Kill the kill switch - "ST - yy"
- Thread starter Bogdacutu
- Start date
just keep in mind you do not want your tablet to connect to the internet until after you have safely removed the killswitch mechanism.
best way:
flash the update from recovery
reboot directly into recovery (to prevent possible mounting errors after the update)
flash the zip in the OP
confirm TegraOTA is gone using the recovery file manager.
boot system like normal.
enjoy!
I rather delete it directly from Solid Explorer than using the Flashable zip. In any case, since i have unlocked the bootloader, i could mount any image i want even if this is "killed"
Last edited:
you can use any method you like as long as you are sure it never connects to the net in the process.
right after i bought my pre-owned shield tablet (y01), a random combination of letters and numbers, appear automatically downloading to my tablet.. and my instinct told me to immediately force stop the download manager or there's a chance to say goodbye to my pre-owned tablet.. after i flash the nomoreota.zip, no more random downloading stuff happened afterwards.. 
Hi,
It's possible with this solution ?
http://xdaforums.com/shield-tablet/...let-due-to-t3169461/post62305413#post62305413
It's possible that my tablet will reboot with power + volume down (recovery mode)
Thanks
It's possible with this solution ?
http://xdaforums.com/shield-tablet/...let-due-to-t3169461/post62305413#post62305413
It's possible that my tablet will reboot with power + volume down (recovery mode)
Thanks
How?
yea but HOW do you delete tegraOTA? using what to delete it?? I have rooted my shield and there is no file manager and i cant connect to the internet to get a file manager other wise the kill switch will be enabled.
yea but HOW do you delete tegraOTA? using what to delete it?? I have rooted my shield and there is no file manager and i cant connect to the internet to get a file manager other wise the kill switch will be enabled.
i don't have the folder /system/app/ . there're someone that have the same problem?
what can i do?
what can i do?
What is that random combination of letters and numbers that automatically downloaded by my tablet? Does anyone also experienced this? it is a .unity3d file. What is it? is part of the killswitch process or not? If not, why is it automatically downloading without my permission and i have no option to stop it unless i force stop the download manager, can someone enlighten me please? thank you
Flash nomoreota.zip from the first post by using ADB in custom recovery.
Follow this guide. Nomoreota.zip is flashed the same way as SuperSU.zip.
http://xdaforums.com/shield-tablet/development/root-root-nvidia-shield-tablet-lollipop-t2972316
You don't have root access or you don't look in the System partition. Better use nomoreota.zip as this forum suggests. Follow the same link I gave to Colin_Kerr.
Sent from my old SHIELD Tablet.
Last edited:
The killswitch downloads and installs silently so whatever you are seeing it is not part of the killswitch. Maybe a virus?
P00r
Senior Member
WTF! is it really a virus? this freaks me out. as i mentioned from my previous post it is a .unity3d file.. i just want to know if some other shield owners also experienced this auto download of a certain .unity3d file
A simple google search show unity3d as a multiplatform game engine so you probably have one of those apps installed and it is trying to update itself
http://madewith.unity.com/
you may also be 0wn3d...
Back to Stock from CM
Hi
Can anyone help me, pls? I've got the y01 tablet from my friend and flased cyanogenmod right away (using twrp...).
Now I'd like to try the stock ROM. What is the safe way to do so? Also safe to my friend's new tablet?
Is it just downloading stock recovery, and flashing from twrp again with nomoreota.zip? (Can anyone provide me with the safe link to Stock ROM and step-by-step guide?)
Thanks!
Hi
Can anyone help me, pls? I've got the y01 tablet from my friend and flased cyanogenmod right away (using twrp...).
Now I'd like to try the stock ROM. What is the safe way to do so? Also safe to my friend's new tablet?
Is it just downloading stock recovery, and flashing from twrp again with nomoreota.zip? (Can anyone provide me with the safe link to Stock ROM and step-by-step guide?)
Thanks!
I was just checking back, hoping to find out that the kill switch has been abandoned by Nvidia. Guess not. LOL
Seriously though. I messed up something, somewhere, really bad, while trying to root. It's been 8 weeks, so I can't really remember my exact steps. Last I checked, the recovery images had been pulled offline by Nvidia. I just checked and they are back. So far my restore seems to be working.
