe, but you should back them up anyway, since memory cards do fail during normal use. Simply rooting won't automatically remove any of your apps, so your good there, but it will give you the ability to remove apps, or even break (or even "brick") your phone, so take it easy and don't take any steps 'till you understand what you're about to do.
Here are some resources you can check out :
Ok, actually I'm not allowed to be helpful by posting links since I'm a new member, but google these terms: root droid incredible Jonamerica - that'll get you started...
As for swype the legit way to get it is to sign up for their beta (it's available on their website which I can't link you to) and go from there.

Thanks so much. I'll check it out!

Just a few newbie tips for you.
I'm new to all of this also.....rooting and flashing.
1. Read a lot before you do anything. Its not hard but readup first!
2. Be patient......2 or 3 times while I have rooted or flashed I have thought that maybe my phone is dead. Sometimes there is no visible indication that the phone is actually doing what you want it to do. Let it sit there and do its thing. DO NOT PANIC and pull the battery!
3. Backup backup backup backup BACKUP!
Have fun.....I am

wildland said:
Yep - you can root your phone to get rid of bloatware and allow you to do all sorts of other things, basically, rooting the phone allows you to be the administrator of your phone, whereas now you just have a user account on it ... As for how to root, that's been done a lot of different ways and is explained in a number of places - you should read several how-tos so you'll have an idea of what you're getting yourself into (and whether you want to bother)... The contents of your memory card should be safe, but you should back them up anyway, since memory cards do fail during normal use. Simply rooting won't automatically remove any of your apps, so your good there, but it will give you the ability to remove apps, or even break (or even "brick") your phone, so take it easy and don't take any steps 'till you understand what you're about to do.
Here are some resources you can check out :
Ok, actually I'm not allowed to be helpful by posting links since I'm a new member, but google these terms: root droid incredible Jonamerica - that'll get you started...
As for swype the legit way to get it is to sign up for their beta (it's available on their website which I can't link you to) and go from there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for this search link. Guide is very helpful, fills in alot of the blanks I've been having.

You're welcome.
There are numerous other guides and threads out there, so googling and reading is a good idea... I just researched it again since I rooted my wife's Inc. last night and since it has an SLCD screen I wanted to make sure that unrevoked had been updated to work with these screens - turns out it has and it worked fine. I actually had a scary moment when the phone wouldn't boot into recovery (five vibrations and a blank screen) but a google search and a battery pull saved me and so far so good since then - and I was able to uninstall verizon's backup assistant which was killing her battery every day.

Is that the only reason you rooted your wife's phone, was to remove some of the bloat? I might end up doing the same.

ramma2 said:
Is that the only reason you rooted your wife's phone, was to remove some of the bloat? I might end up doing the same.
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Click to collapse
Yeah, that was the main reason - when she upgraded from her dumbphone, we used Backup Assistant to transfer her numbers over, but lately it's been hanging during sync and killing her battery (and/or it may be syncing over the poor 1x data connection rather than available wifi - not sure about that but it sounds like something Verizon would do (it would both be a bit more secure, and use more data they could bill us for)). Since Verizon in all their wisdom made it so you can't uninstall that app or disassociate it from your account, I figured the I'd use force and just root the phone - worked too, now her battery's lasting all day, no problem.
I also would recommend rooting to anyone concerned about certain apps wanting internet permissions - DroidWall is a great app allowing you to prevent apps from accessing the internet (or you can block just wifi or just 3g for a specific app, potentially allowing you to better manage your data usage).

make sure to read alot about what ur getting into.. And remember to always backup before you do anything (incase of errors/problems) you can always boot back to stock...happy rootin!

Check this out: http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/index.php?title=Barebones.
That guide is specific to Cyanogenmod, and it's a little outdated, but it's a good starting point to learn what applications are required for the phone to run, and which applications are simply "extra."

[Q] Any chance a one-click-root solution will come soon that doesn't wipe memory?

