Disabled Parental controls

picree · 08-15-2016, 02:41 PM

At one time, based on a suggestion from @NiLuJe and to disable the notorious factory "Reset" option I enabled Parental Controls.

I couldn't figure out how to Disable them. As such I had to manage this device from my Amazon account when deregistering it and reregistering it to my wife. The Parental Controls survived! I can't do a factory reset to turn them off since that is disabled with Parental Controls (nor would I want to as it would remove all my jailbreak).

It's easy to see how to enable Parental Controls (set a password) but how do you disable them? You can change the password to (like 111222777) to do a factory reset but I would rather not have to re-jailbreak. Isn't there a password you can enter (or a setting somewhere) to Disable Parental Controls?

NiLuJe · 08-16-2016, 08:11 AM

@picree: If you have shell access, I seem to recall there's a simple file to nix somewhere in /var/local (because, yes, forgetting that dumb password happens

).

If you can do something about it, ask again and I'll look up the actual name of said file ;D.

picree · 08-16-2016, 09:34 PM

Well, I looked in that folder (about 36 entries) but nothing looks obvious. I do know my password. And I remember from your prior post that deleting a file in here was an option. I was hoping for a "user-friendly" way or maybe an Amazon-sanctioned way (like changing the password to "0000"...which didn't work). Seems like there should be a way other than Resetting the device (although maybe that's what Amazon provided with the 111222777 password).

But, just for completeness and for community benefit can you share the name of the file and provide the delete command? I'm not a Linux expert so I don't want to futz up the files by typing or deleting the wrong thing.

Cinisajoy · 08-16-2016, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by picree

Well, I looked in that folder (about 36 entries) but nothing looks obvious. I do know my password. And I remember from your prior post that deleting a file in here was an option. I was hoping for a "user-friendly" way or maybe an Amazon-sanctioned way (like changing the password to "0000"...which didn't work). Seems like there should be a way other than Resetting the device (although maybe that's what Amazon provided with the 111222777 password).

But, just for completeness and for community benefit can you share the name of the file and provide the commands? I'm not a Linux expert so I don't want to futz up the files by typing or deleting the wrong thing.

Can you just contact Amazon and ask how to disable the parental controls?

knc1 · 08-16-2016, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Can you just contact Amazon and ask how to disable the parental controls?

I seem to recall that it is in their FAQ page supporting the Kindles.

Cinisajoy · 08-16-2016, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by knc1

I seem to recall that it is in their FAQ page supporting the Kindles.

I could find a dozen pages on how to set them but nothing on disabling them. Otherwise I would have posted the link.

picree · 08-17-2016, 06:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Can you just contact Amazon and ask how to disable the parental controls?

I suppose. But I suspect they will just direct me to this information on using a password of 111222777. Which will work but I was hoping not to Reset of course due to the jailbreak.

picree · 08-17-2016, 06:56 AM

I'm not a programmer so I cannot offer to do this but this sounds like a potentially useful and easy to create KUAL extension (if it's just deleting a magic file). i.e. A button in KUAL that would disable Parental Controls. (Allowing people to turn on Parental Controls to disable inadvertent Resets).

...which, BTW is more painful now with having to redo the entire jailbreak in such cases.

knc1 · 08-17-2016, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by picree

- - - - -
...which, BTW is more painful now with having to redo the entire jailbreak in such cases.

What makes you think that a factory reset will cause you to lose your jailbreak?

The very worse it can do is make is necessary to re-install the hotfix package.

picree · 08-17-2016, 07:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by knc1

What makes you think that a factory reset will cause you to lose your jailbreak?

The very worse it can do is make is necessary to re-install the hotfix package.

That was my understanding. If that isn't true then I misread something ("don't EVER, EVER, EVER, Reset you device or you will have to start over from the beginning" ...or something like that). Somewhat off-topic but adding to my confusion is it's still not clear to me the difference between hotfix and jailbreak. Maybe I just need to read more.

In any case after more fiddling:

Turning off all four optional restrictions (Good Reads, Free Time, Browser, Cloud) re-enables all menu options including Registration and Reset. Likewise turning on just one of them disables those menu options. So, maybe this is reduced to nothing but an annoyance because even with all restrictions off there still remains an annoying Parental Password that doesn't appear to be "delete-able" (and, over time is forgettable only to be problematic later on).

knc1 · 08-17-2016, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by picree

That was my understanding. If that isn't true then I misread something ("don't EVER, EVER, EVER, Reset you device or you will have to start over from the beginning" ...or something like that). Somewhat off-topic but adding to my confusion is it's still not clear to me the difference between hotfix and jailbreak. Maybe I just need to read more.

In any case after more fiddling:

Turning off all four optional restrictions (Good Reads, Free Time, Browser, Cloud) re-enables all menu options including Registration and Reset. Likewise turning on just one of them disables those menu options. So, maybe this is reduced to nothing but an annoyance because even with all restrictions off there still remains an annoying Parental Password that doesn't appear to be "delete-able" (and, over time is forgettable only to be problematic later on).

1 - I'll re-word that.
The combination to avoid is reset immediately followed by an update image install.
At the time it was written, the 'leave in airplane mode' was not in the directions.
That caused people problems when they did a 'reset' and then got clobbered by an OTA update.

2 - Thanks.
I'll work that information into the directions.
The 'disable everything' was sort of a general, sledge hammer, sort of advice.
It could be made more specific.

* - The problem with registration and access to UYK on some firmware models will be the next thing that gets fixed.

(Humans are incredibly hard to program.)