My new tablet is still sealed in the box. That means my kill switch has not been activated yet, correct? That has not changed since I was last here 2 months ago?
Seriously though. I messed up something, somewhere, really bad, while trying to root. It's been 8 weeks, so I can't really remember my exact steps. Last I checked, the recovery images had been pulled offline by Nvidia. I just checked and they are back. So far my restore seems to be working.
My new tablet is still sealed in the box. That means my kill switch has not been activated yet, correct? That has not changed since I was last here 2 months ago?
Last edited:
According to some posters here and on NVIDIA's forums there have been cases where the old tablet has been killed before using the replacement tablet.
There are no fortunetellers around so we can't tell if that's the case for you, but the first post has the information you need to check if the kill switch is active or not for your tablet. So how about starting there.
Similar threads
Top Liked Posts
-
There are no posts matching your filters.
-
410< include generic disclaimer here >
TL;DR
Since update 3.1, Nvidia can force updates (such as the one that bricks your tablet) to be downloaded and installed silently. No guarantees, but:
- If you're on stock, delete TegraOTA (/system/app/TegraOTA or /system/priv-app/TegraOTA if you're on 5.0 or newer, or /system/app/TegraOTA.apk if you're still on 4.4) before booting into Android (the attached ZIP file does this for you, but please check with the file manager in recovery before rebooting and let me know if it didn't work), then reboot
Note: you also will need to delete TegraOTA again if you ever install an OTA from Nvidia or a recovery image - If you're not on stock, you're probably safe
EDIT: The urgent OTA is currently not getting sent out to any devices anymore, not even to those who have been getting it before.
EDIT 2: The urgent OTA is now being delivered again, this time named "ST - yy"!
What if my tablet is already deactivated?
Unless you can still boot into fastboot mode (in which case your tablet isn't really deactivated yet), your tablet is probably gone for good. The only way to fix this would be through nvflash, and using it requires the SBK that is unique to each device and that only Nvidia knows, so it's pretty unlikely that we'll ever be able to fix these deactivated tablets.
What/why/how?
In the last OTA (Update 3.1), Nvidia has made some changes to their TegraOTA application. The most important/interesting/suspicious of which is the ability for them to mark OTAs as "urgent". What this means is that these updates will be downloaded without ever notifying the user, and they will be installed without asking the user for permission first. If this is how the kill switch is delivered, all users will see is the tablet randomly rebooting and installing an update, then the tablet would never boot again. As some of you might notice, this would match what has been happening to a few users already, both here and on reddit.
But that's not all. I've been connecting to the OTA servers using various serial numbers (both found and provided to me by a few people) in hopes of actually finding the update that bricks the device. The first serial number I've tried that wasn't mine was the serial number from the screenshot on the recall page. It revealed an interesting "urgent" OTA, named "SHIELD Tablet xx - LTE", which does nothing but flash a blob (which, among other things, contains the bootloader). Many more questions appear now, but the main one is: if this is nothing but a routine bootloader update, why is it marked urgent? And why is it not attached to any Android update? But this by itself is not enough to prove anything, as I could only obtain it with one serial number, so as far as I could have known, it might had just been an internal update or something similar. (update is linked and analysed in the second post below)
Today, however, one of the serial numbers I've been given by some of the people here (thanks for the help guys!) turned out to have the same update waiting for it the next time it connected to the Internet. This rules out the possibility of an internal update, so the next somewhat obvious possibility is that this is the kill switch. Mind you, I still have no direct way of proving this without flashing the ZIP to see what happens (which I'm not planning to do myself), but I will keep checking on the other serial numbers I've gotten to see if this update turns up for them too.
The same person who has given me this serial number has also tested running the old tablet on the latest stock Android version but with TegraOTA removed, and, as expected, the tablet is still working perfectly fine now. Your mileage may vary.
How can I know if the kill switch has been triggered for my tablet?
Go to http://shield.bogdacutu.me/ and enter the full serial number of your old tablet. If the next OTA returned is"SHIELD Tablet xx""ST - yy", the kill switch has been triggered for your tablet.