Good evening all!
Question I have is simply when does everyone suspect a single-click Root might come along that doesn't wipe the phone's memory? I've already had to reset my phone once (because of Verizon) and hoping to not have to do it again for awhile (restoring 12k SMS takes awhile). I know many phones in the past have eventually gotten a one-click method that doesn't wipe the phone and wondering how feasible it is that we'll see one here in a short amount of time.
Thanks in advance, all! Keep up the good work.

Rooting doesn't wipe the device, the problem is that you have to unlock the device first, which will.

champers said:
Rooting doesn't wipe the device, the problem is that you have to unlock the device first, which will.
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Can I ask why? Many devices have had single-click roots that retained locked bootloaders. A reference would be my Atrix 4G. Motorola locked the bootloader fairly hard and I never unlocked mine, but I still managed to root the device using Z4Root, without a whipe. I downloaded the app, opened it, and clicked the "Root" button. I restarted the phone and the phone was rooted with SuperUser and BusyBox installed.

hotleadsingerguy said:
Can I ask why? Many devices have had single-click roots that retained locked bootloaders. A reference would be my Atrix 4G. Motorola locked the bootloader fairly hard and I never unlocked mine, but I still managed to root the device using Z4Root, without a whipe. I downloaded the app, opened it, and clicked the "Root" button. I restarted the phone and the phone was rooted with SuperUser and BusyBox installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those are usually hacks that take advantage of security flaws found in the OS or other software... the same way that malware authors find holes in Windows and write software to take advantage of it to exploit your computer. The bugs that allow you to root without unlocking are the same kind of bugs that has given Microsoft a bad reputation for security over the years, and naturally Google doesn't want security flaws in Android so they try to minimize them and fix any that are found.
A hole might be found in ICS eventually.

phazerorg said:
Those are usually hacks that take advantage of security flaws found in the OS or other software... the same way that malware authors find holes in Windows and write software to take advantage of it to exploit your computer. The bugs that allow you to root without unlocking are the same kind of bugs that has given Microsoft a bad reputation for security over the years, and naturally Google doesn't want security flaws in Android so they try to minimize them and fix any that are found.
A hole might be found in ICS eventually.
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Click to collapse
I wasn't really asking about the ethical use of such things...just whether anyone could see it being feasibly possible in the near future. Then again, if anyone knows of a way to restore 12k SMS in 5 minutes I'm open to unlocking/rooting the old-fashioned way.
By the way, even the way unlocking/rooting is accomplished now is considered a "hack". Using ADB to unlock/root the phone isn't the way it's meant to be used. ADB stands for Android Debugging Bridge...it's meant to debug, not crack open the bootloader.

hotleadsingerguy said:
I wasn't really asking about the ethical use of such things...just whether anyone could see it being feasibly possible in the near future. Then again, if anyone knows of a way to restore 12k SMS in 5 minutes I'm open to unlocking/rooting the old-fashioned way.
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Sorry about that, I didn't mean to imply any ethics here. I was just trying to answer the question about why there isn't a one-click root. I may have misinterpreted your "why?" question.

I don't see that happening any time soon. It's so effortless to unlock the bootloader that why would anyone waste their time trying to find a workaround.

jhuynh said:
I don't see that happening any time soon. It's so effortless to unlock the bootloader that why would anyone waste their time trying to find a workaround.
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I wouldn't call re-configuring everything effortless lol I'd rather spend 45 minutes unlocking and rooting than spend 5 minutes doing it and another hour getting it set up...again. Restoring all of your stuff can be a pain if you don't have it empty. It downloads the apps but it doesn't set them up.
Have you tried restoring a massive number of text messages? I had to delete half of mine simply because it took well over an hour and a half to restore the first time and I had to reset the phone anyway. It's extremely time-consuming to have to clear out the phone. I'd say it was a strong 2 1/2 or 3 hours from start to finish yesterday to do it (and yes, there was a reason I couldn't unlock+root at the same time).

