yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] chnzshyguy:
Did you try using a lowercase 'c' in cd? Also, you have to do this while your phone is fully booted up, not while you're in Recovery mode.
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] tamburylar:
Actually I was going to apologize for the typo, but my original posts shows it as lowercase.. I think maybe it got uppercased during the quote. Well if you haven't figured it out let us know, it should work just fine it's a very simple change.
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] networx2002:
will this work while my exchange is hookup or did i need to remove the account
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] tamburylar:
If I follow you correctly, you will do these steps AFTER you have created your exchange account and AFTER you sync it at least once. It will force you to set a password which is fine.. PICK ONE YOU REMEMBER. Even though you don't need the password to "get in" after this hack you will need it to delete the account or modify the account.

You need to sync it once so it will setup all the changes during which time it will set the isExchangeLock settings to 1 after this is done you will go back and modify it to 0.

Good luck, (backup) and let us know if it works for you.
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] networx2002:
So this is what im doing

i login to my exchange. it make me setup a password. i do a full sync.

then i do the following

C:\android-sdk-windows\tools>adb shell

# cd /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases

cd /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases

# sqlite3 settings.db

sqlite3 settings.db

SQLite version 3.5.9

Enter ".help" for instructions

sqlite> update system set value=0

update system set value=0

then i reboot, i going in to remove the password but i cant :confused:

or does this disable the lock screen, so after i login to the phone once there no more lock screen.
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] tamburylar:
Ok well i don't know if you just left off part of this line but your udpate command is incorrect. As per the post it should read:

update system set value=0 where name='lockscreen.lockexchange.enable';

I'm guessing you must have just pasted it wrong or else you would have gotten an error in sqlite3.

Now you said you rebooted.. when the device came up and you slide the screen down. Did it ask for a Password? or did it display your home screen. I'm not sure what you mean by "I going in to remove the password" if you are trying to go in via the Settings -> Security you won't be able to remove the password there, it's locked to do that you must disable the DevicePasswordEnable option (see older posts). But as I mentioned in previous posts this will be reset by the Exchange server so it won't last more than 4-12 hrs.

All this hack does is "trick" the lock screen into not asking for the password it is still set.

I hope this helps,

John
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] kranz68osu:
John,

Just to follow up, if you do just the "update system set value=0 where name='lockscreen.lockexchange.enable'" change, you are never prompted to set a password but you do lose access to the pattern lock screen. I have had all three set for the past few days and so far only been asked to reset a password once. I am trying to decide what feature I want more.

-Ben
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] tamburylar:
Yes that is correct with just the "lockscreen.lockexchange.enable=0" you will not get prompted for a password by the lockscreen and for 3 days now I've not gotten a single "enable security prompt" and from what I can see in the logcat the exchange server doesn't notice this change. However as you noted because the "password" is set on the device this prevents the pattern lock from working.

I typically could not go more than 6-12 hours without getting the "Enable Security" dialog. I guess we/someone could create a simple app for android to just set those options manually, but to me having to get that dialog and reset it one to two times a day would be a real pain. I don't see how an "automatic" method would work at this point, but obviously someone might think of a way.

Not sure why yours last "a few days" where as mine lasts 6-12 hrs perhaps the exchange servers themselves have a "time period option for verifying security" and mine is set to 12hrs and yours is 48 hours or something.

If we could find a way to "force the server to verify" security it might help so if someone figures out a way speak up.
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] dsherron:
Exchange Remote Wipe

I thought it would be interesting to see how Exchange ActiveSync Remote Wipe operated on Android 2.1, and if I could use it instead of something like WaveSecure. I thought I sould share my results with the group, in case someone else was thinking the same thing. First, I was running:

DamageControl 100% ROM

Amon_RA's recovery image

Sync'ed with Exchange 2007

Also Synced w/ Gmail

Lots of apps loaded and personal junk everywhere ;-)

I took a nandroid backup of my phone, then copied the contents of the SD card to my PC for backup purposes. I logged into my Outlook Web Access, went into the options, and mobile devices sections, selected my device, and clicked 'Wipe All Data from Device'. It confirmed the action, then said it was pending, and I would get an email when the wipe was complete.

I was a bit impatient and turned on the device and opened my Exchange account. It started to sync and before I even saw my mail, I got a Android popup that said it was performing a factory wipe. You could not cancel the wipe. It took only about 20-30 seconds, and the phone rebooted on it's own. When it came up it rebooted into recovery mode automatically. As a side note, I did receive the Outlook Message in my web access inbox that confirmed the phone had been wiped. I went ahead and chose 'Reboot Phone', to see what was left. Here is what I found:

The phone was cleared. First boot seemed to take a bit longer (as it usually does), and the setup wizards came back up to reconfigure accounts & settings.

