yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] rocket321:
I expect it will work on other carriers/phones but only speak for devices I personally test it on.

The apk works by overriding the built in android OTA service. It has traditionally been included in Gapps packages as a way to disable carrier updates on AOSP roms but works just as well on stock based roms.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] EVObastard:
I must be doing something wrong. I am unable to move the file, I keep getting "file is read only"

Update: I found that if you click on the downloaded apk that it installs itself in the correct folder however it still did not work for me.

I am on the DaRTHSTAULKER ROM S3 vX

View attachment 1914304
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] CNexus:
You need to mount /system as RW

If your file manager does not give you the option to do so, go into a terminal and type the following:

mount -o remount,rw /system

The app needs to installed as a system app, if you simply install it by selecting it, it will be installed as a user app. Uninstall, mount system as ready write, and copy it to /system/app
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] rocket321:
That's correct, if you just click it and install like a normal app it won't work because it needs to be installed as a system app.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] EVObastard:
So do I move the hole file or extract the app then move that?

NM I noticed it's a .apk file :fingers-crossed:

Ok, that worked it's now in my app list, thank you hopefully this does it.

Sprint GS3 Rooted, DaRTHSTAULKER X
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] EVObastard:
Woohoo, it's been 4 hours or so and no notification, thank you thank you thank you. :D

Sprint GS3 Rooted, DaRTHSTAULKER X
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] CNexus:
Ok so I took a look inside the apk and heres how it works

App gets triggered when: Google Services state is changed; Android device checks in the the Google servers; and when Android device finishes booting (BOOT_COMPLETE)

If there is, it gets the info from the Google Services Framework intent (url, time, etc), logs it, and then cancels the notification

Sets the link to be empty (" ") and overrides the GSF notification, and then clears the notification

Removes the notification and OTA data from the Google Services Framework database

Attached is a universal flashable (meaning, for any Android device) that puts FOTAKill.apk into your /system/app.

EDIT: File pulled for the moment...
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] EVObastard:
This is great, I am standing by. Since I did it the other way should I redo it this way? (I would guess no) Also I was going to ask if it worked for my wife's E4GT but sounds like this new one you are making will. TIA
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] CNexus:
The file itself will work on ANY phone because it blocks the GSF app. I would recommend just using a root browser to put it in /system/app for the moment, i pulled the file because it somehow wiped my entire /system partition (yeah, i dont know either) so i didnt want anyone else to have issues.

And no, you dont need to redo it with the zip im making, it wont change anything.

Also, im not modifying the file in any way, I'm just making a zip that will flash it on any device.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] rocket321:
This definitely works on the ET4G, I had that phone before the S3 and used it to stay on a GB rom for a long time.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] EVObastard:
Thank you both very much. :good::good:
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] flastnoles11:
Here's a flashable http://db.tt/lfeO3giy fix permissions after flashing just in case

Sent from my ANTHRAX sniffing GS3
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] andee39:
Disabling OTA updates

Hi,

Would anyone know if the FOTAKill.apk procedure works on a Galaxy S3 flashed to Boost or would that not make a difference? :confused:

Thanks.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] CNexus:
Try it. Shouldn't hurt anything if it doesn't.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] andee39:
Thanks. A friend had mentioned to me he read about freezing SDM 1.0 but I don't have that file and wasn't sure if it was related to being flashed to Boost. I searched and came across your post but wasn't sure if I would run into a similar type issue. Will give it a try and fingers crossed it works!

Thanks again! :cool:
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] maf49:
Fota will not paste into Apps folder

Every time I try to copy or cut and paste the file never goes into the apps folder. My phone is rooted using Mr. Robinsons method.I have tried two different root explorers witht he same results.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Ragnar:
Have you changed the read/write settings in the root explorer apps? They default to read only in order to edit you have to change to write.