[Q] Customization done. Relock the bootloader?

I've flashed a rom, kernel, radio, some UI tweaks, and I think I'm done with all that and reached a point I'm happy with. Should I relock? Will I lose root/my tweaks by doing that? What are the security risks with keeping the bootloader unlocked? I don't use google wallet or anything else super personal/detrimental if in the wrong hands, but I do have a chasebank app (that requires login every use), the standard gmail integration, and a sensitive photo here and there. I understand that I'll have to unlock it again (and deal with the wipe) if I want to do more serious customizing, but at this point I'm more curious about the pros/cons of keeping the bootloader unlocked during day to day use. In terms of used networks, I connect to my home wifi, and the occasional open wifi when out and about, but usually I forget/don't realize and just keep it on 3g/4g. I also tether every so often. Don't know which of those makes me more vulnerable than others. I live in a pretty unpopulated area so I'm not too concerned about all this, but I am curious.

Don't relock...its pointless if you're not stock

No reason to re-lock. You'll just have to do a data wipe the next time you want to change anything.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

There truly is no reason to relock, there is no difference/point.

I understand having to unlock it again would mean another wipe, as mentioned in the OP. I'm fine with that.
All of these posts conflict with this post from this recent Q&A thread. Which is correct? Why would that user post such a thing if it isn't true?
bfroehlich said:
I would suggest locking it if you plan on doing anything remotely sensitive on your device, Google Wallet, corporate email, naked pics of your spouse, etc.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
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not saying it's the case here, but a lot of people just think they know something.
@JBQ said in android-building something like
-However, if you're keeping your bootloader unlocked at all times
(which is a bad idea) and you're running an official build already,
you can flash a newer one without wiping data and that'll work fine.
Note that you can only move forward, not back. Be careful, though,
it's very easy to wipe data by accident when doing that, and the
default script does that.
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Click to collapse
he didn't go any further on that. source
perhaps it's a matter of privilege escalation?

relocking the bootloader help security
relocking the bootloader will help defend against "Evil Maid Attacks" amongst other things.
More background info available if you search for "evil maid goes after WhisperCore
why we need a securable bootloader"
(I'd post a link but account is too new)

Yes it will help with security. But by that point, you might as well get one of the "android lost" apps and remotely brick your phone if it's stolen, imo.
As a custom ROM user, you're responsible for your own updates. Which means you can expect to be reflashing stuff in the future. Thus, I don't think it's worth it to have your data wiped again and again.
(But then again, I flash stuff like crazy, so that might be bias on my part.)

It'd be kinda funny to to lock your bootloader for security after flashing completely custom firmware from some unknown source bit of a contradiction.

No.
In another week or so you are gonna be browsing xda and see a new kernel/rom/theme that you like and you're gonna think well I can't flash it coz for some reason I locked my bootloader and I don't want to wipe my sdcard coz I have stuff I want there.
A few days later you are gonna say f*ck it and you are gonna unlock your bootloader again and lose all your sdcard data.
Why?
Because you may not know it yet but you are now a crackflasher. You tried it once and that's all it takes to get addicted.

As others have said, there is only added security if you lose your phone and at that point if there is extremely sensitive data and you can't get it back, you can just remotely wipe it using an app from the marketplace.
Note: said app must be installed before you lose your phone
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

joshnichols189 said:
As others have said, there is only added security if you lose your phone and at that point if there is extremely sensitive data and you can't get it back, you can just remotely wipe it using an app from the marketplace.
Note: said app must be installed before you lose your phone
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
Note: Said app not doesn't necessarily have to be installed before you lose your phone because you can go to Play Store, remotely install the app, and issue the commands for tracking. (But if you want it to wipe, I believe you have to give it administrative permissions, which does require you to have it installed before and set it up that way). Maybe Avast! even lets you wipe without administrative positions (haven't tried yet).