Warning: the serial number from the box of the tablet and the one etched on the side of the tablet are not complete, as they only contain the first 13 characters of the full (20 characters) serial number. You can get the full serial number from Android (Settings -> About -> Status), from the bootloader (it will be on the screen when you boot into bootloader mode), or from your computer if the tablet is or (in some cases) if it was previously connected, using various tools such as USBDeview. Example: 0413714803249000a4cf (you can try this on the page and it will return that the kill switch is activated).
Why would I want to also do the fix on my new tablet too?
The update is signed by Nvidia, and communication with the OTA server does not use HTTPS, so, for example, a malicious WiFi network could MITM your connection and cause this update (as well as any other signed update) to be flashed to your new tablet without your permission, thus permanently disabling it too. If you have the stock recovery, only updates signed by Nvidia can run. The story might be slightly different if your recovery doesn't enforce signature verification (such as TWRP and CWM by default).
Can I still get updates from Nvidia after doing this?
Not directly, but people will post OTA download links here on xda when new updates get released. I'd personally recommend that you wait before flashing though until someone here checks the new update to confirm that there's no new way for Nvidia to kill your tablet.
Many hours of work have gone into investigating this. Even if it doesn't help your specific scenario, consider hitting that Thanks button, so that I can at least know it wasn't for nothing.
I'd also like to thank the people who have given me their serial numbers to use for testing again, this wouldn't have been possible without their help: @Beauenheim, @Jackill, and @runandhide05 (who has even volunteered to test removing TegraOTA with the latest update on his old tablet :highfive19Fragments of code from TegraOTA.apk
< screenshots temporarily removed >
Also, from what I've seen so far, the update isn't delivered instantly after activating the new tablet. I don't know exactly what the rule is, but out of the 4 serial numbers that I have, only 2 have this update waiting for them.
EDIT: One more serial number from the ones I have has gotten the xx update. Only one left...
EDIT 2: All the serial numbers I have have the urgent OTA waiting for them now.18"SHIELD Tablet xx" - Update Analysis
OTA URL: http://ota.nvidia.com/ota/data/post...wf-full_ota-32256_554.0168.20150624152335.zip
yy OTA URL: http://ota.nvidia.com/ota/data/posted-roms/uploaded/st---yy--092704233775---7294.20150819152732.zip (if you don't know what you're doing, DO NOT DOWNLOAD THIS, it's very likely that this will permanently brick your device upon flashing it!!!) - also attached to this post in case this link becomes invalid
updater-script is the first file we check:
Code:getprop("ro.product.device") == "shieldtablet" || abort("This package is for \"shieldtablet\" devices; this is a \"" + getprop("ro.product.device") + "\"."); nv_copy_blob_file("blob", "/staging"); reboot_now("/dev/block/platform/sdhci-tegra.3/by-name/MSC", "");
Suspiciously enough, this only flashes a blob to the staging partition. But what exactly does this blob do, you might ask? Well, the blob actually contains data for 9 partitions, which are automatically replaced during the next boot (before the bootloader does anything else at all, so once you've rebooted, there's no going back) with the contents present in this blob. The 9 partitions are as follows (also detailing comparison with files from update 3.1):
- BCT (Boot Configuration Table) - stores some information that is needed for the device to find the bootloader stored on the other partitions, initialize the RAM and some other stuff
Status after update: probably corrupted - the previous OTAs have binary BCTs, but this update replaces it with a text file (which, while it does contain somewhat relevant information, is likely not a valid format). If this is corrupted, it's enough for the device not to be able to boot anymore. - BMP (boot logo) - intact
- DTB - intact
- EBT (part of the bootloader) - has a zeroed out region
- NVC (part of the bootloader) - intact
- RBL (part of the bootloader) - has a zeroed out region
- RP4 (landscape boot logo) - intact
- TOS (Trusted OS - probably part of the bootloader too) - has a zeroed out region
- WB0 (related to the boot process, source file is named "nvbootwb0.bin") - has a zeroed out region
DO NOT DOWNLOAD THE ATTACHMENT IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING. THIS IS THE XX OTA, NOT THE ZIP THAT REMOVES TEGRAOTA!10I don't mind the OTA app on my new tablet, but I don't like the ability to just download silent updates. That concerns me, especially considering legitimate tablets getting nuked.
I made the attached Xposed module if you're running 5.1.1 that will disable the silent download method. It will also mark "urgent" updates as no longer urgent (thus they will show a notification instead). This means you can theoretically have the OTA app installed on your terminated tablet. But you will have a persistent notification for an OTA available. Screenshot of this on my terminated tablet is also attached (for fun, don't do it on yours, I can't/won't be responsible).
