[WARNING][You MUST Reset Google Wallet When Switching ROMs!]

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_-Jay-_

Senior Member
Feb 24, 2011
365
74
NJ
Question to all: if you are lucky to flash roms without resetting wallet and not lock out your Secure Element, do you recall when you first setup wallet on your gn2 if you completed a purchase with your phone using wallet BEFORE you wiped/flashed another rom?

Edit: looking into possibility of CardActivity being a player in this lockout issue.

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I had Wallet installed and setup with my CC info but never actually made a purchase on it. It is currently not working (SE Error)
 

the_plattypus

Senior Member
Mar 22, 2011
1,470
3,248
Colorado Springs
As much as I would love to continue this convo here. It is off topic from OP. Here is a spot I made to add to your talk app or pidgin or whatever you use.

wallet-se@im.partych.at

Just add as friend and type in room to complete joining. You can come partivipate in convo or just troll the topic. Sorry to hijack the thread.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium
 

KEYofR

Senior Member
Jun 14, 2010
595
221
I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with that. I don't currently use any chat apps. I have g+ and fb and skype on my phone and x-chat on my laptops. Should I install something? Can't we just start a new thread here or do you specifically want to work on stuff real time?

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siraltus

Senior Member
Jan 26, 2010
1,997
1,734
As much as I would love to continue this convo here. It is off topic from OP. Here is a spot I made to add to your talk app or pidgin or whatever you use.

wallet-se@im.partych.at

Just add as friend and type in room to complete joining. You can come partivipate in convo or just troll the topic. Sorry to hijack the thread.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium

PMed you the logcat.
 
The key question is, did you have Wallet installed AND SET UP (i.e., signed in and ready to make purchases) on LJC? You're only locked out of the SE if your Wallet is signed in and set up to make purchases and THEN you wipe and install a different ROM without resetting Wallet first.

Also, the same thing happened to me (the /preload partition missing problem), I had to use two different restore packages one after the other to fix it, first a ZIP, then an ODIN one-click. The zip had the flash count reset but had the /preload partition missing, the ODIN had the /preload partition but didn't do the flash count/device state reset. Using both got me everything I wanted.

yea i actually did set it up to see if it work without the enabler

and the wierd part is it work and yes im on jelly domination 1.3 and google wallet shows not supported but

i was able to make a purchase thru mcdonalds and vending machine thru wallet

But i did edit my build prop to show MA7 and also i have MA7 stock kernal and well i upgraded to MA7 thru OTA from sprint
 

swalter718

Senior Member
Jan 21, 2013
172
73
Question to all: if you are lucky to flash roms without resetting wallet and not lock out your Secure Element, do you recall when you first setup wallet on your gn2 if you completed a purchase with your phone using wallet BEFORE you wiped/flashed another rom?

Edit: looking into possibility of CardActivity being a player in this lockout issue.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium

I've relentlessly flashed, and re flashed my phone, never resetting Wallet in between. I have never added a card using the app; I had my card linked through the normal wallet website prior to installing GW. I've made purchases both before, and after flashing and have never had any difficulties. After flashing a new ROM and running GW for the first time, it goes through the process of initialization and linking up to my Google acct. After that, it has all my previous transaction history, my credit card, and is able to make additional POS purchases with no problem. The mystery continues...

Sent from an evil, dark place...
~ ROM: JellyBomb v14.0
~ Radio: L900VPAMA7
~ Kernel: Perseus alpha32
 

bleyten

Senior Member
Nov 1, 2010
89
18
What's to discuss? You're wrong that's all.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium

I gotta agree, before ever reading this post I had rooted, unrooted, flashed and reflashed back and forth between LJC, MA5 several times, installed TWRP and now I'm on MA7, i have had a working Google Wallet on all of them with my month old GN2. I never uninstalled the Google Wallet apk before flashing nor have I disabled the device on the GW website and I still have never encountered the Secure Element error! Call me lucky but the error doesn't seem to be concretely linked to flashing without following the OP instructions!

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2
 

bjrmd

Senior Member
Feb 13, 2006
841
497
I went from lk8 stock rooted to ma5, used google wallet once then reflashed back to lk8. Now running ma7 and have the secure element problem. Just fyi. Did not see that google wallet was anything so special but it would have been nice to have.
 

resarfekim

Senior Member
Jan 26, 2011
504
105
So, would the prophylactic measure be to take and keep a nandroid backup of your device while Wallet is working?
So if Wallet borks, reverting to the nandroid should fix it?