Sent from the future via Tapatalk 4
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] maf49:
System folder and app folder both have owner rwx group rx and other rx. there is a checkbox to add w but it wont keep the setting
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] CNexus:
Yeah, do this...if it were as easy as copy and paste, why would you need root in the first place? ;)

Most file browsers give you a "Mount as R/W" or "Mount as read/write" option so that you can mess around with stuff. Some browsers (like Root Browser) do it for you automatically when you're changing something or copying something into a normally restricted directory
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] maf49:
Downloaded Root Browser and it seemed to work. Thanks a bunch guys.

I assumed that having root and using a root explorer would automatically allow you to do that. You know what happens when we assume though.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] delaneybob:
Did you try it?- I am considering using it on a S4 (to stop latest Verizon update)
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] andee39:
Oops, my bad for not updating the thread. Yes I did do it. My phone started acting a bit off the first day or so (freezing, auto rebooting, etc) but now it is fine and thankfully no more annoying OTA messages. :cool:
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Droidatar:
Not working on my rooted Samsung 4,

I could not complete with file explorer or es explorer. I downloaded fx and the root add in and I was able to copy over. I renamed and moved the update.zip to my SD. Card.

The notification was gone but when I went into about / update it started download automatically.

Anyone have a fix for samsung4? I don't want to lose root
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Ragnar:
Just curious why are you asking in the S3 thread and not in the S4 thread? Don't you think it would be wiser to ask there?

Sent from the future via Tapatalk 4
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Droidatar:
Google brought me here. In my haste I was trying to get it done before the downloaded update started installing. I need to tweak some more as the update is once again waiting to install.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Ragnar:
Let it install, since your rooted it will most likely fail.

Sent from the future via Tapatalk 4
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Droidatar:
Thanks,

I will most likely wait for the fix.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] l3ftb3hind:
awesome thanks so much:cowboy:
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] BrooklynNY:
Thanx a million for this great tool. Even though I'm running cm10.2 (android 4.3) on my first gen kindle fire and therefore do not need this tool, I highly appreciate these mods. They make me somewhat more educated... ;)
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] jlg19753:
Thanks for this it worked perfect on my nexus 4 from stopping the the 4.3 update from downloading in the background and eating 177mb a day .:thumbup:

Sent from my Nexus 4
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] chan1628:
just to clarify, do I need to CHMOD this file after moving to /system/app/?

normally, the permissions are 0644

however, the file from OP is set at 0075

edit:

the reason why I mention this is because I don't think this patch is working for me... my wifi icon is still showing constant download activity on all my devices
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] ninjadave007:
Calendar Notifications Disappeared

This stopped the OTA Update Notification successfully but it also stopped my google calendar notifications as well. Bummer. I removed the FOTAKill.apk file and restarted my phone then voila, calendar notifications came back.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] jazon1:
awesome this worked great on my sprint stock rooted S4,been getting bugged all day to do this update,phone working great and every time i get an ota update the phone works like crap for about a week before i figure out what needs fixing/freezing,think i might just hold off til 4.4
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] hientran753:
delete update OTA

hi any peoples here. I'm new here and I'm use galaxy s3 . anybody can help me how delete update OTA by use titanum backup when my phone rooted ?
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] hc123:
Go to this thread http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2209418
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] jjfad:
Thank you! Worked on my TMo LG Optimus F3.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] nohamSam:
System app mover

If the phone is rooted the app "System app mover" is an easy fix.

Download "System app mover" from Play Store, install FOTAkill as a normal app, then use "System app mover" to convert FOTAkill to a system app.

You will be prompted to reboot, and Bob's your uncle as our Aussie friends say.

:good:
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] picrthis:
After I did this, my message led when the screen is off, no longer comes on to let me know I missed a message; if I simply delete or freeze this apk will that remove it/ put it back to the way it was or do I have to cleanup some things?

Thanks
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] fatasian:
Hi everyone,

I woke up this morning with the VZW push to my device. I am running CleanRom 7 and don't want the OTA.

I have installed the FOTA as a system app. When I installed everything looked normal, but the 'open' button never lit up. I also don't see the app in the app drawer.

Really hoping there is a way to make the update disappear.