All apps were removed (as you would expect) except those installed with the ROM

The SD Card was not cleared. All photos, music, certain app data, etc. was all there. Also, this means that Nandroid backups (stored in the nandroid folder on the SD card) could be easily restored, allowing easy recovery of everything.

So, for me, I would be concerned about relying on ActiveSync remote wipe as a full replacement for WaveSecure (or something like it) unless you immediately copy to a PC and remove all Nandroid backups from the SD card as soon as you make them. Also other personal data could potentially be on the card (definitely photos, music, etc.), but depending on how you use it, probably not the really secure stuff like your email, passwords, etc.

I think they got alot right in 2.1 with the more advanced settings in EAS security, but if you are truly worried about your phone security, you may still want a third party solution to make sure that everything is gone.

Hope my little adventure saves someone else some time! :D
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] tamburylar:
Thanks for the great info, I hadn't even tried to wipe the phone using exchange. As to it not wiping the SDcard I'm not terribly surprised. The simple fact of the matter is unless the program you use uses some type of overwrite (multi-random wipe) the data is never really gone. I once deleted my sd card and then ran recuva on it for fun. It found like 99% of things the names were all messed up but the pictures and everything were intact.

I've heard mostly good things about WaveSecure, I've not tried it myself. I've also heard that the company is based internationally so any texts you have the program send to wipe your phone are thus international so you pay $$ for them. Still if it works I think it's reasonable.
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] gqukyo:
I'm using the Damage rom and Lockbot. It worked great in the beginning and still does but for some reason or another whenever I press the Home key, it doesnt take me back to home anymore, it does nothing. I changed the default Home to Launcher and back but still no go. Has anyone experienced this?
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] tamburylar:
I think this may be getting a bit off topic here. But regarding your comments on the issues with Lockbot I too had the exact same issue with the Home key and others as well. As I said in a previous post they are a neat idea but they are trying to mimic the functions of a lock screen and so they are going to cause issues I think.

I'd recommend you contact the app developer, I gave up on lockbot myself after it failed to lock my screen and ran my battery down to nothing while in my pocket.
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] networx2002:
So far today since 8am to 10pm i haven't had to use a password :)
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] notasimpleway:
Yea, this is pretty annoying. I didn't know my password or it wasn't accepting. I had to do a restore. I just use a web based version of my work email now.
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] notasimpleway:
oooo I did just figure out that since my company uses Google's email that I can add it as one of my Gmail accounts. Nice!
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] dsherron:
WaveSecure

Just FYI, wavesecure recently (2-3 months ago) restructured their SMS gateway infrastructure, and so now SMS'ed destined for US (+1) phones generate from a US number. Translataion: No more international text fees for US peeps.

No, I don't work for Wavesecure, but I suggested the fix in their suggestions system, and eventually they got back to my request and said they had implemented it. Whoohoo! Just FYI.
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] d11dog11:
Just wanted to confirm that this works great. Rebooted a few times and just does slide to unlock. I am still receiving mail and calendar over my exchange server with no issues.

Flipz 2.0b2 rom.
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] gqukyo:
No thanks, I actually missed your earlier post about editing the settings file and after doing that, it worked great. Thanks!
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] networx2002:
just thought i would update with my latest info. So here is the scoop. You can disable the exchange password lock and have it survive reboot/and mail checks. To do this follow these steps:

0. Backup

1. Adb shell

2. Cd /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases

3. Sqlite3 settings.db

4. Update system set value=0

5. .exit

after this you will no longer have a lock screen

Thanks to tamburylar
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] tamburylar:
I am not sure what keeps happening to the rest of this line but line 4 should read:

4. update system set value=0 where name='lockscreen.lockexchange.enable';

Just don't want people getting confused.

Thanks for the kudos :)
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] iamshaked:
working for me thank you.
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] j0bro:
LockPicker app now in the Market

Hi all,

I just whipped an app together that disables the Exchange lock screen.

Please visit this thread: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=655061
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] tamburylar:
Very interesting. If I may ask it appears this changes the lockscreen.lockexchange.enable = 0 so that the lock screen is disabled as per the posts. The reason I ask is why the need for a background service? To date nobody has reported that the "this" single option will reset itself either during reboot or during exchange security check.

I'm curious how often your background service checks that option. I must confess I'm a bit of a minimalist myself and prefer less things running. I see you added an option to run it as a background which I think is a great idea, did you find a reason to enable it as a background service or was that just being proactive?