In order for you data to be secure in case of theft/loss, locking the bootloader is not enough. You need to turn off USB debugging in settings. Otherwise, if someone finds a GN, he can access all the files on it anyway. Bootloader locked or not.

[Q] Password for entering CWM-Recovery?

Questions answered in the below quotes!
cmstlist said:
What it comes down to is, anyone smart enough to know how the GNex works can beat these sorts of things. You'll catch the dumb criminals but few others. Even if you could theoretically put a lock on CWM, the device can be wiped from the bootloader level and made to work. And chances are, if you have CWM loaded you already have an unlocked bootloader. Which means if you put a password on CWM, the thief could just reflash a clean CWM over top of it.
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martonikaj said:
Exactly. The only criminal getting caught here is an extremely dumb one. If you're stealing phones you know to go in and uninstall Lookout or factory reset the device... then you wont be able to get the device back either way. Any criminal "smart" enough to use CWM to wipe the phone will use one of the many other ways to make it untraceable.
As someone else said, call the carrier and blacklist the SIM and IMEI.
And if you want your phone to be the most secure, use a PIN lockscreen, fully encrypt the device, and keep it stock with a locked bootloader. And above all... keep your phone in your sight/possession whenever in public. All basic stuff.
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_Dennis_ said:
The anti-theft stuff is not so much anti-theft of the phone as anti-theft of you personal information. Think of it like this, you lose your device, criminal takes your information and uses your stored bank account information to steal your money, your stored address and name to get a new driver's license, and new license to get new credit card to ruin your credit score, along with making $500 on selling your phone.
Or he steals your phone, you remote wipe and blacklist iemi, he makes $200 selling phone for parts.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
bwcorvus said:
They can wipe the phone in fastboot also...so this would stop nothing.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
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================================================================================================================
So I got Avast with it's Anti-Theft protection baked into the ROM, but of course if my phone gets lost, it doesn't matter if i remote lock it or wipe it. If the thief is smart enough, they can just reboot into CWM and wipe data/dalvik/cache and flash a new rom onto it and resell the phone as "new". (And trust me, they are in 9/10 cases that smart)
So I was wondering, is there any way to put a password onto CWM? Like a 4 digit pin or similar. I realize it would be hard to do given the limited controls (vol up, down, power), but does the Touch Recovery enable this?
That way it would be a good safeguard for losing your phone as no one without access can wipe the ROM and render your theft-protection useless within seconds..
Thanks

Isn't that what you want them to do? Even if they're not sophisticated enough to wipe it you're just going to wipe it yourself considering the chances of getting it back are slim to none.
Either way, the device gets wiped.

EddieN said:
So I got Avast with it's Anti-Theft protection baked into the ROM, but of course if my phone gets lost, it doesn't matter if i remote lock it or wipe it. If the thief is smart enough, they can just reboot into CWM and wipe data/dalvik/cache and flash a new rom onto it and resell the phone as "new". (And trust me, they are in 9/10 cases that smart)
So I was wondering, is there any way to put a password onto CWM? Like a 4 digit pin or similar. I realize it would be hard to do given the limited controls (vol up, down, power), but does the Touch Recovery enable this?
That way it would be a good safeguard for losing your phone as no one without access can wipe the ROM and render your theft-protection useless within seconds..
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed, I have wondered this a few times too. I mean, hopefully if you lose your phone then you'll be able to find it before any of this stuff happens...but not necessarily. If the thief turns your phone off/battery pulls then they effectively win! I suppose the benefit of a non-removable battery is that, if you have a lockscreen password, then the thief should find it hard to even power off your device!
I think a lock on CWM should be implemented...but who wants to forget their password to CWM and never be able access their device again? Not me!
---------- Post added at 10:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:34 AM ----------
martonikaj said:
Isn't that what you want them to do? Even if they're not sophisticated enough to wipe it you're just going to wipe it yourself considering the chances of getting it back are slim to none.
Either way, the device gets wiped.
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Click to collapse
That's true...didn't think of that. Still though...I'd prefer my phone back!