I want to go to MA7... now I'm paranoid.
 

swalter718

Senior Member
Jan 21, 2013
172
73
Once you have the SE error, you are done. This so-called preventative measure (resetting GW before flashing) is nothing but wishful thinking. I could say that my GW is working because I eat McNuggets before I flash, and it would have as much validity as the claim that following this guide will save your Secure Element.

Sent from an evil, dark place...
~ ROM: JellyBomb v14.0
~ Radio: L900VPAMA7
~ Kernel: Perseus alpha32
 
I remember the same thing happening with the Evo LTE when it first came out. I borked my first SE the same way. Thank goodnes for BB insuance. Not sure what actually fixed it but I think Google pushed out an update itself that stopped the whole SE from getting messed up. Afterwards I flashed constantly without resetting my Google Wallat and never had any problems. Maybe a look over in the LTE forum can answer the questions.
 

jamesey

Senior Member
Aug 1, 2006
726
117
To date there are only 2 known truths regarding this issue.

#1 If you get the message "The secure element stopped responding". Your GW will never work again on that phone.

#2 No one has a clue how to reproduce bricking the secure element. It just happens.

IMO It's cheap nano memory storage on the chip that goes bad. Could happen anytime data is written or cleared from it and can happen at any moment for no reason.

Mine broke. No flashing, no data wiping. Was working until it wasn't.


Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2
 
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swalter718

Senior Member
Jan 21, 2013
172
73
It's also worth noting that the Secure Element, by design, locks down if it perceives tampering. The condition can be triggered either physically, or via software (i.e Google Wallet).

I believe there are multiple causes of a "lock out", and I have successfully replicated one. Resetting Google Wallet (as is recommended prior to flashing), flashing a new ROM, and restoring Google Wallet from backup will lock the Secure Element. In trying to trigger the condition, I came across this sequence and confirmed it on a second device. I can also say that, based on my own repeated flashing and attempts to trigger the lock out, I do not believe that resetting Google Wallet prior to flashing is necessary. As long as a fresh copy of Google Wallet was installed on the new ROM, I always got through setup without trouble.

Finally, I can confirm that S Beam does not work once the SE lockout had been triggered. This is a good thing because it provides anyone with a borked SE a legitimate warranty claim. Samsung phones come with a 1yr manufacturer's warranty. RMA's can be filed online without talking to annoying reps, and their turnaround time is 10 days. I suggest that anyone with a locked out SE who purchased the phone less than a year ago, go to the Samsung website and file an RMA for your phone. Get it replaced. You'll have to use a backup for a few days, but it's better to take care of it now while you still have the warranty.

Sent from an evil, dark place...
~ ROM: JellyBomb v14.0
~ Radio: L900VPAMA7
~ Kernel: Perseus alpha32
 
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jamice4u

Senior Member
I got my replacement phone. Sprint gave me a new phone in the box with an extra battery. I installed Google Wallet and it worked straight out the box no problems. If your Google Wallet is not working on MA7 get a replacement phone. Installing Google Wallet is not suppose to be difficult if your phone is working correctly. Now I got my swagg back and I am now 20% cooler.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium
 

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  • 7
    If you're doing a factory reset, switching to another ROM, or restoring to stock and you're currently using Google Wallet, you MUST reset your Google Wallet app by going into Settings --> Reset Google Wallet in the Wallet app, or you will permanently lock out your secure element and will never be able to use Google Wallet again - you will have to get a new phone!

    This is because your Google Wallet app is married to the secure element with a unique crypto key when you first set up Google Wallet on your phone and if you wipe your phone without first resetting Google Wallet, that key will be lost forever, rendering the secure element useless.

    Performing a Google Wallet reset will unmarry the app from the secure element and reset it to its original state so that it can accept a new Google Wallet installation when you wipe your phone and then restore it to stock.

    I had to get a new Note 2 because of this, thankfully I had phone insurance. If mods could sticky this, it would be great!

    Google "secure element has stopped responding" if you don't believe me.

