Is there a way of password protecting bootloader and recovery, so if my phone gets stolen there is no way of someone factory resetting it.
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powerwill said:
Is there a way of password protecting bootloader and recovery, so if my phone gets stolen there is no way of someone factory resetting it.
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Simple answer - no. But I have seen this asked many times and it would be nice if it could be done.
I suppose it would be a complicated procedure if it was possible I would of thought that recovery would be easier to password protect.
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something like BIOS password protection on PC - that would be nice.
Just to ensure full protection in case of stolen phone.
Related
So my phone got stolen and I had a password on it. However it had a password on it. Unfortunately it was rooted and with clockwork.
How come you can't put a password on clockwork so the stealer has a useless phone?
jigglywiggly said:
So my phone got stolen and I had a password on it. However it had a password on it. Unfortunately it was rooted and with clockwork.
How come you can't put a password on clockwork so the stealer has a useless phone?
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Shoulda had cerberus
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i had lookout
I just realised that you can still get into recovery and download mode while the screen is locked (passcode lock). Whats the point of the passcode lock when the thief (if phone is stolen) can get into recovery and wipe everything and put a new rom on the phone from an external sd?
Because people who go low enough to steal are too dumb to know what recovery is.
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99% of phone users do not know what recovery is or how to boot a phone in it. Also you need to install recovery on hour device to boot in recovery. So what is your question? Do you want to lock your self out of your device? Or do you think someone who is experienced in boot loading will steal your device because they know you have recovery on your phone and than just boot your phone in recovery and use your device as their own?
Reason the lock screen doesnt run on recovery is because it would be a waste of time and contradict the entire point of "recovery"
Also when you think about it iPhone is worse since people just have to plug the phone into iTunes and have the ability to wipe everything.
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jasonstackhouse said:
So what is your question? Do you want to lock your self out of your device? Or do you think someone who is experienced in boot loading will steal your device because they know you have recovery on your phone and than just boot your phone in recovery and use your device as their own?
Reason the lock screen doesnt run on recovery is because it would be a waste of time and contradict the entire point of "recovery"
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I think you misunderstood. When you swipe to unlock and it asks for a passcode you can just hold home+up+power (on SGS3) and it will go into recovery. What is the point of a passcode lock when you can bypass it by going into recovery.
Also is there a way that you cant bypass it?
uf21 said:
I think you misunderstood. When you swipe to unlock and it asks for a passcode you can just hold home+up+power (on SGS3) and it will go into recovery. What is the point of a passcode lock when you can bypass it by going into recovery.
Also is there a way that you cant bypass it?
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Well we already said 99% of people don't even know what recovery is, much less how to get into it
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More importantly you data is a little safer. Ok they could make a backup from recovery but they are fsr more likely to just wipe which at least means any login info etc is gone and they cant gain access to a large section of your life
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As said a few times before, most people don't know what recovery is let alone how to boot into it.
sent from my Infuse running UnOfficial CM10 Jelly Bean. You Jelly bro?
Try lmaxi anti theft, tons of options as far as locking theives out of your phone and alerting you when its stolen.
I am running cm10 with CWM recovery. I am looking to make my phone secure in the case it gets stolen. Pretty much everything is accessible through the recovery what can be done about it? Can we put a password on the recovery? Can i go back to stock recovery using cm10?
I know there is no such thing as fool proof but i would atleast want it to be a little difficult for a thief to get into my phone.
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Have you tried looking at the encryption option? I think once enabled you will need a password even before getting into recovery.
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anshumandash said:
Have you tried looking at the encryption option? I think once enabled you will need a password even before getting into recovery.
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I did.
It says it needs an hour to complete and that one cannot go back. Does it have any drawbacks to the user itself? Or is it just whenever you reboot the phone that it needs a password?
Gambler_3 said:
I am running cm10 with CWM recovery. I am looking to make my phone secure in the case it gets stolen. Pretty much everything is accessible through the recovery what can be done about it? Can we put a password on the recovery? Can i go back to stock recovery using cm10?
I know there is no such thing as fool proof but i would atleast want it to be a little difficult for a thief to get into my phone.
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Put pin, password or pattern and relock bootloader. That's the only real secure way. With an unlocked bootloader there's always a way.
polobunny said:
Put pin, password or pattern and relock bootloader. That's the only real secure way. With an unlocked bootloader there's always a way.
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Have already put pattern but locking the bootloader seems too much no? Is it even possible with CM10?
And I keep USB debugging off so no one can use adb.
Gambler_3 said:
Have already put pattern but locking the bootloader seems too much no? Is it even possible with CM10?
And I keep USB debugging off so no one can use adb.