Unlocking the bootloader would wipe the phone, and afaik there is no way to prevent that. Also, it isn't going to stop your phone from getting stolen...

Well sure, if my phone gets stolen it gets stolen. I don't have it anymore. But Avasts Anti-Theft enables you to send SMS commands to lock/wipe the phone, turn on/off GPS, disable any user interaction except from SMS messages from TRUSTED numbers etc. So even if I don't have the phone, BUT I have a password protected CWM, the phone will be useless as they cant flash a new ROM or have access to the OS/internal SD (thanks to disabling USB when the phone is flagged as lost) so it's just a paperweight with no resell value no matter what sim or battery they insert. It will be locked.
As long as they have the phone turned off, sure, I can't access it's location and whatnot. But at the same time they cant do anything with the phone either. I also doubt they'd disassemble the phone and take the time to somehow hardware flash the ROM chip to force a flash.
There have been cases in my country where people have gotten back their ipads/iphones/phones that have their respective "find my phone" if it gets lost/stolen etc.. Manufacturers don't implement functions like this for nothing, and law enforcement is usually helpful in cases like this if the GPS location and IMEI number are provided, as well as proof of ownership (which is displayed on the lock-screen of Anti-Theft as well as the IMEI).
It just seems contradicting having an Anti-Theft option when CWM is a few button presses away from wiping the phone and everything along with it, totally crippling anti-theft software.
Locking the bootloader every time I flash a rom (just in case i go out that one night and get robbed etc.) is a pain, and even if they unlock the bootloader everything is wiped anyway (including Anti-Theft).
The only reasonable solution is to have a password protected CWM. But of course, it's a HUGE risk if you forget your password to it.
and afaik by wiping through SMS, it only wipes the personal data (pictures, sms, anything personal) but keeps the rom intact as not to break the Anti-Theft. It would be really stupid if you remote wiped and the entire rom was wiped? Given that the thief isn't as smart as the regular XDA-crawler they'd need to flash a custom rom for it to even boot after that. But that's another story. Point being that remote wipe doesn't wipe the rom. Only all settings/personal data so a thief cant access private info.
imo if my phone got lost/stolen i'd try to (before it would happen) safeguard myself as much as I could to maybe at least have a small chance of getting it back. You never know.

Completely unnecessary, just call your carrier and report your phone lost/stolen and have them blacklist the IMEI number, done.
In any case, I can't even see a reason for this sort of childishness. If you lost your phone, bad on you, take better care of your things; if you had your phone stolen because you weren't paying attention to where it was, again, bad on you, take better care of your things; if you were threatened and mugged at knife/gunpoint, give the damn phone up and be happy, your life is worth more than any stupid phone, **** happens and then you die.

ZeroBarrier said:
Completely unnecessary, just call your carrier and report your phone lost/stolen and have them blacklist the IMEI number, done.
In any case, I can't even see a reason for this sort of childishness. If you lost your phone, bad on you, take better care of your things; if you had your phone stolen because you weren't paying attention to where it was, again, bad on you, take better care of your things; if you were threatened and mugged at knife/gunpoint, give the damn phone up and be happy, your life is worth more than any stupid phone, **** happens and then you die.
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There's no reason to be rude and condescending. A phone can be lost/stolen no matter how careful you are. Of course your life is incomparable in value to a stupid phone, but that's not what this thread is about so no reason to go OT.
Back OT though, I still believe a password system should be looked in to. What if this wasn't about your phone being stolen, what if someone is just screwing with your phone? Why DO we have passwords? We have them to keep intruders at bay for things we don't want them to have access to. I wouldn't want anyone to be able to access CWM and wipe my phone.
It just seems strange how such a powerful tool can render any lockscreen/pin unlock/pattern unlock useless by just wiping the phone and reflashing a rom (keeping personal data such as pictures etc.) and gaining access to them anyway. It renders all these passwords/lockscreens etc. useless.