Thanks.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] CNexus:
You need to drop it in /system. You're not supposed to install it as a regular app and neither are you supposed to run or open it.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] fatasian:
thanks CNexus for getting back to me. I changed the directory from:

2. Use a root explorer (such as ES Explorer) to copy the file to /system/app (per OP)

to

/system, rebooted, and still have the OTA sitting as a constant notification. How can I be sure that it's not going to cause issues?

Thanks again!
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] CNexus:
Is it just in /system or in /system/app? It needs to be in the apps folder of /system.

What I meant before is that it needs to be in system, but more specifically in /system/app which is still part of the system folder
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] andee39:
It should be /system/app folder as OP states. I have done it and it worked for me but I have heard of some folks that say it didn't work but not sure why. :(
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] fatasian:
Ok, then I had it in the right directory.

I moved it back to /system/app, rebooted and am still being asked to take the OTA. I am missing a step?

Again, many thanks for your replies!

For good measure: (edit: man those are big, i'll remove them after folks see them quickly.)
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] andee39:
It's been awhile since I did it so pls check the thread - you might need to fix permissions. OP mentioned if you still see notification after rebooting to swipe it away. Have you tried that?
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] fatasian:
I have fixed the permissions. And unfortunately the OTA notification is an ongoing notification that can't be swiped. :(

I hope I am not one of the folks that can't get rid of it. I will keep googling to look for other solutions, if anyone happens across one holla!
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] andee39:
Sorry to hear it does not work for you. :( If I hear of anything will pass your way! :D
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] fatasian:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/ve...4/297333-disable-ota-update-notification.html

Here is a way to block ota updates you need root and titanium backup. use the freeze all apps feature and deselect all then locate SDM select it by put a check in the box and then click the green check in the top right corner. (sic)

I just froze the SDM :)

Worked for me! Maybe will help someone else. Thanks again yall!
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] jlg19753:
System \app and set permissions reboot and done .

Sent from my Nexus 7
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] denisem776:
Can't copy FOTAKill.apk to /system/apps

Hi all,

I have the S3, stock Android 4.1.2 - not rooted. I've downloaded FOTAKill.apk and have tried both ES explorer and Root Explorer to try to copy this to /system/apps but it keeps failing. ES Explorer showed the /system mounted as readable and writeable. Root Explorer shows it as rwxr-xr-x. I tried to change it to rwxrwxrwx but get an error saying "Changing permissions was not successful. Please note that some file systems do not allow permission changes." Can someone please tell me how I can get this to work? I absolutely do not want this OTA update to install and would love it if it stopped nagging me. Thanks!
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] andee39:
Do you by chance use Titanium Backup?
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] denisem776:
Hi, I do not. To the best of my knowledge the phone needs to be rooted in order to use this software, and my phone is not. Thanks.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Mr. Struck:
Not being rooted is the reason you are having your original problem. You won't be able to access /system otherwise.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] denisem776:
I misunderstood! I was under the impression you would be able to do this regardless of whether or not your phone was rooted. Boooo.. so it looks like my options are to continue to ignore the alerts and hope it doesn't automatically install, or to root my phone (which I've always been too nervous to do). Thanks for your help.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Mr. Struck:
Don't be afraid to root, you will wonder why you waited so long once you do! There is such a huge world of possibilities once you have rooted, and I can almost guarantee you will root every device you own in the future as well-once you pop, you can't stop!
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] denisem776:
So I've heard! I will have to look on this site for a good tutorial because I don't even know where to start! Thanks again for your help :)
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Mr. Struck:
Here is a good tutorial on XDA, the principle is the same whether or not you have Knox:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2596697

And this is a tutorial I have put together on Android Forums for the Virgin Mobile users (we fall under the Sprint "umbrella" so things that are relevant for Sprint are relevant for us as well, although sometimes with just a little extra work and knowledge required); again, the principles are the same in the rooting part of my tutorial for anybody on Sprint/VM/Boost:

http://androidforums.com/virgin-mobile-galaxy-s3-all-things-root/791952-all-in-one-guide-modifying-custom-sprint-roms-virgin-mobile-use.html

