[Q]How to perma-brick via Android OS or TWRP?

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Howdy folks. I'm not much of a developer, so I need a bit of help trying to make my concept a reality. Obviously if I'm successful, I'll give credit where credit is due. That being said, I'm looking for a way to hard-brick Android devices from either within the OS itself, or from a custom recovery, preferably TWRP. A kind of "self-destruct", if you will. And it has to be doable, or at least triggerable, from Android itself, so I can set it up to be activated remotely, via Tasker or what have you, nothing that I would need to connect the phone to a computer to use. So I guess what I need is either a script, or a recovery flash zip. I'm hoping for a universal solution, so it could be used for any Android device, not just mine. But if that's not available, my current devices are a T-Mobile S3 (obviously), HTC One, Motorola Xoom LTE (aka Wingray), and Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition (P600), and I'd like to have it working with any and/or all of my devices, at least. So, is there any way I can achieve this?
 
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Perseus

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Feb 10, 2011
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On a public forum accessible to unregistered users, such a discussion can and will open a can of worms. Yes indeed there are ways to do this. However I am sure ways of wanton destruction will violate XDA rules. Who knows, some unsavory folks came across this and sent it as a bomb to all ? You see where I am going ?

Having said that, I think your genuine intent is to make your device unusable in case of theft. Towards this, there really are several nice apps and services. Starting with Google's own Device manager to Where's my droid and quiet a few others. Please explore what they can do.
 
You're right about my intentions, but I don't just want to wipe my device if it's stolen, which is all those apps can do. I want to render it completely unusable, so whoever has taken it can't do anything with it. So what you're telling me is, if I DO come up with a way to do so, it's probably not a good idea to share it here?

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Who knows, some unsavory folks came across this and sent it as a bomb to all ? You see where I am going ?

I'm not looking for something to send to my phone. I'm looking for something that would take an extensive set-up procedure. Something like a script, started by Tasker, in response to a VERY specific text message. Or maybe instead of a script, a zip being flashed, although I haven't quite figured out how to do that with Tasker yet. You're probably right about the XDA rules though, I didn't think about that.


Sent from my SGH-T999 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
 
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Perseus

Retired Senior Moderator / Recognized Developer
Feb 10, 2011
10,625
8,473
Atlantis
Device encryption and Screen lock are supposed to serve precisely that exact purpose you are describing. Please explore. Do understand some of the other apps in the category of Lookout do offer a lot more features and functions. Please explore one or two of them.