    Engadget article explaining the problem: http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/29/google-wallet-factory-reset-problem/

    Android Community article on the issue: http://androidcommunity.com/more-google-wallet-problems-phone-reset-bricks-service-20120529/

    Phandroid article explaining the problem: http://phandroid.com/2012/05/28/and...allet-a-factory-reset-could-break-it-forever/

    AndroidCentral: http://forums.androidcentral.com/ht...here-google-wallet-root-unlock-sensitive.html

    A PSA thread on XDA warning of the issue: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=26587822

    Another XDA thread where Google and the Money Network both say you need a new phone if this happens: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1472117

    Yet another XDA thread where someone bricked their phone: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1721222

    For the naysayers, just because you've never seen something happen, doesn't mean it's not true or it will never happen to you. I just bricked my Note 2 and had to get it replaced under phone insurance. Went from the NoWiz ROM to MA7 stock rooted, wiped the phone in the process (my guess is Wallet stores the crypto key in /.android.secure, which gets wiped when you do a factory reset), installed Wallet on the clean MA7 ROM and got the dreaded "The secure element has stopped responding E00" error. NOTHING could make it reset. At all.

    Also, to those who say Wallet stores things in the cloud now - false. Wallet stores its very own virtual card number in the secure element, which is what gets transmitted via NFC when you touch your phone to the reader. That number is then linked in the cloud to your actual credit cards, so your actual card numbers are not transmitted to the retailer. If Wallet stored nothing on the phone, it simply wouldn't work, period. Also, if Wallet stored nothing in the secure element, then it would work without it and not throw the "secure element not responding" errors, so it definitely stores something there, which is why it's important you don't brick it!
    7
    Considering the only thing stored in the secure element now is your unique encryption algorithm that every NFC app uses to identify your device, and absolutely nothing to do with wallet is stored in the element any longer, everything you've said is false. The element gets borked when you lose your encryption algorithm and nothing else, it happens when you NV data or partitions get corrupted. For one thing the secure element isnt even in a user accessible partition its in a secured "read only" partiton similar to your efs and NV data which means any wipes from recovery will have 0 effect on the element. Wallet has nothing to do with the element breaking since google patched the app to store to cloud.

    I like to break stuff! :D

    Hey I have a Secure Element that is not responding and have spent the last week going through the google wallet v96 reversed "source code". To say that it is a "Read-only" memory partition I believe to be false. I will explain more in an edit to follow.

    Edit: So the Secure Element has 4 states, ACTIVATED, CLEAR, LOADED, LOCKED, determined by a Byte Value stored in the SE memory. Also depending on which version you downloaded of the newest release of the app (there are two version I have found a ~5mb app and an almost 11mb version that TrevE sent to me while he was helping me troubleshoot this.) The fact that the SE has 4 states determined by a byte string that is pulled during Reset, proves that the SE is not read only, also the fact that nfc_extras is the key to access and having rw permissions to the SE also proves that it is not read only. While some of your info is stored in the cloud (which is the fifth item that is cleared out during reset with method TSA_NOTIFY_WALLET_RESET) there is still data being written to the SE.

    I am currently working on modifying the Wallet app to attempt to hard restore a working state of the SE based on the permissions and items that the Wallet has access to changing.

    So as to the legitimacy of whether the Wallet is what locks you out, all I can speak on is my own experience (locked out) and the research I have done. I was on MA5 and setup wallet, did not do any transactions just setup cards and stuff, did a wipe to flash my latest Synergy test build and afterwards was Secure Element Stopped responding which is a sting that is thrown during WAIT_SECURE_ELEMENT_UNLOCKED method.

    You're welcome to your own beliefs though. It's America

    Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium
    4
    And yet you will not cite even a single word or sentence of mine that's actually wrong. Welcome to my ignore list.

    Considering the only thing stored in the secure element now is your unique encryption algorithm that every NFC app uses to identify your device, and absolutely nothing to do with wallet is stored in the element any longer, everything you've said is false. The element gets borked when you lose your encryption algorithm and nothing else, it happens when you NV data or partitions get corrupted. For one thing the secure element isnt even in a user accessible partition its in a secured "read only" partiton similar to your efs and NV data which means any wipes from recovery will have 0 effect on the element. Wallet has nothing to do with the element breaking since google patched the app to store to cloud.

    I like to break stuff! :D
    4
    Just wanted to say.....those links are before google switched to storing the info on the cloud....wallet was updated in Aug 2012 to start storing on the cloud...ive used Billards restire without wiping wallet several times and it still works. I thank you OP for trying to help but if you look at the link I posted earlier google switched to storing the info on the cloud.

    Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2
    3
    We don't know what kills secure element yet.

    Sometimes it dies even when you do reset.

    Sometimes it dies for no reason at all overnight by itself when you made no change at all.

    And usually it doesn't die even when you do flash and/or factory reset without clearing first.

    Nice sounding theory but doesn't fit the facts.

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