Feel free to post or PM me if you need/want any help.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] denisem776:
Total noob mistake but I just realized that I'm in the Spring SIII forum, but I have Verizon, so I will have to pop over there. But I may end up taking you up on your offer if I run into any issues :) Thanks!!
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] andee39:
Apologies. I missed the boat where you said you were not rooted. :o
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] gReen_Lloyd:
Question: Will this only affect carrier updates or does in also block Google Play Store app updates?
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] jlg19753:
Blocks all firmware upgrades , Google and your carrier . Did for me .

Sent from my Nexus 7
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Cronoss:
Hello. I know this is in the Sprint section, but can it be applied to a rooted T-Mobline S3 LTE on JB 4.3?

Thanks.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] jnnyr:
Hi There,

Thanks for the above post. Everything was perfectly clear however, when I try to copy the APK to the App folder ES explorer says 'copy failed' and hitting retry does nothing. Any suggestions?
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
Hi! Is your phone rooted? Did you give ES Explorer root permissions?

Edit: Also, if you are rooted and deodexed, information given by one of the developers here detailed that you can let it go ahead and download and try to install the OTA, but that it will fail since you are deodexed, and will never ask you again.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] rocket321:
Google play store apps will update as normal - only carrier OTA's are blocked.

Most likely. Do a backup first and then give it a shot. This has been used on various handsets at this point.

Need to be rooted and give your ES explorer root access (in the app settings)
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] jnnyr:
Hi THere,

Yes, I have root and already gave root permission to ES. I read above that you should allow for read/write permission. I have burrowed into the settings and nowhere do I see where I can give write permission. Not sure what I am doing wrong.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
Profit! ☺

Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy SIII with M.O.A.R. v9.0, dkp kernel dated 3/20/2014 and TWRP v2.7.0.0.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] jnnyr:
gotcha

Thanks. The screen shot really helped. I didn't realize that you could tap on the Root Explorer and get deeper functionality.

For anyone else following this thread I actually found another way through Titanium Backup to shutoff the notification!

The culprit seemed to be SDM 1.0 Once I froze it the notification disappeared and has not come back.

Do you know if there's a negative side effect of doing this I am not aware of?

For anyone else I am running Android 4.3 on a Galaxy S4 (SCH-I545).
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
You're welcome! And good question.

Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy SIII with M.O.A.R. v9.0, dkp kernel dated 3/20/2014 and TWRP v2.7.0.0.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] bstangs1:
Just used this to get rid of ota notice and worked flawlessly. Thanks
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] HomeRunLover:
Followed the instructions exactly as rocket321 laid them out and, voila! Worked flawlessly with my Sprint SPH-L720. Update notification is gone daddy, gone, update's gone away (with all due respect to Violent Femmes). Thanks rocket321!
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] roirraW "edor" ehT:
You know that's going to go down in your permanent record?

Sorry, for those who don't know, another Violent Femmes reference. Sorry for the OT!

Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy SIII on TouchWiz 4.4.2 with Wicked X v6.5, Ktoonsez' latest kernel and the latest Philz Touch Recovery.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] mikecico:
Didn't work for me...

I copied the APK into /system/app, but I still get the OTA notifications. I'm on a rooted Verizon GS3, rooted with Saferoot, on 4.3.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] flastnoles11:
Change your build.prop to reflect the new update, never fails

http://i1076.photobucket.com/albums/w450/flastnoles11/tapatalk_1379735598798_zpsae07fa91.png
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] hotd34me:
I've tried everything.....

