The multi-disabler started life on the Exynos S10 range, the first Samsung devices to launch with Android 9 (Pie). Since then, it has grown to support a great many Samsung devices running either Android 9, 10 or 11, and with either an Exynos or a Qualcomm SoC at their core. This includes the S10 and S20 series, the N10 and N20 series, the A10 - A70 series, the Tab A and Tab S series, Z Flip and (Z) Fold devices, and many more.
When flashed onto a compatible device, the multi-disabler will semi-permanently disable a number of device protection features and services that become problematic on a rooted device. Some pose a threat to the rooted state of the device, while others become dysfunctional and generate a flood of log messages. Semi-permanently in this context means that the disablement will persist until re-enabled by the user, for example as a side-effect of flashing new firmware with Odin. You will therefore need to reflash the multi-disabler every time you perform a system-wide firmware update.
The methodology of the multi-disabler is the path of least intervention. This means that for any given device, only those services that must be disabled to ensure the smooth operation of the device will be tackled.
The following is a list of features disabled by the multi-disabler on Samsung devices launched in 2019:
Furthermore, when the ZIP file is renamed to contain the string _btfix somewhere in the name and the file is then flashed on a supported Android 10 device, the system's libbluetooth.so library will be patched in situ to prevent the loss of Bluetooth pairings across reboots. This is a recurring issue with many rooted Samsung devices manufactured before 2020 and updated to Android 10. Devices launched in 2020 and later do not need this patch.
The multi-disabler's support for this solution is limited to a relatively small number of Samsung devices and is deprecated as of v3.0. It will be removed in a future release.
If you find that patching fails on your device, please refer to Arthur Trouillot's superior libbluetooth patcher, which supports a much wider variety of devices.
The multi-disabler is written in Bourne shell, so you can — and ideally should — audit the code yourself to ensure its safe operation. It's performing open-heart surgery on the software of your device, so you should not simply trust it. Apart from anything else, bugs can creep in from time to time, despite or sometimes even because of my refactoring of the code.
The multi-disabler is idempotent, which means you can safely flash it multiple times without incurring unintended side-effects.
The package is attached to this posting and the code is available on GitHub.
When flashed onto a compatible device, the multi-disabler will semi-permanently disable a number of device protection features and services that become problematic on a rooted device. Some pose a threat to the rooted state of the device, while others become dysfunctional and generate a flood of log messages. Semi-permanently in this context means that the disablement will persist until re-enabled by the user, for example as a side-effect of flashing new firmware with Odin. You will therefore need to reflash the multi-disabler every time you perform a system-wide firmware update.
The methodology of the multi-disabler is the path of least intervention. This means that for any given device, only those services that must be disabled to ensure the smooth operation of the device will be tackled.
The following is a list of features disabled by the multi-disabler on Samsung devices launched in 2019:
- FBE (file-based encryption): Until this is disabled, most versions of TWRP — all for Exynos devices and many for Qualcomm — cannot read files on /data (the userdata partition). You must format /data to actually remove FBE after disabling it. Back up your data first!
- Vaultkeeper: Magisk now dynamically disables this during boot, but if you boot outside of Magisk, it will return with a vengeance on some devices.
- Process authentication (a.k.a. proca): This service must be disabled on some devices in order to use a custom kernel without problems. Note that all 2019 devices with TWRP utilise a custom kernel for Android, because the same kernel is shared by Magisk to boot the system. This does not apply to devices lauched in 2020 and later.
- Stock recovery auto-restoration: In certain circumstances, your device will automatically restore its stock recovery partition, overwriting your custom recovery (TWRP). Magisk now also provides dynamic protection against this, but again, this will not save you if you boot outside of Magisk.
- wsm: On Android 10 and 11, this service prevents Samsung smartwatches from connecting to the Galaxy Wearable app.
- Extra services are disabled as needed per device.
Furthermore, when the ZIP file is renamed to contain the string _btfix somewhere in the name and the file is then flashed on a supported Android 10 device, the system's libbluetooth.so library will be patched in situ to prevent the loss of Bluetooth pairings across reboots. This is a recurring issue with many rooted Samsung devices manufactured before 2020 and updated to Android 10. Devices launched in 2020 and later do not need this patch.
The multi-disabler's support for this solution is limited to a relatively small number of Samsung devices and is deprecated as of v3.0. It will be removed in a future release.
If you find that patching fails on your device, please refer to Arthur Trouillot's superior libbluetooth patcher, which supports a much wider variety of devices.
The multi-disabler is written in Bourne shell, so you can — and ideally should — audit the code yourself to ensure its safe operation. It's performing open-heart surgery on the software of your device, so you should not simply trust it. Apart from anything else, bugs can creep in from time to time, despite or sometimes even because of my refactoring of the code.
The multi-disabler is idempotent, which means you can safely flash it multiple times without incurring unintended side-effects.
The package is attached to this posting and the code is available on GitHub.
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