EddieN said:
I wouldn't want anyone to be able to access CWM and wipe my phone.
It just seems strange how such a powerful tool can render any lockscreen/pin unlock/pattern unlock useless by just wiping the phone and reflashing a rom (keeping personal data such as pictures etc.) and gaining access to them anyway. It renders all these passwords/lockscreens etc. useless.
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So does the stock recovery. Doesn't seem as if anyone is complaining to Samsung or Google asking them for password protection on stock recoveries.
In the end, it's a portable communications device designed to be in your possession at all times, and if it is in your possession at all times, then there isn't any need to worry about a 3rd party wiping your phone randomly.

I am also hoping for password on the recovery.

What it comes down to is, anyone smart enough to know how the GNex works can beat these sorts of things. You'll catch the dumb criminals but few others. Even if you could theoretically put a lock on CWM, the device can be wiped from the bootloader level and made to work. And chances are, if you have CWM loaded you already have an unlocked bootloader. Which means if you put a password on CWM, the thief could just reflash a clean CWM over top of it.

cmstlist said:
What it comes down to is, anyone smart enough to know how the GNex works can beat these sorts of things. You'll catch the dumb criminals but few others. Even if you could theoretically put a lock on CWM, the device can be wiped from the bootloader level and made to work. And chances are, if you have CWM loaded you already have an unlocked bootloader. Which means if you put a password on CWM, the thief could just reflash a clean CWM over top of it.
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Exactly. The only criminal getting caught here is an extremely dumb one. If you're stealing phones you know to go in and uninstall Lookout or factory reset the device... then you wont be able to get the device back either way. Any criminal "smart" enough to use CWM to wipe the phone will use one of the many other ways to make it untraceable.
As someone else said, call the carrier and blacklist the SIM and IMEI.
And if you want your phone to be the most secure, use a PIN lockscreen, fully encrypt the device, and keep it stock with a locked bootloader. And above all... keep your phone in your sight/possession whenever in public. All basic stuff.

EddieN said:
So I got Avast with it's Anti-Theft protection baked into the ROM, but of course if my phone gets lost, it doesn't matter if i remote lock it or wipe it. If the thief is smart enough, they can just reboot into CWM and wipe data/dalvik/cache and flash a new rom onto it and resell the phone as "new". (And trust me, they are in 9/10 cases that smart)
So I was wondering, is there any way to put a password onto CWM? Like a 4 digit pin or similar. I realize it would be hard to do given the limited controls (vol up, down, power), but does the Touch Recovery enable this?
That way it would be a good safeguard for losing your phone as no one without access can wipe the ROM and render your theft-protection useless within seconds..
Thanks
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The anti-theft stuff is not so much anti-theft of the phone as anti-theft of you personal information. Think of it like this, you lose your device, criminal takes your information and uses your stored bank account information to steal your money, your stored address and name to get a new driver's license, and new license to get new credit card to ruin your credit score, along with making $500 on selling your phone.
Or he steals your phone, you remote wipe and blacklist iemi, he makes $200 selling phone for parts.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

They can wipe the phone in fastboot also...so this would stop nothing.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

bwcorvus said:
They can wipe the phone in fastboot also...so this would stop nothing.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
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This.
You can wipe (or obtain all the data stored into io) a galaxy nexus directly from the bootloader... Even before loading the recovery...
If I was in you i would care more about stolen data/photos and so on... (ics support full system encryption but clockwork mod does not iirc)

sooooo?
So back to the original question Any1 no of a hack that password protects recovery? Its a great idea and for those that don't think so for whatever reason wouldn't have to use it .

drawde40599 said:
So back to the original question Any1 no of a hack that password protects recovery? Its a great idea and for those that don't think so for whatever reason wouldn't have to use it .
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Did you not read the thread? Its a waste of time to do this...