I'm on galaxy s3 android version 4.3 rooted. I did the fotakill.apk thing in root explorer using the w/r thing like I was supposed to in the system/app folder, it never installed by itself even after a restart so I had to install it myself, I also deleted the cache, and I deleted the firmware file it downloaded to install. Even though I deleted it, every time I turn on my wi-fi and get an internet connection, the update window automatically brings up this screen which I will attach a picture. I am afraid to leave it running even though I THINK I deleted the update file. I am on galaxy s3 i747 rooted. Please help, I am stuck and I do not want to lose my root, took so long for someone to make a root for verison 4.3 and I can't even go on the internet anymore on my phone since last night because of the new update that rolled out.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] thenewbigmack:
Hey... G2 user here. Was directed to this thread by a fellow user as well, so I'm hoping this works on the G2. Quick question, will this stop the update from even downloading in the first place? Typically, it alerts you that you have an update, it downloads the update, then alerts you that your download is ready. Hopefully this stops the whole process from even starting, thus saving data from being used! Thanks in advance to anyone who can answer! :)
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] ramsenn:
How do i delete the downloaded ota?
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] steve3758:
GS5

Can anyone confirm (firsthand) that this works on the galaxy S5? I'm getting AT&T OTA update notifications, and I'm worried it'll unroot me and/or fix the towelroot exploit.

edit

I tried it and it didn't work. I looked at the app info for the notification, and it is AT&T software updater, not Google services framework. I assume that's why it's not working, since it's not Google that's pushing the update
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] fjb3:
You can manually kill the FOTA (firmware over the air) update using a few simple steps in a shell (command line) tool. I use ConnectBot and connect to "local" when it starts up. Here is the command line hacquer's guide:

% su

# mount -o remount,rw /

# mount -o remount,rw /system

# cd /cache

# mv fota save.old.fota.bak

# touch fota

# chmod 0 fota

# cd /etc/security

# mv otacerts.zip otacerts.zip.bak

# cd /system/app

# mv FWUpgrade.apk FWUpgrade.bak

# mv FWUpgrade.odex FWUpgrade.odex.bak

# exit

% exit

... Power-off your device, remove battery ...

... Replace battery, power-on your device ...

That should do it. You will get one more notification that an update failed (or I got one more notice from Verizon, no idea about other carriers, YMMV). Dismiss the notice and you should be good to go. To be cautious you may want to reboot your device after taking the above steps, or simply remount the filesystems read-only to get back into the "normal" state.

Note: if you have JUST NOW used towelroot on your Smasung Galaxy S5 Verizon (SM-G900V) running the stock NCG kernel, then it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT and URGENT that you do the above steps IMMEDIATELY before Verizon pushes the NE9 kernel update to your phone -- usually just around 1am local time! If you DO NOT disable the firmware OTA update, you will _probably_ lose root access, and towelroot does not work under NE9! I went through all sorts of headaches getting back to a stock NCG ROM, and re-towelrooting the device because no one mentioned this simple step!

Also, (and this belongs on another thread when I find it again), instructions that say you can re-flash the NE9 stock kernel again after towelroot on the NCG kernel are either incorrect or the process is non-deterministic! I cannot justify in my mind why in the world you would want to re-flash an unrooted stock NE9 ROM after towelrooting NCG, but perhaps there is some flaw in those instructions. Stay tuned, I will post the link when I find it again.

-fjb3
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] matthewordie:
I no longer have the notification icon in the status bar, but I still have the alert in the notification list. I can't swipe it away or remove it. Any ideas? Nexus 5 on 4.4.4, rooted.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] shenanigins:
I first tried to move the FOTA apk to my system/apps directory using a root explorer. I changed the folder to rw and I tried to move it but the operation failed. I also then tried to do it manually like fjb3 suggested and I get the notifications still. Any ideas?

Galaxy S4 4.4.2 rooted with Towelroot
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] shenanigins:
So it actually took a few days but after doing these 2 methods (assumably the same end action), the notification of the software update failed to download appears and comes back once every few days.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] XeLaNoiD:
Since I renamed otacerts.zip to otacerts.zip.bak, I Used 3 gigs of data usage from Google service in one day. Also, It didn't used Wifi even If it was available. I think it is trying to download the image continually in the background and force to use mobile data.

It did removed the notification but the data usage killed my wallet :crying:

Only using Fotakill didn't removed the notification tough.