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Even if you keep the bootloader locked if you got a custom recovery, it is not safe. The only way to make it real safe is to flash stock recovery, lock bootloader and then put a pin or pattern password.
Gambler_3 said:
Have already put pattern but locking the bootloader seems too much no? Is it even possible with CM10?
And I keep USB debugging off so no one can use adb.
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Too much? It takes someone knowledgeable 5 minutes to destroy a password, pattern lock or pin if the bootloader isn't locked.
Say you flash back to stock recovery. That's fine, but with an unlocked bootloader I can flash back to a custom recovery, get full adb access, mount your SD card, peruse your stuff, remove the lock and boot the phone if I want to. If you lock the bootloader, I can't flash a custom recovery.
The downside is pretty evident. With a locked bootloader + a stock recovery, you can't update your custom ROM, not without unlocking the bootloader. And if you do that, you wipe your stuff.
I'm with polo on this. Like he said, someone with a minimal amount of skills can do whatever. If your phone gets stolen, the phone would get blacklisted and if it's gsm it might work on another carrier. If you had lookout, you can find the phone through gps on their site and remotely wipe it.
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Thanks alot guys. Okay i know how to lock the bootloader but can someone tell me how i flash back stock recovery? As in where to find the file?
I know the not being able to flash anything without reset is the bummer but i will still be able to update the cm rom through ota right?
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Gambler_3 said:
Thanks alot guys. Okay i know how to lock the bootloader but can someone tell me how i flash back stock recovery? As in where to find the file?
I know the not being able to flash anything without reset is the bummer but i will still be able to update the cm rom through ota right?
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Your better off not doing it, is just to much hassle for what? A thief doesn't care about your data so it doesn't matter to them about passwords etc. They'll just wipe the phone and sell it.
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Cerberus App
How about installing the Cerberus app, you can do a remote format/wipe
NIMBAH said:
Your better off not doing it, is just to much hassle for what? A thief doesn't care about your data so it doesn't matter to them about passwords etc. They'll just wipe the phone and sell it.
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I guess you guys are right I might be taking this too seriously. I dont keep any confidential pictures on my phone and I unlinked my google account from my phone with a simple change of password from the desktop just to check if it really works. So all my accounts will be protected. Whatsapp will be taken care of by blocking the sim.
Thanks anyways everyone.
NIMBAH said:
Your better off not doing it, is just to much hassle for what? A thief doesn't care about your data so it doesn't matter to them about passwords etc. They'll just wipe the phone and sell it.
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Depends what kind of data you have. It's not about the thief and if that person cares about your data. It's about if YOU care about your data. Some people have critical information on work projects or similar on their phone, and the worst thing that could happen is for that information to get published/shared.
Personally, I keep nothing too important on my phone, I have a remote wipe installed, pattern lock, but my bootloader is unlocked and i have a custom recovery. It's good enough for my needs, but I understand it's not the ultimate security either.
Ultimate solution I've found. I have a small amount of c4 inside the battery compartment linked to my unlock code. Wrong code.... BOOM!
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n2d551 said:
Ultimate solution I've found. I have a small amount of c4 inside the battery compartment linked to my unlock code. Wrong code.... BOOM!
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I prefer thermite.
polobunny said:
Depends what kind of data you have. It's not about the thief and if that person cares about your data. It's about if YOU care about your data. Some people have critical information on work projects or similar on their phone, and the worst thing that could happen is for that information to get published/shared.
Personally, I keep nothing too important on my phone, I have a remote wipe installed, pattern lock, but my bootloader is unlocked and i have a custom recovery. It's good enough for my needs, but I understand it's not the ultimate security either.
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The only really personal thing on my phone is my convo with my girlfriend but i am no celebrity so i am sure it won't be published.
And i have always been very particular about not keeping compromising photos or videos on my phone or pretty much anywhere. See them once on the big screen and then destroy the SD card if you know what i mean.
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install security software, i remember there was a Reddit thread
Install any secure app like lookout so that you can wipe remotely. Also, record your IMEI so that if your phone gets stolen, you can call your carrier and block it.
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I can use some help,a friend of mine wants to sell me his Skyrocket,but his son put a password on the phone and doesn't remember it.If i buy and odin back stock,will i still need the password or does it erase it?Thanks for the help.
Yeah the password should get erased along with all his personal settings.
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yup, or a quick reboot into stock recovery and an erase data will do the job as well
Cool thanks for the help
hit the thanks button for dkcalf, you'll be his first. he did help first after all :good:
I'm RMA my nexus so I tried to flash stock thru wugfresh kit but it gets stuck and won't do it . so I remember I did a back up as soon as I rooted my phone so I restored that . I unrooted thru the superuser app its self , I went thru advance options on the root kit and flashed stock recovery and then relocked my phone.