So if you'd like the peace of mind of not having silent updates snuck past you even on your perfectly good tablet, install this Xposed module. I only tested on 5.1.1 by the way.
Code:package biz.underpants_gnomes.android.xposed.mods.nvsilentupdatekiller; import android.content.Context; import java.lang.reflect.Array; import de.robv.android.xposed.IXposedHookLoadPackage; import de.robv.android.xposed.XC_MethodHook; import de.robv.android.xposed.XC_MethodReplacement; import de.robv.android.xposed.XposedBridge; import de.robv.android.xposed.XposedHelpers; import de.robv.android.xposed.callbacks.XC_LoadPackage; public class NVSilentUpdateKiller implements IXposedHookLoadPackage { @Override public void handleLoadPackage(final XC_LoadPackage.LoadPackageParam lpparam) { if (!lpparam.packageName.equals("com.nvidia.ota")) return; try { final Class<?> mClsRomInfo = XposedHelpers.findClass("com.nvidia.ota.utils.RomInfo", lpparam.classLoader); XposedHelpers.findAndHookMethod("com.nvidia.ota.UpdateCheckService", lpparam.classLoader, "silentDownloadUpdate", Context.class, mClsRomInfo, XC_MethodReplacement.returnConstant(null)); final Class mClsArrOfRomInfo = Array.newInstance(mClsRomInfo, 0).getClass(); XposedHelpers.findAndHookMethod("com.nvidia.ota.utils.RomInfo.FetchInfoTask", lpparam.classLoader, "onPostExecute", mClsArrOfRomInfo, new XC_MethodHook() { @Override protected void beforeHookedMethod(MethodHookParam param) throws Throwable { if ((param.args[0] == null) || (Array.getLength(param.args[0]) == 0)) { return; } Object mRomInfo = Array.get(param.args[0], 0); XposedHelpers.setBooleanField(mRomInfo, "urgent", false); } }); } catch (Throwable t) { XposedBridge.log(t); } } }8Got The Urgent one of my my Tablets
First of all, would like to thank Bogdacutu for all the research and work done.:good::good::good: Never rooted or flashed anything Android, the last experience I had with any type of root/jailbreak was with an Iphone 4 - redsn0w (no longer an Apple user). Anyway, I have 2 Shield Tablets, so did the whole recall process, got my replacements in the mail and left them untouched. I'm not anywhere near developer or programmer level, but I can work my way around PC's (built 5 desktops), but figured someone would figure out how to bypass this killswitch. Honestly I've had my original tablets since last November, and never really had a problem of them getting super hot, so definitely did not want to send these back. Followed Bogdacutu's instructions and with some simple research (Not asking on this thread) I first had to root, flash TWRP, flash 3.1 OTA, then flash nomoreota.zip to remove the TegraOTA folder and TegraOTA.apk, and today, via Bogdacutu's link, noticed one of them is pending the "Urgent update of Death!" So. out of curiosity..just restarted the tablet with the killswitch and booted up fine. :victory:. Been reading this thread since it was only 1 page and haven't really found stating if this actually worked after following Bogdacutu's instructions and then activating the new tablet. Well, so far my tablet restarted and all is well, i'll try again and restart tomorrow to see what happens. And guys, stop asking Bogdacutu how to root, flash, etc. Youtube is an amazing thing nowadays. Follow these links for those instructions and lets keep focused on results! Again, thank you Bogdacutu. Here's youtube links to root, flash, etc. and of course DON'T forget to flash nomoreota.zip (download link via OP) , literally this is all you need.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ocar8LJZlt0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BZGleRdqPk
3.1 OTA, click on Download>OTA>Full, pick your model ...
http://xdaforums.com/shield-tablet/general/stock-recovery-images-ota-library-guides-t2988881 - If you're on stock, delete TegraOTA (/system/app/TegraOTA or /system/priv-app/TegraOTA if you're on 5.0 or newer, or /system/app/TegraOTA.apk if you're still on 4.4) before booting into Android (the attached ZIP file does this for you, but please check with the file manager in recovery before rebooting and let me know if it didn't work), then reboot