Appears to be a nice simple and "small" app. I think it's an excellent idea for newer users that may not be comfortable with adb and sqlite.. You don't mention it but I assume the app doesn't require root to run since it didn't spawn my su app.
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] j0bro:
The reason it works with a service is, that the user will not always have the LockPicker app (activity) running. A service is essentially an activity without a UI but can handle events anytime. I can confirm that my server *does* re-enforce the policy every now and then, but your mileage may vary. Maybe those guys are just lucky ;)

The service is idle most of the time. It merely registers a content observer on that specific system setting which will throw a change event back to the service. So, the service gets notified only then that the lock screen was enabled, and immediately disables it again. Standard event handling, nothing special; in any case no unnecessary battery drain resulting from poorly written code ;)

Nope, no root permissions required! The other settings you found though, are stored as secure settings and can only be managed by the system (code which is signed with the system certificate), or directly via poking the database from the shell. Therefore I unfortunately can't change these from my app.
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] kranz68osu:
Does this only apply the one policy or does it also still allow pattern lock to work as well?
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] tamburylar:
It only does the one policy from what I can see, The problem is that if you apply the others you still end up with the exchange server trying to overwrite them with the popup window.

I don't know you might be able to make the app a bit more complex to trick the exchange server. for example:

1. App updates all the settings to allow the unlock pattern

2. App sits in background and waits for the Security Enabled dialog box (not sure if it can do this)

3. App kills the mail client (killing the dialog box)

4. App resets the options back to the "secure settings" (complex as each server is different so it would have to store them)

5. App restarts the mail client (force a resync, not sure if it can).

6. Hopefully since the security settings are back to server defaults it shouldn't demand you to set a password.

7. App then waits till after refresh and changes the settings back..

This obivously isn't perfect and might be way too ugly to be worth it.. but it's food for thought anyway. Love to help you test it if you want.

John
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] j0bro:
An interesting approach, to say the least :P

No I am not keen on ugly hacks, but maybe it's possible to change the secure settings with direct SQL queries. I must look into that first, but I suspect that things are secure enough to not be bypassed randomly by us developers...
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] Jeroen Blijsie:
Hi, where can I find the free lockbot version exactly?

Cheers,

Jeroen
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] networx2002:
Just search lockbot in the market
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] klaus27:
I have written an app for disabling the Exchange password. It's so dead simple and nothing special, but is enough for me. It enables me to have the original HTC Sense Lockscreen while not having to enter a password on each unlock. Exchange works perfect.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=6042283
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] j0bro:
Sounds like the exact functionality of my solution, LockPicker (check my sig) ;)
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] cmccracken:
Have you guys considered the security implications of disabling the PIN? I manage my org's Exchange server, and we have very strong reasons for enabling the security features we do. If I caught one of my users circumventing corporate security measures in a manner such as this, they would likely be terminated for violation of corporate policy. An organization's IT security is only as good as its employees.
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] tamburylar:
Yup thats why I mentioned that in one of my posts. And as several people have said they are not opposed to security they simply want a way that it can be used without breaking the usefulness of a device. I think most people would be happy with a lock that used the sliding lock feature of android or even at worse that pulled up the number pad keyboard automatically so that the password could be entered successfully.

Lastly as I'm sure you know as an IT person all these passwords and security features on the phones are at best an annoyance, anyone that really wants the data can get it without too much trouble. And contrary to popular belief wiping your phone is going to get rid of the data properly.

But I agree with you, I'm completely infavor of finding a security measure that at least enables some security. Which was my original intent, to me a perfect solution here would be the sliding unlock which I believe after 3 or 4 tries then forces you to enter your google password, not sure if it wipes the phone after you fail that several times but it should.

I also recall reading someplace that Google is working on a method of encrypting the data on the sdcard/phone so that it will be more secure this would of course be the best method tie that into the unlock screen and wiped or not the phone would be verify difficult to crack.
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] networx2002:
I just use 1and1.com for my personal exchange. i dont want to use a password on my phone, but i cant disable it.

;)
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] tamburylar:
J0bro I could of course be wrong but the way I read Klaus explaination his disables the password and allows this unlock pattern to be used. Lockpicker just turns off the password check on the lockscreen. So I believe it does do something further.