My question is if that's enough to send it back? Will they be able to tell I rooted ? After I relocked it it said it reset the flag as well so I guess that's good .
The reason I use tool kits because its easier and I'm nervous to try it without a tool kit.
Thanks
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Not sure why it would t let me edit...
Also can I use my back up that I did with the new phone that's coming in?
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If you're on stock rom, kernel, recovery with a locked bootloader and "false" tamper flag, you're good to go!
Can't help you out with the toolkit problem as I don't use them and I feel it does more bad then good! :silly: You yourself aren't able to make out what part went wrong with wug's toolkit whereas if you have downloaded the stock factory images and did it manually, we could help you out with the error on that particular step!
g2uzer said:
Not sure why it would t let me edit...
Also can I use my back up that I did with the new phone that's coming in?
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Yes, you can but make sure you don't restore the EFS.. If you do. Then your new phone is SCREWED! That's why I never recommend anyone restoring backups of different phones!
vin4yak said:
If you're on stock rom, kernel, recovery with a locked bootloader and "false" tamper flag, you're good to go!
Can't help you out with the toolkit problem as I don't use them and I feel it does more bad then good! :silly: You yourself aren't able to make out what part went wrong with wug's toolkit whereas if you have downloaded the stock factory images and did it manually, we could help you out with the error on that particular step!
Yes, you can but make sure you don't restore the EFS.. If you do. Then your new phone is SCREWED! That's why I never recommend anyone restoring backups of different phones!
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I went I to recovery and it's the little android with the triangle so I'm sure that's stock correct ? And here's a pic of the phone info ,im thinking its stock also
OK I'll won't restore it just to be sure. Thanks for the help .
And yes it said something about resetting tamper flag when I relocked boot loader and now it won't show a lock when I boot up so its locked now.
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g2uzer said:
I went I to recovery and it's the little android with the triangle so I'm sure that's stock correct ? And here's a pic of the phone info ,im thinking its stock also
OK I'll won't restore it just to be sure. Thanks for the help .
And yes it said something about resetting tamper flag when I relocked boot loader and now it won't show a lock when I boot up so its locked now.
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Yes, everything looks peachy!
If you're not sure whether the tamper flag is reset or not.. Head over to bootloader and use this command : fastboot oem device-info
If the tamper flag is set to "true" then you haven't reset it correctly. If it's "false" then it's all good!
BTW, why are you RMA'ing the device?
vin4yak said:
Yes, everything looks peachy!
If you're not sure whether the tamper flag is reset or not.. Head over to bootloader and use this command : fastboot oem device-info
If the tamper flag is set to "true" then you haven't reset it correctly. If it's "false" then it's all good!
BTW, why are you RMA'ing the device?
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OK I'll try that. I can do that thru the tool kit ?
Dead pixel . not a Hugh deal but still kind of annoying I'm getting tired of looking at it for the past 2 months lol
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g2uzer said:
OK I'll try that. I can do that thru the tool kit ?
Dead pixel . not a Hugh deal but still kind of annoying I'm getting tired of looking at it for the past 2 months lol
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Hey bro in the near future try not to use tookits for toying around for with these phones!! "Nexus" It's a lot easier to figure things out the fastboot way and cmds. As the other user stated they do more harm than good:silly: Good luck with ur RMA:good:
yyz71 said:
Hey bro in the near future try not to use tookits for toying around for with these phones!! "Nexus" It's a lot easier to figure things out the fastboot way and cmds. As the other user stated they do more harm than good:silly: Good luck with ur RMA:good:
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Yeah I need to learn how to do it that way. I'm more of a visual learner so I have to look up a video on how to do it. I have read it but still nervous of trying it
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g2uzer said:
Yeah I need to learn how to do it that way. I'm more of a visual learner so I have to look up a video on how to do it. I have read it but still nervous of trying it
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Trust me when you learn this way it's a lot fun.. And in the process you come to know a lot about your phone:good: It's fun flashing things! But you need to know what your flashing and what it's doing on your phone..
g2uzer said:
Yeah I need to learn how to do it that way. I'm more of a visual learner so I have to look up a video on how to do it. I have read it but still nervous of trying it
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And plus you feel like a hacker when doing it
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So I tried to factory soft reset but for some reason it wouldn't , I tried hard resetting and it just froze , now its just I'm a bootloop , I'm able yo get in to boot loader but since my device is locked already can I still reflash stock? I tried unlocking boot loader but the computer won't recognize the phone , its saying o need to check developers option which I can't .. Any help?
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This are the errors I'm getting and it just gets stuck on this screen. I'm able to reboot in to recovery but that's about it
Finally it let me edit...
Well never mind peeps I figured it out. Thanks
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