Yourcat · 08-17-2016, 11:44 AM

@picree: The factory reset removes the jailbreak (aka the file with developer keys). De- and re-registration may also remove the JB. Amazon could update the developer keys OTA if they need to lock out developers. So there are some options to loose the JB.
The bridge code which was likely installed during the initial JB process is executed during startup and restores the JB.
I hope this helps to understand the process a little bit.

Cinisajoy · 08-17-2016, 11:56 AM

What I was thinking was
Contact Amazon and say I accidentally set parental controls. How do I turn them off?
And yes if any of the kid stuff is on, that is a parental control.

What you said is what they would say if you lost the password.

eschwartz · 08-17-2016, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yourcat

@picree: The factory reset removes the jailbreak (aka the file with developer keys). De- and re-registration may also remove the JB. Amazon could update the developer keys OTA if they need to lock out developers. So there are some options to loose the JB.
The bridge code which was likely installed during the initial JB process is executed during startup and restores the JB.
I hope this helps to understand the process a little bit.

No.

Factory reset removes the bridge code and deregisters the device.
De-registration uninstalls the MKK.
Firmware updates uninstall the jailbreak.

Re-registration does nothing.

The bridge code can fix the other two via a reboot. Therefore, the bridge code is the most important component. And firmware updates aren't always under your control -- but factory resets are!

As long as you haven't installed a firmware update, you still have the jailbreak key (even after the factory reset nukes MKK in an absolutely permanent manner). But you will have to reinstall the hotfix pronto, especially since the jailbreak key has taken an increasingly backseat role in things.

Yourcat · 08-17-2016, 02:50 PM

@eschwartz Oh. Thanks for your explanation which sounds more reasonable than mine. While I still have some problems to understand all the details ... it's a great puzzle.

08-15-2016, 02:41 PM	#1
picree Connoisseur Posts: 91 Karma: 10000 Join Date: Apr 2016 Device: Kindle Oasis KOA FW 5.13.3 JB	Disabled Parental controls At one time, based on a suggestion from @NiLuJe and to disable the notorious factory "Reset" option I enabled Parental Controls. I couldn't figure out how to Disable them. As such I had to manage this device from my Amazon account when deregistering it and reregistering it to my wife. The Parental Controls survived! I can't do a factory reset to turn them off since that is disabled with Parental Controls (nor would I want to as it would remove all my jailbreak). It's easy to see how to enable Parental Controls (set a password) but how do you disable them? You can change the password to (like 111222777) to do a factory reset but I would rather not have to re-jailbreak. Isn't there a password you can enter (or a setting somewhere) to Disable Parental Controls? Last edited by picree; 08-16-2016 at 09:37 PM.

08-16-2016, 09:34 PM	#3
picree Connoisseur Posts: 91 Karma: 10000 Join Date: Apr 2016 Device: Kindle Oasis KOA FW 5.13.3 JB	Well, I looked in that folder (about 36 entries) but nothing looks obvious. I do know my password. And I remember from your prior post that deleting a file in here was an option. I was hoping for a "user-friendly" way or maybe an Amazon-sanctioned way (like changing the password to "0000"...which didn't work). Seems like there should be a way other than Resetting the device (although maybe that's what Amazon provided with the 111222777 password). But, just for completeness and for community benefit can you share the name of the file and provide the delete command? I'm not a Linux expert so I don't want to futz up the files by typing or deleting the wrong thing. Last edited by picree; 08-16-2016 at 09:38 PM.

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08-16-2016, 08:11 AM	#2
NiLuJe BLAM! Posts: 13,478 Karma: 26012494 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Paris, France Device: Kindle 2i, 3g, 4, 5w, PW, PW2, PW5; Kobo H2O, Forma, Elipsa, Sage, C2E	@picree: If you have shell access, I seem to recall there's a simple file to nix somewhere in /var/local (because, yes, forgetting that dumb password happens ). If you can do something about it, ask again and I'll look up the actual name of said file ;D.

08-17-2016, 06:56 AM	#8
picree Connoisseur Posts: 91 Karma: 10000 Join Date: Apr 2016 Device: Kindle Oasis KOA FW 5.13.3 JB	I'm not a programmer so I cannot offer to do this but this sounds like a potentially useful and easy to create KUAL extension (if it's just deleting a magic file). i.e. A button in KUAL that would disable Parental Controls. (Allowing people to turn on Parental Controls to disable inadvertent Resets). ...which, BTW is more painful now with having to redo the entire jailbreak in such cases.

08-17-2016, 11:44 AM	#12
Yourcat Groupie Posts: 175 Karma: 54048 Join Date: Mar 2016 Device: PW3 5.6.5-usbnet	@picree: The factory reset removes the jailbreak (aka the file with developer keys). De- and re-registration may also remove the JB. Amazon could update the developer keys OTA if they need to lock out developers. So there are some options to loose the JB. The bridge code which was likely installed during the initial JB process is executed during startup and restores the JB. I hope this helps to understand the process a little bit.

08-17-2016, 11:56 AM	#13
Cinisajoy Just a Yellow Smiley. Posts: 19,161 Karma: 83862859 Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Texas Device: K4, K5, fire, kobo, galaxy	What I was thinking was Contact Amazon and say I accidentally set parental controls. How do I turn them off? And yes if any of the kid stuff is on, that is a parental control. What you said is what they would say if you lost the password.

08-17-2016, 02:50 PM	#15
Yourcat Groupie Posts: 175 Karma: 54048 Join Date: Mar 2016 Device: PW3 5.6.5-usbnet	@eschwartz Oh. Thanks for your explanation which sounds more reasonable than mine. While I still have some problems to understand all the details ... it's a great puzzle.

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