I've sent Klaus a PM to beta test it so I'm gonna find out whenenver he sends me something.
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] cmccracken:
Oops, my bad. I've been following this thread for awhile, and must have missed that. I think my issue was more in principle. If my users are bypassing EAS policies, who knows what else they are bypassing. Gotta play by the rules that your company sets, folks! (or run/buy your own personal Exchange account, as I'm sure many do) At my employer, this was easy to enforce: No Android phones are on our approved EAS-usage list yet due to the incomplete EAS support in Android. I've had the iPhone on the list for awhile, which crushes me to no end. Perhaps there's something to be said for a closed-development ecosystem (and no removable storage). :p
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] tamburylar:
Yes one of iphones strongest points for security has always been that it has no expandable storage options, however it's also a very large weakness and a huge expense addon since of course the memory must be built in. Course I'm fairly sure someone with some decent hardware expertise could take apart the iphone and read the memory chips directly. But I'm a fairly security concious guy myself and I am more than happy to go the extra mile to provide personal and enterprise security.. but typing in a 8 digit/char/special password on a touch keyboard with one hand is very difficult. and you must do this EVERY single time you want to use it.. and android for some reason doesn't have a delay in the timeout before it password locks the phone so if your screen times out while reading an article.. PASSWORD .. it really is annoying.

Thanks for the input and the Admin point of view.
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] networx2002:
im using your lock pick and now the pattern lock pulls up.
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] klaus27:
I for sure considered security implications, but I actually am the IT administrator of the company. I don't want turn them off and I don't want my account to differ from others (I am not the only admin). But I don't have sensual emails in my mailbox, so no problem.

I was searching the web for exactly this solution and saw a note of j0bro that he is developing an app. I tried to contact him, but didn't get an answer, so I did some researching by myself. I quickly found the value in the database and hacked the app together. That's the end of the story. I am - right now - not yet able to set an unlock pattern, but I have an idea how these settings could survive a policy refresh without having to run a background service or pushing the values on a cnonstant basis.

I additionally have deassembled the Mail app and ripped out all relevant parts, but this is not a generic solution which could be applied to all roms, so I don't want to follow this route.

I will do some further testing and contact tamburylar, as he is the one with nightly refreshs.

Watch this thread ;)
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] j0bro:
I did reply your private message via the e-mail address that was mentioned there; so maybe you should check you mail/spam folders ;)

Anyways, the updated version v0.91 of LockPicker now correctly starts on boot without throwing an exception causing the FC.
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] klaus27:
Ok, sorry about that... :o
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] klaus27:
Ok, right now I think I have a solution for the pattern and security popup.

Did I get that right that you want to have an unlock pattern instead of the clunky passcode? Setting the lockexchange method through sqlite works well, but as soon as you set DevicePasswordEnabled, it keeps asking for security enforcement, right?

I have a solution for that. My phone now don't ask for security enforcement, but sticks with the unlock pattern. Only drawback is, you cannot change the unlock pattern through the regular menu, you have to turn it off through my app and then change the pattern and reenable it through my app. Again, no background task/script required which would drain the battery.

I am just waiting for confirmation and then write an app for it. - Oh, you need to be rooted unfortunately I think.
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] j0bro:
Background tasks or scripts are not neccessarily the cause for battery drain, poorly written code is! Android provides its own mechanism for observing setting change events which is the preferred method over polling/scripting.

Did you make use of a shell executed command through you app or an API call?
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] klaus27:
That's true. I don't want to blame your app, please don't get me wrong. I just use SQL triggers. I am currently trying to search through the API docs how to set those to the database. Easiest way would be to directly call sqlite3. Can you give me a tipp?
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] j0bro:
Ouch! Are you sure that Android's SQLite implementation supports triggers? The documented way of achieving this through code is by registering a content observer. See http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/providers/content-providers.html and http://developer.android.com/reference/android/database/ContentObserver.html This is how I did it and it works pretty straightforward. The thing is though, some settings reside under Settings.Secure and cannot be modified. Only code that is signed with the platform certificate can do that, being only the OS and the publisher's apps (i.e. HTC Sense).

Good luck!
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] klaus27:
Yes, it works, I have tested it and it's written in the specs of sqlite3. No problem. Applying my triggers directly works. I have working pattern unlock without a security popup so far. I now only need to add that through my app. Any tipps?
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] klaus27:
Ok, my app is ready. I have sent it to tamburylar for testing. :cool:
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] klaus27:
Version 1.0 is ready for testing. Working with HTC Sense. Waiting for reply for Milestone support. HERE
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] priceaw1:
The solution I have been using after disabling my exchange bypass but to retain my unlock pattern has been to install one of the UnlockPattern widgets by CurveFish or JQ Soft found for free in the market. After disabling exchange password I installed the widget to my desktop. After enabling it the first time I was prompted to set my unlock pattern. There after my unlock pattern has worked without a problem. However I have not thuroughly tested other aspects such as changing the unlock pattern.
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] wrzoch:
Try the simplest solution first. What do you say about instaling email client from version where it was working wirhout password over the messy one?

I've tried this on droid (2.0.1 version installed on rooted 2.1 and guess what? It's working. No pass policy enforced).
[Hero CDMA Themes and Apps] klaus27:
Yap, there are more than one workarounds out there.