I guess it's a conundrum for us hacky types - unlocked bootloader lets us do all sorts of stuff, and gives us an escape hatch from unstable ROMs without losing our data. But it also lets anyone else get full access.
Now what would be nice is if the unlocked bootloader could be configured with a password. So it's effectively locked for everyone else unless they wipe.

cmstlist said:
I guess it's a conundrum for us hacky types - unlocked bootloader lets us do all sorts of stuff, and gives us an escape hatch from unstable ROMs without losing our data. But it also lets anyone else get full access.
Now what would be nice is if the unlocked bootloader could be configured with a password. So it's effectively locked for everyone else unless they wipe.
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Even if you have a locked bootloader, all they have to do is type Fastboot oem unlock, and your data is wiped. With the phone we have, there is NOTHING you can do to stop someone from wiping it. If we could put a password before that, this would be the only safeguard (like a bios lock on a computer).
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

bwcorvus said:
Even if you have a locked bootloader, all they have to do is type Fastboot oem unlock, and your data is wiped. With the phone we have, there is NOTHING you can do to stop someone from wiping it. If we could put a password before that, this would be the only safeguard (like a bios lock on a computer).
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
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Right, there's the separate questions of data integrity vs. tracking software integrity.
Most Androids, with stock recovery, are capable of being wiped too without booting into the OS at all.

cmstlist said:
What it comes down to is, anyone smart enough to know how the GNex works can beat these sorts of things. You'll catch the dumb criminals but few others. Even if you could theoretically put a lock on CWM, the device can be wiped from the bootloader level and made to work. And chances are, if you have CWM loaded you already have an unlocked bootloader. Which means if you put a password on CWM, the thief could just reflash a clean CWM over top of it.
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martonikaj said:
Exactly. The only criminal getting caught here is an extremely dumb one. If you're stealing phones you know to go in and uninstall Lookout or factory reset the device... then you wont be able to get the device back either way. Any criminal "smart" enough to use CWM to wipe the phone will use one of the many other ways to make it untraceable.
As someone else said, call the carrier and blacklist the SIM and IMEI.
And if you want your phone to be the most secure, use a PIN lockscreen, fully encrypt the device, and keep it stock with a locked bootloader. And above all... keep your phone in your sight/possession whenever in public. All basic stuff.
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Click to collapse
_Dennis_ said:
The anti-theft stuff is not so much anti-theft of the phone as anti-theft of you personal information. Think of it like this, you lose your device, criminal takes your information and uses your stored bank account information to steal your money, your stored address and name to get a new driver's license, and new license to get new credit card to ruin your credit score, along with making $500 on selling your phone.
Or he steals your phone, you remote wipe and blacklist iemi, he makes $200 selling phone for parts.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
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bwcorvus said:
They can wipe the phone in fastboot also...so this would stop nothing.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
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Click to collapse
Well thanks for the great insight then! I didn't know fully that you could, still, even with a hypothesized passworded CWM, gain access and flash a new recovery before even getting into recovery (i haven't stumbled upon a situation like this yet)
So really there is no way to fully PROTECT the device with a password per se, unless you, like someone said, keep it fully stock with the bootloader locked. That way the device will be wiped anyway. Or have some kind of a BIOS-lock.
The thread was made to merely speculate if a password for CWM was feasible, and if it was, if it would do any good. Since we have come to the conclusion that it is not (any good at least), the best thing to do is to simply encrypt the phone, put a lockscreen pin/pattern or something like it and take care of the phone (of course). If it gets stolen, it does. Call the carrier and flag the IMEI. I know that already, but it would be a nice consolidation to somehow have some hope of getting the device back.
Needless to say you probably never will. So be careful guys!
Thanks for the thread and the knowledgeable inputs, there were apparently a few more peeps wondering about the same thing as I so I hope it helped them